Christmas is HERE!

Early Christmas morning the children in our group homes woke up and celebrated their family Christmas. The first group of kids to wake up and open presents were the kids at Casa Rebeca, followed by the kids at Casa Ana, and finally the kids at Casa Nadia. As has become a tradition, the kids sit at the top of the stairs and sing Christmas carols until we tell them to come down.



At that, they race down the stairs to find their stockings and to begin enjoy the first treats of Christmas morning. After that the fun of opening all of their presents begins!

Enjoy the pictures in the next few blogs of the kids opening their presents this Christmas… Thank you SO much to all of you who helped contribute towards making this Christmas so special for the kids in our group homes! It wouldn’t have been possible without your generosity!!

A Christmas Party for our Kids...

This year the Christmas party for the 29 kids in our group homes was a blast!
Each house was assigned two people from the Christmas story and they had to dress two kids from the house as their assigned people. The kids arrived at the office dressed as Mary, Joseph, an angel, a Wiseman, a shepherd, and a donkey. The competition had a little twist because it was not just based off of who had the best costume, but also we read the Christmas story and the kids had to act as the characters in the story! After a winner was chosen for best costume and best acting, we split the kids into teams for the remaining activities. Each of the four teams contained a mix of kids from each of the houses. The teams were first given a bag of supplies to dress one team member up as a human Christmas tree. The kids that were dressed up then modeled their tree costumes for the rest of the kids as if they were on a catwalk. The next activity we did a cake-decorating contest. Each team received a cake, sprinkles, whipped cream, fruit, etc, and they were told to be as creative as they could.



Two of the teams cut their cakes into the shape of Christmas trees, one into a gingerbread house, and the winning team made a Christmas tree and a snowman. After the cake contest we drew names for a money tree filled with one-leu bills (the total was about $15). Janos, the winner, was thrilled with his prize! Finally, one of the highlights of the day was when one of our educators made an appearance as Santa and each child took a picture on Santa’s lap.



The kids enjoyed a special snack and movie before they returned home after the fun party!

Putting up the Tree...

Everyone takes part in decorating the family tree at each house! Here are the kids from Casa Ana & Nadia helping to put up their tree and just having fun as they get into the Christmas spirit!

Getting Ready for Christmas...

Christmas is such a wonderful time for all children and ours are no different. The kids had a great time gearing up for Christmas by baking cookies for their teachers at school and decorating the house and their own rooms for Christmas!

Better Late Than Never...

Hello All... We are going to take a few blog entries to fill you in on Christmas goings on here in Romania. Sorry for the delay in them coming. We will post them as they occurred and hope you enjoy seeing a little bit of Christmas in Romania!

Let's Party...

It is all things fun and festive at this time of year as Livada’s follow up staff throw parties everyday for the some 400 orphans in Mures County. The parties are the highlight of the season for these kids and they just love the music, dressing up, the games and the stories. It has been wonderful to be able to recreate the Christmas story this year at each party and remind the kids of the true meaning of Christmas.


This year we have Samaritan’s Purse shoe boxes, Build a Bears and Christmas bags donated by the kids at Muskoka Woods Sports Resort so every child in State care in the county gets a fantastic gift!! It is such a privilege to see their faces so filled with joy as they rip open those presents to see what goodies are inside. They are so thankful for what they have been given and it is just wonderful to be able to bring a smile to their faces!


Please continue to pray for the follow up staff as they organize parties right up to Christmas Eve. Pray for renewed energy and enthusiasm to make every party the best Christmas party ever!!!

"All I Want for Christmas"

Well Christmas is fast approaching and I am sure, if you are anything like us, things just get busier each day. Life here is filled with a great deal of excitement as we do Christmas parties each day for the kids! What a privilege it is to be able to give these kids a little joy, tell them about the true meaning of Christmas and of course give out tons of presents! Seeing their faces light up as they receive those gifts and watching them rip the boxes or bags open to see whats inside is such a pleasure.

It was actually at one of our Christmas parties on Saturday, at Zau, a large girls orphanage that I was faced with the opportunity for a very special type of Christmas gift. As you know, throughout the year we spend each week visiting and running programs in the orphanages and group homes in Mures county. Through this an endless stream of needs come across our paths- we help where we can with clothes, food, money and medicine but one of the greatest needs is in the area of dentistry. Years of poor dental hygiene and never having access to a dentist has left many of these kids and teenagers with a wealth of dental problems. Each week we take kids to the dentist to deal with emergency needs but every once in a while we come across someone who needs more than a tooth filled, pulled, or replaced.


Valentina is a 19 year old girl I have known for some time. She is shy and retiring in many ways but more recently I have noticed there is a bubbly young lady inside who is desperate to come out. I have often looked at her teeth and wanted to do something to help her but I knew that the cost would be far beyond what we are able to spend on dentistry needs in a month! I must admit that I am at fault and haven't done anything yet because I just thought it was an impossible case but on Saturday at that party I realized I had to try and help her in some way.

Some of the other girls at the orphanage told me that they regularly hear her crying about how ugly she is, how disgusting her teeth are and how nobody wants to be around her. She often sits alone and tells the girls that nobody would ever want her because of how awful she looks. When I heard this I found it hard not to cry. I'm sure if she knew the song she would sing it at the top of her voice, all I want for Christmas is a mouth full of teeth! I know that this would be the best Christmas present we could ever give her.

The Underground - A Winter Wonderland

The Underground, our Thursday night teenage event, seems to be proving more popular than ever. We have an average of 75 kids coming weekly and last week we had over 80!! It is great to see these teenagers, who mostly live in State care or night shelters, come from far and wide, despite the weather, to have a night of fun and fellowship. Each week there are great opportunities for us to share our lives with these teenagers, hear the issues they are facing and offer support in whatever ways we can. There is also a time for them to hear what God has laid on Paul’s heart as we continue to go through the extra ordinary lives of ordinary people.

Last week we had a ‘build a human snowman’ competition and as always the room was a buzz with teams creating truly amazing masterpieces!! I’m sure you will agree, the results were outstanding!




Please continue to pray for the teenagers who come to this program. Also please pray for us as we seek to find more volunteers to help us each week. With so many young people and so few adults the night is often not only energetic but challenging too!!

Ludus is Closing!

If you have been to Romania with us, chances are you have been to visit this orphanage in Ludus. It has for many years been a matter of prayer for us. The director and staff have typically been against us doing any kind of Christian programing there. It has been a dark place for years where abuse and neglect are the norm. All of the children in our group homes and mentor apartments have been rescued out of the fear and darkness of this place. This orphanage was the only home many of them have ever known.


After the small children were finally moved out of this place earlier this fall, we began to have hope that this orphanage may finally be closing. It has been talked about for almost two years now. We have received word that Ludus will close it's doors for good on December 31! PRAISE THE LORD!

Please pray with us for the almost 30 teenagers who still live at Ludus who are now unsure about their future and where they will go. Some will most likely be "graduated" out of state care, while others will be shifted to live somewhere else. Please pray that the best will be done for each child. Many of these teens have never known another home and are very fearful of leaving this place where they have lived for so long.

Thank you so much for rejoicing with us in seeing the final days of this place and for praying with us for the best possible solution for each child who will be moved. Thank you!