Continuing to Learn & Grow Together...

During the month of October we were honored to host a special training for the educators and specialists in psychology in our foundation. We were also able to offer this training to specialists from other organizations in Targu Mures. This was a three day event in which the participants were able to learn many new strategies and therapeutic activites for working with children and adolescents.


The instructors were Roger Day, a psychotherapist and certified play therapist and Cristine Day, an early childhood specialist and counselor. The first day the activities and training focused around building trust and self esteem. The second day was all about encouraging, celebrating with and loving children. The third day was very helpful as it focused on helping children with healthy expression of anger and managing aggressive behaviors.

On this last day we were able to bring in several of the children from our care to participate in some of these play therapies and to put into practice all that was learned. It was a fun time together and everyone had lots of positive feedback about the experience and the practical applications.


We hope that we can continue activities like this in the future to continue to train up our staff and others in our area to be better and better equipped to work with the children that God has given us.

Please Pray...

For over a year many of you have been praying for Daniel Simon. He is the boy in our care who has many emotional and behavioral problems that participated in "Casa Daniel", the special therapy home for the past year. You have heard wonderful reports of how God changed his attitude and behavior over the past year and we were blessed to bring him back into Casa Nadia at the end of the summer. Now we need your prayers lifted up for him once again...


Since Daniel has come back to Casa Nadia his behavior and attitudes have regressed to the point of being worse than before. We have put him back on medication that should help him control his behaviors, but the fact that he is older now, bigger and entering puberty have all played a factor in working to find the right balance. Pray that his aggression and other negative behaviors will subside. Dr. Purvis told us to expect a severe regression like this before he is able to rebound back.

Please pray that God will work in Daniel in a new way. That he will be able to regulate his behaviors and not try to make others fearful. Please pray for a heart change in him that he will want to change and be able to stay in Casa Nadia and live with his brother and other children.


Please pray for this amazing staff of moms, educators, psychologist, house director and others who need patience, wisdom and endurance as we try to work through this situation. Pray for their safety and for them to be able to watch and care for Daniel and at the same time meet the needs of the other children in the house. Pray for the other children in the house as they are fearful and unsettled during this time. Also, pray for the leadership of Livada as we monitor the situation and will have to make some decisions about Daniel's future in coming weeks.

Thank you for your faithful prayers and love for all the kids in Livada's care.

Behind the Scenes...

There are several people who serve with Livada who you don't often see posted here in the blog or possibly even when you come to visit. Their roles are critical to what we do and much of it is not the "fun" part. Two of these ladies we want to share with you today...


Cristina is our Executive Director in Romania. She is dedicated to the care and growth of our children and spends much of her time problem solving, keeping all of our licensing and accreditation up to date, counseling kids, training and working alongside our staff and so much more! She is a blessing to this ministry with her strength of character, motivation to continue to improve all that we do and love for the children and staff of Livada. Please pray for Cristina as she makes decisions daily that effect the lives of the children in our care, as she balances a non-stop job and her family and as she leads the team in Romania forward as God leads this ministry through her!

Another person that you may not see often, but whose work is very important to this ministry is Maria. She is our social worker and spends many hours out in the "field" seeing the conditions that our children would be living in with their "natural families." She often helps to search out family connections. Takes the children to visit their families when the arrangements can be made and they can be found. She also keeps up with the cases of all our children as they relate to the courts and CPS. It is a job that not many could handle and we are so thankful for Maria and her heart to fight for these kids.



Maria and others on our staff are also the face and loving hands of Livada as we reach out to those in need with humanitarian aide and other assistance. Maria is called to the office gate many times a day to talk with state orphan graduates who are now struggling to make it. She helps them with material assistance but also with help to get paperwork done so that they can get jobs or in finding them a place to stay.

Elena, the director of Casa Ana & Nadia, and her husband continue to reach out to Sorin and his family to give him the support he needs so that he will not abandon his children and so that they will be able to attend school.


Again, it is often in what happens behind the scenes as so many of our staff reach out to those in need in our community as well as those we "officially" serve through our residential and follow up ministries that hope begins to take root in the lives of so many. Please pray that God will continue to work through Livada to impact the lives of those around us in Mures County, Romania.

We Couldn’t Do It Without Them!

It seems extremely important to take some time to express our gratitude to our exceptional volunteers. We were so blessed this summer at camp and have continued to be blessed in the start of Follow Up to have a group of fun-loving and committed volunteers. We are so thankful for their willingness to help because without them so much of what we do would not be possible. Not only is their commitment a huge blessing to Livada Orphan Care, but also they have made a huge impact in the lives of the kids! The kids know them all by name, and are overjoyed to see all of their faces every time we meet.


This year we have started a gathering for the volunteers every other Monday night as an opportunity for the Follow Up staff to continue to get to know them better. Also we wanted to have an opportunity to thank them, encourage them, and invest in them as they pour so much of themselves into the lives of the kids that we all work with. Please pray that this time would be a blessing in their lives, and praise God with us for His faithfulness in bringing such a quality group of young adults to help us this year!


Thank you volunteers!! We are so thankful for ALL of you!

The Livada Calendar 2009!!!

Something new this year... A Kids of Livada Calendar! This 2009 Calendar with pictures of LOC kids and teens, the baby ministry, camp from 2008 and more is a great gift idea and a great way to share Livada with your friends as you go through the year.

If you are interested in purchasing one or many of these calendars to give as Christmas gifts... please contact giving@livada.org by email to place your order. We are asking for a minimum donation of $25 per calendar.




Thank you for considering a Livada Calendar for 2009 as a great prayer reminder each month and a wonderful way to share the ministry of Livada with your friends and co-workers.

New Programs this Fall...

This fall, we started a few new programs with Follow Up that we hadn’t been doing in the past. One of the things we started doing is separating the Fundatia LOC kids based on age and doing follow up programs for them. We saw a huge need for the kids of Livada to have a fun and exciting opportunity to hear about God outside of their typical home environment. The “older” kids will have a youth group type program modeled after what we do at the Underground, and the “little” kids will have a Vacation Bible School type program modeled after what we do at Club Fuel. This will take place every Monday night, but the groups will rotate so that they have a program every other week. It is a great opportunity for the Livada kids to be taught about God by the Follow Up staff and volunteers because they so rarely have the opportunity to be surrounded by Christian teenagers and young adults outside of the staff that works with them on a daily basis.


Alina, a member of the Follow Up staff, decided that she wanted to start a new program with the girls from one of the group homes in Sincrai. The girls are from House 11, and Alina had a really strong relationship with these girls from when she was a volunteer and from camp this summer. The girls are entering their teenage years, and Alina, as well as many volunteers, saw a huge need and opportunity to minister to them. They take the girls out of their home to the office, and spend Saturday afternoons playing games, talking, doing a lesson, and spending time building deeper relationships with them.


This fall we also have decided to resume going to the orphanage in Reghin on a biweekly basis. We will also continue going to the orphanage in Zau and the group homes in Tarnaveni and Sarmas, and we will continue busing kids into town for Club FUEL from Sincrai, Patelea, Compenita, and Santana. We will also have kids to town for the Underground from Sincrai, Miercurea Nirajului, Şincai, Zau, and the night shelter in Targu Mures.


We have a busy schedule this fall, but we, as a follow up staff and volunteers, feel we have a huge opportunity to reach a large number of kids every week. God has given us all a passion and love for these kids, and we would appreciate your prayers as we would love to see change in the lives of many this fall!

The Underground is Back...

The Underground is a program that was started and run by Paul and Fiona Coles for the last two years. The program has been a huge success, and it was something we really wanted to be able to continue doing this year. God has been so good in providing the funds needed, and in giving the remaining Follow Up staff the desire and time to keep it going this year. The first two weeks have been a huge hit, and we have had approximately 70 kids from all over Mures County both weeks. There has been another small change in the Underground as well. One of the other group homes that Paul was visiting with all boys from Şincai is also now being included. We have buses, vans, and cars going all over the county to get all 70 kids to where they need to be.


This week we played a lot of different team games where the kids had to think, work, and play as a group. The kids really enjoy challenges, and they love the excitement of being together as a group to try to win any competition you give them! They had different challenges this week where they had to smell, feel, taste, remember, answer general knowledge questions, and do a magazine scavenger hunt. It was a full night…full of fun and craziness as the kids attempted to be the best team.




Please pray for Rebecca, Alina, and Ovidu, plus our wonderful volunteers to have great, new ideas to help make the Underground fun as well as a time of learning and growth for the many teenagers and young adults who attend.