Highlight... Emese Ionas

When the first group of kids moved from Ludus and into Casa Rebeca five years ago, Emese was the youngest girl in the house. She was the princess of the house! Over the past year, we have had the privilege of watching Emese grow and mature from a little girl into a beautiful, young woman inside and out.


In Casa Rebeca, Emese has shown many improvements in her behavior. She has become a better listener, is more organized, and has grown to appreciate things and people much more. It has been great to watch her relationships with the other kids and staff in the house develop and deepen. Emese has also become more interested in being involved in the different programs and activities that we do within the house. One of the major issues she struggles in within the house is controlling her frustration. She is often easily provoked and says things that she shouldn’t. Please pray for Emese that she will learn to better control her frustration, anger, and the words she says.


At school, Emese has also shown great improvements in many areas. She has become much more sociable, and has begun making good friends in her class. Her two best friends from school, Raluca and Denisa, have been to visit her at home, and she has also been to visit them. When her educator went to talk to her teachers, her teachers praised her and said that she seems to have developed a greater self-esteem and courage in herself. She has begun to participate much more and is much more active in the classroom. Emese is very dedicated to succeeding in school. One of the most positive and admirable traits Emese has is that she is a very hard worker when it comes to school. What she lacks in scholastic capability, she works extra hard to compensate for because she is very motivated by grades and success. Please pray for Emese that God will reward her for her diligence in school and that He will deepen her relationships that she has developed in her class.


Before the end of the year Emese will have an operation on each of her knees. She will need a great deal of encouragement during this time and during her recovery. It will be an extremely difficult time for her as she will not only need to rebuild her strength in both of her legs, but she will also miss at least six weeks of school. She will need to keep up with her classmates so that she won’t have to repeat the whole year. Please continue to pray for Emese that her issues with her knees will be resolved with these surgeries. Pray that she will finally have relief from the pain and embarrassment she has felt for years because of her knees. Pray that God will provide people in her life to encourage her in this time, and that she will continue to be diligent in her studies so that she will not fall behind!



Thank you so much for your prayers and love for Emese. We are so proud of the young lady she has become, and we appreciate your prayers as she is entering her adolescent years. Pray that we will have wisdom in how to best encourage her and that she will realize how deeply loved she is by the staff at Casa Rebeca and most importantly by her Heavenly Father!

Adi Moves In...

The boys were glad to finally officially welcome Adi to their apartment this month! It has been a long process of paperwork and approvals, but Adi has now joined the boys in their apartment and has brought with him a new level of excitement and joy!


His mentor says that Adi is full of energy and always wants to do something. He is full of questions and is always wanting to learn something new! Adi gets along great with his new "roommates" Marian and Cornel and they are all helping each other as they learn life skills and move a little closer to independence. Adi seems to be adjusting well to the move and is enjoying this new stage in life.


Please continue to pray for Adi as he is starting high school this year and also making this big transition into the apartment with the boys. Pray that he will form a close relationship with his mentor Marius and learn from him. Pray that he will use this new level of responsibility and freedom in a positive way and grow deeper in character during the coming years as well.

The Mentor Program Builds Unity...

The teens in the mentor program are blessed to have Maria Baciu leading the program. They are blessed to have mentors like Gabi & Marius and are also thankful for the new addition to the program who will be investing in the teens, building into the mentors and bringing a renewed spiritual focus to the program. The mentor program's fall retreat was a good time for everyone to get to know Dan and to spend time together.



The retreat was held in a beautiful part of Romania. The teens and their leaders traveled to Harghita county where they spent their time together visiting a castle, caves, lakes, dams, gorges, and hiking all around in the nice fall weather.







As you can see, everyone enjoyed this time away right before school began for most and the task of job hunting for others. Please continue to pray for the teens in our mentor program by name. In Marius' apartment: Marian, Cornel & Adi... In Gabi's apartment: Simona, Elis & Maria. Thank you so much!

The Baby Ministry Continues...

Rodica Maier spent several years investing her time and heart into building relationships and a ministry at the baby hospital. She has been a blessing in the lives of the children and the nurses at the hospital. Rodica moved to England this fall with her husband and will be missed. Alina Mutean and Sarah Meszaros now have the opportunity to continue this ministry with the babies and toddlers. We are so thankful for these two ladies stepping up to continue this meaningful and much needed ministry. Here is the first update from the new team…


Three mornings a week we spend time at the hospital giving love and helping with development and socialization.

During our first month, we focused on getting to know the kids and staff, assessing the needs of the different kids and seeing how we can help most effectively. For the first few weeks we had 5 toddlers. In the baby area there were about 5 babies, now there are 10.

Every child has a different story and reason for being at the hospital. Some families don’t have the conditions to care for their child, and others just choose not to. Some babies were abandoned there at birth or in their first few months, others were brought there because they were sick, and some kids go back and forth between the hospital and home whenever the parents decide.

Sebi is one of the toddlers, and while he is able to speak and communicate, his language is hard to understand at times. He has been at the hospital since he was 5 months old; now he is 2 ½ years old. He is so cute and everyone at the hospital loves him.

Simona is around 4 years old and has been at the hospital for a while as well. She has difficulty speaking, and it is hard to get her to focus or concentrate on anything for any amount of time. Alina has been doing a great job working with Simona to develop some language skills this month. Simona can now say “Mona”, and if she really focuses, she can say her full name.

Daria is younger than Sebi and Simona, and she is such a precious and cute little girl. When we first started going, she was starting to take her first steps. She was persistent, even when she would fall, to get up and keep trying. Daria can now walk alone without help.

This month another girl named Samuela came to the hospital. She is very cute and smart. She understands what you are saying and loves playing with the others, running and doing what the other kids are doing.

There was a little boy named Remus, about 18 months old, who had been at the hospital. He is active and able to connect and focus on you, but he lacks the strength or development to sit up on his own, and he is still eating out of a bottle. We were working with him to develop and gain strength, and using a baby walker he was able to walk. He was so happy and we loved working with him, but recently he was taken by child protective services from the hospital.

Gheorghe is also in the toddler area. While he is 2, he is unable to walk and has some other problems. However, when someone talks to him he connects and smiles and laughs. He is precious, and needs love and affection like all of the kids.

Stefan was recently moved from the baby area to the toddler rooms. He has learned to stand alone without help. Now he is exploring the room, and he loves crawling around just to discover something new.

It is so sad to know that these children are not receiving love from a parent every day. We are blessed with this amazing opportunity to love on each of them and help them with development during our mornings there. Pray that these children would be blessed and that they would experience the love of God.

More Fun Times...

Last week, we were able to go on a retreat with our house, apartment, and follow up staff to a town about two hours from Targu Mures called Sibiu. During our retreat we went to two different museums and had a group lunch where we discussed the impact and importance of having positive attitudes in the workplace.


The first museum we went to was outdoors on a lake and showcased many different styles of houses from different regions and different time periods. The second museum we went to was an indoor art museum that showcased different paintings and furniture. The art museum was located right in the center of town which had a beautiful square very different to the center in the town in which we live. We had beautiful weather all day, and it was nice to spend time not only seeing different cultural beauty but also being outside together, walking through town, and spending time together.


As we have had several changes in our staff throughout this year, this retreat was a great opportunity for all of us to spend time together, getting to know each other much better. It was a day of fun and bonding, and we all really enjoyed the opportunity to have a day away from our normal routine and to have time to do something new, exciting, and fun together.

A Retreat to Remember...

The time of year has once again come that we always have our staff retreats. Like last year, we planned to have two separate retreats this year- one for the Directorial and STINT staff and one for our house, apartment, and follow up staff. Throughout the year, we have had many new additions and changes to our staff, so we decided that it would be extremely valuable to spend a major part of our retreats spending time together and getting to know everyone better.


This summer, we had Sarah join our staff as one of the Coordinators for the Baby Ministry and our Follow Up ministries. This fall, we had Emil Moldovan join our staff as an Assistant to the Executive Director and Jeff, Jenny, and Jack join our staff as the Directors of Ministry in Residential Care. With all of these new additions, we realized the value of spending time becoming a unified group of leadership, and we decided to have our retreat all the way in Budapest.



We were able to spend LOTS of time together in the van, eating yummy food, and sightseeing around Budapest, learning more about each other, and learning about the laws of teamwork. It was a time of fun, relaxation, and excitement as we traveled far away to grow as a team while experiencing a country many of our staff had never had the opportunity to visit. We are so excited that God gave us the opportunity to do something special this year as we all really needed the encouragement and a break. It was great to come together, build each other up, and become a team all striving for the same goal- to see lives continue to change all for the glory of God.


We so appreciate your prayers for our leadership and staff as we still face trials and struggles with the kids and with the authorities. Please pray that God will continue to unify us and give us wisdom to make the best decisions.