Livada welcomes Vio Gaga

My name is Viorel Gaga, and I was born on January 15th 1961 in Arad, Romania. At the age of nineteen, I received Jesus Christ into my life as Lord and Savior. After high school I attended University and graduated with a degree in Chemistry. It was here that I met my future wife, Daniela, who was a student at the Economics University.

During our student years in Iasi we both were part of a Bible study and prayer group. We were married in 1986 and moved to Targu Mures.

For twelve years I was in charge of the youth program at First Baptist Church in Targu Mures. In the early 90’s I met Bruce Thomas for the first time, and worked with him as a volunteer for Reach Out Ministries in Christian discipleship camps.

In 1991 our family was blessed with our only son, Filip Daniel. In the same year I started my own business, a printing company, but last year, because of the financial crisis I had to close it. In December 2009 I was asked to be the Executive Director for Fundatia LOC. My goal as a director is that the vision of the foundation will be fulfilled in the lives of all our kids and especially that they will meet Jesus Christ as only way for their future.


Please pray for Vio and all of the staff of Livada in Romania as they continue to reach out to the children in our care as well as those God places in their paths from the orphanages and community. Thank you.

Happy Birthday Daniel!

On January 10, 2010 Daniel Simon celebrated his first birthday in his new foster family. Daniel has been living in foster care with the Iliesu family for almost one year. He feels better, has accommodated well, has made new friends, and even his behavior has improved.



He was also able to spend his birthday with his brothers, Sergiu and Madalin, who went to celebrate with Daniel and his family. They were so happy to be together! They ate cake, spent time talking, and took pictures together. Daniel was very thankful for the gifts that he received, but he was especially thankful that he had the opportunity to spend time with his brothers!



Thank you all so much for your continued investment and prayers in Daniel Simon. We thank God for the changes we have seen in him and that God provided a great family to help Daniel!

A Christmas Party for the Staff...

After a year full of growth, change and challenges, finally at Christmas the staff of Livada had the chance to get together and celebrate the joy of Christmas together.



We had a good time together playing games and talking with one another. We are grateful to all those who continue to support us and made this possible.



Please continue to pray for the staff of Livada/Fundatia LOC in the New Year!

A Party at Church...

All the kids gathered together to celebrate Christmas a few days before at our church in town. They were excited to get dressed up, and know that once they walked in the door a fun time awaited them.


They played games, did a white elephant gift exchange with each other, decorated cupcakes, and ended the afternoon with a Christmas movie, popcorn and a coke! They had never done a white elephant exchange.




Some were thrilled with their gifts, like candy bars, soccer balls, or even a little spending money...others looked at their gifts like we were crazy...like 2 double cheeseburgers, granny panties, or a funny hat. They had a great time spending the afternoon all together as they eagerly anticipated Christmas!

Sledding with Casa Ana-Nadia...

More fun sledding adventures, this time with Casa Ana-Nadia.


We spent the day driving to a hillside filled with lots and lots of snow. However, it was meant for skiers only, so we had to walk about a mile to another hill...but the only place to sled was a road! All was great and the kids were having a ball until the big rig with freshly cuts logs came down the road! Everyone was safe and out of the way, but we learned to watch ahead for traffic on this mostly empty road.


We still managed to get a few runs in between the cars and trucks. Jeff & Jenny McDonnell's little boy, Jack, had a great time too as he laughed and watched the kids come down the hill and just miss each other as they crash landed!



We had a mini snowball fight right before we left. The kids had a wonderful day getting out of the ordinary rhythm of being in town, sledding, and being with their "family."

Mentor & Graduates' Christmas...

It was a wonderful time once again this year, when staff, mentor teenagers and also graduates came together as a family to celebrate Christmas. It was a busy time getting ready for the holidays that culminated with the Christmas Eve party and cooking contest.



Both boys and girls did a great job, giving the jury a hard time deciding who was the winner. It was a special time together having lunch, playing different games, sharing stories, opening gifts and having fun.



Our annual “money tree” gift came with a contest, so the kids had to figure out how much money we put on the “special tree”. This year Maria was the lucky winner, taking home not only the money but the tree also.


Most of the graduate teenagers missed our wonderful Christmas party this year because they had to work on Christmas Eve, but thanks to our wonderful sponsors we shared a special dinner together as an extended family.


We want to thank all our sponsors that made this blessed time possible. Please continue to pray for all of the young adults in the Mentor Program and also for those who have graduated and are now living and working independently.

La Multi Ani!!!

La multi ani (Happy New Year) from Romania! So far, every New Year’s Eve has looked a little different for the kids of Livada Orphan Care. As they grow and mature, we have tried to adapt their celebration to be something fun and exciting for them! This year we started out by having a party at one of the houses that all the kids came to. We had music and started our night out by singing, dancing and laughing together. Then, the older kids went into town with Jeff and one of our Romanian educators, Adi. They close the center of town down so no cars can drive through. There is a stage set up, and all night different musical groups from around Romania put on concerts. Right before midnight, there is a big firework show. They spent the night listening to music, walking around town, spending time with each other and school friends, and enjoying the New Year’s atmosphere!



As you can imagine, there is always some jealousy when the big kids head off for a night of excitement and the little kids have to stay behind, but this year, that was not the case. We decided to take the little kids into town for the fireworks as well, but….before we headed into town we had a CRAZY party with them at the houses! We had fun music from camp that they all know dances to, and lots of English songs that we sang to like we were rock stars☺ Then right before we got ready to go to town, we popped open some fake, kid’s champagne that they have here! When making a toast, one of the kids threw their drink on someone else…and then the party really began! We had a full on “champagne”/coke war that was so much fun! The aftermath was not so pretty! After the fun, we headed into town and enjoyed the fireworks along with the big kids.


Once all the kids got back home, we all hung out together again and had a great time. The kids stayed up all night and are still telling stories about the fun they had!


Thank you for your continued investment in Livada Orphan Care as we head into the New Year. May God bless you in the coming year as you continue to be a blessing to us!

Lots of Snow... Lots of Fun!

For the past few weeks, the kids have had a break from school for winter vacation! Vacation time is always full of lots of fun and exciting activities…and this year has been no exception. Of course, the week before Christmas there was tons of snow, but the kids were still in school. The week of winter break, most of the snow in the area had melted away. However, one night we had a big snowfall, and the next day we took off with the kids and educators from Casa Rebeca to make the most of the snow and went sledding. We drove about an hour and a half from town where it was colder than it is in TM. We enjoyed the day, but we were freezing and could hardly feel our toes and fingers by the time we got home!



The next day, there was still some snow on the ground, and we were able to visit a park in town where they built a manmade sledding hill! We had a blast tubing down the “hill” and were so sad to see the day end! The kids got to go two at a time, make trains, go down on their bellies, and loved every second of it! Their laughter filled the entire park!


The festivities that winter brings have been fun and exciting, but we are ready to get back into the routine of school and normalcy! Please pray for the kids as they adjust back to normal life after a time full of fun, laughter, and lots and lots of activities!

2nd Annual Christmas Cooking Competition...

On December 29 we held the 2nd Annual Christmas Cooking Competition at our group homes. The kids loved it! A few days before, they were allowed to make a dinner plan with their educators and the cook at the houses. They made a budget, ingredient list and decided what three items they would prepare.




The rules were that the children in each home had to cook everything themselves... they had to make a salad, main dish and dessert and it had to be ready to serve at 7 PM on the 29th. Each house did a fabulous job and were very excited as we all gathered together to enjoy their creations!


The kids were all proud of their meals and the adults took turns observing and tasting as judges; then it was time for all to join in and enjoy this wonderful meal together. As the adults tallied their votes, the kids put on music and danced the night away. After a very close competition, Casa Rebeca won by ONE point!


This is always a fun activity and a great learning experience for the kids in working together and building important life skills for later!