The First Day...

It comes every year... it is anticipated and slightly feared... it is greeted joyfully by some and with sadness by others... It is the first day of school. While it arrived in America a few weeks ago, we welcomed it today here in Romania!

It was an earlier morning than most had seen in a while and everyone was a buzz... the younger ones full of energy and some of the older ones changing clothes multiple times... but finally they were all ready and waiting for the first day to begin...

Casa Ana

Casa Nadia

Casa Rebeca

Elena, the Director of Casa Ana & Nadia, was there for the festive start of school. She made sure that everyone had flowers to give to their teachers, which is a Romanian first day of school tradition, and that everyone knew the plan for getting each child to their school, to their class and having someone make it to each classroom to meet the teachers. Even with most of the houses' full staff joining in this morning it is a huge undertaking! Alina, the Director of Casa Rebeca, along with all three educators took part in dividing up the eleven children from Casa Rebeca to make sure each child was where they needed to be.


Zorro was never put in school when he lived at home and came to us at age 11 with no formal schooling and too old to begin. We signed him up for "school from a distance" and basically home schooled him for three years. He quickly showed that he was very capable but had never been given the opportunity to learn. He took on first and second grade in one year and then also completed third and fourth.

At this point home schooling is no longer an option and we had many, many, many meetings, requests, appeals and more before we were finally able to sign Zorro up for school for 5th grade this year, even though he is older that the allowed age for his grade. As you can see on his face, he is thrilled to finally be going to his first "real" first day of school!


There are some other "firsts" on the horizon for some of our older children. Simona & Elis will move into a mentor apartment with Gabi, who has been a mom at Casa Ana for three years, as their mentor in a few weeks... They are excited and scared about this new step.


Marian started his first day of high school today and was dressed up and looking very grown up. He will be moving into a mentor apartment later this week and is looking forward to being away from the "little kids", but we know that he will miss them!


Please pray for the kids in the coming weeks as several of them are starting new schools, just starting to change classes, just starting high school and more. Pray that they will apply themselves and learn all they can and that they will make good friends. Thanks.

We Are Thankful...

We are so thankful for Neighborhood Alliance Church of Orlando. This church used "Change for Change" as their VBS missions project again this year and provided school supplies and shoes for our kids to go back to school. It was a special treat for Tom Myers, the pastor of the church, to be here as we did all the back to school shopping and was able to share the fun of preparing for school with the kids. A big thank you to the kids and families who participated in this mission project and helped us prepare for school!





We are so thankful for all those who collect items, raise money, involve their churches, schools and friends to help us minister to the children in state care and raise our 34 children here in Romania! If you want to help with other needs of ours... like Christmas coming up... just contact kelly@livada.org. Thanks!

Welcome Visitors...

This past week we have had two of our Livada Board Members here in Romania with us. We have been to visit just about all of the orphanages, state group homes, our group homes, Camp Vetca, the baby hospital and more in the few short days we had together. It was good for Bruce Thomas to be back and see how things are going here in Romania and for Tom Myers to get a look at the bigger picture of all areas of ministry that Livada is involved in.




It was a special day for Tom to see a little boy, Olympiu, who was an infant last year when he was here, now walking and laughing with him. It was sad that he was back in the hospital, but this is what happens to so many of the youngest children who are currently housed in the hospitals... they are taken home, come back to the hospital, stay a few months or years and go back home and the cycle continues...


One of our other stops on our whirlwind tour was to visit Madalin at his new home. It was good to hear others who have been away from him for a while also commenting on how much more peaceful and happy he seems in his new setting.


Although many of the places that we visited do not allow photos, it was fun to be with the girls at Campenita and see them trying to teach Tom Romanian, while he worked on English with them.

It was a good week to visit and see all that Livada is doing, what the unmet needs are and to meet and discuss where we are as a ministry and how we will move forward. Please pray that as these discussions continue that God will give each of our Board Members and Ministry Leadership wisdom, clear direction and unity as we move forward in what God has called Livada to here in Romania. Thank you.

Getting Geared Up for School...

We want to say a special thank you to Scotland Trinity Presbyterian church for collecting and sending backpacks for all our kids and teens and for all the wonderful school supplies that were gathered and sent. It is such a blessing for us and for the kids to have these items provided in tight financial times. As you can see by their faces, the kids were thrilled and are even getting excited about the start of school!






Please pray for the start of school and all the changes, opportunities and structure that it brings. Pray for understanding and challenging teachers and for the children to step out of their stereotype and excel where they can. We are so thankful for Scotland Trinity Pres and other churches and schools who are partnering with us to meet the needs of these children.

Rebecca, Nadia & Ana 2008

As we wrap up each summer, each house has a special evening. We get dressed, go out for a special family dinner and take the "family picture" for the year. We also take individual pictures of each child for their sponsors. It is a special family event and although sometimes they are embarrassed to pose for the pictures, they always love having them. It has been a great way over the years to watch them grow and change.

For Casa Rebeca this is their fourth "family" picture and for Nadia and Ana, it is their third. What a blessing to look back and see all that God has done in these children's lives over the past several years.




Many look at these children now and say, "But they don't look like orphans"... to which we say, Praise the Lord! Thank you to all of you who continue to invest in the lives of these children each month through sponsorship and prayers. You are making a difference!

There is still a long way to go in many areas of hurt and pain from the past and the struggles that now face many of our children as they go through the adolescent years, but we know that God has done a great work and will continue to soften hearts, heal hurts and grow these children and teens.

Summer Video 2008!

Many of our wonderful donors & sponsors should be receiving this video in the mail soon, but we wanted to give everyone a sneak peak and a look back at The Vetca Olympics 2008!

Touring with the Mentor Teens...

Many of our young adults in the Mentor Program have busy schedules with school and/or work. Besides get togethers on a few weeknights each month, they are rarely able to get away together and spend time doing something different. This summer Alina Muresan, who is our new director of the Mentor Program, planned a little get away and all those who were able to attend, loved it.


They went to an area called "Maremures" and saw some historical and some beautiful sights. One place they stopped was at the "Cimitrul Vesel", an old cemetery very different from others as the markers are painted with bright colors and each has a few words about the life of the person there. They also went to visit a prison where those who opposed the communist regime were held and tortured years ago.


There was also time at the cabin where they stayed to just hang out and joke around and enjoy time together with their mentors and each other. The following day they toured a monastery built completely of wood and they went up the mountain by cable car to see the waterfalls. As you can see, this is a beautiful part of Romania and these young people really enjoyed being out of the city and in the great outdoors!



They really wanted to see more of the mountain and falls, so they took off on foot climbing and hiking through the area. They loved it, but all came back sore the next day!



Joining the young people of the mentor program on this outing were three teens from our group homes who will be transitioning into the mentor program this fall: Marian, Simona & Elis. This was their first real introduction to the mentor program and they were very happy and thankful to be included. Simona shared that this was the best trip of her life!

In the end, fun was had by all and the young people of this program were encouraged and reminded once again that although they are in a different stage of life than the kids, who seem to play all the time, they are still important and need a little fun too!

Please continue to pray for Alina as she leads this important ministry. Pray for the mentors who work with these young adults each day. Pray for those young people who are graduating from the mentor program this fall. Pray that they would know that we are here for them to guide them and assist them in this next step towards independence, but that they would also begin to take that responsibility seriously and work hard. Pray for the three who will step from the houses into the mentor apartments this fall and begin this journey towards independence. Thank you for all who help support and pray for these young people!