Dear Family and Friends,
I have lots of wonderful news to report from New Life House in Oradea, Romania!
First, our precious little Loredana left last Friday to be with her adoptive parents! We miss her adorable smile but we celebrate knowing that she will love the love of a mother and father. I hope to soon have a photo of the new family.
Nelu is scheduled to leave Monday with his biological father who is taking on the task of raising the child as a single parent. We will continue to be involved and provide resources as needed but we rejoice that Nelu will be raised by his natural father.
Yesterday, our home was blessed with eight day old, Catalin. (Photo of this sleeping angel is attached!) His mother is 20 years old, unmarried, with another child already and attending college. She did not want anyone to know of this baby yet she did not want to abandon him in the hospital. The social worker at the maternity hospital told her about our ministry. Esti counseled her and told her that we would put the child in a loving, Christian home. Today, she tearfully agreed to sign over her parental rights. (Legally, she must wait 45 days to do so.) We are praying that she make the right choice for Catalin so that he will grow to know loving parents.
Thanks to several contributors from this ministry update list, we purchased a dishwasher yesterday! Our maternal assistants are VERY excited about this purchase. We thank you so much for enabling us to make the purchase!!
Jessica’s project with Anisoara, the homeless teenage girl, has been going well. Once again, thanks to the generosity of a sponsor, Anisoara spent every night in a hotel until her school resumed session this past Monday. Jessica will continue to be involved with Anisoara.
We have added another child, Enzo, to our “By His Stripes” project. Enzo was born with spina bifida and was operated on only once after he was born. He is now six years old and experiencing severe problems. While I was in NY, the doctor that performed Maria’s surgery examined x-rays for Enzo and determined that Enzo needed a MRI before future surgery could be discussed. We found a doctor in Budapest, Hungary that arranged the MRI but we needed approximately $550 for the test. Enzo’s mother sold some of their furniture to pay for the test. Praise the Lord, however, Samaritan’s Purse called me to say that they would cover the cost!! What a huge blessing to Enzo and his incredibly tenacious mother. She has been pursuing help for Enzo for over 4 years to no avail. I cannot begin to tell you how thrilled she is. She is hopeful that Enzo will one day live a normal life.
I will be returning to Bucuresti next week for round two of adoption issue meetings. Please keep this in your prayers.
Probably the biggest news I saved for last….Zambo took his first solo steps yesterday!! (Action photo attached of him releasing Pavel’s hands and walking!) Pavel, New Life Administrator, is so EXTREMELY proud of him. Pavel spends tons of time with Zambo each day simply loving and playing with him. We all are shouting praises to Jesus for this miracle. While Zambo may take a great deal of time to walk on his own given his current obsession with food, (i.e. he is fat) we consider this to be a miracle nonetheless!
Many blessings to all of you. Thank you for being a part of this ministry through this medium of communication!
Basking in the Son,
Michelle
Posted on September 8th, 2000 by Michelle
Filed under: Michelle's Journal