Proverbs 31:8&9 “Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy.”
Proverbs 29:26 “Many seek an audience with a ruler, but it is from The Lord that man gets justice.”
Dear Family and Friends,
My inbox is overflowing with emails since the ABC news broadcast aired about the abuse and neglect of mentally challenged children in Romanian institutions. I did not take part in that report and I am not sure how it came about but what they filmed was accurate. There are still such institutions where they warehouse such disabled children and adults but the government has gotten much better at hiding where the locations are. In our area, I know where they are hidden but I am rarely allowed in to see the horror unless I have an official reason for being there. I have seen people chained to the wall and children with all four limbs tied to a bed so they would not hurt themselves. I have chosen to focus my efforts on preventing children from developing without the proper love, stimulation and nourishment. For this reason, we continue to expand our work in the Childrens hospital so children will not ever have to be transferred to such a hellish place. Please pray for The Lord to continue providing for us so we can continue to stop the neglect and abuse.
I hardly know where to begin about baby Maria and all that has recently happened. All I can say is there such must be a ton of people praying because The Lord is giving us favor in many areas! I organized a meeting of ministries like ours here this past Wednesday. There were six non-profits working in child welfare represented although there are many more in the area. (Our office can only hold about 15 people.) I am thrilled to say our grassroots efforts are now being reviewed by a staff member of a local Senator who promised us our proposal about new legislation would be heard in front of parliament on Monday, May 22nd. Corina and I (along with another non-profit) met today with the staff member of Senator Hellwig and she was extremely nice, knowledgeable, and willing to help our cause. It was like a breath of fresh air in light of what we usually face with political offices. We presented Corinas statement from Brussels along with my case study of baby Maria. His staff thought it was imperative we get the media involved in Maria’s case so voters can understand how awful the current child welfare legislation is. We agreed to get the media involved if our names could be left out of it for now. So, Maria’s sad story should hit a national paper here next week. Please, please keep this in your prayers. As the verse states above, we know not to be our hope in rulers or men but in The Lord and Him ONLY there is justice. Believe Him for justice in your life as well!
Another breath of fresh air was Dr. Andy Dobjanschi who I had the pleasure of meeting yesterday. He was baby Maria’s treating doctor and he was so wonderful with her and Alina. As has always been my policy, I never give money to doctors for treating our children but I will give things to help them in their medical practice. I asked to meet with him yesterday so I could thank him for the stellar care he gave Maria. (You should know that Dr. Andy told Alina himself that Maria’s healing was a miracle because he had planned to have emergency surgery done on her the day after my first email update about the situation.) I told him our ministry does not give money but I asked him if there were things he could use. I was shocked to find out he had done his residency in Los Angeles for five years and returned to practice here. I laughed and said, “no wonder your English is so good!”
He has a real hunger to continue learning but he cannot get materials here. He is an intensive care doctor and an anesthesiologist (he said they are one in the same here) and he asked for medical books on the latest in Pediatric Critical Care and Anesthesiology. If any of you are medical people or have medical contacts and can get these books, please let me know and I will have you send them to a group coming the first of June. He also asked for any kind of monitoring equipment if there are those of you who have those contacts.
My industrious husband and I were blessed to have a friend, Badgett, come from North Carolina for two weeks to help us with a construction project in a village about 45 minutes outside of Oradea. A ministry we partner with has agreed to take our mentally challenged child, Darius, because the state is forcing him to leave his foster family so he can receive special education. Since there are no special schools in the village of his foster family, we had to find another placement. I was distraught at the thought of Darius ending up in one of those institutions you saw on television but God answered our prayers through another ministry. They needed an extra room finished so they could begin taking boys his age and Daniel and Badgett worked for 10 LONG days to try to finish it. They did an amazing job and we have already started transition visits for Darius. He should move in by the end of May to mid-June. This will not be easy for Darius or his foster family that has grown so attached to him. We ask you to please pray for this situation. Thank you, Badgett, for coming and blessing us with all your hard work and eating things you never dreamed of eating!!!
Here is a photo of Daniel, Badgett and Darius:
Here are a few photos of Daniel and Badgett hard at work!
Daniel and I will be leaving tomorrow morning to make our way towards the southeast part of Romania. It is an eleven hour car trip (those of you who know me and car trips know to pray for Daniel) and we still stop on the way to spend the night with missionary friends. There is an evangelical Christian family in Mangalia, Romania (on the coast of the Black Sea) that has started a church out of their home. They are reaching out to the Muslim population there with the gospel message and doing an amazing job. The husband is an amazing teacher and his wife is one of the most talented song writers and vocalists I have ever met. Unlike in the USA, many people do not get paid for the songs they record and theirs is such a case. Our board of directors voted for our ministry to spend $600 on the construction materials needed to repair the roof and replace parts of the ceiling of their home/church that was destroyed by the flooding last year. Daniel and I will both be assisting in the construction work and getting to know them a bit better. Unlike most churches here, they do not have a sponsor from the west now and it is hard for them to communicate about their work because they do not speak English. If there are churches that would like to be connected in partnership with this non-denominational evangelical church, please let me know. These are precious people with a strong vision to reach the lost through music and sharing the gospel message. We are honored to have the opportunity to be an answer to their prayers about their roof but I am believing The Lord to totally rebuild their house with the help of other churches. Kind of like an Extreme Home Makeover but in the name of Jesus!! We ask for prayers of safety as we travel and for the work to do smoothly. Well send photos when we return which will be on the 21st so if you write while we are gone, we may not be able to respond. We thank you for the encouraging emails and I especially want to thank my dear friend, Tonya Buzzard, for the dark chocolate and almond candy she just sent me. I am sure it kept me sane this week!
Basking in the Son,
Michelle
Posted on May 12th, 2006 by Michelle
Filed under: Michelle's Journal