Dear Family and Friends,
The story that I am about to share with you is true. I have not embellished it for effect. I am telling it because I think we all need to have a good dose of reality today and appreciate every tiny little blessing in our lives.
Ileana is our newest resident at Agape Home. She came to live in Agape Home just a few days before Daniel and I arrived so she has been with us almost three weeks now. She was living in a Roma colony with family members that were refusing to allow her to stay any longer and she contacted the maternity hospital that in turn contacted us. Additionally, the extremely abusive man she was living with had been imprisoned for robbing and beating an elderly man so she had no one to support them at all. When Nicu and Neli, our social worker, went to pick up Ileana and her two baby girls, ages 7 months and 18 months, all three were covered in lice and living in absolute filth. The roof of their hut was made only of straw so keeping warm would have been impossible. Our Agape Home mother, Flori, said her first order of business was to treat the lice and destroy all the clothing they had with them. She said she literally soaked and scrubbed the baby for two days and Ileana bashfully admitted she had never actually bathed the child because she had no way of doing so. The caked on filth that Flori managed to remove caused the baby’s head to bleed. Ileana could not recall the last time she had an actual meal and looked gaunt and exhausted although she was nursing her baby without complaint.
Ileana has such a sweet, pure spirit and just soaks up all that Flori is teaching her about caring for herself, her babies, as well as how to cook, and do anything new. Unlike many of our past residents, she is not at all rebellious and understands all that Flori and Nicu do is to help her.
A week or so after including Ileana in daily bible devotionals and prayer time, Flori lovingly encouraged Ileana to pray to The Lord. Ileana kept saying she didn’t know how and Flori told her, “Just talk to Him as if He is in the room.” Ileana reverently bowed her head very low and closed her eyes tightly and began to pour out her heart. “Oh, God, thank you so much for taking me out of being beaten and out of that shack. It is so beautiful here and…..” She could not finish because she had started to sob. Flori was crying along with her as I am now. I can’t imagine what it is like to be thankful for being safe, warm, and fed. Those are things I have always taken for granted. I seriously hope I won’t now. But this isn’t even the saddest part of the story.
Ileana is an ethnic Hungarian Roma so her native tongue is Hungarian and she has lots of trouble speaking Romanian. She is improving each day as she remembers what little bit she has been taught during her five years in elementary school. When Flori asked her if she wanted to read the bible during devotions, she told her she couldn’t read and Flori responded, “We’ll get you a bible in Hungarian.” Ileana replied, “No, you don’t understand. Even though I went to school, the teacher just beat us everyday because we were gypsies, we never actually learned to read or write or anything. I am completely illiterate.” Of course we are aware that many of the Roma people are illiterate but Flori said her shame was so great at admitting it that it touched her heart deeply. Praise God, four years ago, we sent Flori and Nicu to a bible based literacy course. Tomorrow, Flori, with much zeal and determination, starts teaching Ileana to read and write while her babies nap. Flori explained to Ileana she would be working with her so she could learn to read the bible herself to which Ileana exclaimed, “I’ll read the bible to the whole world if you teach me to read and write!” Once again, I am humbled. Please pray for The Lord to open Ileana’s mind to learn and to give Flori wisdom as she teaches.
Because Ileana does not have a birth certificate, she does not legally exist in Romania. She is counted no where and is one of the many people that could easily be snatched up in human trafficking because of it. Neli has been working like mad to get her identification made and that of the two babies so Ileana can get the social welfare she is entitled to for her children. (Which would be approximately, $70 each until they turn 2 years old.) Neli was successful in contacting the family doctor in the village 1.5 hours from Oradea where Ileana was born to ask if we could have some information. He was able to give only her date of birth and a bit of other medical history. As part of the process, we found out that a family member with identification had to come to the Oradea police to state that Ileana was who she says she is. Daniel spent six hours yesterday picking up Ileana’s brother, bringing him to the Oradea police station, and then taking him back home and driving back to Oradea. This is one of the major steps in the process of getting Ileana a birth certificate and identification made.
Last week, during a counseling session with Neli, Ileana asked Neli if she could please tell her the date of her birth. Neli said, “I don’t understand. You don’t know when your birthday is, Ileana?” Ileana’s reply is forever etched in all of our memories, “No, my mother never told me. I don’t think she knew because she is illiterate, too. I have never celebrated my birthday or even knew when it was. Can you please tell me how old I am?”
As it turns out, Ileana’s birthday was today. She celebrated her 21st birthday today along with the other residents at Agape Home, myself, Daniel and Laura, an American girl visiting here. None of us had the money to buy her extravagant gifts but you cannot believe how incredible happy she was with the sport pants we gave her in addition to the lip gloss, cosmetics, and costume jewelry Nicu and Flori gave her. Probably things most of us would have laughed at getting as gifts. Flori made Ileana her first ever birthday cake along with a full meal of the typical Romanian food. Before we ate, Nicu asked a blessing over the food and over Ileana’s life and thanked The Lord for allowing us to be a part of her birthday celebration. When he was done praying, tears of joy were streaming down her face while tears of compassion filled mine. All the time, money and effort we have spent in the Agape Home project seemed so worth it today. Praise The Lord for reaffirming our calling when we need it. May He use this story to touch your heart and reaffirm that you being a part of this ministry is truly changing lives and drawing others to know Jesus as their Lord.
Psalms 118:5
”In my anguish I cried to the LORD, and he answered by setting me free.”
Photo by Laura Baker
Basking in the Son,
Michelle
