As school finishes, the first results arrive for the siblings in their “new life”.
By now, the heat is king; even if we’re in the land of endless and icy snowfall, Romania-Moldavia can “gift” sultry summers! Out of the two extremes, the one preferred by everyone and above all by the kids is definitely the summer. The intense green of the Romanian spring slowly gives way to the yellow of the ripening wheat and to the fields covered in millions of sunflowers in bloom. The countryside is teeming with life and the bees on our farm have also fully regained their industriousness.
At the farm, the kids spend a lot of time outdoors, running around, playing, sometimes studying, and helping the Stroi family with various small jobs: at the moment, there are so many vegetables and poultry to look after, and for them it’s just fun! Child protection has repeatedly recommended to involve them in this type of activity, obviously always under adult supervision. Credit has to go to this wonderful family. The work that they’re doing with the kids really is admirable. Even though they’re not educators by profession, the dedication, patience, commitment and faith they show in caring for them, considering that they’re not their children, are something truly noteworthy. We know that it’s not easy maintaining family balance living with 6 lively and at the same time very demanding children. All this without neglecting the monthly food distribution in the village of Pădureni, the weekly “ora felice”, and of course the running of the whole farm. It’s our duty to continue to support them by every available means, even if it’s often difficult (also financially); everything really seems much bigger than us. But we trust in God and up until now He’s shown us His miracles!
School is over now and the first reports have arrived. Honestly, we were very worried about the success of this school year for all of them, in particular for Luigi. We were even ready for them to fail, given that they arrived from the school in Pădureni with a decidedly inferior preparation compared to others their age. But God gave us a moment of great joy a few days ago. They all passed the year! Even Luigi, the oldest, who was the one that had to put in more effort to get back on track, has recovered his deficit at school amazingly well. We were all amazed, from the school principal to the Stroi to ourselves. It was a great reward for all the work done to date.
The custody, however, is still pending. The hearings with each child continue, as well as the regular appointments with the psychologist (enlisted by child protection) who’s trying to help them overcome the traumas of their past. Luigi still has a lot to deal with. We don’t hide the fact that often, he’s difficult to manage. He’s 12 years old, and often switches from extremely childish behaviour to problematic adult attitudes. At the end of the day, it’s only been six months since God rescued him from the place of desolation and ugliness where he was, and we have to continue to show him patience and affection and pray for him. Luca and Max, during their trip at the end of May, again spoke to the kids, giving them suggestions as to how to improve their behaviour and encouraging them personally. The kids are growing well, even though they often get sick at the same time. They’re probably still so poorly because of their previous bad diet and the environmental and hygienic conditions they lived in. To reward them for their overall improvements, we welcomed the school’s proposal (approved by child protection) to send them to the sea for a week in July. It’s a big step (as well as a bit of an effort financially) that we can take, given that these kids have never seen the sea. It’ll definitely be something they’ll remember for a lifetime. June is also the month of the “Tabãra tineret 2018” (kids’ camp 2018). It’s incredible to think that it’s already the third camp since Bethesda was founded in 2015. From 27 to 30 June we’ll be with 30 kids from Rebricea and Pădureni in a mountain resort in the Carpathians for three days of games, sport, music, Bible stories, walks; this year we’ll also discover the talents each of these kids has! Pray that the Lord would protect us throughout our stay, and that we would return to tell you about the wonders that our heavenly Father has shown us during this special time. My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into diverse temptations; Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. James 1:2-3 God bless you. Orazio [Translation by Renée Schalks]
- Il caldo si fa sentire quindi anguria per tutti! / The heat means watermelon for everyone!
