Day Two - Visiting with the Stanca Family

Today would mark the beginning of three days in which we would visit the foster families.  A year ago the children that lived at the House of Hope had the opportunity to go to live with their very own parents.  Staff members made the transtition to full time foster parents for the children.  Instead of a situation where a rotating staff worked with the ten children, the children now would have foster parents and gain the individual attention they would need. 

The team divided into pairs and the three oldest children from Ana's House, Sanda, Oana and Radu would act as guides and translators for the pairs.  I paired up with Sherry, we brought Ioana with us and Sanda guided us to visit the Stanca family.  Using the kids as guides for the team is really an amazing thing.  Over the past ten years mission teams used to come to Arad and provide projects and summer camps for the children.  But now the project has evolved to where the oldest children are actually participating in mission along with American team members.  I found out that this would provide a tremendous opportunity for the team members to get to know the older children much better and in turn find out about their lives, goals and ambitions for the future.

Sherry and Sanda

Before eating with the family we played a game of Remy.  Remy is much like Rummikub.  However, the rules are slightly different, as seems to be the case in all games that we play with the kids!  I, for one, never played Rummikub so it was impossible for me to get a grasp on the situation.  I paired up with Andrada and Sherry was paired with Sanda.  Plenty of laughter ensued as Sherry and I tried to pick up the game!

Hoiny was there with us as well but she was involved in playing with her dolls nearby.  Hoiny is just one more success story in the history of Global Hope.

In 2005 she had been found in a facility in Arad.  Her mother had abandoned her and she was placed with children with disabilities.  She was gluten intolerant and Bill and Kelli Nixon, who were Global Hope missionaries at the time, happened upon her.  They were touched by this child and the apparent need for help in her life. 

When Steven's House opened up it created the opportunity for Hoiny to become part of the Global Hope family.  And this brings up an important point in how God works and how hard it is at times for us, as humans, to understand His scope of wonder.  Over the past few years many people have lamented to me about the closing of Steven's House and the House of Hope.  However, we can't control the global economy and financial crisis.  But if Steven's House had never opened, even if it only operated for roughly a year, then Hoiny may have never left the instituion where she was located.  Can you put a cost on the life of a child?  Take a look below at the difference the Stanca family has made in Hoiny's life.



Hoiny in 2005

 Now Hoiny is in a great situation.  Gabi shared a story with me about how difficult it was in the beginning formulating a diet for Hoiny that was gluten free.  Over the years they began to slowly introduce gluten back into her diet.  This past spring they had some blood work done and sent to Germany.  The results came back that Hoiny was now 90% gluten tolerant!  As Gabi told the story to me tears came to her eyes.  As I translated for Sherry tears came to my eyes.  And as Sherry understood the story the same happened to her!  Gabi feels that God intervened on Hoiny's behalf because the doctors can not offer a reason why she can now handle gluten in her diet. 


Hoiny in September 2010


The other children with the Stanca family are Ionut and Flavius.  Ionut was busy at work on the day that we were there.  He arrived back home in time for lunch and then headed off for a nap afterward.  Flavius is now about six feet tall and is still an awesome kid.  He has a heart of gold and was interested in how Pam and Ben were doing back in the United States.  The next morning as I was journaling about my day with the Stanca's I stopped and stared out into the courtyard of the House of Hope.  I remembered looking out into that same courtyard years ago and watching the kids play as I worked.  As I thought about how much Flavius has grown as a person my heart began to swell and tears flowed down my cheeks.  I remembered the days when Jacci and Pam used to tutor the kids and help with their homework.  Flavius used to get so frustrated with the process and would often end up in tears.  Now he is sixteen-years-old and getting ready to begin high school.  This trip was really beginning to show me how each of the kids has grown and the value of the people that are now in the lives of these abandoned children.  By far the most common remark I would hear from team members about the foster families was how it was impossible to differentiate between the biological children and the foster children.  That is a testament to a successful project.  Thanks God!

Andrada, Ioana and Flavius playing Remy