A letter from Mary Ferris in Romania
November 18, 2008
Dear Friends of NOROC,
Inside St. Andrews Cave.
This past month was a great joy for me personally: My daughter Hillary was here with her fiancé, Dean. They brought delight into our lives and the lives of the children. We took an excursion took with our Bible Study group to St. Andrews cave, a fabulous trip.
The Danish city of Aalborg sent their annual donation of wonderful items. They have been sending donations to Tulcea every year since 1972. All the older children from the social apartments came out to help unload the truck. Among the donations a real filing cabinet! You cannot believe what a blessing this will be for NOROC. Along with the donations from the American team last year, we have a good start on Christmas for many children.
We welcome NOROC’s Petru Solca back from his month-long odyssey as an International Peacemaker for PC(USA). He traveled all over the Unitded States and gave over 30 presentations.
Our Thursday night Bible Study group has suddenly become the “in thing” for some of the older children from the children’s home Sperantza and the social apartments. When I get discouraged—and I do from time to time—I see that next generation of young people who have been transformed against all odds by God here in Tulcea coming along. The older youth are stepping back and letting the younger kids become a part. Since September, the newcomers in our group outnumber the older youth. Last week we had three new students come, brought by their friends. They come because a friend brought them—Evangelism 101—and they return week after week because they drink from the well of the Holy Spirit. They find a spirit of love and friendship and grow closer to God.
An awesome day with my daughter Hillary and her fiance Dean.
One unintended positive side affect here in Tulcea of Barack Obama winning the presidential election in America is that it is now cool to have darker skin. Several Roma youth have said to me with pride, “I look like Obama.” We may laugh at this, but it really seems to make a difference to them. In their eyes, they are dark like Obama, and Obama is really cool. I do not know if the same effect is happening in America. My wish is that they will identify with Jesus.
There are continuous heartbreaks. Sometimes I think my heart cannot break anymore. This month, three wonderful children were sent home to live with their mother, the same mother who had abandoned them, moved to Italy, and hadn’t visited them in many years. She returned from Italy and is now living with a man in Constanta. Probably because it is too much paper work, they have not been officially transferred but just sent to “visit their mother”—permanently. Their mother lives in another county, Constanta. Because Sperantza is overcrowded, this same heartbreaking shuffle happens over and over. There is a maximum number of children in a center, and when the quota is reached children are sent all over the country to make room for new cases. These three children are all well known to the American groups who visit every year. Georgiana is the first-grader who charmed us all last summer with her poetry and toothless smile. Daniel is her fourth-grade brother whose face is half paralyzed because when he had an operation to remove a cyst his facial nerve was severed. Sixth-grader Christy is the older brother. Christy is a brilliant young man with a grin from ear to ear. He is enthusiastically religious. Once when we were at the crowded Easter sunrise service with standing room only outside and the liturgy blaring from loud speakers, Christy said, “Mary, the priest is reading the story of creation.” I could not understand a word. He continued, “I know that story—the priest from Dunavatz told us that story.” The “priest from Dunavatz” is an elder in the Baptist Church who owns and runs the Sunlight Christian Camp. We send groups of children there every summer. Christy had attended nine months before and remembered almost everything he was told. He was an extremely positive influence in the children’s home.
Many hands make light work.
Now, I have no objection to these children being reunited with their mother, if she truly wants the children. However, because they have not been legally transferred, no one is monitoring them. They left for their visit over a month ago, in the middle of the school semester. As of now they have not been enrolled in school. I have made myself a pest regarding these children and finally found out the address of their mother from their social worker here. Anca, my former assistant who now lives in Constanta, went to their home and found they weren’t going to school. I will go next Wednesday with our social worker to see what can be done. Please pray for these three children. They are only three examples of the many children abandoned in the last few years when their parents move off to go to work in Europe. The abandonment of children here in Romania may have lessened since the communist era, but it is still a part of their culture to let the state raise their children when economic times are hard for a family.
Peace, not the peace the world gives, but the Peace of Christ
Mary
The 2008 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 163
