A letter from Mary Ferris in Romania
March 8, 2009
Dear Friends,
Today is International women’s Day. For most of the world, this day incorporates the American notion of Mother’s Day, but it’s far more inclusive. This is the day when all women are honored. Girlfriends go out together, bosses honor their female employees, everyone honors their mothers, sisters, wives, girlfriends—no woman is left out. Today I wish to thank and honor all the thousands of women worldwide who support the NOROC foundation where I serve. In the United States, women serve: in Presbyterian World Mission in Louisville, on NOROC’s board of directors, as pastors of many churches who support our work, as session members of sponsoring churches, as members of our work teams, as knitters of clothing, as collectors of thousands of toys, as donors, as passionate advocates for “the orphans,” as people who pray for the children, as workshop leaders for training sessions, as sponsors of individual youth, and on and on. I think of the dozens of hostesses who have opened their homes to me when I travel around the country. Most of all, I am thankful for the hundreds of women I can now call friends because of our mutual connection helping the abandoned and abused children here in Romania through NOROC.
In Denmark, the list of women supporters is much the same. Every year women organize tremendous donations for the centers. There are women who sponsor individual youth, who write letters, who make beautiful handcrafted items, who give thousands of Christmas presents, who sponsor NOROC representatives in their homes when we travel to Denmark. The women from Denmark have important relationships with the city leaders here in Tulcea, and the many cultural exchange programs have resulted in a progressive democratic city government in Tulcea.
Of course, here in Romania there are also hundreds of women who make a difference in the lives of the children. Our board of directors, the grannies, the teachers, the small-group leaders, the many volunteers and professionals—they all make a difference in the well being of the hundreds of children. Thanks to every woman today for taking the time to care for children who literally have no mothers.
Mary was invited by this young actress to attend a special Mother’s Day performance by the local private performing arts school.
I received a surprise invitation to attend a special mother’s day celebration put on by the local private performing arts school. The invitation came from a young lady who, thanks to NOROC, is taking acting lessons from this center. She invited me as her mother. Since this recital was three hours long, I had plenty of time to sit in the audience and reflect on how much this young lady has changed in one year. It makes me appreciate more than ever the team approach we have at NOROC and the comprehensive outreach NOROC makes to these young people. We definitely use the carrot and stick, i.e. tough love method of motivating change. We recognize that no change can come without God’s intervention. This is why the prayers coming from all of you are so vital.
This year we have been concentrating on rewarding the youth when they take advantage of tutoring. We had an awards ceremony at the end of the second semester, and all children who passed were recognized, but those with extra good grades and good behavior received special recognition. It seems to have worked. Two young tough kids who quit school have now returned—thanks to one of the local high schools, which reached out and gave them a second chance.
The girl whose performance I went to see last year was the leader of the “smart-mouthed tough-girls club.” Last year school was boring, boys were all this 14-year-old seemed to think about. Her clothes and makeup were provocative. When I asked some of the girls one day last year what their dreams were, she said she wanted to be an actress. We made a deal that when school started in the fall, they could all take acting classes from the prestigious private art high school. The cost for one semester is 35 dollars. When school started, I took four girls there, but only one was serious about the program. Anyone who knows anything about the theater knows it is a huge commitment and takes up all your free time. One of the conditions for taking the theatre class was to also see our psychologist. I had my doubts about how this would work, but she is now one of the top students in her high school class, has dropped dating, doesn’t wear much makeup, smiles all the time, is even very loving to the younger children. She still has a rough edge, but when I saw her on stage today with all the other ambitious high school kids, I was proud. Her drama teacher is very patient with her, she is often late to rehearsals, forgets her costumes, but she is developing. In some ways, she is no different from the hundreds of youth I worked with in the United States—teens take a lot of individual carrot-and-stick attention.
Celebrating a Passover meal. Understanding our Jewish roots at Passover helps us appreciate the new meaning Jesus put on the breaking of the bread and the sharing of the cup.
We are busy preparing for Easter as Lent has begun. We are planning a special Maundy Thursday service at Sperantza that will include elements of the Passover meal that Jesus would have attended. We tried the Seder meal with our Thursday night Bible study because we are studying Exodus, and we had come to the Passover passage. This is where we got the idea for the Maundy Thursday meal. Our trial was very meaningful, as the elements of the Christian Communion service come straight from the Jewish ritual. Understanding our Jewish roots at Passover helps us appreciate the new meaning Jesus put on the breaking of the bread and the sharing of the cup.
We pray for the world’s economic crisis and for the millions of people who are affected. We are certainly feeling it here, as several local factories are closing.
This is the period of Lent for all Christians so I pray for the healing of this world, which can only be accomplished through the Messiah, Jesus Christ.
Peace and grace to you all,
Mary Ferris
The 2009 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 182
