This month my team and I are doing what is called Unsung Hero Month. As the World Race grows they are in need of more ministry contacts around the world for future World Racers. The main goal of Unsung Heroes month is to look for "heroes" who are enhancing the Kingdom of God and specially if that "hero" rarely receives recognition for their dedication and service.
One Unsung Hero we met with is Cerbu and his wife Nadine. Cerbu is a Hippie Rockstar who had us laughing from the very moment we meet him. Before Christ saved him in 1994 he was a hippie Rockstar Druggie. Cerbu worked with kids who had AIDs and volunteered in orphanages. He had a heart to help kids who were in need and were in the streets.
"We couldn't remain indifferent any longer to the cries of street kids calling for help from the mouths of underground channels, from under dirty bridges and from crowded train station waiting rooms. One day we stopped, we gave them something to eat and we took a real interest in their lives. We said in our hearts "we have to do something". This cry turned into a small group of volunteers visiting kids on the streets which then grew into the founding of a non profit organization called "Mana"." -Cerbu
Mana Ministry was started in 1997, they have four branches of ministry. They work with the street children, they have a day Center called Ionel, Girls home called Osana, and a Boys home called Caleb.
In 1999 they opened their Girls home Osana to 10 girls under the age of 18. They brought these girls from their day Center Program. Their focus for the girls in Osana is to provide a safe environment for them to heal emotionally and spiritually, provide a good education, increase life skills, provide opportunities for social interaction and get them ready to be able to support themselves and are able to integrate back into society.
In 2006 they started building a Boys home called Caleb. Their vision for the boys home is the same as the what they have in the girls home. In the boys home they have a mini "zoo" where they have horses, donkeys, goats, sheep, emus, pigs, chickens, peacocks, geese, pheasants. Their hope for the farm/zoo is to help the boys learn responsibility by working, use for food, education and eventually have a petting zoo where the ministry can have a little income.
One thing that I loved about this ministry is that they try not to make the "homes" like a foster care system where the kids don't feel like they are in a family. It is more like a personalized family environment where the children can grow and enjoy be children. I was truly blessed to be able to learn about the ministry and work alongside Cerbu. A team would be blessed to be able to work with them.
You can partner with them by praying for:
*Finance to finish the Boys Home
*For house parents for the boys home. The boys home will be open in October 25th, 2014 and are in need of house parents and staff.
*For volunteers that are already working their
*For God to do a miraculous work in each of the kids in their different programs.
