Her name is Esterra; like Ester in the Bible. She is three years old and has the most harmonious giggle and brightest smile of any child you have ever known. I have knighted her as the cutest child in the entire world. She is one of nine brothers and sisters ranging from 3-24 years old. Her father has schizophrenia and because of it can’t hold down a job. She is a little shy and all too mischievous. She loves to pretend to cook and watch me eat her invisible platters of delicious nothingness. She has just started to let me pick her up and twirl her around.
This is Esterra’s sister, Timiana, or Timmy for short. It took a full morning of taking pictures of her to pull this beautiful smile out from under her frowns. She normally has a permanent scowl on her face and ignores anyone who tries to pursue her. I imagine she has to fight for attention amongst her 8 brothers and sisters at home, so she uses anger and irritability to attract attention; good or bad. She loves my team leader, Joshua, mainly because he constantly pursued her with love and compassion until she broke. Now she doesn’t leave his side.
This is Ionut (pronounced Yonutz) and his love language is physical touch. We just celebrated his fourteenth birthday and it was absolutely priceless to see his face when we brought out a cake adorned with lit candles. Who knows when the last time someone bought him a birthday cake or if there ever was a time for that matter. He has nicknamed my teammates Colby and Joshua James bond and Justin Timberlake, respectively. He has the kindest heart and a smile that stretches from ear to ear. We recently learned that his dad beats him on occasion.
These are just some of the faces of the children I work with every day at the Potter’s House. The Potter’s House is an after school program for extremely poor children. The Mayor’s office of Timisoara recommends these children based on income of parents and home life. They come to the Potter’s House Monday-Friday, for about 5 hours a day. We help them with homework, teach English lessons, have Bible studies, and simply love them as Jesus loved the children. Although they seem forgotten, the Lord has placed a special place in their hearts to be divinely pursued by Him, and He has called my team to join Him in that pursuit of their love. A simple hug, peck on the check, word of encouragement, or a gentle ‘God loves you’ speaks more to these children than any sort of English lesson. Romanians put a huge emphasis on relationships, and it has been a tremendous blessing to start a personal relationship with these children in hopes of leading them to an eternal relationship with their Heavenly Daddy.
