MONTH 5: ORADEA, ROMANIA
This month Family Force 6 is serving in Oradea, Romania, a quaint city in the northwest corner of the country. We are working with Caminul Felix, an organization that gives orphaned and abandoned children a family and a home.
The majority of our ministry will be working construction on new homes in the morning, then spending time with the children in the afternoons.
Lovin' the early morning construction in the chilly winter weather!
Let me give you a small glimpse of how amazing this ministry is…
Picture this. You’re 24 years old, newly married. You have a huge heart for children so you talk to your spouse about being house parents with Felix Family Villages. You apply, you interview, and you’re selected. You move into your house. Within a week’s time, you are given 16 children. Each child has a different story, different needs. Now you’re mom and dad.
Forever.
This is the story of Mitchel, our contact this month. He and his wife have been parents with Caminul Felix for 20 years. Since they were 24 years old, they have been “professional parents” who have dedicated their lives to the 16 orphans entrusted into their care. Once a family has formed, they stay together. The parents don’t get new kids when the theirs turn 18; they invest in their children for a lifetime.
Felix Family Villages are all about family. Here is their mission and vision statement:
Vision of Felix Family Villages is to meet the physical, spiritual, emotional and social needs of the orphaned and abandoned children of the world, in a loving environment.
The Felix Family concept is an expression of the love and care from the parents, the leaders and the social workers at the Felix Family Villages. It is also an expression of how God’s loving presence brings healing and restoration to everyone.
Millions of children of all ages have been left abandoned by unfortunate circumstances. In this abandoned state they live their lives in despair and loneliness. The suffering among the rejected children is our calling. We believe that their only hope for full life is to be given a new, real family, with a mother and a father, and with the security and caring love a family can provide. The environment they can be given at the Felix Family Village is this. And it transforms their lives.
With two Felix family villages in western Romania and one in the south of Thailand, Caminul Felix has been nurturing the physical, spiritual, emotional and socio-economic needs of the orphaned and abandoned children since 1990.
Caminul Felix is an independent, Christian organization with ties in Australia, Norway, Sweden, United Kingdom and the United States. The organization relies heavily on private and corporate financial support and sustains an extensive network of international volunteers.
For more information, visit their website at http://www.caminulfelix.org.
So that’s the gist of our ministry this month. We’re serving with 2 other teams and staying out in the middle of nowhere. It reminds me a lot of Wisconsin- corn fields, cows and cold! More to come on our living situation (pretty much the best- ever!) and my runs through the corn fields… Until then, here's some pics:
Round bales…in our backyard. Can I say FUN?!
Early morning train.
Nicole and I explored downtown- it's beautiful!
