They Are Not Forgotten

We are excited to bring you this report about our recent delivery of food, blankets, cleaning solutions, and clothes to the Leper village of Tichilesti. This is not a new outreach for Bread of Life, we have been doing this since 2001. This year some of the children who came to the Orphanage years ago, who are now young adults, are able to help us make these deliveries. With the service of these young men from our Youth Transition Program, we no longer must rely on ministry friends close to the Leper village. The once vulnerable little children that we sheltered in our orphanage are now trust worthy young adults capable of completing ministry projects even when things get difficult. We are praising God for the work He has completed in their lives and the good example they are setting for the younger ones. It is a blessing to see their dedication and resourceful attitude.

On this delivery, as they were getting close to the Danube river which needs to be crossed by barge to get to the colony, they encountered a difficult obstacle. The ice on the river blocked the barge and the authorities were trying to bring it back by special ice breaker boats. When they called me on the phone I thought that the extreme cold, icy roads, and the frozen river would make them want to quit and come back to Bucharest. It was sad to think of the effort of the YTP girls and church volunteers who spent time preparing such delicious food going to waste. However, there are two kinds of people: those who try and those who persist. Our boys came up with a great idea that showed they shared our heartfelt concern for the elderly people in the leper village. They found an alternate route that doubled their travel time and so managed to arrive late to the village.

The few elderly people who are still there many times feel forgotten and left behind. For them to see the youth from Bread of Life was really encouraging. We feel that it is our duty to help our ‘grandparents’ as their strength gets weaker. When I asked our boys how it was, they could not stop telling us how they were blessed by these elderly, their kind words of appreciation, and they were moved by their sad medical conditions. We believe that this is the fulfillment of God’s word in Proverbs 22:6 “Train up a child in the way he should go; and when he is old, he will not depart from it.”

BOL-YTP Team

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