Choosing Between Opposites

I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live. Deut 30:19

I recently read an article about the adolescent population in Romania and it is common for teens to drop out of school due to lack of resources.  Many other pressures pull these young people away from their education including the need to help their family survive.  Romania has one of the highest teen pregnancy rates in Europe and many marry at a very young age which helps continue the cycle of poverty.  Unfortunately, this has become the reality for a girl very close to my heart. Four years ago she was an innocent ten-year-old girl.  Now, she is a wife and mother. This is the reality for so many young girls in Romania. 

 There is a great contrast between the story of the little girl above and the stories of the young women enrolled in our Youth Transition Program.  Bread of Life recently expanded the YTP to welcome more youth who graduate from the Orphanage program. This was a big step of faith, but we serve a faithful God who always provides. Each teen enrolled becomes part of a strong community of family and friends who help them grow into healthy adults. Our hearts are so encouraged when we think of those who have graduated the Youth Transition Program and have entered into Christian marriage, the work force, or even support the ministry work in some way.  The Bread of Life staff, along with volunteers like me, will continue to provide relief to those trapped in a cycle of poverty but nothing is as satisfying as putting young people on the right path.  We know that we are working toward an end result for their lives which is the very opposite of where they were going.

Raeghan B.