Showing We Care

The normal human reaction in times of hardship is to hang on to what we have in preparation for difficult days ahead. With the multiple crises going on in the world right now, one would expect and understand such a reaction from everyone, both active and nominal Christians. It is rare and encouraging when you see God’s children trusting Him for their stability and not being heavily dependent on secular wisdom. It was an encouragement to all of us at Bread of Life to see that our ministry friends are Kingdom-oriented, and did not withdraw but continued to help BOL and ministries like ours sacrificially.

Being part of Christ’s body makes us different. We are reminded in 1 Corinthians 12:12 “For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ.” As part of God’s body, we are served by you one of His members, and in return, we have the same dilemma in front of us, under the present challenging conditions. Do we look the other way when we see someone in need, hanging on to what we have for future hardships, or do we share with them in their present affliction? Personally, one of my favorite miracles that display the power of God’s body to me happened about five years ago when a ministry friend helped BOL in a difficult financial time, even though he was personally going through a hard time himself. Such dedication and love, along with your example of monthly support, encourages us not to look the other way. We believe we should wisely keep the children safe, and do as much as we can for others in need around us. They are also part of the same body of Christ and need us to show we care.

Through our Romanian network of partners, we share food, clothing, and hygiene items received to cover needs for as many as possible. But, sometimes, this is not enough. I want to share with you two unique situations that need our joint effort right now.

I recently talked to Magda, who ministers and serves around the Negresti BOL Feeding Center, and she shared with us the crisis of one particularly needy family in that area. A severe disease took the father way too early. The mother and her seven children and pregnant daughter-in-law were sharing the little place they called home. They used to sleep with a light on because the mother said: “The children are scared since their father died, and they need a light on.” The light being on was never a problem until 4 am one morning when a cable in the old electric system caught fire and started burning everything in its path. Florin, the older boy, has a unique medical condition that may have helped him feel the danger. He woke first and alerted everyone in the home. They fled the house through the windows and doors to save themselves from the flames. Praise God no one was hurt as they were only one tiny step away from a tremendous tragedy. In this remote village, there is no water system, so the firefighters could not quickly stop the fire. They needed to take water, bucket by bucket until a water tank could come from a town further away. This tragedy did not leave much of what used to be the house of Vlad and Carmen behind. Many in the village know Carmen from her practice of gathering old cardboard boxes to store and use during the winter to keep her family warm. Now they have only an old metal bed where they will sleep, and Carmen has sent her little children to stay with the neighbors for a while. As God’s body should care for the hurting ones, we want to join the efforts in solving their crisis.

Also down south of Romania, Mariana, who is part of our BOL team in the poor communities around Bucharest, shared with us how, as she was making food deliveries to low-income families and saw what seemed to be an abandoned house. Much to her surprise, she saw an old woman come out of the ruins of the building. With no one in her life to help her, she found refuge under the rubble of the decaying home. We desire to be part of God’s solution to help such poor and elderly. We pray to have the resources for materials and find volunteers willing to help rebuild these homes.

With your help, we can be the Good Samaritan to these hurting people showing them that God’s people care. Mark your donation with We Care Project, and we will wisely use it to meet needs like those described here.

Alin Panican