Divine Intervention

On a warm autumn day, heading to the Bread of Life Home in Brosteni with a team of volunteers, my fuel gauge warned me that I was about to run out of gas. While stopped at a gas station to fuel up, a child approached and asked for money. His name was Ionut.  

As I enquired about his family, he was hesitant to respond, but looking into his eyes, I felt there was a troublesome circumstance in his life, and I felt I needed to hear his story.  

Watching him closely, I observed that his eyes were different colors; one was green, and the other blue. This observation triggered a memory, and I knew I had seen him somewhere before. Then I remembered passing him in a village a year and a half ago as we brought three other new children into the Home.  

Ionut, now ten years old, his brother Albert, seven, and two older siblings lost their 29-year-old mother to cancer three years ago. The children, all fathered by different men, not present in their life, feel even more abandoned after the death of their mother.  

The children now stay with their elderly grandmother in a tiny house with two other families. Now neglect and abandonment are the only things these children have left in common. Indeed a sad family with many problems.  

These children were ignored and neglected by everyone, left with no education or direction, and now begging to survive.  

I quickly discerned that God had divinely coordinated this gas stop so I could meet Ionut and learn his story so that we could rescue Ionut and Albert and bring them into the safety of the BOL Home.  

Now that they have arrived in our Home, we must offer them the love and attention denied for so many years. Ionut and  

Albert are almost inseparable, always wanting to stay together, sharing the same room, and doing activities together. Evidence of having only each other to count on as they struggled against the hardships of life.  

Our next step is to help support the grandmother and older siblings we could not bring to BOL now. We can not replace the loss of their mother. Still, we can surround them with love, protect them and give them the Christian care they need to recover and develop mentally, emotionally, and spiritually.

Each year the beginning of school comes with many challenges for the Bread of Life Home team. Some of our students step into their teenage years, and we sadly say our goodbyes as they move into the Youth Transition Program in Bucharest.

At the same time, we open our arms to receive new children, such as Ionut and Albert. These children are victims of different family failures, and we are here to help restore their life, giving them a future, a Christian family, and a reason to dream.  

Your prayers and donations make it possible to meet the needs of children like Ionut and Albert. You help restore life and bring hope and light where only hurt, despair, and darkness once ruled.  

Glory to God for this divine intervention!

Dorin Ciocan