The fall of 2017 brought three more children into our care. Cristian, Maria and Mihai M.H. used to live together with their parents; however, after their divorce, the court granted their mother sole custody and they were separated from their father who went abroad in search for work.

Soon afterwards, financial difficulties changed the course of their lives. An orphan herself, adopted at the age of two, the mother lost both her adoptive parents and was soon faced with complete loss of her housing, finances and work. Desperate and alone, she took her children and moved to a local housing center for single mothers in need. This proved to be a temporary solution and fearing she would have to live on the street, the mother decided to ask the local authorities to find a place for her children while she would leave the country to find work.

Her desire is to be able to come back and offer her children the home that they desire. However, until then, having no other relatives that could take the children into their care, we were asked to step in and welcome Cristian, Maria and Mihai into our family. In the light of so many changes, the children have missed school numerous times and they are in need of special care and attention – not only pertaining to their education, but also emotional support and personal time dedicated to help them adjust to their new home.

Being the oldest of the family, Cristian had to not only cope with his suffering and lack of a normal family environment but also watch his little siblings not being able to understand why they had to go through such difficult times. During his first weeks at Hand of Help, he proved to be a mature young man, easily communicating with our staff and rapidly becoming a part of our family. When he started school again, he managed to get along well with his classmates from the very beginning. However, one can still see the shadow of so many traumatic events that he went through in his eyes. We find him wanting more attention from the ones surrounding him, as if to assure him that he will not be left alone again. He is not always sharing his fears and challenges but we pray to our Lord that He will heal his heart and mind and will help him grow through each event in his life. He needs to feel the love, affection and security that only God can offer and we hope that He will meet him in his course and completely heal him, helping Cristian become a faithful servant in His Kingdom.