In September, 2018, Hand of Help was blessed to see Robert and Ionela S (who have been with us since 2014) being reunited with their other two siblings. If only you could see the joy in their eyes when they heard that their brother and sister will be joining them at the orphanage!

When the Child Protection Agency contacted us, our team went to the local emergency center for single mothers and that is where we first met Dumitru and Teodora. Their mother was heavily beaten, her eyes darkened from all the bruising, with one ear cut and barely able to speak. With the little breath she had in her lungs, she implored us to take her children and protect them.

The sight of the children next to their mother was disheartening. Lost glances, tears dried on their cheeks and hardly able to mumble their names...the children were afraid to speak – anything! Their father hit them violently anytime they tried saying something and now they are mere images of the children they should have been! Witnesses of so much violence, abuse and hardship, Dumitru and Teodora were reluctantly watching us from a corner of the room, uncertain of the future to come.

One reality sent shivers down our bodies – in a few weeks, the children were supposed to go back to their abusive father. Even though the local authorities had him come in for questioning, he was not charged and only given verbal reprimands.

We decided to take the siblings into our care and offer them a place of safety next to Robert and Ionela. We have seen children miraculously surpassing the trauma in their lives and being able to grow up harmoniously even when there seemed to be no real chance of that and we knew we had to offer these two children the same opportunity.

We immediately started counseling and other activities to help them integrate into our center. Teodora was born in August 2012. Being two years older than her brother, Dumitru, we have noticed how careful she is with him and how she is always looking after him with a genuine maternal instinct. It took us almost two months to see her smile for the first time. She is a sensitive girl in need of all the affection she can get and we are grateful to see her steadily progressing in all aspects of her life – social, emotional, educational, medical, etc.

The day the mother came to visit them for the first time at the orphanage was precious! Moments like that make us realize once more the importance of the work we have been entrusted with and that you selflessly support – she was thankful and at peace knowing that her children would not have to spend another day in the company of an abusive and indifferent father. With your help, she was able to keep them safe and we thank you, along with her, for making these testimonies possible.

Please join us in praying for Teodora and her family that He would guide their steps and keep them in His arms for all their lives.