Hope for the Nations

Romania Medical Mobile Unit day

Brasov trip

Brasov trip

Romania

Imagine the gift of running water, winter warmth, or a hot meal… Imagine the gift of literacy…Imagine the gift of a peaceful night’s sleep, of knowing your children have a roof over their heads, shoes on their feet, and new faith in their hearts…

The revolution of 1989 left many families in the farm collectives of Romania displaced, under educated, and unable to integrate with the incredibly foreign modern society they had been unceremoniously thrust into.  Under these conditions how much hope can a mother or a father have for the future, for their children?  How much hope would you have?

Hope for the Nations – Romania has held a very special place in my heart ever since I began volunteering my time and resources with the organization over nine years ago.  During that time I have served, most recently, with Mark and Coreen and the Mobile Medical Unit, taking crucial Tuberculosis testing and treatment out into the countryside, and working on bringing much needed donations of medical supplies and equipment in from North American and Western European hospitals.  We’ve reunited orphans with their birth parents.  Our volunteers take photos of the families we help so they can have a picture of their history as a family.  I have helped raise funds for the annual Christmas hamper program that this year alone helped over 450 families.  Can you imagine that?

Working with Mark and Coreen Biech we are doing great work, and we can do more.  Please click on the links below to learn more about Hope for the Nations – Romania and how you can help.

One trip to Romania, while on a break during on one of our home renovation projects, I took a picture of the Bucra family.  Mother, father, and four children all stood together outside in front of the broken down scrap wood and chicken wire fence.  They stood there patiently, arm in arm and a smile on every face.  Even Dad.  You could see the gratitude and joy in their faces.  That’s why I was there, that joy.  That hope.  For all the world, I wanted to capture that moment.  So I snapped my picture.  And when our job was complete I presented the Bucra family with a framed copy of that very photograph, their first ever family portrait.  I hope you can imagine my joy in giving such a simple gift…