Four Siblings Stay Together (Romania)

At home, Toni, Alina, Dan, and Eva's parents would often argue and fight with each other until late at night. Most of their neighbors complained to the police about the loud noise coming from their one room apartment. They wrote a letter to the Child Protection Agency crying out for help for the children. They complained that their father was physically abusing the children and their mother. During one fight their mother had to take the children to her mother’s house for safety. In the middle of the fight, right in front of the children, their father broke a bottle and cut himself. (The children still have memories of the blood they saw that day.)

Their father did not care about providing food or anything else for his children. He moved in with his new girlfriend, leaving the children in the care of their mother. He came by just to start fighting with her. Their mother did not care too much as well. She did not have a job and the only support the family received was a meal once a day at a local charity; it was the only food the family received. Their one room apartment was in bad condition; they didn’t have electricity, water, or heat. It was filthy and the children walked around with unwashed clothes.

The oldest child, Toni, was already 7 years old and he needed to be registered for school. Their mother didn’t think it was important for her children to go to school, so she kept them home. The children were living in trauma and fear because of all that was going on in their home. The Child Protection Agency decided to take the children and give them shelter in a better home.

When the four siblings arrived at the Sanctuary Orphanage, the youngest child, Eva, was still breast-feeding. The baby had a hard time sleeping and learning how to live without her mother. The older children were glad to have enough food and to be able to put on clean clothes and take a bath. They only had a sink and a toilet in their one room apartment. I can say that the children learned what a shower meant at the Sanctuary Orphanage.

They have recovered well, and now they are going to school and kindergarten. We are proud of them! Not only for their changes emotionally and physically, but they have also met Jesus and invited Him into their hearts.