Giving hope - Travel report Romania
- Antje
- vor 6 Tagen
- 9 Min. Lesezeit
Last week I was able to travel to Romania relatively spontaneously with a group. You can find out why I was there and what we experienced in this article.
On Thursday, 18.04.2024, I left early in the morning, even though the plane wouldn't take off until the afternoon. But that's the way it is with more then one self-employed person in the family ;)
A few hours later, I met the group I would be spending the weekend with at the gate shortly before departure. The only people I knew more or less vaguely from previous interviews were Simon and his father Albert. (You can listen to the podcast episode with the two of them here or on our YouTube channel).
We used the time before departure to at least introduce ourselves and get to know each other a little better. To be honest, I could only remember about two of the nine new names straight away and hoped that this wouldn't be too noticeable.
Most of us were sitting relatively far apart on the plane, so I was able to catch up on the sleep I had missed due to the early start to the day.
When we arrived in Iasi, we were warmly greeted by two members of staff from the “Lahai-Roi” boarding school before taking two minibuses in the direction of Victoria, where the boarding school is located. During the journey, I was able to find out a little more about the people in the car and was immediately given the next task for an interview.
At the boarding school itself, Albert and Simon in particular were greeted enthusiastically by the obviously enthusiastic children. It is immediately clear that the two of them are part of the family here. During the trip, Albert was referred to as “boarding school grandpa”, and he really is. His warm interaction with the children, whose language he understands to some extent, fascinated me from the very first evening. His love for these children is obvious and he is not someone who would hide it. On the contrary: he sees every child and treats them like his grandchildren.
After a filling dinner, I soon went to bed, while some of the group enjoyed the company of each other a little longer.
The next day, part of the group stayed at the boarding school for some meetings with the local team, while the other part set off for Cioca Boca in one of the minibuses. Our plan was to help the pastor from Iasi to deliver aid packages to some of the poorest families and to visit these families at least briefly.
But before that, Albert took us on a stopover at a monastery in Hadâmbu so that we could at least do some sightseeing. The buildings were elaborately and impressively decorated. Devotional chanting from the loudspeakers accompanied us every step of the way. But as beautiful as the place was, all the artistry couldn't disguise the fact that it was empty. There were only a few visitors in the courtyard at the back. But the real emptiness, in my opinion, was that this place, as beautiful as it was, was only built for religion, not to strengthen faith or provide refuge for seekers. We can build beautiful and imposing buildings, but if Jesus is not at the center, then these buildings remain empty.
We received much more warmth and cordiality from the poorest people in the area. This made me realize again how irrelevant the place of worship is as long as the heart is right.
In the first family we visited, it turned out shortly after we arrived that the grandmother had died only a short time before. The mother of six children, including a pair of twins who were only a few months old, had her hands full as she herself grieved. Her husband is at work all day to provide his family with at least the basic necessities.
Albert, the founder of the boarding school in Iasi, translated for us into German what the woman and the pastor who accompanied us were saying. This was a challenge for the man, who is just over 60 years old, as he also came from Germany and had learned a lot over the past few years, during which he had repeatedly flown to Romania. Nevertheless, he did his job well so that we always understood the gist of the conversation.
His warmth was not limited to the children and staff at the boarding school, but also extended to the families in these compassionate circumstances. Albert has no fear of contact, but meets people at eye level - no matter what social class they belong to. His childlike ease in dealing with his fellow human beings moves me deeply and encourages me to approach my counterparts more; to think less about my effect on others and more about making them feel seen and valued.
On this day, we visited eleven families who had experienced different stories, but all had one thing in common: they were living on the breadline. The pastor, Sandel Stoica from Iasi, and the employees of Lahai-Roi give them more than practical help through the aid packages consisting of various foodstuffs and financial support. They are passing on hope.
Countless impressions and a lunch accompanied by singing and Albert's piano playing in the local church later, we headed back to the city. There we met up with the rest of the group and some of the boarding school staff to have dinner together and enjoy the company.
In my opinion, this dinner was also more than just a relaxed evening in good company. The invitation to the restaurant showed appreciation to the boarding school staff for their dedicated service to the children. After all, free evenings are understandably not very common in a boarding school with over 40 children.
Afterwards, we rounded off the evening with a walk through the beautiful old town of Iasi.
That evening I fell into bed dead tired thanks to the multitude of impressions.
The next day, a Saturday, was reserved for the inauguration of the new gymnasium, which the Werner Erkes Foundation had sponsored for the boarding school. A church service with contributions, songs and verses memorized by the children opened the day. The room was not only filled with children from the boarding school. There were also some visitors from the area and even some parents who came to the celebration.
All the contributions were translated either from German into Romanian or from Romanian into German by Adi, a Romanian who works as a translator in Germany, for which we Germans were more than grateful.
However, when Albert literally acted out the story of Abraham and Lot for the children, I had the impression that a translation was not really necessary. The children were literally hanging on his every word. Werner and Cedric, the heads of the foundation, and one of the children were also included in Albert's story.
The gymnasium was then ceremoniously opened with the cutting of a red ribbon and immediately flooded with children who had a great time letting off steam. But the adults didn't miss out either. Balls flew around, children laughed, adults chatted and enjoyed the children's exuberance. Some of the adults were even tempted to join the children on a romp through the hall.
I was able to talk to a member of staff at the boarding school, who fortunately spoke English and Russian, as I had never learned Romanian. Natasha had grown up in a children's home in Moldova and had come to Romania about three years ago to study and had come across the boarding school, which was still in need of staff. Her story fascinated me and made me grateful that I was able to grow up in a good environment with more than enough possibilities and opportunities. She herself had not been so lucky. But instead of feeling sorry for herself and giving up, she fought her way out of the quagmire of her life as she had known it until then and decided to help others who were in a similar situation to hers.
Because of her background, she understands the children at the boarding school much better than anyone who can look back on a good and healthy childhood.
It makes me grateful to see how God uses flawed circumstances and people to make himself great and bring hope into this world. Because even if the children at the boarding school may not yet fully understand how lucky they are to have someone like Natasha around them, they will hopefully be able to recognize it when they look back on their time at the children's home.
Natasha is not the only one who invests her life and her heart in these children.
For example, I never saw Coco, another member of staff, sit down once during my entire time at the boarding school. He was always on his feet, carried children in his arms, drove the children to school early in the morning and even made sure that we got something to eat as a group in the evening. He seemed to know his tasks inside out, took time for us, whose daily lives were somewhat disrupted by our stay there alone, saw what was needed and managed to do all this and more with a smile on his face and usually, as I said, with a child in his arms.
Every one of the staff, 11 of whom are full-time employees, 5 who help out on an hourly basis and a few more who help on a voluntary basis, invests themselves fully in these children, rejoices in their progress and suffers when setbacks occur.
One of these setbacks is a new law enacted by the state. It states that social cases may not be accommodated in a private boarding school.
These new laws came about mainly because there were repeated scandals involving Romanian children's homes where children were neglected, crammed in and malnourished. The government rightly wants to remedy these abuses. What is being ignored, however, is that there are boarding schools like Lahai-Roi that really care about the children and do their best to give them a good future.
The change in the law has serious consequences for the children at Lahai-Roi. They are not allowed to stay overnight, but have to return home to their poor conditions every time. This creates even more work for the staff because they now have to pick the children up from home every day and bring them back in the evening.
This means that the children have to return to poor conditions, to homes without parents, to a life with a minimum of hygiene, if any attention is paid to it at all.
Showering, brushing teeth and washing clothes alone would take up a large part of the day under these conditions, leaving much less time for homework, games and personal relationships among the children and between the children and staff. However, all of this is not only important, but essential for the children's development.
I was particularly fascinated by the personal relationships and it became clear every day how much the children need and enjoy this precious time.
Not only are Albert and Simon loved by the children, who visibly enjoyed every second in the presence of the two men, but also the staff are obviously one of the pivotal points in the children's lives.
My time in Romania moved me deeply, even if it was only brief. The Lahai-Roi organization with all its employees, opportunities, donors, areas and of course the Werner Erkes Foundation is a great blessing for the Victoria area and especially for the children.
Of course, I only got a small glimpse of this organization with its many areas of work, but what I saw still resonates today and makes me certain that Lahai-Roi, together with the Werner Erkes Foundation, are doing their best to give the children a future that they would otherwise probably not be able to have.
The work and its impact remind me of the verse from Jeremiah 29:11: “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.”
If you would also like to support Lahai-Roi in giving hope and a future to the children and families there in Romania, then take a look at their page. They can also be found on Instagram, where a team goes to great lengths to share news, information and insights in a creative and easy-to-understand way.
In addition, there is of course always the option to donate and support the work directly.
But above all, you can support, carry and strengthen Lahai-Roi through your prayers. We can plan, invest and implement, but if God does not bless us, none of this will be of any use. That is why I would like to ask you to pray with us.