If today there are over one hundred children residing at the Hand of Help orphanage, it is due only to the mercy of God. We are ever thankful for His faithfulness toward this work, and for your continued support of it. We have seen His amazing hand at work, over and over again, intervening at the right time, and bringing about a miracle. It is hard, and we have some debts, but our children have never gone to bed hungry. They are happier than many other children, who due to poverty, are abandoned by their parents. These are parents who love their children, but who can no longer watch them going hungry. In other cases, and tragically more than ever before, parents are taking their own lives because they can no longer bare their desperation.

In the last few weeks, the Child Protection Agency here in Romania, brought six more children to the Hand of Help Orphanage, asking us to take them in. The parents of one of these children died suddenly, while the other five were abandoned. In both cases the children were found months after their abandonment, so it will take us some time to get them back to health. I watch them with pain in my heart, asking myself if they will ever be able to forget what they have been through. Yet, when you look upon their faces, you see gratitude in their eyes toward God.

They are safe now, happy and healthy as well. I know I cannot express myself sufficiently, but all I can do is bring praise, honor, glory and thanks to God! Although times are hard, I know that together with you, we will be able to provide for these extra children as well. God has offered these children an opportunity through his work, and my prayer each day is that we will be able to provide safety for even more.

I thank God for speaking to your hearts, and thank you for your obedience. I thank Him for the victory, and joy He gives daily. We are His children, and we must be thankful.

Virginia Boldea

My name is Nicoleta Mandru, and I am very happy to be able to share some of the most important events in my life through this letter.

I was born on March 31, 1984, in the city of Bacau. I come from a family of 10 children, and I was the seventh child born to my parents. I lived in Botosani, at the Hand of Help orphanage, and I am very grateful, along with the other children, for the wonderful living conditions that are available there.

In 1984, my father died and my mother was no longer able to provide for us. This is how I came to live in Botosani, in this wonderful orphanage, with these wonderful people. I came here in 1996, along with three of my brothers. I thank God every day for giving me a new father and mother which show their love for me every day. They are wonderful people, blessed of God, who give their best for all the children living in the orphanage. In the orphanage, the children, along with the teachers, and the other employees are a united family.

They are wonderful people who teach the good path of life, how to have an appropriate attitude in society, in the family, and in the church of God. I went to the church, which is located on the orphanage grounds, where I sang in the choir, and enjoyed the presence of God during every service.

May 6, 2001 was a day of blessing for me. It was the day I was baptized, and the day I decided to serve my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ all the days of my life. From that day forward my life has changed radically, and I thank God for my new family in this church as well.

I consider myself a very happy and blessed person for being in this orphanage. I had everything necessary in order to be content and happy. I had food, clothes, heat, gifts, and all these I received as from the hand of God.

Through the hard work of people I have grown to love, like the teaching staff, the medical staff, and everyone else working there, God has molded me into a person with a new perspective concerning life, and one who has a blessed future. May God bless them all!

I would once again like to thank God, as well as all those working with Hand of Help. Last but not least, I thank my mother Virginia Boldea whom I love dearly.

With love,

Nicoleta Mindru