Update on our sponsor child

I wrote about this in an earlier blog, but this is an update I sent to the Mission of Mercy/Bethesda staff. This is also for all of you that haven't gone back through the archives!

I just wanted to let you know how encouraged I am by a former sponsored child. Back in 1994 (when I was running Bethesda Christian Broadcasting), I went on my first trip with Mission of Mercy – it was to Romania. That trip impacted my life greatly. When I got back, I told Mission of Mercy to send us a child from Romania. We sponsored Lavinia for 7-8 years, until she graduated from high school (sometime in 2001-02). Her last communication to us, at 16, was that she wanted to be a computer programmer and that she prayed for our family every day!

About a year ago, I returned to Romania for the first time in over 13 years. I happened to ask the director if he knew what happened to our sponsored child. He knew of her and arranged to have her come in to meet me. She was 23 years old, a delightful young lady, that had completed her college education as a computer programmer. She led one of her college instructors to Christ. She is now working for a web consulting firm in Romania. She said she hesitated when she was offered the position because she would be the only Christian in the firm – but then she felt like God said that was exactly why she should take the position. Later, through communication with her firm, the director of the firm volunteered what services they could provide for our web site free of charge. Lavinia remembered that I had three children – two girls and a boy – but couldn’t remember their names. She thanked me for sponsoring her all of those years, and said it really made a difference in her life.

Last week, I got an email update from her. She has survived economic cuts at the firm, and is now the only programmer on staff. She is also nearing completion of her Master’s Degree. She also shared that she is going to a mission’s camp in Kosovo this summer. Her family is doing well in the Lord, even though some of them (she has six siblings) have been laid off.

I was just so encouraged by her email. She is now a friend on Facebook and I have linked my daughters Kate and Emily with her and I'm hoping they can get to know each other. You never know what happens when you sponsor a child, but Lavinia is just one example of how God uses Mission of Mercy in the lives of children. They grow up and have opportunities that they never would have dreamed of otherwise. Whatever your role is in child sponsorship or support of Mission of Mercy, please know that you are making a difference – and you’re changing hearts and lives.