Greetings!
Greetings, and I hope that this finds you well today, and in good spirits on this most beautiful and blessed of days.
First of all, I would like to thank you for looking over this newsletter for the Protection of the Theotokos Family Center. It is my wife Ancuta's project here in Cluj, which is for the prevention of abandonment of children. Currently she has about 30 families in her program. Many of you already know about it and have asked for her newsletter. I hope that you will not mind having it in your mailbox from time to time.
Andreea, Stefania, and Maria
"The First Steps of a Dream"
Twenty one year old Andreea was only 6 years old when because of the poverty in her village her parents moved from the village into the city to find a better life.
Unfortunately, life in the city became even worse for the family, and eventually the father abandoned the family. The situation became overwhelming for the mother and children. Andreea left the house in her early teens and began life on the streets of Romania. At age 17 she got into a relationship and soon found herself pregnant. When her boyfriend found out, he abandoned her to her fate. Andreea tried renting a place with a group of friends but found that she could not cope financially and asked for help from a maternal center. This was when her case was first brought to our attention, through our caring for little Stefania, her newborn child.
The young mother needed much more than financial help. We quickly saw her need for affection, acceptance, and help in organizing her personal objectives. But we also began to see that she was not taking her role as a mother very seriously, and that she was taking little responsibility for her families' future. When we encouraged her to continue her studies or to get a job, she seemed unmotivated. In her quest to find a healthy nurturing home life she was instead becoming a slave to short term relationships and one night stands. We soon discovered another reason that her attention was not on her little girl. She was hiding the fact that she was pregnant again, and was secretly planning to give the baby up for adoption. But God seemed to have other plans for her. It was only after she gave birth to Maria, her second daughter, that she allowed The Protection of the Theotokos Family Center to become actively involved in helping her to change her life.
Because she was pregnant, they were admitted into a maternity center until Marie was born, and then we took her also into our program. We found a sponsor that paid a few months rent for family, till Andreea could find a job. Then, she went back and finished her high school. Today she is living independently, and taking care of her family. Andreea has finally found the acceptance she craved through our PTFC 'family'. She not only changed her mind about keeping her baby but started to take responsibility to learn how to make a good home life. In a time when Andreea was lacking any resources, the spiritual and material support that she received through the Protection Center was a strong motivation factor in her decision to keep her second baby rather than to abort, or give it up to the state for adoption. Now, little Stefania and Maria have a chance at the real home life that Andreea dreamed of.
Their life is not easy, especially since most of her salary goes toward paying the rent, and she still struggles with the fear that she will not have money for food or for other daily expenses. But she knows she has a real chance thanks to PTFC and people like you who give sacrificially to help her learn how to achieve her dream of a happy, healthy home life.
Adreeana, Stephiana and Marie
I will close for now by wishing you a most blessed day, and with the hope that our most gracious Lord will fill your heart with every good thing from His heavenly treasures.
Thank you for your interest in our work, please do keep us in your prayers, we all need them.
In His Love,
One Day at a Time,
Floyd & Ancuta Frantz, OCMC Missionaries to Romania
As as a final note, please remember that as OCMC missionaries we are 100 % reliant upon your financial support to continue our ministries in Romania and Alaska. Please consider a small gift through OCMC so that we can spend our time doing the Lord's work.
If you can make such a donation, send it to:
OCMC
220 Mason Manatee Way
St. Augustine, Fl. 32086,
Please mark the donation "Frantz/Romania" so that we can have full use the funds.
Online and credit card donations are possible also. Thank you.
And please feel free to pass along our email to others who you believe might be interested in our work here in Romania.
If you would like to contact us through email, please use: Stdimitrie@yahoo.com for myself and the St. Dimitrie Program, or Ancutafrantz@yahoo.com for Anca and the Protection Center.
I am also shedding my dinosaur skin, and Twittering. If you too do Twit, just hit the link and it will put you over to my page.
Twitter Link
Please also go to the Orthodox Christian Mission Center web site at www.ocmc.org to read online about our missionary activities here in Romania.
