The beginning...

This past March I traveled to the country of Moldova with a group from my church. We were the first group to go and it is my prayer that the Lord continues to bless our church with the opportunity to do work in this amazing country. Moldova is a small country landlocked between Ukraine to the east and Romania to it's west and is the poorest country in Europe. It has also been noted as being "the engine" of Human Trafficking.

We spent a lot of time in orphanages throughout Moldova, teaching older children (those about to age out of the system) the dangers of Human Trafficking while also spreading the love of Christ. One of the orphanages we visited was located in the separtist part of Moldova called Transnistria. Transnistria is a breakaway territory located on the eastern border of Moldova. Their sovereignty is not recognized by any other member of the United Nations and the country has no official diplomatic relations. They are referred to as Europe's "Black Hole" country. Basically, no one recognizes them. They do not exist. Oleg (founder of New Hope Moldova) and his wife, Marina (both Moldovan citizens) have established a relationship with the director of this particular orphanage (Popenki). They were able to arrange for us to go and spend time with some of the younger children.

My heart cried out with compassion as I looked into the faces of these children. I layed my hands on as many children as I could and prayed that they would come to know the Lord and His love for them. I prayed that they would find hope amongst the conditions they lived. I prayed that they would overcome all affliction and find famlies. EACH and EVERY ONE!! We have a BIG God and He can do BIG things!

Little did I know, God was at work in more ways than I would have ever imagined.

I took my camera and captured a picture of a 7 year old little girl who has become the face of our adoption and the face of this blog. Her smile has become a constant reminder of God's love for us. It reminds us that there is hope and to never give up on her or any other child. I found that like many institutionalized children, this little girl had an aunt. She was not (by law) "orphaned" and could not be adopted. Her aunt still held rights to her. Sadly enough, this is the same story for a lot of orphans especially those living in Moldova, the poorest country in Europe.

I left this orphanage like I had left the others except with a child's name and small piece of her story.

Still, completely unaware of the Lord's mighty hand at work.

I was on the plane headed home still unaware of what more was to come of my trip to Moldova. Unaware of the love God would instill in both our hearts for a country we had once never heard of.

But God was still at work...

While reading a Sky Miles magazine there in the center of the page was a picture of a little girl with a very familiar smile. The corresponding article was about a charitable Christmas event held by a company for the children of the Popenki Orphanage. Yes, it was the same little girl!

After my trip we felt strongly about where God was leading us to adopt.

It's simply our desire to give a child in need what every child deserves, a home and family to love them. James 1;27 says to look after orphans and widows in their distress. The Lord actually commands us to care for His orphaned children!

After a few years of talking about adoption and praying that God would lead us, we are happy to announce that we've started the adoption process. To Moldova, of course!