Caminul Felix - People News

„God blessed my life even more”

2009-12-17T10:56:00+01:00

My name is Timea, I am twenty two years old and I have been living at Caminul Felix since I was six years old. I was born in a disorganized family, with many familial problems. I was living with my mother and her family. My father was always in jail. When I was five years old, my mother committed suicide for reasons unknown, and six months after her death, my grandmother died because she was ill. I was left with my grandfather, who was working all day long, so I was staying inside the house all day, by myself. One of our neighbors saw that it wasn’t right for me to stay home alone all day, so he told grandpa about Caminul Felix.

My grandfather brought me to Caminul Felix, where my life changed completely. I received a new family and parental love, a mother, a father and sixteen siblings. Besides the family and love that I found, I also met God here. While growing older, I realized that one cannot live this life without God, so I accepted Him in my life when I was twelve years old and got baptized at fifteen.

Later there came a difficult period in my life, when I had many personal problems and health problems and I didn’t know how to handle them, so the only way out I knew and upon which my thoughts were feeding during nighttime, was suicide. I was thinking about my mother and at the fact that she had committed suicide. But God was constantly reminding me that I am precious in His sight, that He loves me and that I have a new future. Thank God I didn’t take that wrong step.

After I finished high school, I wanted to study journalism or music at the University in our city, but God opened a different road for me, so now I study Journalism at the Eastern European Bible College in Oradea, 3rd year. I chose this Bible College so that I can grow my relationship with Christ and to learn Media in a Christian environment. But God blessed my life even more when I met Răzvan at the College, a boy studying theology, who is now my fiancé. With God’s help we will get married on May 29th 2010. After I finish College I would like to work as a graphic designer.

I am thankful to God for changing my life, for giving me a new future and for taking care of me through my Felix family.

He did turn into a pearl

2009-10-06T12:21:00+01:00

“Raising Teo, I have learned that once a grain of sand reaches inside a shell, that grain turns into a pearl” – these are the words I was writing about Teo five years ago. Now I can say that these words still hold true in our lives as parents and I am sure in Teo’s life, as well.
Teo became that precious pearl, which many regarded as a miracle, admired for its beauty and for the way it came to life. When I say beauty, I’m not talking about the external beauty one can possess, but rather about the beauty of his character, the beauty of having him walk along in God’s will, being pure and totally dependent on God’s will and purpose for his life.
In 1997 God brought Teo in our home and in our family. At the time he was just like the grain of sand I was talking about: wanted by nobody, a grain moved by the current of the sea in all possible directions; through human eyes he was the regular, unnoticeable grain of sand, but God saw him being more than that: he was an unpolished pearl.
Teo’s mother died in 1995 and, as a result of that, the father was overwhelmed by the situation: Teo and his younger sister were motherless and uncared for. The relatives decided that, for the time being, it was in the kids’ best interest to be separated from their biological father and started searching for a more appropriate environment for the children.
The first two years after Teo’s mother passed away were quite difficult. Teo and his sister had no place to call home and mom and dad were nowhere in sight. All this time Teo was separated from his sister Ana, and they both lived wherever there was an open door for them – remember the grain of sand moved by the current? So the two years came and went, and Teo was still changing sleeping beds, anywhere from friends to relatives and sometimes even strangers who heard his story.
As I mentioned earlier, in 1997 God brought Teo and his sister at Caminul Felix and into our home. He was just 12 then, now he’s 24. He graduated from high school, and soon after that he was given the opportunity to study in the United States. A couple of months ago he graduated from Anderson University earning a degree in business-management.
This year, in the month of June, Teo got married and he is now working on a project at Caminul Felix.
Looking back, I can see the long process Teo had to go through. In order for him to understand God’s plan for his life, Teo was to keep an open perspective on life, being ready and willing to change to whatever God was asking of him.
He did turn into a pearl, because just as in Proverbs 16:3, Teo entrusted God with all of his plans, knowing that only God could place him on the highest rock.

The God who takes care

2009-08-08T14:15:00+01:00

The promise the Lord made in His Word (PS. 68:5), that He is the Father of orphans and the defender of widows, is perhaps the most beautiful and comforting promise made in the Bible. This promise is fulfilled every day for three children in our home, which do not have parents - they are orphans. Adrian of nineteen years old, Madalina - thirteen years old and Emanuel of eight years old are the ones that experience the way in which God takes care of them every day.
Each of the children has a different father, but in their birth certificate a dash takes the place of the father’s name: none of them had been acknowledged by their fathers. Their mother died when the youngest of them, Emanuel, was only a year old. The oldest was fourteen at the time and Madalina was six and half years old. All three were left without a mother too. For a short while, their grandmother and great-grandmother took care of them. The grandmother was ill and poor and had no means of taking good care of the children. She wanted to take care of them and keep them with her, but it wasn’t possible. We found out about the desperate situation of the children and we looked them up, as they were living in the same village my wife came from, and she knew them well. We talked with the grandmother and the children and we decided together that the best for them was to be brought to the Caminul Felix Foundation. We explained to the grandmother that she could visit them any time she wanted and that they could visit her too, especially during vacations.
Understandably, the older children were affected by the death of their mother and were in the beginning upset and introverted. But in time they integrated well in their new home, along with another nine children. In His kindness, God helped these children not to be left on the streets, especially because their grandma had gotten more and more sick. When they came into our house, we had three empty places: one for a girl and two for boys; they fit perfectly in these places. We realized that it was God’s will for them to be here.
The years have passed so quickly and it seems like yesterday when they came, but now the three children are big: Adrian is finishing high school in Oradea, Madalina is in the fourth grade and Emanuel is in the first grade in the same school with his sister.
Looking back to these years full of hardships but also joys, we can only say that God helped us and He will surely continue to do it.

Maria writes about Dani, one of her sons:

2009-06-14T12:28:00+01:00

Dani Maftei is part of our family since spring 2002. He was born on March 13, 1993, in a family living in a small Romanian town. His life conditions were tough, as Dani describes them in his own words: “In wintertime, when it was very cold and we didn’t have any heating, we would go out thinking that if we have fun we could get warm too.” His parents didn’t have jobs.
About his father’s behavior Dani states: “My father was often aggressive. When he came home late at night, we would all wake up, as we could hear him screaming from far away. That is why we feared getting close to him. When he was drunk, my mother would protect us by taking us to our grandma in another town.” This sometimes happened during the night.
About the food he says: “My sister asked me to go with her at night to steal bread from our neighbors.” Later on, the siblings ended up needing medical care for 8 days in the hospital, because of their father’s beatings.
Of course, Dani has some happy memories from his childhood: “My father and I went fishing every summer!” But the multitude of the bad memories make him be thankful for the fact that he is in Caminul Felix, where he can be “able to sleep in peace every night” without any fear, even though, as all the teenagers yearn, he would want more freedom.
Dani’s life is a lot different since he is in Caminul Felix and his future holds bright prospects. He is now the best in his high school class; he is pretty talented at drawing and has obvious technical skills. Since February he is a teacher helper at Sunday School in the church we go to. He still has some fears that keep him from giving his life entirely to Jesus, but he hopes to overcome them soon.
Please join us in our prayers for Dani!

Elisabeta tells about Patricia

2009-04-13T13:30:00+01:00

Patricia Balog is one of our daughters. She came to our family seven years ago. She was born in 14 July 1998 and came to Caminul Felix, Santa Cruz House, in February 2002 with her two sisters. She is the second girl in her family.
Patricia’s father died, and their mother left them locked in their home. Patricia was just three and half years old and her oldest sister five, and the youngest one just one and half year. In a short time their neighbors heard the children cry and called the police department, they forced the door and took out the three children, starving at that time.
Their mother was put into prison for reasons we do not want to write about. In a short time the children came into our home. Patricia was fighting the force of rejection and very shy; she stood by herself, backed up toward a corner of the room, bashfully looking at the other children.
When she talked, just few words came over her lips. She answered our questions with just yes or no. However, in a short time she started coming alive, realizing that here was love and care, and she was given food and attention. In a few months she became very open, a smiling child. Now she is in the fourth grade. She loves to sing, to play with the others and she is learning well.
What a change in Patricia’s life!

Viorel Babău, Husband and Dad

2009-02-07T13:27:00+01:00

My name is Viorel Babau and I am 25 years old. In a few words I would like to tell you some aspects from my life.
I came to Caminul Felix when I was eight. Here I knew and felt for the first time the love and security from the people involved in this work. Also here I met people who changed and influenced my life in an extraordinary way. They are Marcel and Eli, my parents from Caminul Felix.
Now, I am a father. I got married when I was nineteen and am so proud of my family.
Being married I can realize how important it was to be raised in a Christian family, and the fact that I have needed support from the parents.
I have a five year old boy and his name is Cezar Luca, and a wonderful wife named Ioana.
I am so thankful to God for both of them.
Three years ago I graduated from college and now I am in a Masters program for Management. I remember when I was in the last year of high school, my father, Marcel, came to me and asked what were my plans for the future. I told him that I did not know yet.
He strongly encouraged me to continue my studies. I followed his advice and today I am a Sales Director in a company and I am doing pretty well.
Thank God for Caminul Felix and for the upbringing and education I got here. The loving commitment of the people to raise the kids at Caminul Felix is the best there is.
This year, my family and I were blessed with a small piece of land from the city hall to build a house. It’s a challenge for us, especially now with the economic problems, but I trust God whose economy is never in recession.
God bless you all.
Viorel, Ioana & Luca

Child story

2008-12-15T15:02:00+01:00

Greta Maria Cuc is one of our 14 children. She is 9 years old.
We brought Greta and her twin sister in our family when they were 18 months old. Greta and Marcela lived with their mom for a very short period of time because she abandoned them in the hospital when they were just few months old. From there they got into a state orphanage. Their mother’s life was disorganized and short of most commitments. We don’t know anything about their father. When the little babies most needed a mom, to show them love, to teach them how to walk and how to speak she left them. They were 18 months of age when they got in our family but they didn’t know how to walk or talk. I remember they even didn’t know to smile, they were crying almost all the time.
Growing up in a loving environment, they developed very well and a smile came on their faces. Now Greta is a very happy little girl and she has always a big smile on her face. She is in 4th grade and she enjoys going to school. Both of them are full of energy, they bring much joy into our house each day, and they are a blessing for us

Child story

2008-10-15T13:28:00+01:00

My name is Laura Moga and in the next lines I would like to share with you some things that I experienced during my time in Caminul Felix.
I remember that I was 13 when I came to Caminul Felix being so shy, frightened and without any hope for the future.
After a while I discovered that the family I came to understood me, loved me and appreciated me for whom I was. The relationship with the parents and with the other children from here became very strong in a short time.
I finished high school and now I attend the school in order to become a nurse. My desire to practice this job is because I care a lot for people and I enjoy working for them.
The years I spent here in CF made me more open to others, more generous and I learned to care about others’ needs. I want to be a sustaining force for others like those who used to be for me at CF.
Here with my loving family I have the chance for a better future; I have someone who guides me and watches over me.
Together with my family I started to go to church and when I was fifteen I met Jesus. I was baptized after a while and I started to attend the church in Sanmartin.
During the vacations I went with my family to camps at the seaside and in mountains and I have a lot of beautiful memories about that for my whole life.
I met my boyfriend Florin last year and we married on 28 June this year. I find very difficult to be separated from my family and Mom and Dad at CF but I know that it is the right time now to start my own family. The years spent here will always remain in my mind as pleasant memories.
Before I stop I would like to thank all who have supported and loved me during the time at CF. I want to thank my parents, especially my mother who is a real friend for me. I am thankful to the sponsors who prayed and offered financial support. I thank God and all involved for the time and presence of my family!
Thank you again to you all.
God bless you!

About our new child

2008-08-15T12:43:00+01:00

One of our children is Haica Ana-Maria. She is the only girl in our family so far and she is 10 years old, in the third grade at the elementary school. She came to our house in November 2007 together with four of her brothers: Andrei, Cătălin, Florin and Tony.
They came from a family with a lot of problems where they suffered physical and emotional traumas because of abuse. They have two more brothers who are not in our family, and they cannot come for the time being.
Their parents, who left them and went to Spain to work, abandoned the children. After some days the children were collected by The Child Protection Committee and put in a State Orphanage. After six months they came to our house.
Since Ana came to Caminul Felix and our family she has learned many good things. She is eager to learn new and beautiful things. She likes to talk, to tell stories and to ask questions. She likes to learn at school too. After she came to our house she needed a period of time of adjustment with us and with the house. Slowly she started to see our house as her home.
Being eager to learn many new things she has learned to sing. Ana has a nice voice and she likes to sing together with the other children. We have already as a family visited some churches with a small program in order to present the Ministry and the children enjoyed it very much.
When Ana came to our family the prayer she knew was “Our Father”. Now we have taught her to pray with her own words before the meals or before she goes to bed when we have our devotional time together. There is great confidence in knowing that you can speak to God from your heart. A wonderful thing is that Ana has found peace in her life, and the security is taking away the fear and sadness of the past.
Since Ana has received God in her heart she has learned that if she brings her problems and needs in prayer to God, God will answer her prayers. She wanted so much to get a phone call from her mother and prayed for that and in a short time her mother called her. During one of the phone calls Ana has told her mother that she prays for her to find God.
Ana now understands that God will never abandon her and this makes her feel secure. This gives her confidence.
We are happy for God’s grace in her life and that He allows us to live for her’s and all the children’s best.

Delia and George Toldan

2008-06-19T11:20:00+01:00

Delia and George Toldan are biological brother and sister and they have been in our family since 1992. They came to our family after their mother and sister died in a fire accident. At that time Delia was 3, a beautiful girl with big blue eyes, and everybody loved her. She grew up normally, with good results in school – she is now finishing high school and is preparing to go to medical nursing college. George was only 4 months old when his mother died, and he was ill with tuberculosis. It wasn’t easy to convince the authorities to allow us to keep him in the family, but all ended well and in two year’s time he was cured of the TB. George has a personality of his own, an impulsive and dominant personality and is now sometimes a rebellious adolescent difficult to work with. He is not doing all that well in school, not really being interested in school activities. He’s biggest passion is driving, but he also likes computer games very much, and movies (not always the best ones). One unhappy event that marked them was the death of their biological father in January 2008. It is a tough time for them and they need all the support from their family and friends. We invite you to support them in this hard time through prayer to the good Lord.

GABRIEL – a new challenge

2008-04-14T12:46:00+01:00

Gabriel Magyari is the youngest of our children. He came into our family last September. His story- as most stories of the children from Caminul Felix – is a very sad one. Gabriel was born on June 8, 2005, and was abandoned when he was born. His biological mother never wanted him and she never showed any interest in him. Gabriel spent his first two years in a hospital. He knew nothing more than suffering and rejection; he was so ill that the doctors gave him no chance of survival. Gabriel didn’t receive the love of the parents, he didn’t have anyone dear to stay beside him when he went through difficult moments and he didn’t get to know the sweet comfort of his mother’s arms. However, God didn’t forget him. He gave him life, He healed him and we are quite sure that He has a special plan for him. When we saw Gabriel for the first time, we were so surprised how tiny and small he was. Even thugh he was over two years old, he wasn’t able to walk by himself, he wasn’t able to speak, his weight was 16 pounds (8 kg) and you couldn’t see anything but sadness on his face. The diagnosis was severe psychomotor retardation. Gabriel has now found a family and the progress he makes is obvious. He started to walk by himself, he now eats properly, sleeps peacefully, he loves to be held and walk outside, he loves his toys and he loves to play with the other children. Gabriel is strong proof of the fact that lack of love destroys and makes you ill; on the contrary, love cures, love makes you soar, love makes wonders.

Ionela Nemeti

2005-04-29T11:55:00+01:00

Touched by freedom,

I am Nemeti Ionela and I was born on 18 February 1990 in Marghita, a city about an hour’s drive north of Oradea. I come from a family with two sisters and two brothers. Before I came in Caminul Felix I was in social centre for children. We were there all of us from the family. It was bad because we could not get out of the fenced off place more than twice a week. We longed for those visits in the town, and after that we had to go back into our rooms again.

One day a couple, a man and a woman, came after us and picked up from there and so we arrived in Caminul Felix. The couple was our new parents Adrian and Alina. They brought us home, out of the centre for children to our family. That day was for us like one of freedom!

Here at Caminul Felix life is good and time runs so fast for me. Now after almost three years my life has changed. My sister and brother are with me. I live with good conditions, am free to attend a good school in town, and able to go to church on Sundays. That has become important in my life.

I want to belong of God with all my life and I want to belong to my family.

thoughts by Ionela Nemeti,
daughter of Alina and Adi, the Hancock House

Maria

2005-01-29T12:50:00+01:00

Hi! My name is Maria Gabor and I am 15 years old. I was born 1989, the year of the Romanian revolution. I am glad to be able to share some thoughts about my life and how I came to Caminul Felix.

My grandmother is a Christian, but the rest of the family is not as I can understand. Grandma was dear to me, but she was ill and weak. When I was a little girl my dad used to violently beat my mom very much. My grandma didn’t want my dad to beat me as well so she took me away, to an orphanage. I lived there a few years. That was a state orphanage and most of the children were wild as it is in these places. They were all fighting and swearing. Also I was forced to fight and scream, and we were threatened by what they taught about God and death. I was afraid. To see a church gave me a feeling of fear.

Finally my grandma came and took me with her. She saw how my life was and what it did to me. She told me that I have a cousin and I can stay with grandma and play with my cousin. So she convinced me to go with her.

I remember those days when much was poor and food was scarce. It was cold in the house and my grandmother was very tired and weak. But with God’s help she and I lived through it all. Grandma and I prayed together and that was good. After a while my grandmother had to take me to a hospital and leave me there. She was unable to care for me any longer. At this time I started to pray to God to give me a better life.

One day a man and his wife came to see me, and they said they wanted to come back to see me more. I didn’t know who they were. But after they had come to visit me a few times, they said they would like to let me move to their house. They even said that they would be my family. I was just a small girl at that time, less than eight years old.

We said good by to the nurses and the children in the ward, and I remember that I was shy. And then they took me to Caminul Felix Village. When I saw that place I was so happy ... I saw the houses and they were nice and bright on the outside and warm and clean on the inside. I was given a room and a bed, and I was shown how to live in a real family.

There I was given a family life. Something new started and it is good. Now I have parents and a family that provide so much for me. This is my story about my life for this far. At Caminul Felix there are many stories and so many lives that all tell about what has happened. We think we are blessed by God. We are so thankful.
Greetings, Maria