Canteen |
| September - October 1999 |
| The
canteen for poor children is ready to open any day. It is in the Dacia district of Iasi,
which is the poorest area of the city. Teodora Andreescu, who has been our faithful worker
at the Emanuel orphanage for two years, will supervise the work there. The local
authorities gave us the use of a former day care center. We have cleaned and painted it,
and bought tables and chairs, and it looks beautiful. We still need to buy a freezer,
refrigerator, stove, dishwasher, pots and pans. We hired two new workers, who will help
Teodora. We will start by feeding forty of the poorest children whose parents have no
income, and who beg for food. Their names were given to us by the authorities. These
children, some of them as young as five, will be registered and issued a pass to eat at
the canteen. The staff will wash them, cut their hair and nails, give them a change of
clothes and send them to school. They will also hear the gospel every day and be taught to
sing and pray. We called this place Cantina Betleem - House of Bread. Pray with us that the children’s plates will always be full of food. We are very thankful for the many wonderful gifts we have received for the orphans. We are allowed to sell up to 10% of the goods we send to Romania, to raise support for the orphanages. The proceeds then have to be entered back into the books of the mission and tax paid on the sales. We do not allow donated items to be sold, but only items which we have supplied ourselves. This gives us the freedom to sell our books and cassettes in shops and thus to reach children all over Romania. Last year these sales brought in about $900, three quarters of which was from book and cassette sales. Though it was not much, it did help the orphanage to buy milk and to pay for the gas. |