JMI is looking for a Transitional Living sponsor for Mihaela Lacatus.
Mihaela (pronounced Me-hi-yela), began her life in Moldova as the daughter of a loving father and mother, in a home she remembers as loving and understanding.
When she was three years old, however, her father died. Faced with this loss of income, her mother sought work in Russia and left her and her brother, Veaceslav, in the care of her grandmother (a common occurrence among Moldovan families in dire straights).
Four years later, when Mihaela was only seven, she got the news that her mother had been killed in a car accident in Leningrad where she had been working. Her grandmother, now without any source of income other than her paltry retirement stipend, was forced to place the orphaned children in the Straseni orphanage, just outside the capital city of Chisinau.
Life in a Moldovan orphanage can be horrifying or redemptive, depending on a child’s situation, resiliency and the character and devotion of the facility’s staff. Orphaned children, or those whose families are impoverished, will appreciate knowing they will be served three meals a day, even when those meals aren’t very nourishing. They can tolerate the overcrowded rooms, unsanitary toilets, limited opportunities to shower and bullying that are part and parcel of orphanage life because there simply are no alternatives for them. But ultimately, tolerable or not, they will age out of their placements and be forced to fend for themselves as best they can, often succumbing to life on the streets or human traffickers.
JMI’s Grace House was a godsend for Mihaela. Because of the desperate nature of her predicament, she was accepted into our transitional living program without the full support of a sponsorship. Today she is enrolled in a computer science trade school and dreams of finding a job that will allow her to provide her brother and herself with their own home once again.
If your spirit resonates with this deserving young lady and you are able, would you consider stepping into her life with your prayers, monthly correspondence through JMI’s user system, and a (full OR partial!) commitment of $ 190/month? If so, please contact Rachel.Trammell@
In the end, you may be the very person God had in mind for Mihaela all along!
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