Over 3,000 people are homeless in the country of Romania.
Romania (MNN) ― Patrick Klein with Vision Beyond Borders recently took a trip to Romania. His work with VBB's orphanage there and the many homeless children in the country exposed him to the dire situation he had only heard about.
"We went to Bucharest and were able to work with the street kids. Currently, there are over 3,000 people living in the streets," Klein said. "We took sandwiches to them. We went around and prayed for them and really were able to minister the Gospel to them."
Of these 3,000 people on the streets, many are children. Klein said this is because of the terrible state of the economy there. Many people have lost jobs and cannot feed their children, so they send them out onto the streets to fend for themselves. Or women divorce or lose a husband, and when they remarry, their new husbands do not want the children from the previous marriage, and those children are also put out on the streets.
"Kids live in sewers in Romania to try to stay warm in the winter," Klein said. While visiting, he saw several kids living in the sewers. The team brought them food, and before they ate, they bowed their heads and thanked God for the food.
"How many American kids who live in beautiful houses and have plenty of food to eat...give thanks to God for what they have?" Klein asked himself.
Many are open to the message of Christ. However, to cope with this hopeless state, many turn to drugs for escape. When asked what they wanted most in the whole world, they said deliverance from their drug addiction.
"It's just heartbreaking when you see a six-year-old child with a glue sack in his hands sniffing glue, and knowing he's burning up brain cells," Klein said.
As he ministered to these children, he envisioned what VBB and, ultimately, Christ could do for them.
"Just seeing these people that are hopeless and being able to share the truth of Jesus Christ with them--hopefully these people will come to Christ...and be delivered," Klein said. "We really need people to agree in prayer that these kids will be set free. Then we want to have a long, ongoing work to help get them off the streets, find housing for them, and maybe even put them in orphanages until they're old enough to go out on their own and provide a living for themselves."
VBB currently has an orphanage in Romania, and Klein and his team spent some of their time ministering to the children there. They helped the orphans with their greenhouses and their vegetables, and they also fixed the sagging roof of the orphanage and winterize it for the upcoming cold weather.
As VBB begins this long-term ministry in Romania, Klein said they are praying for God to open the hearts of believers in Romania and around the world for these orphans and homeless.
"The Bible says in James 1 to take care of widows and orphans is pure religion in the site of God," Klein said.
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