“The only happy time we had at the orphanage was when we slept,” remembers Visinel Balan, now an adult. Visinel grew up in one of the many state-run orphan institutions during Nicholas Ceausescu’s dictatorship in Romania. …
“If God Loves Me, Why Did He Take My Parents?”
“Uncle, if God loves me, why did He take away my father, my mother and brother from me?”The twelve-year-old boy wasn’t even fighting the tears that spilled from his upturned, searching eyes.
Elena and Alexandra – Would their abusive father follow them to their new home?
As she hurried after a social worker and away from her father’s violent alcohol-induced abuse, Elena cast a furtive glance over her shoulder at the house as they left. It was the last place they’d seen their mother before she passed away just weeks earlier. Would her father follow and find them?
How Casa Dorca Built a Family Environment this Summer
Nestled in the rolling countryside of beautiful but rugged rural Romania is ITMI’s Casa Dorca Orphanage. Casa Dorca is more than an orphanage. Casa Dorca is a family.At Casa Dorca, the older children don’t bully the younger ones, they watch out for them.At Casa Dorca, the children are raised with grace, not fear. At Casa Dorca, the older […]
5 New Children Come to Casa Dorca!
Imagine you are an orphan in Romania. Maybe you’ve been begging on the streets in a big city. Maybe you’ve been recently removed from your home because whatever family member you were with couldn’t take care of you anymore. But if you were one of the blessed ones who got to go to ITMI’s Casa Dorca Orphanage in rural Prillipet, Romania, you’d probably…
From the Archives: Visiting Casa Dorca – 1993 & 1997
In the late afternoon, Dr. Nick took us to Prilipet (pronounced, “Pray-lee-pit”) near Bozovici, to see a building that used to be an orphanage operated by the Baptists. It was built in 1927. In 1950 the communists closed it down and marched the forty children to…
What’s Different About Casa Dorca?
Cipi (pronounced “Chipy”) was 12 when he came to ITMI’s Casa Dorca Orphanage in Prillipet, Romania with his brother and sister. One of his earliest memories was…
Giving Spotlight: American Widow May Go Hungry, but Provides for South Sudanese Orphans
God put the situation of 3 orphaned children living with their grandma on the heart of ITMI’s Jahim Buli, giving Jahim the opportunity to be part of the provision of school fees for these orphans in an unexpected way and from an unexpected source.
Praying for Parents
Ten-year-old Ayasha had been through a lot in her single decade of life. Her parents were both taken from her by the sweeping epidemic ripping its way through the Zulu people of Zulu Natal, South Africa. After her mother passed away, she’d gone to live with her grandmother. A widow responsible for 7 other children, Ayasha’s cousins and siblings, her grandmother was having a hard time feeding them all.
The Surprising Story Behind a Beautiful Smile
You’d never believe it, but behind this wonderful smile is a story of hardship and pain. Andile was born with Spina Bifida, and is disabled from the waist down as a result. He lives the same community as ITMI partners, Kelly and Cherise Smith in Zulu Natal, South Africa.
