The same picture is painted throughout much of Romania. An 18-year-old Gypsy girl has three children and no way to take care of them. She abandons them with hopes that someone else will feed and clothe them. But often these children fall into the exact same cycle. They are sold into marriage while young. With no education or skills, they have no way to provide for their families.

The sequence continues for generations.

In 1999, a social worker named Michelle Sims sought to end this cycle. With support from Samaritan's Purse, she founded Children in the Son. The idea started as a private Christian orphanage, but since then it has morphed into many different things. The organization takes care of abandoned babies, provides medical care for children, pays for educational experiences, and provides a preschool and a home for boys.

“We don’t just want to take care of pregnant women; we want to prevent the pregnancy,” Sims said. “We meet their physical, educational and spiritual needs. We pay for all their educational needs, and we now board Roma boys to send them to high school. The village where we are working currently has a 0 percent literacy rate, so we’re seeing the first-ever kids start to read and write.”

The latest Children of the Son project is an educational worship facility that will function as a Christian preschool and afterschool where children will have a worship time and learn about the Bible from a youth pastor. It will also provide adult literacy training and teach useful skills to women.

Right now, the building is still in progress. The first level has been built, and the concrete has been poured between the first and second levels. Samaritan's Purse recently donated $5,000 toward the roof.

“We don’t require the kids to do anything,” Sims said. “We just provide them with Christian role models and examples. They’re taught the Bible. We can’t force them to go to church. We just live and love. Our ministry is very evangelical.”

The ministry has also been successful. In the past year, one of the girls from the ministry got a job that has benefits, and four boys got diplomas to be mechanics. The ministry also saw its first Christian wedding among the Gypsies.

“My hope is that they’re going to see they’re loved and they’re worthy and that they too can do something for themselves,” Sims said. “We want to teach them how to work so they can eat. My hope is that they all become employed as a result of us raising the standard of living from illiterate to literate and that we see these mud huts and malnourished situations gone.”

Samaritan's Purse , Romania , Children's Ministry , Raising the Standard