Saturday morning, as we drove down the alleyway at the back of the house we were going to visit, we looked ahead, and there were several children standing expectantly at the gate. There was no doubt which residence housed Mia’s Children! We were met with sweet cordiality, escorted into the house by half a dozen kids or so, each one shaking our hands and making introductions on the way. We were overwhelmed by their kindness and struck by their self assurance. Were these the “abandoned children” we’d heard about??? As we came into the house, we were warmly greeted by Mia Scarlat, or Auntie Mia, as she refers to herself with the children. She tenderly introduced us to her husband, Costel, and then we began to hear about this extraordinary ministry.
In the summer of 1998, Mia had completed another school year as a teacher. She was very much looking forward to her summer off. She was resting and heard the voice of the Lord say to her, “What are you going to do about the children?” She tried to “shake off” the feeling and shut her eyes … and ears, but again the question came, “What are you going to do about the children?” She new exactly what the Lord was talking about. She’d seen the children that lived on the street in her neighborhood. They weren’t officially abandoned, but they were nevertheless abandoned for all practical purposes. These kids were from very poor homes whose families were too impoverished to be able to care for their own children. Many of them were from gypsy families. Some were from families with mental illness, depression, alcohol and/or drug abuse. Sometimes the home was not safe; there was violence and abuse. These kids had been abandoned to live in the street and fend for themselves. At this point, Mia approached her husband and told him what had happened and asked him what she should do. His response? “If God called you to do this then follow Him as He leads.“ From that moment on, she began to reach out to the kids on the street around her home.
Soon she didn’t need to go find the children. They were coming to her. The dedication of this amazing couple knew no bounds. The exhausted their available resources in their effort to feed and clothe the kids. Soon they found it necessary to sell their house in order to keep food on the table. Currently they have 20 children living in their rented house. They feed another 12 in the old neighborhood where they used to live. If you want to pause a moment and do the math, you’ll find that’s 32 children being fed three times a day. Mia and Costel are making close to 100 servings of food each and every day! Their compassion knows no bounds!
The philosophy and wisdom behind caring for these kids is something to write home about — so I will! Mia is determined to keep the relationship with the parents open whenever possible. As long as the children can be safe. Her hopes are that the children will come to understand and know the love of the Lord and they will be able to take this newfound peace and joy back to their parents. She concertedly teaches the children about Christ hoping the parent will see the change in the kids and come to know the Lord themselves. She believes God called them to try to change lives by the wonderfully self-sacrificing love known in the Bible as agape. Mia and Costel believe it’s not good enough to talk about the love of Christ; they must SHOW it … live it! Mia mused that Jesus was one to initiate relationships. He reached out to those He ministered to, so Mia sees it as her job to be salt and light in a world of darkness. Her focus in this ministry is that Jesus is everything. Mia doesn’t permit the children to spend nonproductive time judging their parents, but she is trying to talk to them about making good choices. Her motto: Don’t blame the past; make good choices for yourself. One beautiful byproduct of this philosophy is, now that she and Costel have been ministering for ten years, the original children she brought into her home are now growing up and taking responsibility to care for their unofficially adopted siblings. One helps Mia drive the children. Another hopes to be a lawyer in order to help with the legal issues unique to the abandoned and practically abandoned children. Another is attending college in order to get a degree in social work, so she, too, can assist her siblings and others. Part of the reason these older kids are pouring their lives back into Mia’s Children is simple. Mia has always taught that, “It is not enough to receive. It is very important to give.”
But here’s where things begin to get hard. Other than the help of the older children who are now entering their adult lives and choosing to remain, there is currently little assistance coming to Mia’s Children. Mia and Costel have carried the burden, joyfully, for ten years, but difficult times are ahead. Costel caught Hepatitis B and it went undiagnosed for years. Now he is in the final stages of cirrhosis of the liver. He doesn’t have long to live. Mia’s most dedicated and compassionate partner will be leaving this earth and going into the sweet presence of the Lord very soon and she will be alone. Of all the ministries we have visited to date, this is the one that has caused me to shed the most tears.
Because of the imminent needs of Mia and Costel, and the abundance of fruit already evident as a result of the sacrificial love of this dear woman and her husband, we are even now concertedly working to find a pastor, a church, an individual, anyone here that can intervene. The needs are large, and they are for today, but they are also for the future.
I want to end this blog with one vivid illustration from Chuck: “While visiting with the children one young boy of 5 or 6 took an interest in me and spent some time showing me artwork the children had painted. We did the best we could to communicate with his limited English and my limited Romanian. At one point, he noticed my water glass was empty and took the glass out of my hand and rushed off to the kitchen with it. A few moments later, he came back and handed me a glass full of water. The verse from Matthew 10:42 suddenly came to mind, “And whoever gives one of these little ones only a cup of cold water …” The Lord humbled me as I began to realize the little one, the least of these … was me.
Prayer Requests:
That the Lord would be merciful in taking Costel to be with him. That his passing would be sweet and without pain, and that Mia and the children would find great consolation in the Lord.
Today (6/24/09) we talked with the pastor of the Baptist church we attended on Sunday in Bucharest. We have explained the physical and emotional load that Mia is bearing, and he will be seeking to network with people within his church to help in those areas. But we also realize Mia has deep and pressing prayer needs. She needs to be upheld by us as she walks through the next days and weeks. Pray for Jesus’ sufficiency in her weakness, and for the meeting of her physical, emotional, spiritual and financial needs.
Pray for the longevity of this vibrant and effective ministry. That the Lord would raise up others who would catch the vision for this particular type of ministry in this country and respond to that call.
Pray for the children who are now entering their adult years. That they would continue to walk as they’ve been taught, and they would be faithful to give as they have been so blessed to receive. Pray they will be able to succeed in their goals in education and life’s work to assist Mia with younger children. The next generation may well be one of the ways the Lord will allow this ministry to endure.
