Former Romanian orphan shares her tale at Sellersville church
FRU /LYLa 6aWWeUfieOG, RSeQLQJ a shoebox opened up a whole new life.
6aWWeUfieOG, a IRUPeU RUSKaQ IURP Romania, spoke at Faith Baptist CKuUFK LQ 6eOOeUsYLOOe 6aWuUGay, Sept. 29, sharing her story of life in poverty and encouraging people to JeW LQYROYeG LQ 2SeUaWLRQ CKULsWPas CKLOG — WKe SURJUaP WKaW IRUeYeU changed her life.
“My mom put me in the orphanage at age 2, lived there for 10 years — 10 yeaUs RI KaWe, RI MeaORusy, RI aQJeU, RI sWeaOLQJ,” 6aWWeUfieOG told the small group that sat in the church’s pews.
6aWWeUfieOG GLsFusseG WKe OaFN RI food, hygiene and general happiness she and her fellow orphans faced each day.
“There were days where our food supply was very low and all we had was a piece of bread that was old and moldy,” she said.
“Our hygiene items were very ORw,” sKe saLG, QRWLQJ fiYe WR 10 FKLOdren shared the same bath water and towels, while showers often consisted of water being thrown at them from a bucket.
More so than physical items, the orphans lacked any kind of love or companionship.
“The one thing we all shared was the absence of knowing what it was
like to be loved,” she said. “We were dying for someone to talk to us, to give us hugs, to let us know we are as important as anyone out there.”
All that changed for SatWHRfiHOG ZKHN VKH ZDV 12.
Operation Christmas Child, a project of Samaritan’s Purse that distributes shoeboxes full of hygiene items, school supplies and toys to children in poor areas around the world in an effort to spread the message of Christianity, delivered shoeboxes to the orphanage. But the leaders of the orphanage refused to give them to the children.
Soon after, however, a group of American missionaries visited the orphanage.
6DWWHRfiHOG VDLG VKH LNVWDNWly latched onto a woman and refused to let any of the other children come near her.
“I knew that was my only chance ever to experience love,” she said.
When the missionaries saw the Operation Christmas Child boxes, they convinced the orphanage to pass them out to the chilGRHN. 6DWWHRfiHOG RSHNHG D VKRHERx WR fiNG KyJLHNH items, hair clips and other items — things that would not elicit joy in the average American child but meant the world to her.
“These little things that we take for granted do mean the world to us,” she said. “At the age of 12 when I received the shoebox, it didn’t just impact my life; it impacted the whole orphanage. :H fiNDOOy IRR WKH fiRVW WLPH understood what it was like to be loved.”
The woman became so DWWDFKHG WR 6DWWHRfiHOG GuRing that short visit that she decided to adopt her. The adoption took two years to process, and she left Romania headed for her new home in America at age 14.
The day after she left, the country shut down adoptions.
“I’m the last child to have left Romania before the adoptions were shut down, and they’re still shut down to this day,” SatterfiHOG VDLG.
When she got older, Sat- WHRfiHOG VDLG VKH NNHZ VKH had to give back to the organization that gave her new life. In 2001, she got involved with Operation Christmas Child and has been doing speaking engagements ever since.
6DWWHRfiHOG KDV DOVR KDG the chance to return to her native country. In 2010, she returned to Romania on a mission trip and was able to reconnect with her mother. She also visited an orphanage, and a young girl instantly ran up and hugged her for dear life — just as she had done years ago.
Satterfield encouraged all those in attendance to get involved with Operation Christmas Child and pack a shoebox ... or two or three.
“Whoever packed my shoebox gift probably had no idea it was going to change my life,” she said. “Pack one more shoebox because that’s one more child.”
6DWWHRfiHOG’V VSHHFK VHRvHG as a kickoff event for Operation Christmas Child’s effort to collect 58,000 shoeboxes in Southeastern Pennsylvania this year, according to a release from the organization.
For more information about Operation Christmas Child, call 410-772-7360 or visit www.samaritanspurse. org/occ.
The organization will hold a National Collection Week for shoeboxes Nov. 12 to 19, but shoeboxes are collected year-round.