Angels watching over me!

I really thank God that  it was in his plan for me to be here on this earth.  A few months before I was born a thief, (actually a man who formerly worked for my Dad), entered our home and tried to kill my mother.  Everyone thought she would lose me but God had other plans for my life. Thank God there were angles watching over me.

Helping the needy was always a part of my life.

I was born in a family with eight brothers and sisters in Hampstead, Maryland.  I remember when I was only nine yrs. old my mother was sending my brother and I out with a hot Thanksgiving dinner to several shut-ins.  This is part of my hertiage, always looking out for that person that needs a helping hand.

Welcome to my personal webpage. Learn a little more about me and where I get all my energy to run our Christian, humanitarian outreach here in Romania. I've been working here in Romania for many years. We were here before the Revolution in 1989 helping poor people and churches.  Then after the Revolution we started visiting churches, helping the women, then the children, started a prison minstry and then we started a children's home in 1996. We have had over 70 children come through our home.  Now 13 years later we realize that no one can take the place of a birth mom.  We are determined to do all we can to keep families together. We are fighting for moms to keep their children.   We help to make better living conditions so that the children and their mother can live free of TB and other common diseases for those living in poverty situations.  We teach them how to clean their homes and live an orderly life.  We teach them the importance of nutrition and eating correct foods. We help them get the food they need.  We bring in teams to help renovate their homes so that they can live in healthier conditions. We help the children with needed medical care and needed operations.

It is our joy to go back and visit our projects and see the children sleeping in nice comfortable beds without being poked by broken springs.  To see that they don't have to sleep in rooms that smell like urine and mold.  It is our joy to hear that they are healthy and getting good grades in school. This is our mission making life better for families so that they can stay together. When we have accomplished this we know we have made this world a better place. We have made a difference in their life. We want children to have good, positive experiences in life. We do this by having special Kids Camps in the Summer and Fall.  Different types of camps for different groups of Children.  In the camps the children learn about God's love for them. They learn that God has a purpose for their life. We tell them, show them, encourage them to study hard and make something of their life. We are here to help them, advise them and help them find their purpose in life.

  I'm so thankful for life and the opportunity I have to serve God in the capacity that I do. Actually it's only for the grace of God that we can accomplish what we do here in Romania.

Now to tell you a little bit about myself. I was very interested in politics as a young person. My uncle was county commissioner in our community and I was always interested in the issues that concerned our future. This was back during the cold war days and it always interested me how the Communist could work together to achieve their goals and the religious world couldn't. I thought how interesting over half the world was communist and the religious world couldn't decide on what color carpet to buy.Their had to be something significant that was missing and I was bound to find out. I wnatedst their motivation to im get into the FBI and do research on Communism.

God had other plans. I had a life changing encounter with God in 1974. My mission in life changed as God put his love in my heart for the people in Eastern Europe. My desire was to go and share God's love with those suffering in Communist countries. I wanted to help bring some joy and relief from the oppression and pain thousands of East Europeans were going through in the 80's. During those days I made many trips into Eastern Europe and did bring much joy to a lot of people. 

I heard that thousands of people in those countries didn't even own a Bible and I was off on a mission to see that they received one. This was the beginning of the ministry into Eastern Europe. In 1980 I moved to Germany and worked with a well known Mission, now called Nehemiah which is one of the largest  Humanitarian organizations in western Europe. I was so busy traveling to so many countries and knew it was impossible to really bring about positive change in every country so I decided to concentrate on working in one East European Country and the nation I choose was Romania.  The rest is history. history. Tens years have passed and we are thankful for all the changes that have taken place here in Romania and in the lives of the children here at Casa Shalom.