Rescuing Children Through Long Term Commitment

Over the years of working with children in the Bread of Life ministry I have often asked myself if there is a recipe for success for not only rescuing them from poverty but also changing the direction of their lives. Clearly children, like adults, have free wills and nothing can truly guarantee that they will go the direction we desire for them. Taking time to really know each child and his or her background is a good start. Recognizing that each child is unique and is better helped by finding the approach that works for each of them is also important. The story of four sisters who came to us from a broken family is a good example. Their parents had left the country to find work, leaving the girls in the care of their neighbors. The parents finally returned only to leave again. The sisters began dropping out of school and were in the process of being admitted into a state orphanage when we were told about their situation. Alexandra, the oldest, came to our children’s home in 2007 like her sisters, but did not stay. Back in her village she had two children outside of marriage. She tried to keep them but she had no job, no skills, and no way to provide for her children. Like her parents, she attempted to salvage the situation by looking for work outside of the country only to find that dream crushed as well. Today we have her two young children in our Orphanage and we  will persist in our efforts to fill them with love and show them how to break the cycle of hopelessness and follow God.