A decade ago, the plight of orphans in Romania was bleak. Years of struggle resulted in heart attitudes and practices that were difficult to change. Abandoning unwanted children in hospitals or orphanages became an easy solution for those stricken hardest under Nicolae Ceausescu’s harsh economic restrictions. Sadly, Romania’s difficult past also affected the church. Even pastors were saying, “Take care of orphans? That’s not our job!”

But God is in the business of changing hearts! In early 2013 some courageous believers launched the Romania Without Orphans (RoWO) initiative. They had faith that Christians in Romania would catch the vision to care for orphans within their borders, through fostering, adoption and restoration of families.

AFFEO is a RoWO partner and has reported many times how God is changing orphan’s lives in Romania through your prayers. “There is new wave of Christians in Romania and they want to be involved,” a Christian leader in the Romania Without Orphans movement stated in 2019.

At the present time RoWO is represented in 17 cities throughout Romania. Recently, RoWO held an incredible summit in Bucharest for anyone interested in orphan care. The turn out was remarkable!

350 people attended the summit in person, and 10,000 participants joined virtually. Hearts and minds are changing! The RoWO movement is 

• Providing critical training and resources to social workers, adoptive and foster families, churches, etc.
• Facilitating seminars, summits, and gatherings to get more people involved in the movement
• Supporting therapeutic centers for children and families who’ve experienced major trauma

This important work is made possible in large part because of your prayer support of family-based orphan care in Romania! Won’t you please continue to pray that God would move mightily in Romania, touching many hearts to adopt? Thousands of children in Romania’s orphan care system are still waiting for a loving, forever family.

And please also continue to pray for our partners in Romania as they use the venues listed above to assist Romanians with hearts open to orphans and vulnerable children.