Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you. James 1:27
April, 2021
Dear Friends,
We pray you had a blessed Easter. We will be celebrating Easter in Romania on May 2. To incorporate both the Catholic and Orthodox Easters, the children and teenagers have vacation from April 2 until May 4. However, they will have to go to school until June 25. Some of them still have a class or two during the week with specific professors to help them prepare for the year-end tests. It is tough for them to have a whole month off and then try to concentrate again for two months when the weather is getting nice outside.
Yesterday, a group from Timisoara came out to visit the children. They brought lunch for them and a lot of food. They played games with them in the afternoon and even cut the boys hair. Everyone had a good time. After they left, we headed to our American friends in another village for a cook-out. There is a huge backyard for the children to play in. We had a great visit with our friends. After church Sunday, we took everyone to the mall for lunch. You still must eat outside in the open air, but it was a beautiful day, so no one cared. Someone blessed us at church with a surprise financial gift for the orphanage, so we used it to buy lunch for everyone. God is a great provider. We have a few more outings planned with the children while they are on vacation.
A church blessed us with money to buy the children and teenagers some new spring clothes. So, we took everyone shopping last week. It was fun to see them pick out things that they liked. Everyone was excited to wear their new clothes and shoes to church. Thank you to all who proved the funds to make this happen.
We bought food for the widows again and distributed it to them. It is always nice to visit them. They like seeing the children and having visitors. Loneliness is their biggest struggle. With the weather getting warmer, they can at least get outside some and see people. Unfortunately, one widow is confined to her bed. We got her a new mattress and sheets to help her feel more comfortable.
The food bank in Timisoara gave us a donation of food. We were able to bless our people at our food bank as well as help a couple of other foundations in Timisoara with food. We continue to have new people whose living situation is terrible come to our food bank. We are thankful that we can help them with food and clothing.
Thank you to everyone who continues to give faithfully through finances and in prayer for our ministry here. Both are so important.
With our love,
Ruben, Karen & Bianca
Beraca Foundation, P.O. Box 674, Jacksonville, IL 62651; karenpopet@gmail.com