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Eastern Europe

Viorica's Story

I first met Viorica and her children in March of 2004 during a visit to Bucharest. She was shy, practically reclusive, but there was a tug at the corner of her mouth when I tried to speak with her that made me hope a smile was to be found… one day.

I never found it last March. We seemed to find each other in hallways, doorways and passageways, but suspicion seemed at odds with hope – perhaps on both our parts.

Thanks to a grant from the Fuller Center for Housing, volunteer construction workers from Builders for Christ and Texas Baptist Men, I returned in October of 2005 to complete a building project for a Transitional Living Ministry.

The draw and trust between Viorica and myself seemed to grow instantaneously by the mere recognition of the fact that I (a foreigner) had actually returned and she (a wandering sewer person) was miraculously still there!

We began to find moments we could steal away to talk and share with one another, through broken languages. Little by little, we became comfortable with one another without an interpreter, for words weren't always necessary. But occasionally, we would be blessed with an interpreter. In these times, Viorica began to trust me with her life and precious pieces of her journey.

Viorica found herself alone as a teenager when her abusive father died and her mother ran away. Extended family took in her older brother, but Viorica was considered a liability; no one wanted her.

Thus, she found herself living alone on the street. After a time, an old woman offered this homeless teenager a “free” place to live, if Viorica would just “help” out around the farm. Viorica accepted with great relief.

Viorica worked literally night and day in the field for this woman. The work was grueling manual labor but Viorica was happy to be off the street and to have something to eat. At first she didn't mind that she had no time off and couldn't leave the property. But as time passed, the woman began to complain that Viorica ate too much and that it was cutting into her profit! Food was her only pay so if the old woman wouldn't feed Viorica, she would have no food. It was then that she realized she was a slave.

Viorica found a way to write her brother who had been taken in by other family members. He came to get her and took her to their married sister's house. Again relieved to be ‘rescued', Viorica set to work helping her pregnant sister with her children and the work of the household. It was then that her brother in law began to brutally force himself upon the beautiful teenaged girl.

Viorica fled. Once again she was alone and on the street.

Years passed with Viorica living this way with one betrayal after another. There was no help from her family, the government, the community or the Church.

She bore 4 children on the street, one of which died upon his first day of life because Viorica gave birth to him in a stairway assisted only by her then 5 year old daughter, while also trying to tend to her 1 year old son. The people of the building's only acknowledgement of Viorica and her plight was to complain about her presence to the police. The police threw her out.

Then, Viorica learned of a Day Shelter. She began taking her children there for food and showers. At night, she had to return to the street as there was no where for her to sleep. Finally, the staff, being so moved by her fierce devotion to and protection of her children, offered to let them stay in the only room they had, a storage closet that had a collapsing roof. Viorica accepted with humble gratitude. Viorica found a job cleaning apartment stairwells. For the first time, Cristina at nearly 10 years of age, enrolled in school and Yanuts, at age 3, had his first sleep in a real bed!

Transitional Living Center

Nearly one and a half years have passed since the family first moved into the Transitional Living Ministry. We have all learned much! We have a long way to go but God is showing us step by step how to proceed.

Short term mission team building transitional living apartments

I asked Viorica if she knew why I came to Bucharest. She said it was obvious I had come to build a building! So I asked her if she knew why I would want to come to build a building. She seemed to think it was a strange thing. I told her I was with her because the love of Christ moves me to share that love with others and it was sheer joy. She said she saw that joy in me and wanted it to have it in her too. God blessed my interpreter and I to share the same Gospel in words that we had been living out before her with Viorica that day. She cried and said, “I have always tried to find a way to follow Jesus, I just never knew that I could talk with Him myself!” Viorica thanked the Lord for His salvation of her that day and asked Him to guide her as she committed the rest of her life to Him.

Through your ongoing support of Make Way Partners, Viorica will continue to receive the financial support and training she needs as she continues to transition her life.