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Dangerous Weather in Romania

 in Bucharest / Romania / Weather  tagged Crasna / Danube / Flood / Heat / Heat Stroke / heat wave / Natural Disaster / Prut / Romania by

Serious flooding has damaged twenty-eight counties in Romania in the last day.

The Prut, Crasna and Danube Rivers have caused 3 deaths so far and widespread damage across the country. The counties Cluj and Alba have been hit particularly hard.

The Prut, before flooding

In Bucharest, officials are taking steps to protect the city from flooding, including the employment of water evacuation pumps and monitoring of roadways. But so far these measures are largely preventative: Bucharest has not reported any serious problems.

At the same time, the capitol is preparing for coming heat waves. Romania annually has problems with heat-related deaths, and Bucharest is no exception. The city plans to wash the sidewalks and streets with detergent twice a week to help diminish dust.

Let’s pray for the people whose lives have been washed away by the flooding, and that more damage can be prevented as the rivers continue to fill up. And let’s pray for the people of Bucharest and our family at Mia’s Children as they prepare for this year’s dangerous heat.

Slavery in Romania

 in Abuse / Bucharest / Education / Home / poverty / Romania  tagged gospel / Hillary Clinton / human trafficking / Mia's Children / Romania / TIP Report by

This past week, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton released the 2010 Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report, which reports on the State Department’s recommendations in fighting human trafficking worldwide.

Human trafficking is a criminal activity in which people are recruited, harbored, transferred, bought or kidnapped to serve an exploitative purpose, such as sexual slavery and forced labor.

The report rates each country in their efforts to fight human trafficking, with Tier 1 being the highest rating and Tier 3 the lowest. Romania received a Tier 2 rating.

According to the report:

Romania is a source, transit, and destination country for men, women, and children subjected to trafficking in persons, specifically conditions of forced labor and women and children in forced prostitution.

Romanian men, women, and children are trafficked within the country for commercial sexual exploitation and forced labor, including forced begging and petty theft. In 2009, the majority of trafficking victims identified within the country were victims of forced labor…including forced begging.

The report goes on to say that more measures can and should be taken by the Romanian government to stop trafficking.

But we already knew a lot of this, because the children who come to us have often been either victims or witnesses of human trafficking. Extreme poverty in Bucharest’s poorest neighborhoods has led to many forms of criminal activity. Innocent children get lost in the shuffle at best, and trafficked at worst.

Mia’s Children provides counseling and education for these young people from the hard streets of Bucharest. And most importantly we work to offer them a home and a sense of belonging that is based on the truth and love of the gospel.

That is how we are fighting the horrors of human trafficking – and let us tell you, it works!

Press Release: Beware of Fraudulent Volunteers!

 in Uncategorized by


Romania Mia’s Children Association wants to warn people of some situations in which false “volunteers” organize fundraising campaigns on behalf of the association.

In case you have any doubts about a volunteer or program’s involvement with Mia’s Children Association, we kindly request that you contact the association in order to verify the person and initiative in question. Contact details: 0765.67.33.85; 0726.77.22.82.

American supporters can also reach us via this website’s contact page.

Mia’s Children Association must approve any fundraising or promotion of the association’s image in advance, and all initiatives can be easily checked by contacting the association.

We particularly appreciate the reporting of any cases in which the name or image of the association could be fraudulently involved.

  • La comunicat se mai zice si pur si simplu press sau handout
  • La nr de tel eu as trece +40765.67.33.85; +40726.77.22.82.

– Mia’s Children Association in Romania

Ceausescu’s Body to Be Exhumed

 in Bucharest / Communism / God / History / Jesus / Mia's Children / Politics / Romania  tagged Austrian Times / Ceausescu / Christmas / Communism / Death / Revolution by

Arguments over the death of Romania’s most infamous dictator, Nicolae Ceausescu, will soon be put to rest.

On Sunday the Austrian Times reported that Ceausescu’s son Valentin has won a four-year court battle for the right to exhume his father’s body in order to answer questions about his parents’ fate.

Communist dictator Nicolae Ceausescu and his wife Elena ran Romania with an iron fist from 1965-1989. Following a violent coup in December of 1989, the couple was arrested and tried. They were executed on Christmas Day, and their bodies were dragged through the streets on national television.

Regardless, rumors have persisted that the couple actually escaped and that two other bodies were buried in their place in Bucharest. Valentin Ceausescu hopes to solve this matter by exhuming his father’s body.

The Grave of Nicolae Ceausescu – Ghencea Civil Cemetery, Bucharest

The first time I traveled to Romania, I was shocked by the aftermath of this powerful couple. It was 2005, over 15 years after the fall of communism, and yet people still referred to events as “before Ceausescu” and “after Ceausescu.”

The revolution, which was in many ways similar to a bloody coup, took the life of Mia’s brother and became a catalyst to her and Costel becoming Christians and starting Mia’s Children.

Indeed, many people’s histories are tied to Nicolae Ceausescu and his assumed death. If for some unlikely reason the myths of his and his wife’s survival are found to be true, the country will need some way to regain the closure they should have had in 1989 – a closure that, in many ways, Romanians would still like to experience fully today.

– Joanna Miller

You Can Make the Difference

 in Art / Bucharest / Film / Fundraiser / Mia's Children / Music / Roma people / Romania  tagged art exhibit / celebrities / concert / documentary / politicians by

Last Thursday in Bucharest, Mia’s Children Romania was honored with a film premiere, art exhibit and concert. The event raised funds and awareness for the organization.

The documentary film’s Romanian title is “Tu poti face diferenta!” (“You Can Make the Difference!”).

According to Mia, the movie begins with a segment about the crisis of Romanian children: young beggars, homeless gypsy children, and life on the streets.

But then a gate opens and viewers enter the yard at Mia’s Children’s current house. The rest of the film focuses on the work we do and the possibility of change for the children of Romania. Our children speak about their experiences coming from the streets to Mia’s Children, and some politicians and celebrities chime in as well.

Mia saw the film for the first time on Thursday. “During the movie all the people were so silent and you could see many tears in the eyes,” she said. “Many confessed after that the movie touched their hearts very deep. Of course I cried a lot – you know me!”

Mia hopes to send the film our way when it is finished.  We would love to see it, and to share it with our supporters and friends. We’ll let you all know as we learn more about the project.

A Friday Note from Mia

 in Art / Bucharest / God / Mia's Children / Orphans / Recreation / Romania / Sports  tagged art exhibit / business / Children's Day / Iraq / soccer / You Can Make a Difference by

**Wonderful news this week from Mia. We’ll probably provide more details on some of this later. For now, parentheses ( ) have been added for clarification.**

Dear Family,

We had a blessed time where the Lord showed again His glory! We praise his Holy Name, His love and care for all what He is doing every day!

The art exhibit was in Iraq a successful! There were auctioned about 47 art work and we need to receive in our account 8200 of $!

Thursday we’ll have another great moment: The art exhibit and the movie (“You Can Make a Difference”) will be showed first time in Romania and the concert will be  performed by some important Romanian artist(s). The event was worked totally – other than the art part  and the movie – by Ioana Mantulescu and her husband.

Saturday and Sunday, Gabriela, Mihaela, Rivaldo were involved in a soccer national competition. And our team gained the first place at the age between 7-9 years old! We are part from winner team!!!

We went to the park in the county No. 4 where a group of big hearts women from The Business Women made a special day for orphan children, trying to bring them some joy around Children Day. They gave us a tent for garden, so we can have some shade and some other stuff, fruits, school items…

Seems that people started to be more  interest in what’s going on with our work.

Well, I let you (go) for right now. I’m tired and still need to work for something. Miss you a lot.

Blessings,

Mia and all your(s)

Pray for Romania’s Public Employees

 in Economy / Education / Mia's Children / Prayer / Romania  tagged lei / pension / prison / protest / schools / strike / teachers by


Romanian currency: a banknote for 10 (zece) lei

On Monday, hundreds of thousands of Romanian state employees participated in a massive strike to protest wage and pension cuts.

Over 700,000 medical staff, teachers, emergency responders, and prison workers joined for a one day strike. Many of the workers joined to show solidarity with school and public institution employees, who plan to strike indefinitely.

But despite overwhelming dissatisfaction with the cuts, Romania’s plan to implement a 25% wage cut and 15% pension cut to all state employees still became effective as of yesterday.

Let’s pray for these teachers in particular as they continue to strike. They are the men and women running the schools in which the children we support spend every day. We need them to be examples of love, dignity, and courage for the youth of a broken nation.

And let’s pray for Mia’s Children as they educate and nurture young people in Romania, even when no one else can or will.

Calling All Churches!

 in Church / Fundraiser / God / Mia's Children / Ministry / Prayer  tagged missions / missions fair / prayer by

Does your church host a missions fair each year?

How about a missions committee?

Or maybe a prayer team?

At Mia’s Children, we are always looking for new ways to tell people about all of the wonderful things God is doing in Romania.

No matter where you’re located, we’d love to give your church more information. We’d be glad to send a representative to speak to churches, committees, or at missions fairs about Mia’s Children and the desperate needs of young people in Romania.

Even if your event is a long time from now, we want to hear about it and plan ahead!

So contact us at info@miaschildren.org or on Facebook, and let’s plan a visit together!

No More Missing Romanian Children

 in Abuse / addiction / Bucharest / Family / God / Home / Mia's Children / poverty / Romania  tagged Balkan Insight / crime / disease / drugs / foster care / missing children / prostitution by

BalkanInsight.com reported yesterday that missing children cases in Romania are on the rise.

Over 3,200 children went missing in the last year, which is ten times more than five years ago. About 90% of the children are suspected to have run away from home and foster care voluntarily, sometimes in order to make money on the street.

But Mia’s Children knows exactly what they’ll find on the street: crime, drugs, prostitution and disease.

Many of our youth came from similar circumstances. Some of them were forced to work in crime for money, and some of them left voluntarily to escape the poverty and domestic problems at home.

We try to work with the children as well as their families, because families broken from addiction and poverty are what causes this danger to Romania’s young people the most.

But sometimes the families do not want help. The parents are not ready to beat the addiction, or are abusive, or feel that they cannot provide anything better than the streets for their children.

In that case one thing will always be certain:

No child is missing from God’s sight, and with his help, they can be found and loved again at Mia’s Children.