Art


Art and Souls in Bucharest

March brought with it a couple of art shows presenting Mia’s Children’s paintings.  Here is Mia’s write up of the first show and how the art of children is transforming both the children and the society that has for many years kept them marginalized.  

“On the 7th of March we had a special and blessed art exhibit with an auction . Mr. Duglas took a professional care to organized the art show , to invite people , to entertainment them and to present our association like a special place where the children are educated at high level . Everybody appreciate the way we improve the art in children’s life , a way to find the “treasure “God gave to each of them and make it shine . Dana Moldovan helped us to provide all the art supplies . We had painted over 120 paintings and sold most of them . Plus , more people found about our work and about God .”

Pray for “little” Mihaela – who is seeing a doctor for a problem with her brain; she needs a special treatment

Pray for a safe delivery of baby for Oana (Mia’s daughter-in-law) and a healthy pregnancy for older Mihaela (wife of Gigi).

Pray forRomania and for people to understand better the necessity to be involved in the good of people in need , in education .

Let’s pray together for the societies we live in , for elections and good leaders .

 We thank you and praise Lord for all our work here and for your support .

Blessings ,

Mia’s


Flory

This is Flory.

She is 17 years old and suffers from a severe hearing impairment.

Flory is an Olympiad competitor at chess, math and drawing. She took first place this year in Turkey while representing Romania at the Drawing Olympiad. She won the year before in Italy. Next year she’ll compete in Great Britain.

Flory drew the dog in this picture because she loves animals and considers dogs a blessed and faithful friend.

She needs an acoustic machine and a special battery every two weeks for her hearing aid. The kids love her and most of them communicate with her using sign language. She teaches the younger children chess strategies and secrets.

Her family comes from a poor town a long way from Bucharest, but because of the lack of work, many people have moved into the city to find employment there. In Bucharest, her mother helps prepare meals at Mia’s Children. Meanwhile, Flory’s sister entered is studying psychology in college, focusing on children with special needs.

Flory wants to stay at Mia’s Children all the time, but she’s learning in Craiovei at a high school for children with special needs. She studies architecture and would like to attend university to study architecture in the future.


You Can Make the Difference

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

**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)


Art for the Children of the World

A few months ago, a Romanian diplomat with the European Union came by Mia’s Children and saw some of our youth’s amazing paintings. He asked if he could exhibit their work in an international show meant to bridge cultures and give hope.

He has since chosen 47 paintings to show in Iraq, with more to be shown in Spain and possibly the U.S. later.

Mia calls the exhibit “a message of love and peace for all the children in the world” and says, “We are honored to represent Romania because it is a way to display how God has put in these children His gifts, with seeds planted, and we all together help them grow and be fruitful.  So it is not only about art; it’s about something beyond – the love of God to and through His children and all His people who answer the commandment to love one another, instead of despising and/or giving no hope for the hopeless.  It shows the agape love of Jesus in action.”

For the last 12 years, Mia has taught every child who walks through her doors how to paint, starting mostly with flowers and other still life pieces. It began as therapy and then led to competitions and even scholarship opportunities around Romania.

But these newer paintings veer away from the typical bouquet taught by Mia in the first years.

Each one is unique. They show a developed confidence and creativity. Children who walked through our doors twelve years ago unsure of who they were are now expressing themselves through art, just as they do in their schoolwork and relationships with others.

For us, these paintings represent more than the great talent it took to create them, or even the hope displayed through the show in Iraq: they are a symbol of how far we’ve come, of how beautifully the family at Mia’s Children has grown up.


Consider the Motherless for Mother’s Day

This Mother’s day, we at Mia’s Children hope you have a special time celebrating with your love ones the great gift of motherhood.

In America we are so over-worked, over-played, overwhelmed that we sometimes forget the importance of sacrifice, of love and of a hot cup of soup when we’re sick.

Mia’s Children works with young people every day who have not known the love of a mother or a father. When precious children come along, they are too often seen as a burden more than a blessing, and they are pushed out.

We encourage our young people to show their mothers honor on Mother’s Day and every other day. In the past, we’ve even held special ceremonies for them!

But there are some children whose mothers will never attend those ceremonies. And here is what those young people have to say about Mia’s Children:

“I am coming from a family of 9 children. I lived long in an orphanage. Before I came here I never was loved. Thanks to you I can have love and a safe place to live in.”

“You gave me another life. I am what I am because of what the Lord did for me through you.”

“Here…I can experience the true love and I can dream and hope.”

“We feel you are our parents, big friends, forever bounded with us in the love of Jesus.”

This Mother’s Day, we ask that you will consider these children as you also consider your own mothers and children. Please consider making a donation to this ministry in your mother’s honor or memory, and we would be glad to send an e-mail on Mother’s Day with a painting by one of the children, letting her know about the gift in her honor. You can customize the message if you’d like!

Here’s how to do it:

1. Go to our donate page and make a donation using the options there.

2. Write us at info@miaschildren.org and let us know about your donation and in whose honor or memory it is.

3. If you want us to send an e-mail, include the e-mail address you would like for us to write to on Mother’s Day. We can send it to you so that you can customize the message, or we can send it to the recipient of the honor.

From all of us at Mia’s Children, have a wonderful Mother’s Day!

– Joanna Miller


A Letter From Mia’s Children – Romania

Dear Friends,

With God’s grace we can again be in touch with you, praising our Lord because He is faithful and so good with all of us.  We are amazed to see that God will do above all one can ask or think, even in the little steps of life and even in little private desires… He is providing abundantly for those who are connected with Him.  We have been experiencing this wonderful Scriptural truth, especially during the last two months.

Even though times here in Romania, as throughout the world, are very difficult and the crisis continues—lack of jobs,  hopelessness, great disappointments—God is giving us the assurance of His presence and the vision to continue the work we do; He is bringing people around us who are willing to help and support us.  Individuals or groups from both Romania and other parts, together with Mia’s Children Foundation, Rotary Club, Adobe Foundation, KBFUS Foundation, ING, Madison Advisors, Transylvania Bank, BCR Bank, are among some of them (please excuse us if we do not mention all of you, but we so appreciate you and are grateful for your support). 

In all our activities we can clearly see the good results in different ways:  we were able to build another needed storage room; we created a garden with a water fountain, eating area; a family of plastic ducks & ducklings; a peacock; a small playhouse & slide—it has given the kids a delightful way to imagine they are part of a happy fairy tale in their own yard, with even a small patch of green grass and flowers.

Many new games and some sport activities are giving the children a special meaning and importance in their daily lives.  The activities the children do in the added back room of the house, which is for studies and projects ( we wrote about it in an earlier newsletter), have been enhanced by the outdoor fun they now have in the new garden area.  Now God is enabling us to develop creative ideas for school curriculum, etc..

Around Eastertime we were given a special dinner by the owners of XANADU Restaurant here in Bucharest.  We thank you so much for the dinner prepared so graciously for us.  During the past two months also other people came to us— like Tedy and Anda, Simona and Georgio, Alex and his group of motorcyclists, Jonathan and Ralucka, etc..  Thank you all so much for your care.

We want to thank Mr. Ovidiu Hagima for the movie he made with Mihaela and Elena, two  young enthusiastic artists,  about Mia’s Children.  They are making a documentary movie about how you can serve needy children and change their lives,  turning them from darkness to light through faith, art, caring showing that humanity has a choice and a hope for the future.  We thank Mr. Hagima for the courage and commitment he had to take with him to Iraq 47 pieces of the children’s artwork, making an exhibit illustrating the truth of the words above.

For us knowing God is so very important, and we are doing a Bible study entitled I AM, the “I AM” words of Jesus recorded in the Gospel of John.  To know God in an intimate way is the key of success for a changed life, and if we look back where we started with the kids, we see there is success with the kids because we all have an intimate, daily relationship with God.

We want to thank all of you for your financial support for the kids, and for both Costel and Mia.

Prayer requests for:

 *a new home

 *constant support of friends

 *for good health and encouragement

 *a message sent to the world through the fruits of the children’s lives

 We thank you and bless you in the Name of the Lord!

                                Mia’s Children


Himme’s Mia’s Children Cards Available Again

We are excited to tell you that notecards made with our children’s artwork are available again through Himme Productions. Just in time for Mother’s Day!

1/3 of the proceeds from the cards goes directly to Mia’s Children. Use the cards for birthdays, holidays, and thank you’s to support Mia’s Children and raise awareness for our ministry!

To learn more, and to place an order, visit our Get Involved page and follow the notecards link, or just go straight to Himme’s Mia’s Children page!

Thank you for your patience as we took the time to get this important feature back up on our new site.

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