Livada Orphan Care is proud to introduce Emese, our newest staff member whose journey with us exemplifies the profound impact our programs can have. Emese, who holds a bachelor’s degree in Social Work and recently completed her master’s in Children’s Rights, is now pursuing her second master’s in School Counseling and Psycho-Pedagogical Assistance. However, her inspiring story with Livada began years ago.

As a high school student, Emese started volunteering in our Orphan Outreach program and attended our summer camp in 2015. It was there that she first encountered Jesus, learning about His love, mercy, and peace. This experience was life-changing for Emese, who, as a 16-year-old orphaned by a parent, embraced her faith and felt a deep sense of belonging in God’s family.

Emese’s dedication and passion for our mission grew over the years. She progressed from a volunteer to the coordinator of the very program that first introduced her to our community. Now, she leads our Follow-Up clubs for teenagers and Saturday Bible Clubs for younger children from the gypsy village. Each week, Emese shares the Gospel with around 50 children, driven by the hope and prayer of expanding God’s Kingdom and nurturing this growing family.

Emese is known for her kindness and gentleness, both with the children she mentors and her colleagues. Her readiness to help, unwavering faith, and strong desire for personal and professional growth make her an invaluable member of our team. This year, she has also proven her leadership abilities as a camp coordinator.

We are grateful for Emese’s contributions and are inspired by her journey. Her story is a testament to the life-changing impact of Livada Orphan Care, and we are honored to have her as part of our family.

If it’s summer, it means it’s time for Vacation Bible School! This year’s VBS is called Fortress: Destroy the Giants in Your Life!”. The program teaches children to fight the giants in their lives, each day focusing on a different challenge they face (peer pressure, inferiority complex, sin, stubbornness, and fear). All this while equipping themselves with God’s truth and believing in victory, knowing God is their main resource.

We have the chance to serve 60 kids from the gypsy community in two weeks of camp. With God’s grace, we try to build their self-confidence and help them overcome deep traumas. We work on building healthy relationships with them, using all children’s international language: games. We lead them in lessons from the Bible and equip them with memory verses.

We had numerous wonderful moments, and it shows the result of years and years of work in the community. This year, we welcomed among us a new volunteer, right from the village, eager to help and involved in all activities, reflecting God’s love among the little children.

In the first week of the camp, we had the pleasure of serving with four friends from Germany who were with the children and with us, body and soul. We thank them on this occasion and look forward to seeing each other again next year. Pray for wisdom in leading all the teams and patience and strength to face the ”giants” that come our way. Pray for good weather outside and inside each camper’s heart.