Meet Rebeca from the Point of Hope!

This week we are proud and excited to introduce you to Rebeca Dreghici. Rebeca is in the second year of pre-school at the Point of Hope Development Center. Rebeca is 4 years old. Rebeca continues to progress through the school year in a positive fashion. When asked what her favorite person in the Bible was she said Jesus. Her main prayer request is to grow up healthy and pretty (awe!), so if you could please keep this in your prayers I am sure she would appreciate it. If you would like to become an answered prayer for Rebeca you can click on the link at the bottom of this page to become her sponsor. If you want some additional information on the ACF Sponsorship program click here.

CLICK HERE TO ANSWER A CHILD'S DEEPEST PRAYER!

Child Profile of the Week

This week we are proud and excited to introduce you to Alexandru Ionas. Alexandru is in the first year of pre-school at the Point of Hope Development Center. Alexandru will not turn four until July of this year. Alexandru continues to progress through the school year in a positive fashion. When asked what his favorite person in the Bible was he said Jesus. However, he still continues to struggle with some health issues due to the cold season, so if you could please keep this struggle for him in your payers I am sure he would appreciate it. If you would like to become an answered prayer for Alexandru you can click on the link at the bottom of this page to become his sponsor. If you want some additional information on the ACF Sponsorship program click here.

CLICK HERE TO ANSWER A CHILD'S DEEPEST PRAYER!

The First Shoes of 2016 have been Collected! Thanks Erie E-Free Church!!

Erie Evangelical Free Church in Erie, Illinois has collected the first pairs of shoes for the 2016 Project Respond Humanitarian Aid Drive for Another Child Foundation (ACF). ACF provides humanitarian aid to our Romanian partner Fundatia Buckner to improve the living conditions and well-being of the families and children we assist. Through these aid drives we demonstrate the love that God has put onto our hearts to transform the hearts of those less fortunate.

Here is part of a post from Erie E-Free's Facebook page.

We had a great time Friday night at Erie Evangelical Free Church for our Soup for the Sole event! Hard to beat a potluck Soup dinner, family game night, and 75 pairs of shoes toward our annual shoe drive for Another Child Foundation. Special thanks to the EEFC Missions Committee for putting this event together.



This year ACF will be collecting new pairs of shoes and socks for children ages 3 to 14. Athletic shoes are the most versatile shoe a person can donate. We will also be collecting financial support for 250 school supply kits for the 125 children attending the Point of Hope Development Center in Tarneveni, Romania. The kits cost $15 each and include all of the school supplies a child will need for the 2016/17 school year. If you would like to support the school kit part of our drive you can click on the link below to make a donation towards the purchase of kits. 

CLICK HERE TO PROVIDE A SCHOOL KIT FOR A CHILD

Last year ACF had 32 churches collect over 7000 pairs of shoes and winter boots. Along with 175 school kits. 

      

New Volunteers in Romania!

Maria, Bianca and Madalina are three girls from the Roma community who a while back have 

voluntarily expressed a desire to come help at Point of Hope. They are currently students at the Constantin Brancusi Trade School from Tarnaveni, and after classes they come to Point of Hope to help the After School kids with their homework.  It is amazing to see these young ladies sit with the children, patiently listening to them read and showing them how to spell correctly.  They also enjoy playing with the kids. When asked what motivates them to come volunteer at Point of Hope they said that they feel useful doing it.  And they also confessed that helping these children reminds them of the fact that when they were their age, nobody helped them with their homework and they didn’t have a nice, clean and warm place to come to every day. They love the way they are being treated at Point of Hope and the attention they receive from the staff.

The testimony of these three girls touches our hearts and shows us that the community has been impacted over the years in ways we didn’t know and our ministry touched lives we didn’t know we were touching. As young people are rising up and are showing willingness to get involved and help their own, we feel that the community is in fact changing. Should we only exist in the community for the single purpose to give these girls the opportunity and a structure through which they can give back to their own community, it is still worth being there; but we are greatly encouraged that God is in fact using us to truly bring Hope and Light into the lives of the people of Tarnaveni: children, teen-agers, youth and adults.

Child Profile of the Week!

We are starting a new post each week which will feature one of our children at the Point of Hope Development Center who has been receiving personalized attention by the dedicated staff. This week we are focusing on Ioana Todor. Ioana was enrolled into our program this past fall (September 2015). What a blessing this little girl has been to the program. She is only three years and brings with her lots of smiles.

If you would like to be a sponsor for Ioana, I am sure she would be thrilled to know there is someone in the world who will pray for her well-being on a regular basis. Your support will provide Ioana with the educational materials she needs as well as high-quality medical attention, warm meals, showers and clothes.

CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT SPONSORING A CHILD

Sowing Seeds for Growing Needs

Another Child Foundation and Fundatia Buckner Romania are delighted to launch a new project, “MOTIVATION and PERFORMANCE,” to provide mentoring and scholarships for career training to high school graduates.  The program begins by setting up scholarships for 20 students this first year, providing funds to help pay for tuition, transportation, and housing.  In cooperation with the Education Ministry and CPS, Fundatia Buckner is working right now to compile a group of 25 to 30 children, and through interviews and a screening process, a committee will select 20 students to receive scholarships.

Dacian Moldovan, Director of Fundatia Buckner Romania explains that Romanian youth “have a lot of potential, but they often cannot achieve it due to lack of transportation, money for tuition, etc.”  The MOTIVATION and PERFORMANCE program addresses these needs by mentoring students throughout their training and also helping them financially.  The goal is to sow seeds that will help children continue to grow in their education and challenge them to build character and become leaders who will use their success to encourage other students to do the same.  As ACF Board Secretary Tina Anderson points out, MOTIVATION and PERFORMANCE “is a perfect way to capture the encouraging message of hope and a future for these kids.”

This program is just the next step in Another Child Foundation's quest to solve the social issues that confront our world and more specifically the world of the abandoned children in the world. Our goal of reaching, teaching and transforming God's world is really happening. You want to join us in making a difference? Click the link below to be part of this life-changing ministry.

CLICK HERE TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE! 

Love is.... 2016 Mission Trip Video

Thinking about being part of the Love Is... 2016 Mission trips? Here is a short video of ACF supporters showing different ways that God loves!

Visit anotherchild.org to find more information about this summer's mission trips and to sign up! We are so excited about this summer and can't wait for you to be a part of it!

Creative Stocking Stuffer

Want to stuff a stocking with a really great gift and not a pair of underwear or socks? How about the HOPE of a small child in Romania? We have a number of young children like Ioana praying for someone to sponsor their education and spiritual development. You can be an answered prayer for a young child.

The sponsorship of a child through Another Child Foundation is surprisingly simple, and the effects your sponsorship will have on a child is dramatic. Supporting an at-risk child in one of our 2 programs enables our staff members to not only provide for their educational & physical needs, but will provide HOPE for the child as the staff mentors the child. By providing the LOVE of God to the child, the child’s self-esteem will soar as they develop into the person God has created them to be. Without the assistance of generous people these children will continue to live in the “darkness” they we born into.

With your sponsorship you will receive:

- A Welcome kit with a picture & biography of the child, regular progress updates with new photos, a chance to correspond with your sponsored child, & the Peace of God from knowing you are making a difference to your child

More information on how to sponsor a child can be found HERE!

A Look Back to 9 Years Ago!

This past weekend while we were decorating the Oloffson family Christmas tree I found a small bag of Christmas ornaments that are very special to me and many other people. These hand decorated (obviously) ornaments were the very start of the ministry we now know as Another Child Foundation. Back in 2006, when this all began for me, I had just returned from a Shoes for Orphan Souls mission trip to Romania. During that trip my heart was changed from a heart of selfishness to a heart of compassion. After seeing the tremendous need of these VOICELESS children my wife Theresa and I decided to do something about their unheard cries of loneliness.

These ornaments were the start we needed to make a difference. I fondly remember the first few dozen ornaments we decorated. They obviously had much more passion into the design as artistic flair. But God used these ornaments to light a fire that has yet to be distinguished. Suddenly, we started selling these ornaments to family, friends and our church family and people really liked them. We blew right by our goal of raising $1,200 to support the Zau Orphanage project we had discussed with Dacian Moldovan in Romania. Next thing you know God had organized a mission team to support the work going on in Romania and things got rolling into something I never dreamed could happen.


A few of these ornaments remain a very special part of the Oloffson family Christmas experience. I still get an occasional comment from a friend around this time of year who had purchased one of our hand-made creations back in 2006. What a blessing the past 9 years have been for our family. Christmas has always been a special time for families, But, don't let us forget those who do not have a loving family we sometimes take for granted. Child abandonment is a major problem in the country of Romania. Another Child was created to help prevent child abandonment and to keep the God created family unit together. Stable families is a key to eliminating the child abandonment that children like Noemi, Irina and others are victims of.

Finally, I want to comment on the one ornament that is most important to this reflection on how and why this ministry got started. It is the Christmas tree ornament with the name of Noemi on it. The entire Oloffson family sees Noemi as a member of our family. While we do not get to see her or talk to her as much as we would prefer she till is our Romanian "daughter". We pray for her well-being often and pray that children like her never have to suffer through the Christmas holiday in the midst of loneliness.

I want to invite you to be part of this God given ministry to the vulnerable children of Romania. Please take a stand on child abandonment and DONATE TODAY to this cause.

Giving Tuesday!

On Tuesday, December 1, 2015 Another Child Foundation will be participating in the Giving Tuesday event that is helping change the United States back into the generous country we have been known for. Of course we celebrate our thankfulness on Thanksgiving Day, which is my favorite holiday of the year, then we jump right into two days (or more) of shopping. Black Friday and Cyber-Monday get a lot of attention. But over the past few years Giving Tuesday has picked up steam and has a much bigger impact on people than either of the 2 main shopping days. Giving Tuesday helps the charities which receive the funds as well as the people who donate on this special day. The people who give on this day move more towards an "attitude of gratitude" than an attitude of wanting more.

DONATE NOW!

So, why should you give to the children Another Child Foundation supports this Giving Tuesday? Well here are 5 reasons why you should give to our children on Giving Tuesday:
 

           #1- God calls us to be generous with the resources He has given to us. 1 John 3:17 says "if anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person."

          #2- Children are being TRANSFORMED through the work being done in Romania. Keri Claggett says, "keeping the focus on the children we are working with has always been #1 for ACF. No matter what is going on, that value in this children does not change, but the children do!"

          #3- You are TRANSFORMED! The act of giving or sacrifice is one of the single most powerful things a person can do to improve their self-worth.

          #4- 100% of your support goes DIRECTLY to the program for which the gift is intended.

          #5- God will be GLORIFIED! Just look into the eyes of the 3 children below and tell me that God has not been revealed to them. God is glorified when children like find HOPE in the Gospel of the Good News!

DONATE TODAY!

 

New Volunteers at Point of Hope!

I want to share with you what a great time we had yesterday at the Point of Hope Development Center with the 7 new volunteers from the local university. Even if it was the first time, the kids love them, hug them and the volunteers left full of positive energy. Here is what one of them said about the experience "Amazing, how wonderful God works. I am amazed and so happy to be part of His plan."        - Dacian Moldovan- President Fundatia Buckner

God is good for sure.  Thanks to all of you who support Another Child Foundation and Fundatia Buckner with your prayers, I know that together we are making a difference in a life of these kids!



After-school kids with the new volunteers!

Mission Team Helps Students @ Point of Hope Center

One of the most exciting things I get to do as the leader of mission teams that Another Child Foundation takes to Romania is to be able to see the progress being made by the students and staff during those precious 10 days. The Point of Hope Development Center in Tarneveni, Romania is a pre-school and after-school center that serves 125 children on a daily basis and has its programs concentrate on building the kids foundational education, develop their faith in Jesus, and strengthen the family unit so that abandonment of children becomes a thing of the past. Every trip I get the privilege of leading I am always amazed at the progress being made in the lives of the children, the staff and the community as a whole. While we have a long way to go you can sense that God is alive and well when you meet the children and see HOPE in what should be a hopeless situation. God never ceases to amaze me!

New lockers for the 3rd floor

Mission teams play a VERY IMPORTANT role in helping the Fundatia Buckner staff develop these children into the people God created them to be. Another Child Foundation has developed a model in which the mission team participants simply compliment the dialing ongoing work of the native Romanians. The team also plays a role in creating a loving atmosphere within the Point of Hope while being a constant encouragement to the staff who have the difficult job of building the children's self-esteem as well as the many other challenges in bringing kids out of a hopeless situation.

As Another Child Foundation works hand-in-hand with Fundatia Buckner strides are being made to keep improving the Point of Hope Center to better serve the children God has entrusted to our care. This week we are pleased to have 2 new sets of lockers for the after-school kids delivered and installed on the 3rd floor of the center. The October mission team is responsible for the funds needed to make this improvement happen. So, on behalf of the children we serve THANK YOU!

 

- Tim Oloffson

Front- (left to right) Margo Schindel, Lisa Baltikauski, Katelin Johnson
Middle- (left to right) Liz Koster, Alice Barman, Sue Bohlin, Marnie Swanson, Enjole Powell
Back- (left to right) Robin Duling, Tim Oloffson, Phil Gronbach