Testimonials
A child whose life has been transformed by Childspring tells her story
No one liked me, I couldn’t go to a real school, and I knew I couldn’t get a job because of how I looked and talked. When I go home in a few weeks, I know people will accept me. I know I can get a diploma, and I know I will find a good job! I am 18 years old and I was born in Moldova with a severely cleft lip and palate. In my country, which is between Romania and the Ukraine, doctors tried three times to fix my mouth but they couldn’t. My parents paid a lot of money but nothing got better for me. Things only worsen as my teeth started to come out. When I started going to school, other kids laughed at me because I looked different and talked funny. Every day I came home crying and begging my mom not to send me back to that school. My parents found another school for me to go to, a school for handicapped children. I wasn’t handicapped, but at least the other kids didn’t tease me any more. I really liked going to school, learning new things, and helping the other children. But I didn’t have any friends which made me lonely and very sad. I always prayed and dreamed about getting my mouth fixed so that I could graduate from a regular school and get a job. I didn’t know how that would ever happen because Moldovan doctors had given up on helping me. One day, an American lady visited my school and wanted to help me. She found out about Childspring International and that was the beginning of my new life. I was scared to fly to America by myself and worried about being away from my family for several months, but when I got off the airplane and saw Christina and my host family standing there and waiting for me with a sign that read, ”Welcome to our family Viorica!”, I was so happy. It was hard for me to understand what everyone was saying to me at first, but I am a smart girl and, with the help of my host family, I learned English really fast. It became much easier for me to understand people. Unfortunately, some people couldn’t always understand what I was saying to them. That always made my heart sad. When I went in for my first surgery, I cried because I was so afraid of being in pain again. All of my dental work done in Moldova was done without pain medicines and I was terrified of suffering more. Everyone around me told me not to worry; I really wanted to believe them but I couldn’t. Then I experienced surgery with anesthesia and pain pills – it was great and I realized everyone was right; it didn’t really hurt so much after all. I was also so blessed to have the most wonderful doctor. He explained everything to me before and was so encouraging. I never had that type of relationship with a doctor before and it made me feel very special. All the families that have hosted me have been wonderful and have taken really good care of me. I’ve been to a football game, a baseball game, the zoo, the Coca-Cola Museum, an American graduation, shopping at the mall, and have learned how to make apple pie. I have also learned how to take care of my body by exercising and eating healthy. Some of my new friends have also tutored me so when I go back to Moldova I can graduate from a regular high school -- another dream of mine which I know will come true. I really have had wonderful teachers! I am so thankful for Childspring and for all they have done for me. I am also so thankful for my host families because they have made me feel so welcomed. I thank God for showing me that he loves and cares for me and teaching me how to believe in myself. I learned that it doesn’t matter how you look on the outside, but what is on the inside that matters. I know that I am very lucky to get my mouth fixed, but most importantly, I am lucky to have learned that I am a good person and that people love me even if I am not perfect on the outside. I can still help others and change their lives by sharing my story and the love that I have been given and everyone involved with me in the U.S.A. – the doctors, host families, and everyone else has become my family and my life while I have been away from Moldova for the past two years. Childspring is the only hope many children like me have. It has meant everything in the world to have the help of Childspring I hope that my testimony can teach other people and encourage them to get involved in change other kid’s lives. I would like to end with this verse from the bible: Psalms 16:8: “I know the LORD is always with me. I will not be shaken, for he is right beside me.” Viorica, Moldova July, 2011
A host mom expresses the impact Childspring has had in her life
Our family was first introduced to Childspring when a family in our Sunday School class was hosting a young boy from Africa who Childspring brought to the U.S. for several surgeries due to severe burns on his face. Being a pediatric nurse, I was immediately intrigued by what this faith-based, non-profit organization was doing for children around the world. The more we became familiar with Childspring’s mission and work, the more we felt that God was calling us to get involved. After a couple of years of “sitting on the sidelines” and observing others, we finally “joined the game” as a host family. We were a bit scared at first since we had never hosted any child in our home, much less a foreign child with medical needs. We could not have imagined the impact this experience was going to have on our neighborhood and community, but, most importantly, on our family. We had no idea that God would bless us in such an amazing way through each child that we would eventually have in our home. Our daughters, Greyson and Amelia, were eleven and nine years of age, respectively, when we hosted our first child through Childspring in 2004. Julandia, from Haiti, was almost two years old when she came to us for the last four months of her stay in the US (friends of ours had been her primary host family). Initially I was concerned how my daughters might respond to Julandia’s physical differences which included a myelomeningocele (a protruding mass from her lower back that contained spinal nerves) and a club foot. I was surprised how quickly our girls took to Julandia and accepted her into our family. They not only accepted her but embraced her with care and unconditional love. It was obvious to me that this would probably not be our last hosting experience. Over the next seven years, we would host three more children in our home – one for as short as one week, and the most recent, Michael (also from Haiti), for almost two years. We have also helped out other host families with children for a few days at a time. With each hosting experience, we get a clearer understanding of how we are all one in the body of Christ, despite our backgrounds. Our fear of the unknown with our first Childspring child has transformed into incredible love for each precious child that we have had in our home. Just when we think this is a one-way street – that we are doing all the giving – God gently reveals how much these children are giving to us through the hosting experience. God has used each child we have hosted to teach us about selfless love, compassion, faith, and hope – they bring scripture to life. We have realized that in a world of desperate need, God has called us to be part of something so much bigger than ourselves. We have been made painfully aware of how incredibly blessed we are, far beyond our needs. Our gratitude is overflowing. The number of lives that these children touched while with us extends well beyond our family. They brought out compassion and love in so many people – friends, neighbors, extended family, teachers, and even strangers in check-out lines. We find ourselves eager to tell others about how great Childspring is and what it does for so many children and their families around the world - physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually. One of the most difficult moments in a hosting experience, as you can probably imagine, has been having to say goodbye as you put that child on a plane back to his or her family. Although it is emotional and sad, the joys and blessings from having each child in our lives greatly surpass the pain of letting them go. Amidst the sorrow with each goodbye, God has given us a great sense of peace. We find comfort in knowing that each child has returned to a family that loves them very much – so much that they had the faith and willingness to give their child up for a while, so that the necessary surgery and treatment could be provided that would enable them to return home a much healthier child with a brighter future. So, what we thought would be a one-time volunteer experience in 2004 has now grown into an ongoing relationship with an amazing organization. “We love because He first loved us” (1 John 4:19) has a whole new meaning for our family. Nancy Ike, Atlanta July, 2011
A wonderful testimony from one of our kind doctors
Childspring International is an amazing organization which has made
possible for me to make a significant difference in the lives of many
children and still practice my specialty of pediatric ophthalmology. I
always desired to do medical mission work but somehow work and taking
time off from a high overhead private practice always seemed to get in
the way of my planned trips. This is why I am so grateful for
Childspring. They really perform such amazing work; finding the children
and bringing them to my city, letting me experience joy through
improving children’s vision and witnessing these children begin to enjoy
straighter eyes. In many cases, we have even achieved binocular vision.
The whole world should learn from programs like Childspring’s.
Childspring locates the children in need, sends me pictures and medical
information and then, I select the children I can help. Then, they bring
the child to my town. I make a couple of phone calls and send a couple
of letters to ask the local hospital and anesthesiologists to help out,
all of which is very little trouble for me. It takes a little bit of
time to do an eye exam and add another child to the surgery schedule.
The joy and satisfaction from seeing a smile on the face of the child
with straight eyes who had to live with strabismus (eyes not aligned) is
immeasurable. Dr. Alan Richards, Shreveport, LA July, 2011
