Miles cannot diminish connection between Texas volunteer and Moldovan orphan

Posted: 12/14/07

Miles cannot diminish connection between
Texas volunteer and Moldovan orphan

By George Henson

Staff Writer

CHISNAU, Moldova —Initially, Clay Palmer didn’t know why God led him to Moldova. But looking back, he can see two reasons—so God could work in his life and so he could meet a little girl named Tanya.

Palmer traveled to Moldova with Children’s Emergency Relief International, the international arm of Baptist Child & Family Services, to put shoes on the feet of Moldovan orphans.

When Palmer met Tanya and her mother at a missionary guesthouse, they immediately connected.

“I believe meeting Tanya and her mother was one of the purposes God brought me here. The first was to break me down and make me not so harsh in my life,” said Palmer, a member to Bethel Baptist Church in New Caney.

Tanya’s mother’s bubbly spirit made an impression on him immediately.

“We hit it off, and by the end of the week, her mama would give me a big hug when we came back to the house at the end of the day and tell me how she had been praying for us, that we would be safe and see God work,” he recalled.

At the end of that first week, Tanya left a note for him saying she needed a backpack for school.

“I didn’t have a backpack, but Dearing (Garner, executive director of CERI) did,” Palmer said. “So, I went to him and said, ‘How much will you take for your backpack?’”

Whether the backpack was sold or given by Garner, Palmer no longer remembers, but that’s when he and Tanya bonded.

The next year when Palmer returned to Moldova, he immediately rekindled his relationship with Tanya and her mother.

“But her mother just didn’t look well, and I wrote in my diary, ‘Tanya’s mother doesn’t look well, and if anything ever happens to her, I think God wants me to take care of her,’” he recalled.

The next summer, Palmer learned Tanya’s mother had suffered a stroke and died.

Palmer and his wife began supporting Tanya financially through CERI’s foster care program.

They wanted to adopt Tanya and bring her to the United States, but one roadblock after another prevented that.

First, Moldova’s laws stipulate a parentless child must be declared an orphan by age 16 or the child is considered too old for adoption. Tanya’s father left when she was an infant, but he had not legally relinquished his parental rights. He eventually was found and through an intermediary officially terminated the relationship, but not before Tanya turned 16.

Attempts to secure a student visa or summer visa for Tanya to visit the United States also proved unsuccessful.

“I’m beginning to think this is where she’s supposed to be,” Palmer said on yet another trip to Moldova.

“What she has experienced is common here, and she has a support group that understands her and her culture. Later, she might still come to the States, but spiritually and emotionally right now, she’s better off here.”

Last year, Tanya joined the CERI team of volunteers as they traveled to Moldovan orphanages delivering winter boots.

“That’s when we really got to know each other well. Just getting to spend that extra time together each day was great,” he said with a beaming smile.

When Tanya wanted to improve her English skills, Palmer paid $100 for private English lessons. This year, she served as interpreter for the CERI team Palmer led as they ministered in churches, orphanages and juvenile detention centers throughout the Transniestrian region of Moldova.

“This week has been great,” Palmer said as he again delivered boots, hats and scarves to keep impoverished people a little warmer. “I’ve learned how spiritually mature she is, and that pleases me more than anything.

“And I don’t know—maybe that’s why God led me here again this year, to see how she is maturing.”