Posted: 5/25/07
Ministry provides Michigan-to-Moldova link
By Craig Bird
Baptist Child & Family Services
AN ANTONIO—A World War II veteran in Michigan and orphans in Moldova could play six degrees of separation—the parlor game that challenges people to connect random people or places in six steps or fewer—thanks to Children’s Emergency Relief International.
Step one—Moldovan orphans capture the hearts of volunteers with Children’s Emergency Relief International, the overseas arm of Baptist Child & Family Services.
| “I am persuaded supplying 12,495 pairs of shoes to these needy children can be as helpful—or maybe more so— than millions of dollars of government aid … that sometimes winds up in the wrong pockets.” |
Step two—Volunteers John and Elizabeth Myers return home to Woodland Baptist Church in San Antonio.
Step three—The volunteers’ testimonies inspire another member of Woodland Baptist, Robert Callahan, who edits a newsletter he publishes for World War II veterans who served with the 50th Troop Carrier Squadron, 314th Carrier Group.
Step four—Callahan mails his newsletter, and Donald Van Reken, a retired airman living in Michigan reads it.
Step five—Van Reken sends a donation to Children’s Emergency Relief International.
Step six—The financial contribution benefits orphans in Moldova.
A story about the needs of orphans is “sort of out of line” for a veterans’ newsletter, but Callahan said he was convinced his World War II comrades would be impressed by the ministry of Children’s Emergency Relief International—particularly its program to provide gloves and winter boots for more than 12,000 residents of Moldova’s 66 orphanages.
“These are men who fought to make the world a better place in World War II, and I knew they would be interested in how some folks are making the world a better place today,” he said.
“I am only one person with an opinion, but I am persuaded supplying 12,495 pairs of shoes to these needy children can be as helpful—or maybe more so—than millions of dollars of government aid … that sometimes winds up in the wrong pockets,” Callahan wrote in the closing lines of his article. “Every citizen of Moldova has been made aware of what a few concerned American citizens have done to help their children. … It is doubtful if such a project will ever be forgotten, particularly by those children.”
A few days later, Van Reken received the newsletter and, like he always does, read it cover to cover.
Van Reken, age 86, considered it his Christian duty to help out the orphans in Moldova.
So, he made out a check to Children’s Emergency Relief International and mailed it to Callahan, who delivered it to the agency.
For more information about Children’s Emergency Relief International and its work in Moldova, visit www.cerikids.org or www.bcfs.net.
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