By Gretchen H. Lange | Director of Development
Would you believe it's almost Christmas? We at CERI hope you had a Happy Thanksgiving and are excited about the joy that Christmas brings! Amid the hustle and bustle of this holiday season, we wanted to pause to send you a special update on the program you support and an enormous THANK YOU.
As you know, orphans in Moldova age out of the orphanage at age 16. As youth approach their sixteenth birthdays, with this comes tremendous anxiety and fear; fear of what lies ahead; fear of what survival looks like; fear of being alone; fear... of what happens next. Over and over we hear testimonials from mission team members who tell us that, as they get to know orphaned youth on our mission trips, fear is the one emotion the youth communicate. CERI is a child sponsorship and mission's organization, specializing in care for vulnerable children, youth and their families around the world so they may grow to live healthy and productive lives. But as you can imagine, the number of children in need of child sponsorships grossly outweighs the number of child sponsors. That's where you come in!
Your gifts to CERI mean hope for youth aging out of orphanages! Because of your kindness, CERI is able to reach out to vulnerable and hurting youth, whether or not they have a sponsor. You fill the seemingly impenetrable gap, and we THANK YOU. We thank you because, without generosity like yours, what we do day-in and day-out would be impossible. After thirteen years of faithful service to at-risk children and youth around the world, CERI is realizing a harvest from its years of sowing. Youth who have graduated from our programs are returning to CERI... as volunteers!
I'd like to introduce you to Ecaterina. You may recall reading her story in a previous update. Ecaterina entered CERI's program when she, herself, was living in an orphanage. Now Ecaterina offers her time as a trusted CERI volunteer. Read what she has to say about your generosity:
"I'm a CERI volunteer since 2011. I began to devote my time to others, because I had a strong desire to do something... something for others, not for myself. The people who encouraged me and made a difference in my life are the people that I met here - at CERI. Because some people cared for me, I understood that it's time to do something for the others. I like to be involved in activities, meetings, camps organized by CERI. I also like to prepare the meals for the youth every Friday when they have Bible study. I'm glad that I can serve them, and I can help even if it's just a little thing to do."
THANK YOU, CERI friends! We would not be who we are without you...
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