By Andy Baker
In 2001 after five years of part-time work in Romania, Remember the Children was incorporated, and we secured our 501(c)(3) non-profit status. The first item on our agenda for the future was to travel to the Republic of Moldova with the senior leadership of Caminul Felix to begin a partnership to develop children’s homes in Chisinau.
What an adventure I embarked on over the course of five days. We flew to Chisinau, obtained our visas in the airport, and we were met by senior government leaders and representatives from UNICEF once clearing customs. We soon were delivered to a house with extremely tight security and were assigned a driver for the days we would be there. Fortunately, Moldova had been part of Romania before World War II, so the language was still spoken and our need for an interpreter was not necessary. The initial evening, we spent time getting acquainted with our host, and I soon learned he had been the head of the KGB in that region before the collapse of the Soviet Union.
When we were taken to our housing that night, we went to an old Communist-style apartment building. The electricity was not working in the hallways, so we were led upstairs to the place we would stay. It just happened to be our KGB friend’s former home, and the entry door was like that of a bank vault. Once we were through that door, we were in a foyer and a second security door was opened and we were inside the apartment.
That night, there was one light bulb in the living area. For some reason, the heating and water stopped working that night. There would be no showers, and we used buckets of water that were in the bathroom to flush the toilets. That night I slept in my clothes with multiple layers of blankets, and I was still cold. I remember my Romanian friend saying to me before I went to bed, “welcome to Communism. This was my life.” I have never been so cold. It was a long night, but it was a night I have never forgotten. I did take several moments that night to thank God for the life I had been blessed with.
The next morning, we visited various orphanages and met with more leaders. The trip ended up being extraordinarily successful, and we left with assurances that we could begin the homes there in Chisinau with total support from the government with tax-exempt status. I was excited and ready to return home to begin what I thought would be an exciting future building a village. Due to circumstances beyond my control, we never started that village.
But those days were training days for me. They taught me how to work with other government leaders, how to prepare, and how to know what questions to ask. I had to wait almost 20 years for the vision of a village to happen in another culture, but I believe God has been preparing me and building me as a leader over the last few decades.
Two other memories from this trip that have stayed with me were finding Lenin’s statue in the city center and being stopped by the police. My Romanian colleagues made quite a scene as they climbed Lenin’s statue and mocked the failure of Communism. As we left the center, we were stopped by the police as we were driving away, and my friend shouted to the officer while pointing at me, “Don’t you know who that is? That is the United States Ambassador to Moldova.” He immediately let us go. I will admit, I love my 5 seconds of power as the officer released us.
I tell this story of course for humor, but I also tell it to say that sometimes our dreams are in God’s timing and not ours. I will say that I am more prepared as a leader today to help my team move forward with the ministry we have been entrusted with. Sometimes disappointments are simply a “not now, but someday.” I have learned a lot over the last 20 years, and I am super happy to be the “Bishop of Malolo” in Tanzania leading my new colleagues with a Christ-centered mission to rescuing the children who have lost their parents to HIV/AIDS.
Thank you for your trust in Remember the Children. Thank you for your partnership in bringing a future to the children we have been entrusted with. Together, we can do more, and sometimes it just takes a little more time to get there. Please join hands with us and hang on. The ride has just begun.