By Andy Baker
We have compiled a list of the most frequently asked questions we receive. We want you to have the most accurate information, and we thought this would be a fun way for you to learn more about Remember the Children. Below are our 3 most asked questions!
How did you begin in Romania?
It was in the mid 1990’s that I met Mircea and Lidia Toca in England when we happened to be there at the same time at the invitation of a mutual friend. Through that initial meeting, Mircea challenged me to come to Romania and see the needs of orphaned children in his homeland. Through that invitation, my wife, Gerri, and I traveled to Romania the next year, and we saw the needs and we were totally devastated by what we encountered.
After our initial visit to Romania and being confronted with the dire needs of the children, we began to lead short term mission trips to help. Over the course of our first five years, our influence grew, and our ability to help was reaching significant levels. Over the last twenty-three years altogether, we have raised millions of dollars and helped countless thousands of orphans. Through this experience, Gerri and I even felt called to be adoptive parents, and we did welcome two beautiful adolescent girls into our family through adoption fifteen years ago. But the short answer to my initial question is important to hear. When a door of opportunity opens, and you are faced with the question, “what should I do?”; the answer is not always easy. Gerri and I could have walked away from Romania praying that God would do something to alleviate the suffering of the children, but instead, we both knew that the deeper question we had to answer was, “what are we going to do?” The birth of Remember the Children was the answer.
How do you move from Romania to Tanzania?
Two years ago, Mircea Toca telephones me and asks me to meet with him. I go to his house and I am met with a question; “what are you going to do with the next twenty years of your life?” Mircea and Lidia had finished raising their twenty-one children, and now they were being led to do something further with their lives for children in another country. Mircea’s challenge to me was that we could build two villages of ten homes for orphaned children over the next twenty years if we simply just built one a year. But the question was, “where are we going to do this?” Mircea had the answer. Connections had been made in Tanzania, and the foundation was being laid to start a new community there for children in a village of family homes. The connection that Gerri and I have shared with Mircea and Lidia is nothing but a gift. Our years in Romania together were a blessing beyond measure, and now the challenge to go to Tanzania was before us, and we knew with Mircea and Lidia, we were going to make it happen with God’s help. Today, we are well underway, and we are so happy that we risked again to do something out of our comfort zone, but something that has been nothing more than an amazing gift from God to experience.
What is your greatest need(s)?
If I am going to answer this question honestly, it is threefold. First, we need people to pray with us that God would give us the needed direction and resources to complete the vision we believe he has given us. We also need prayer that we can continue to work as a team free from conflict. We have people from Tanzania, Romania, the United States, and Russia working together to do this work, and trust me, our cultural differences can be disruptive at times. We try each day to treat each other with respect, grace, and dignity, and we are all people of prayer.
Secondly, we need people to partner with us to help us accomplish our vision. Please know that the ministry belongs to God, and we are simply those entrusted to lead it. But through our valued partnerships, we receive the resources to do the work with which God has entrusted us. Everyone who believes that the orphan is close to God’s heart and needs unconditional love is invited to join us in bringing the love of a new family to them.
Lastly, we need encouragement. The work we are privileged to do takes a lot of time, especially time away from home. So, when we receive notes of encouragement or the blessing of an email, text, or phone call, it truly goes a long way. We invite you to stay in touch. We want to hear from you. It truly means more than you probably realize.