ABOVE: Frazer members Joy Ohme (left side), and Kathryn and Brian Jones (right side) sit overlooking the Moldovan countryside with two of the girls from Stella’s Voice (center). PHOTO CONTRIBUTED. OPPOSITE PAGE, PHOTO BY LEE WERLING.
young women who have aged out of the system. Here, they have an opportunity to complete their education, learn life skills and grow in a loving Christian environment. Two more Stella’s Houses are currently under construction, and these will house a larger facility to be used as a church, and provide a home for 75 more girls. Simon’s House, a separate home for boys, currently houses 16 young men. In 2011, the Moldovan government allowed Stella’s Voice to open and run Providence Orphanage, the only Christian orphanage in the country. The organization restored the buildings and turned it into a home where children will feel loved, instead of rejected and despised. Providence cares for around 40 children ages 3 to 16 plus many children from the surrounding village, many who lived in unfathomable poverty and suffered abuse and neglect before finding a home and a family at Providence.
A GROWING BURDEN Kathryn, a special education teacher and her
husband Brian, a quality engineer, continued to learn more about the ministry taking place in Moldova and in 2011, they had the opportunity to organize and lead a mission trip to the country, where they spent much time with the children at Providence in Cupcui, and worshipped with the girls of Stella’s House. The couple admits they had differing opinions leading up to the initial trip. While Kathryn was ecstatic about the opportunity to share Christ and “love on” the children and teenagers they would be serving there, Brian admits he was nervous about their adventure. “I’d never been to a country where English is not the primary language, so I guess my main motivation at the time was to go and look after Kathryn,” he said. “I didn’t figure out until later that in reality, it’s God who is keeping us safe, not me!” Kathryn had been feeling the burden on her heart to help the children of Moldova growing stronger, and once they arrived, she said it was like a
FOLLOWING JESUS
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