Rachel House, in December 2001 entered into its fifth year, thanks to the support from Samaritan's Purse International U.S. and U.K. In the past year the children have gotten more mature and have started to be preoccupied by teenage questions. Our program now has a clear orientation for good education, to help the children succeed with their lives, and to allow them to become positive and creative adults. All year the children participated in learning activities to enrich their lives and inspire their creativity. Just some of the things they got involved in include: computer skills, sewing, model airplane building, painting, ceramics, puppet theater, and other activities held at the Pupils' Club in Constanta.

We watch them with joy and respect their wishes to travel to and from the club alone which has made them more responsible.

The children are involved in household activities that include cleaning and being responsible for their home, keeping it neat, and for being responsible for their belongings.

The children have finished another school year and are making progress in their education; they attend the public school in Ovidiu. In school they have built friendships with their fellow students and are appreciated by their teachers who say they are good examples to the other children in the school.

Most of the Children now have identity cards and are proud to have written on them the address of Rachel House.

At present, the children participate in guitar and organ lessons. Their plan is to create their own musical band. They have a lot of artistic talent and this talent is encouraged and supported by taking them on a regular basis to enjoy theatre, opera and symphony concerts. It really was a big surprise to discover they really like symphony music and would like to attend this kind of show when they are able.

During the holidays the children went on lots of trips and have seen different parts of our country. They have visited the Monasteries in Moldavia, Bran Castle, Peles Castle and the Black Church in Brasov. They enjoyed the experience of climbing the mountains on a rope-way and watching the trees from above and being on top of the mountains.

We have not forgotten the children who have gone back to live with their natural families, and we have visited them together, encouraging the children to maintain stable, long-term relationships.

From a medical stand point the children have progressed nicely, they are receiving a totally new antiretroviral therapy. They are growing so much in fact that we have had to replace all the clothes in their wardrobes. Everybody suffered in December when we lost little Daniela. She died aftersuffering a very long time. It was not easy saying goodbye to our little Barbie doll as she used to call herself, we will always feel something is missing in our home and in our hearts. We all learned from her pain, the pain that sent her slowly to another world, where she now dwells with Jesus. He lived in her heart and she now lives with Him in Heaven. We learned through her childlike answers to life's complicated questions that if Jesus is in your heart there is always hope.

In April 2001 we have had a second child from Rachel's House return to his natural family. Since this time the child has grown a lot even though the living conditions are quite poor. This proves that once again how important the love of your parents can be.

Another boy from Rachel House has almost made the transition into a new family. They live on a farm not far from Constanta. The child is so happy to have what he has always dreamed of having, a mother all to himself.

Last year was the second time we tried to create an environment as close to a natural one as possible, but again our attempt failed. Doru and Lili for a year became the parents at Rachel's house; unfortunately they had to leave when their daughter Rebecca got very ill. The children were very disappointed and went through a difficult time of adjusting. It took quite awhile for the children to return to normal. It also took the time of lots of volunteers from the Bible Institute in Oradea, the Baptist Church in Constanta, as well as the love of the staff mothers, but we are happy to report that the children are happy and confident again. Through this God taught us all a lesson of unconditional love and we are happy to share that the children do know that they are loved and that we will never leave them. Concerning the house, we worked on a number of repairs and decorations.While the children where in a summer camp in Mihail Kogalniceanu, we replaced the wooden floors with tile and the sanitary installation was repaired.

When the children returned to home they each decorated their rooms according to each ones taste. They chose carpets, small furniture pieces and other accessories to update their rooms from younger child to that of an older child.

We brought a lot of fertile soil in the garden with the support of the Ovidiu's town hall. In the spring we bought thirty fruit trees that we planted together with the children. They made a commitment to further take good care of them.

The staff participated in a number of training classes, learning new methods of care for the children and how to better assist them in our society. Finally we will continue to support our teenagers from a medical and physical point of view, and we will teach them to have integrity and become useful members of society, believing that the design for healthy living comes from following our Creator's model.