Blankets for Orphanages

Because Moldovan winters are cold, several people at National have sought ways to improve the living situation for children of Moldova. There has been a special focus on orphanages, especially given that the Bethany Church in Belts has been involved with orphanages in its community.

Blankets were sent to Moldova from 2002-2005 through Keys Ministries and Missions Without Borders, International (MWBI). From 2006-2009, shipments went directly through Keys (headquartered in Liverpool, PA) to the College of Theology and Education (CTE) in Chisinau, where personnel from the Belts church would pick up the blankets for preparation and distribution. Because of changes in funding support from the U.S. Government, beginning in 2009, shipments go through the Little Samaritan Mission (headquartered in Granite Falls, NC) to Chisinau, and on to Belts.

Leila Pisnamazova, former MWBI Chisenau coordinator of the blanket projectI

For the first shipment, the blankets were donated by American Airlines. In order for the project to serve also as a way to reach children with the news of the Gospel, arrangements were made for people in Moldova to sew blocks of color into the blankets corresponding to the colors of the Wordless Book, the well-known tool Child Evangelism Fellowship developed to help missionaries tell children about Jesus regardless of their language (the book has the colors of black for sin, red for Jesus’ cleansing blood, white for purity, gold for heaven and righteousness, and green for spiritual growth). The plan was for the colors to be sewn into the blankets, then when the blankets were distributed, the children could be told the story of Jesus so that they could pass it on themselves to their friends.

The first shipment of blankets went to about 34 orphans in Belts Special Home 209-4 for Deaf Children and 31 orphans at Belts Special Home 209-6 for Children with Locomotor Deficiencies (numerical designators are MWBI’s). Orphanage administrators and children both expressed their appreciation for the blankets, and MWBI, which is primarily involved with orphanages in Moldova, was glad that the children could get warm blankets and also hear about Jesus..Slavik Keptea, the MWBI Coordinator for Northern Moldova, helped get the materials from Chisenau to Belts and manage the preparation phase for the Wordless Book addition and arranged for the distribution of the blankets.

Gabrielle, a volunteer from Bethany Church who helped prepare the blankets for distribution. Note the Wordless Book materials on the table.	Slavik Keptea shows the boys at Special Home 209-4 their new blankets. Slavik attends Emmanuel Baptist Church in Belts.
Children at Special Home 209-4 learn about the Wordless Book colors as they receive their blankets.	The children show their new blankets.
Children at the Special Home 209-4 express their thanks for their new blankets.	Administrative Staff from Special Home 209-4 convey their thanks for the blankets. From left to right are Zinaida (responsible for the home’s warehouse), a medical assistant for the home, Director Valentina Reaboi, and volunteer Gabriela.
The second shipment went to about 25 children in the Belts Special Home for Children with Physical Handicaps and about 73 children in the nearby Sculeni Home 217-2 for Slow Learners. This shipment provided components for quilts—muslin backing, batting, and tops which the Moldovans assembled with clear instructions provided by the Working Group.  The most special part of the quits for this shipment--the quilt tops--were donated by a quilting expert who attended National. This individual volunteered to donate the materials and—most importantly—her time to sew all the tops herself. The children and staff were very grateful for the quilts and commented about the beautiful bright colors and pictures of animals and nature scenes which adorned the tops.
Boxes with blankets are loaded into the container in Pennsylvania.	Keys Ministries kindly let National have some space in their container for the blanket materials.
Keys Ministries workers relax after loading the container.	The Keys container pulls away from the Pennsylvania warehouse, bound for Moldova.
Students from the Pedagogical College in Chisenau help unload the Keys container.	“Many hands make ‘light’ work”: seminary students receive the Keys shipment and hand off the blanket materials to MWBI.
Quilt materials are unloaded after arriving in Belts.	Stacks of quilts ready for distribution to the orphanages.
Volunteer Vasiliy Voluschak helps Slavik with preparation of the batting for the inside of the quilts.
Vasiliy sews the three parts of the quilts together and stitches in the Wordless Book colors.	Children at the Sculeni home display their new quilts.
Toddlers and caregivers at the Belts Special Home, with their new blankets at left.	Children enjoy their new blankets in their cribs at the Belts Special Home.
Boys at the Sculeni home give the “thumbs up” sign upon receiving their new quilts.	Girls at the Sculeni home wave in thanks for the quilts they have received.
A thank-you Christmas note from the Belts Special Home: “We send you Christmas greetings! We wish you health, joy, happiness, and peace to your heart and house.”
The shipment sent in 2006 went to about 130 children at the Soci Noi Orphanage near Belts. The fourth shipment will go to the orphanage with about 100 children at Albenetsy. Bethany Church sends teams each week to these orphanages and runs summer camps and special Christmas programs for children there.
Packing the blankets in Washington, DC for the Marculeshty home.
(above left and right, and below left) Volunteers prepare and load the blanket boxes into the Keys Ministries shipping container in Liverpool, PA (near Harrisburg). Keys Ministries ships the containers to the Evangelical Theological Seminary in Chisinau, where they are picked up and taken to the Bethany Church in Balti. The blanket portion for this shipment went to the Marchuleshty home.
	NPC member Callie Harman, show here, second from left with parents John and Donna Harman, donates blankets for the Soci Noi orphanage from her Girl Scout Troop. Europe Working Group member Howard Frost receives them on behalf of the Moldovan beneficiaries.
Six boxes of blankets were shipped to the 120 children at the Albenetsy orphanage.	A Suntex employee displays a blanket for the Albenetsy orphanage.
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