Camp Living Waters

After our recent 1-week stint at Camp Living Waters, we finally learnt to appreciate the toughness and tenacity of the (mostly foreign) construction workers toiling away to build up the concrete jungle that is Singapore. And I tell you my friends – handling heavy machinery is no joke. One wrong move and there goes your fingers. We also learnt much more about the plight of orphans here in Romania.


It is at this narrow strip of land 3-4 hours away from Bucharest, where kids from a state institution gather annually for summer camps run by some missionaries. Check out the website of Stepping Forward Romania for more information. The summer camps don’t run until July, so our volunteer work entailed the building of the camp’s tractor shed and slicing up logs. Not extremely fun given the moody weather that ranges from scorching hot, chilly wind to even a hailstorm that disrupted work. But admittedly, we learnt so much more about woodworks than we ever had. Enough to put together a simple birdhouse, but never ask us to build your house from scratch. We assure you won’t have a good night’s rest in it, staring at the roof.

We also managed to visit the kids at the state orphanage. It’s a terrible place for kids to grow up in – no adult role models, lack of discipline, some suffer from inadequate nutrition (literally, the look of stunted growth) and most of these abandoned children are frankly in a mess. Cami Mather from Stepping Forward Romania tells us that it’s not illegal in Romania to abandon babies/children, and that’s what many irresponsible or underaged parents do. Hospitals overflow with them, some lie in the same cot for almost a year since they got dumped there, not given names, and only getting identity papers (ie documentation) when they reach the age of 2. An awful way to grow up is an understatement.

The emotionally-deprived kids at the orphanage we visited (8-14) are desperate for hugs given to them by visitors, and while beautiful and completely heart melting, most of them don’t know how to react, play, cooperate, concentrate, or keep boundaries. As they grow into puberty, there is a difference in appearance and the neglect is actually apparent on their faces and physical bodies.

It not just a money thing, but policy factors weigh in heavily. The planning ramifications of Romania’s recent dictator Ceausescu (read more on this BBC link) and the pervasiveness of poverty, destructive beliefs, and low moral and ethical codes compound the problem. The only answer is love. Consistent, unconditional, long term love. The children don’t need that much material stuff. But like all children universally, they need love so much they can die from lack of it. Our hearts thus go out to those who work with them in love, and to those brave and selfless enough to adopt abandoned or even disabled kids. No wonder we call God’s agape love as amazing. His grace flows even as we people are a real messed-up bunch.