When Valeriu was just 10 years old, his mother and father were murdered near a lake. Ever since that terrifying day, he has been on his own.

Sadly, no one wanted to take him in, so he bounced from hovel to hovel just looking for a warm place to stay. Every so often, a kind family would let him stay in their home—but not for long. There simply wasn’t enough food to go around.

He found his way to an orphanage and stayed there for a while, but was later kicked out for reasons we don’t know. He stayed at a hospital for a few days until they eventually turned him away. And at one point he even stayed with a young family for a few weeks, working hard labor for his room and board.

But in some cases, there was no other option but to break into homes and steal food. He didn’t want to do it, but he had no other choice…

Today, Valeriu is safe at Providence House and has transformed from a quiet, broken child into a bubbly, healthy boy. He is attending church and Sunday school and is getting along with all of the other children. We are thrilled to have him in our home!

We have also welcomed Maricica who was abandoned at a very young age. Her mother dropped her and her sister Liliana off at their grandmother’s mud hut and never came back.

For a while, Maricica’s grandmother received 700 lei ($70) from the government each month to keep the girls, but eventually she was forced to send Liliana away to live with her uncle because she did not have the means to care for her.

Liliana was just four years old.

Maricica, devastated at losing her sister, was put to work around the house. She cleaned, cooked, and gathered firewood, being treated more like a hired hand than a precious granddaughter. She wasn’t allowed to go to school, and today she is 14 years old and has only a fourth grade education.

Although the conditions of home were horrible, it was nothing compared to the horror she endured on March 1. While she was walking home from school, a young man snatched her off the streets and dragged her into his home. That night she was brutally attacked.

The next morning, she returned to the makeshift shack in tears and told her grandmother everything that had happened. Child Protective Services was contacted and Maricica was taken to a doctor. The police then took her to Providence House. When she arrived she was wearing work pants that were far too large for her and a filthy, torn jacket over her thin shoulders. Her long, brown hair was covered in lice, and her brown eyes were void of emotion.

For weeks, Maricica stayed in her room. She did not interact with anyone and hardly spoke a word. Although there is a long road ahead of this sweet girl, she is slowly coming out of her shell.

Your compassionate and prayerful support has made it possible for these two broken children to come into our care under the banner of God’s love. For them, this is just the beginning. We are expecting great improvement and tremendous healing to take place in the next several weeks. Please be praying for them.

Once again, thank you for reaching half way around the world with your generosity, which has allowed us to take in all five sweet children.

For the orphans,

Philip

Abandoned girls tell how their wretched lives have been transformed

In some orphanages in Moldova, the children are told that they are worthless – as their parents had been too – “Nothing plus nothing, equals nothing,” is the mantra.

At 16, girls are thrown out on the streets with £20 and told to get on a bus to the town of their birth.

Many are picked up at terminals by traffickers who con them with the offer of decent jobs as nannies and waitresses.

Four years ago, Scots couple Philip, 56, and Chrissie Cameron, 52, set up the charity, Stella’s Voice, to give the girls a place to go.

Philip, a pastor, heard all about the problem while helping at orphanages.

The couple have three daughters and adopted Andrew, 25, from a Romanian orphanage when he was four. The girls they help now are rarely orphans and have just been abandoned.

Moldova is Europe’s poorest country and young women being sold for sex is its biggest export.

Philip said: “When I discovered where thousands of these girls were going, as a father of daughters I felt compelled to help.”

Moldovan women are subjected to forced prostitution in Turkey, Russia, Cyprus, Bulgaria, the UAE, Kosovo, Israel, Lebanon, Italy, Greece, Ukraine, and Romania.

Philip said: “They are raped and beaten mercilessly.

“By the time they get to where they are going to be working, they are so beaten and broken – and a little girl, once she is beaten, won’t fight back.”

The charity has 46 girls in two large homes – Stella’s House and Stella’s House 2 – in Moldova, with guardians who care for them. The girls call Philip and Chrissie, who married in Peterhead in 1976, Mum and Dad.

Now the charity want to build another two houses and have enough room for 100 girls.
This week, some of the youngsters visited Scotland to talk about how the harsh life of an orphanage makes young girls vulnerable to trafficking.

For more information on the charity, visit www.stellasvoice.org

Dasa’s story

DASA’S father abandoned her mother when she was born because he wanted a boy. Then, when she was two, her mother left for Russia.

She was placed with uncles who put her and three cousins in an abandoned house and brought £3 once a week to share between them.

They put the children in an orphanage when Dasa was 10.

Dasa, now 20, said: “I wanted to kill myself, I was so devastated. We cried, all four of us, on the way there.

“The orphanage seemed like another world and you had to learn to survive.

“It was a horrible place.

“Every night in bed I used to cry for my parents until my pillow got wet.

“I pined for my dad. I dreamed of him spending time with me, loving me, but it was just dreams.”

Like the other girls, she was thrown out of the orphanage at 16 but Stella’s Voice offered her a place.

“At first I struggled, I thought how can they love me like this? It was hard to trust people but I softened.

“All of a sudden there was light in my world. I was loved.

“All my life I wanted just three things, to have a dad, a dog and a bicycle. Now I have all three.”

Dasa is now going to university in the United States to study business.

Constantia’s story

Constantia, 22, was left in an orphanage when she was six.

Her father had been murdered and the day after his funeral her mum handed her to her grandmother who was too poor to feed her.

They lived on chicken feed and after two years her grandmother took her to the orphanage.
“It was a cold miserable place where water poured on my face as I lay in bed, the leaking roof dripping down on me when it rained.”

But one day her mum turned up, her face beaten and her clothes scruffy.

She took Constantia to the Ukraine, but she was an alcoholic who had a series of boyfriends who beat her and there was never any money.

“We had hardly any food and my one pair of boots grew so small, I had to scrunch my toes up inside them”.

Constantia was 11 when she was sent back to the orphanage, illiterate and riddled with lice.

“My heart felt a dark black. I felt hopeless. I used to look in the mirror and say, ‘You are nothing, you are nobody’s child’.”

But one Christmas the Camerons arrived – the mouldy walls were painted, the windows and roof were fixed and there were new showers, hot water and fresh linen.

At 16 she was taken to Stella’s House and her life was transformed. She is now studying to be a hairdresser.

“If it had not been for Stella’s Voice, I would probably have been married to a husband who mistreated me, or I would have become a slave in sex trafficking.

“Stella’s Voice built us girls a house but they also built our lives and our hearts.”

Natalie’s story

Natalie, 20, was seven when she was placed in an orphanage by her grandmother who had taken care of her for three years, ever since her mother was blinded in an accident.

Natalie said: “In the orphanage you are nothing. You were born but no one knows or cares that you are in the world.

“I remember the day I arrived, seeing so many kids and thinking it would be fun. But after one night I realised that was so wrong.

“If one child made a noise in the night we would all be dragged from bed and beaten with a stick.”

The dank, filthy orphanage was freezing in the harsh Moldovan winters and the windows were broken so snow would blow in.

Sometimes the girls slept four to a bed and there were holes over a pit for toilets and leaves for toilet paper.

“We were always hungry and after 7.30pm the kitchens would close and we weren’t allowed to go to the bathroom after 9pm.

“The mattresses were smelly and the blankets were old and thin.

“Most of the staff were abusive and they would always tell us, ‘It is not my duty to look after you, it is your fault your mother left you’, and you start to think that is true. There was never any love, ever.”

Her mother got a new boyfriend when Natalie was 14 and he had two girls in the same orphanage. Natalie weeps as she remembers.

“My mum came to see those two girls but never me. I realised that I was an inconvenience to my mum and that felt terrible.”

At 16 Natalie was taken to live at Stella’s House.

“My first day it was so clean, I wanted to take my shoes off but they said it was home and not to bother.

“They made us sandwiches and everyone smiled and hugged us. That was the first time I felt welcome in my whole life.”

Natalie, who is engaged to Andrew, the Camerons’ adopted son, and is now at college, added: “If it wasn’t for Stella’s House, I don’t know where I would be – probably trafficked like other girls.”

You can read the original article online here

In just a couple of months, several girls from Stella’s House and a few boys from Simon’s House will fly to America, pile into an RV, and travel across the nation visiting churches in several states to share God’s powerful influence in their lives.

Over the last several years I have seen these children transform from quiet, shy, broken souls, into evangelists for the Gospel. Last year, the kids traveled over 14,700 miles across the country and visited 21 churches… and our 2012 calendar is filling up faster than ever!

Several pastors have told me that the energy and joy these kids bring through their church doors is incredible. My kids—our kids— have truly brought Speranta Church (which means “hope”) on the road.

We can go wherever a church will have us. We travel night and day looking for a chance to bring the mission field right to your door. As you may have seen on our new 30-minute television special or in videos posted on our website, these kids speak nearly perfect English. They share from the pulpit and then fellowship with the congregation after church.

Would you approach your pastor or your mission board and ask them to invite us to your church?

Psalm 107:2 says, “Has the LORD redeemed you? Then speak out! Tell others he has redeemed you from your enemies.” The girls from Stella’s House are anxious to share their personal stories of grace and redemption with your church. Their testimonies will blow you away! I hope to hear from you soon!

For the orphans,

Philip Cameron

PS: If you would like to invite the girls to your church, contact Andrew Cameron at 1-334-288-1188 or email him at acameron@stellasvoice.org for more information.

PPS: One of our greatest challenges is meeting the daily needs of the children in our care. If you feel led to give, please click the link below. God bless you!

Click here to give now!

Pool was originally introduced to the ministry through a friend who ministers to sex-trafficking victims in India. Some time later, she also saw Philip Cameron and a few of the girls from Stella’s House on Jentezen Franklin’s television program. During the broadcast, Pool says that God spoke to her heart and she decided to support Stella’s Voice monthly.

When she received the call from Galina who told her that she had won the all-expense paid trip, she was overwhelmed with emotions.

“At first, I couldn’t really understand her,” Pool said, laughing. “I thought, ‘Is she telling me I won something?’ I was so excited just to hear from one of the girls that I burst into tears! I was so touched that she was calling to thank me… it was the phone call I was so excited about!”

This is not the first involvement that Pool has had with an organization that helps to prevent human trafficking. Pool, a psychotherapist, and her colleague currently volunteer at Redeemed Ministries in Houston, Texas, an outreach focused on meeting the needs of victims of the human trafficking industry both locally and abroad.

In addition, Pool, who will begin taking classes at a physician’s assistant school in January, recently met a doctor who is part of the program. His interest? Mission trips. And his area of focus? Ironically, Moldova.

“A lot of people are going to get connected with this ministry as a result of this trip,” Pool said.

Travel plans have not been finalized, but Pool says she will be taking a friend with her. The women are members of different churches, but Pool says that’s part of her strategy.

“I want to get two churches [in my area] behind this cause,” she said. “I want to spread awareness. I am so excited!”

On this one-of-a-kind journey, Pool and her friend will tour the homes, play with the children at Providence House, minister to the teens, and see how the love of God and the support of donors are making a difference in lives half a world away.

It’s safe to say, she’ll return home forever changed.

Stella’s Voice will once again hold this contest for their monthly sponsors in 2012. The drawing will take place on 12/31/2012. No donation or payment is required to be entered into the drawing. To request one free entry, click on the “Join” tab at the top of the website and indicate your request in the questions/comments box available. One entry per person; valid email address required. Void where prohibited.

Moody Radio Interview

The interview with Philip starts around the 25 minute mark.

We would like to thank Moody Radio for having Stella’s Voice on the air with them and helping us spread the word.

The captivating, 30-minute program is a powerful documentary about the horrors faced by the orphans of Moldova—a tiny country in Eastern Europe that has been called, “the engine of the sex trafficking industry.”

Angel One will be airing the program again on Monday, January 30 at 6 p.m. EST. This network reaches 14,200,000 households.

A total of 17 airings have been booked on various well-known television networks, with several dates yet to be determined. These networks include Golden Eagle Broadcasting, a network that reaches 20 million households, and WACX TV 55 in Orlando, which reaches nearly 1.5 million households.

For a current list of dates and show times, please see below

Air Times

There are several kids who are begging me for a place to stay. Some attended our summer camp at Providence House and have asked to live with the other boys and girls we currently care for. I have room. I have room for 40 more. But I don’t have the funds to care for them.

In thirty days I must decided whether or not to open our hearts and homes to these children or leave them in danger of freezing to death as winter fast approaches.

There is no time for us to sit around and talk about it. We must act immediately.

Because of the love and support of faithful donors, we have doubled in size over the past year. Several more children are safe, healthy, and living at Stella’s House, Simon’s House, or Providence House. These new faces have been such a blessing and my heart aches to bring in more.

But our finances are stretched beyond words.

God has never failed to meet our needs and I’m trusting He will once again.

Will you be the answer to our prayer? Will you give generously today so we can swing our doors open wide and welcome in more children?

Please let me hear from you soon. Give generously and follow your gift with prayer. Thank you in advance! With your support today, we can literally save lives.

For my kids… and yours,

Philip Cameron

P.S. Rush your gift by December 31, 2011 to receive your tax-deductible receipt before the end of the year. Thank you for caring.

“Away in a manger, no crib for His bed, the little Lord Jesus lay down His sweet head…”

Every year we sing those sweet words, a gentle Christmas song that paints an almost romantic picture of the Christ Child lying in a rough wooden trough. We often remove from our minds the freezing night air, the smell of farm animals, and the splinters in the rough wood.

There is nothing romantic about a child having no place to sleep.

As I write these words, there are children in my care—our care—who have no beds to sleep in. Hours ago, a young woman in her 20s showed up at our door holding a tiny infant in her arms. Beside her stood four children; the oldest was only seven years old. The mother had no food, no resources—nothing but the rags she and her children wore on their backs. She begged us to take her in. She had nowhere to go and was so afraid—not for herself, but for her children.

The temperature in Moldova that night was below zero, and as her story spilled out through tears and shame, my heart began to break.

When she was barely 15 years old, she fell in love with a boy who promised to love and care for her. It was the first time anyone had been kind to her. But as soon as she was pregnant, he was gone. A year later, she and her baby were homeless. She had no food to feed her newborn son and no bed to lay his sweet head… but she loved him dearly and was determined to do anything to make sure he was safe.

It wasn’t long until she met another man. He offered her and her child a place to stay and food to eat, but there was a price. She didn’t sell her body… she gave it away to care for her child. Months later, she was pregnant again. As she grew large with his child, the man locked her out of his home and she and the baby where alone and homeless once again.

The story repeated. The next man was not as nice; he fed them less often. His drinking habits caused him to beat the girl, but she stayed nonetheless, had her third baby, and sacrificed everything for the sake her of children.

She became pregnant again. And again.

Please don’t judge her. It was one mistake. Every other decision she made was to feed her children. There was no work for her, no cleaning or kitchen jobs in her tiny village.

And when she came to me, how could I say no? Send her away in the snow with her babies?

I had no beds to offer her and her children, only a roof to put over their heads, warm clothing, good food, and more love than they have ever known. Although they are warm, they have no place to sleep. Please help me! Every single bed we own is filled. A single bed to lay the sweet head of a child that God loves no less than His own Son costs $225.

We need six beds right away for this young family. These children have never seen bed sheets, don’t know how to flush a toilet, and have never owned a pillow. They expect nothing. But they are God’s children. He is the Father of the Fatherless. We must get those beds and we must do it quickly!

As the winter weather gets worse, I expect even more children will knock on our door.

What would Jesus have us do?

I am asking you to please give a gift that will buy a bed for one of these children this Christmas… a crib for their heads. A single gift of $225 will pay for a bed that will last a lifetime.

Maybe you can send $450 to pay for a bunk bed, or $1,350 to pay for the six beds we need right now. I know that is a lot of money. Whatever you give will be a blessing.

Thank you for your prayerful concern and support. I am so grateful that I can write you at such a time as this.

Merry Christmas,

Philip

UPDATE: The mother and three of her sons were just sent to the hospital. The in-home doctor at Providence House said they were very ill and had to be treated immediately. Please pray for the mother as she is away from her two youngest children while she cares for her three boys.