Another ministry for the children of Bistrita began with the first visit by Team Members in 2005. A teacher from Columbus had the privilege of visiting a number of schools in 2005 Romania 2006 018.jpgand learned schools in Romania have some of the same problems as schools in America. The main one of course, is limited resources. As he went to the schools, he met with the English teachers and a number of projects began to develop. The first one was "Books for Romania". Several of the English teachers were asked to name things they wished they could get more of. The items mentioned most were Books in English for their students. One school, an international kindergarten, needed toys for the playground and still another school wanted to begin a classical guitar program.

These needs were brought home to Columbus and a multitude of people from churches and schools helped to fulfill them. Over 2,000 English novels and close to 75 boxes of teacher supplies have been taken to Romania through There Is Hope. The choir in one church donated money to purchase Romania 2006 026.jpgguitars to begin a music program at a school and the preschool department donated outdoor toys for the International Kindergarten. People from churches in South Carolina, Georgia and Florida have collected novels and teacher supplies. Members at another church donated pianos and an organ for the School of Music. These projects continue each year as relationships between teachers on the team and teachers in Romania grow.