Our names are Adriana and Zoli Takacs. I come from a family with a faithful mother and an Orthodox father, who passed away last year. Since I was a child, my mother tried to sew in me the faith that dwelt in her.
My husband Zoli also comes from a family with a faithful mother, but he was father-orphaned from the age of five. Zoli had a difficult life, being raised only by his mother, a mother who worked hard to be both mother and father for him, trying to offer him a good education and a childhood as happy as possible.
Even though we are both from the city of Turda, we met in Cluj, another city. We were both working in Cluj, I as a nurse and Zoli as a dispatcher at a company that produces cement, concrete and aggregates. We married in 2008 and, even though we had other plans (to take up residence in Cluj), God’s plan was different.
Zoli understood “part” of God’s plan for his life only after he arrived at Caminul Felix. If until that time there were a lot of questions, lots of “whys”, much bitterness and sadness, after arriving in Cypress House he started to understand “why” he had been left without a father since childhood. Who can understand someone left without parents, better than a person who actually went through that?
Therefore, we are at Caminul Felix not because we wanted to or because we are better, wiser or more capable than other people, but because God, in His plan, wanted to bring us here and we decided to listen to Him and follow him wherever He would lead us. At first we didn’t understand this plan, but what I can strongly declare is that everything that we do here, this entire ministry is not done by us, but by Him, and we are mere instruments in His hand.
What I noticed from the little experience that we have here (a year and a half) is that “there is more happiness in giving than in receiving” (Acts 20:35b). Besides our biological daughter, Rebeca, who is a year and eight months old, God gave us here ten more wonderful children: six girls and four boys. When looking at these children, when looking at their needs, I find the above assertion very true. There is more happiness in giving a smile to a child whose sad eyes are filled with tears, maybe even cast away his sadness and tears, and instead bring only smiles on his face. There is more happiness in giving a hug to a child who does not know what a hug is; oftentimes such a child remains inert and stiff when you take him in your arms and warmly hug him, not knowing that he can use his little hands to bring you closer to him. But in time, by offering him many hugs, you start to notice that he is not only learning, but even starting to offer hugs himself. There is more happiness in giving love and affection to the children that God sent in your family, than to expect to first receive such things and only afterwards to be able to offer them to others. There is more happiness in giving a home and a family to a child who was left without it by fate, but to whom God offered it once again.
We have the opportunity to offer a home and a family to these children, thanks to you, our sponsors, who support this ministry financially and through your prayers. We would like to thank you for everything you do for us, as a family, and for Caminul Felix. May our God from Heaven reward all the efforts you do for us.
Zoltan & Adriana Takacs parents at Caminul Felix, village 2