My name is Oana Florentina Kis and I’m 18 years old. I was born in Arad on July 22, 1991. I lived with my parents and my brother Radu in a neighborhood called Gradiste. From my point of view, we were a happy family (and even now I remember when my dad took us to kindergarten, or when he would come home from work and knock on the window and we would run and knock him over, knowing that he brought us something sweet). But when I was six years old, due to some misunderstanding, my parents separated. Even though I didn’t understand much, I suffered much because I saw my mother crying. After the separation my brother Radu remained at home with my father, but my mother and I had to leave that house.
My father found a new girlfriend, and they lived together with her son and Radu. My mother and I lived with a neighbor for a little while, then we rented a place. From what I remember the house was even on the same street where we once lived as a family. I vaguely remember that my mother had many boyfriends, just like my father had. Then she met a man and we moved in with him. She still lives with that man today.
I don’t remember how or why, but eventually I was sent to Cluj to live with my father and Radu. We were starting a new life… one unknown. One part of me was happy to be with Radu and another part of me missed my mother. But I was glad to be away from that “monster.” Little did I know that another “monster” was waiting for me; my new stepmother. This woman had a child with special needs that she loved very much. Often, her son Adi would do something thoughtless, and Radu would take a beating for it. I don’t remember ever getting punished because I usually took up with Adi.
I started the first grade in Cluj. My dad took care of me, but not for long. He had a misunderstanding with the law enforcement there and was put in prison. When my father left, everything changed. My stepmother could treat us however she wanted because our father was not there to protect us. We went to visit my father in prison one day and that is when I think the two of them came to a decision that would take us once more into a new life: we were sent to an orphanage.
There were so many kids there. Some of the older ones would run away. I didn’t understand why I couldn’t live with my mom or dad. We were taken from that orphanage to another, but I don’t think we stayed at the new place long. I was playing cards one day and I looked up and saw a woman who looked like my mother. I ran into her arms. She had come to get us and take us to back to Arad. That boyfriend was still with her, but it was still better than not living with either of my parents.
In Arad we stayed with my grandparents. I liked it there, but when my mother left to go to work I suffered yet again. But still, I was with my grandma and not in some house with a bunch of kids and strange people. Looking back, I realize it was only for a few days we stayed with my grandma, but at the time it seemed like more. I had just started second grade when two women showed up at the house for Radu and me. “What? We’re moving again?” “But Mami promised us!” “I like it here and I don’t want to go,” I told them. But it wasn’t up to me.
I didn’t know it, but the whole time we were at my grandma’s, my mother was looking for a place for Radu and I to live. But not with her, and not with Grandma, because we were children and we were bothersome.
So one day I woke up at the “Family” foundation, a place with six children not including Radu and me. It was the nicest place I had lived yet, apart from with my parents or my grandma. I entered second grade with my friend Sanda. My mother would come and visit us, compensating for her absence with candy.
And then, more strangers appeared (who I now realize were sent by God) and they began to take us to church on Sundays. I liked it because we went to Sunday school where I played, ate, and learned about someone named Isus.
Soon, the “Family” foundation began to have money problems and we had to move again. Guess where I ended up? With those same strange people: the man who took us to church (Tata Petrica, who I would come to love) and Jacci. They came to take us to the House of Hope. Everything was chaos but it was okay because the girls who I was living with at “Family” foundation also came with us.
We stayed at Global Hope and lived with Jacci for a short time. I began to believe–and it is true–that this was the most beautiful place. Next to the House of Hope they were building a big house (Ana’s House) where I heard we were going to live. We waited for the time to come when it would be ready.
I met Mama Rodi, who I didn’t like at first because she kept an eye on me and everything I did at school (it felt like she was all over me!). I’ve lived at Ana’s House for eight years and honestly, I’m glad I’m here. God loved me so much that he took care to give me everything–everything I need—including parents. With Mama I can talk about everything a girl can talk about with her mom, and Tata is so gracious to us. So I have everything I want. I’m even happy that Mama says I’ve changed a lot since I came here.
In the fourth grade I attended the Art and Music High School in Arad, but Mama saw that I wasn’t enjoying music but I was good at the Sciences. So for 5th-7th grade she put me in the Baptist High School. Then I began 9th grade at the Pedagogic High School, where students are trained to be teachers. This is where I wanted to go!
One year ago, on June 29th, I testified to my faith by water baptism. I am so happy that I decided to get baptized and I don’t know how to thank God for all the blessings that I sometimes still consider to be just normal things. In this family, I learned about Him.
I still speak with my biological parents. Radu and I visit our mother. We now have a 3 year-old sister who belongs to the man I used to hate. My father is Spain, but he renewed his relationship with us after a one-year silence.
Next year I’ll finish the 12th grade and I hope to go to college in Timisoara, but I will need money to do that. I know that God will take care of this, too.
