40 Years Later… God Still Makes a Way

It’s Andrew, and I wanted to write this month’s newsletter for a special reason.

On September 21st, I turn 40! I can’t believe it - I used to think 40 was old, now it’s here!

For many people, a milestone birthday is a time to look back at accomplishments, memories, and blessings. For me, turning 40 has taken my thoughts back 36 years, to a Romanian orphanage and a little four-year-old boy who had no idea how dramatically his life was about to change.

That little boy was me.

When Dad walked into a Romanian orphanage, saw me standing in a crib, and felt God speak unmistakably to his heart - “That is your son” - my life changed forever. Dad was just 36 years old when he found me. As I approach 40, that amazes me more than ever. I think about the faith, courage, and responsibility he was willing to take on at that age - all because he believed God had called him to bring one little boy home.

What followed was anything but easy.

At nearly every turn, Dad and Mom were told the same thing:

“No way.” No way to take me from the orphanage. No way to receive permission from my birth mother. No way to complete the adoption. But through those days, an old gospel song kept coming back to Dad:

When there seemed to be no way, God opened one.

Eventually, the little boy sitting alone in a Romanian orphanage became Andrew Cameron. I was given a family, a future, and most importantly, the opportunity to know Jesus.

I’ve Never Forgotten “The Others”

My life has been spent thinking about the children who were left behind. The ones who weren’t adopted when I was. The ones who never had someone walk into an orphanage and say, “This child is mine.” The ones who could have been helped if someone had reached them in time.

Perhaps that is why Orphan’s Hands has always been so personal to me. I’ve known from a young age that God has had His hand on my life for a bigger purpose, and this is it!

Today, I am married with two kids of my own, as you may have read in last month’s newsletter.

I have the incredible privilege of helping those whose lives remind me so much of where mine began - young people facing poverty, abandonment, trafficking, fear, and circumstances no child should ever have to endure.

Every one of them has a future. Every one has a God-given purpose.

And I never want us to encounter a child who desperately needs help and have to walk away simply because we didn’t have the resources to respond.

Thirty six years ago, God made a way for me. Today, I want to help make a way for them.

40 Years. $40,000. A Legacy for Others.

For several birthdays, I have asked friends on Facebook to celebrate with me by giving an amount connected to the age I was turning. Together, those birthday fundraisers raised thousands of dollars for Orphan’s Hands over the years.

But 40 feels different.

It feels like a milestone worth marking - not for me, but for others. I’d love to look back on my life and know my 40th birthday had an impact for others. A story I can tell my kids and grandkids one day!

It would be one of the greatest honors of my life if, together, we could see $40,000 given in celebration of these 40 years and use it to help children whose stories are still being written. We are so close to the first house in Ungheni being completed. We are working on furnishings as I write this letter. But there is a second house we could start on construction and renovation and this $40,000 could help do that! Could you pray about giving today?

As I prayed about how God could use this season of my life to impact others, the Lord placed three simple things on my heart.

Give 40 or More!

Perhaps you would give $40, $400, $4,000 - or whatever amount God places on your heart to see this ministry move forward with reaching more children! Your business could make a miracle gift today in honor of the lives we have the privilege to reach for years to come!

Share with 4 People!

Would you introduce four people in your sphere of influence to Orphan’s Hands? A simple conversation, a Facebook link to our page or even share our website with them. We will need 300 new sponsors to open the homes at Ungheni - how incredible would it be to know we have it supported before it opens!

You never know what God might do through one simple introduction. Sharing our story could be the very thing God uses to awaken someone’s calling to help vulnerable children.

Continue the Legacy: Have You Thought About It?

Many of you reading this are already faithful monthly partners. You’ve known me since I was that four year old. Many of you have heard my story, some maybe for the first time, either way you have played an important role in my life and the lives of others.

Thank you. Your faithfulness allows Orphan’s Hands to continue showing up month after month, year after year. And as I’ve thought about 40, I’ve also thought deeply about legacy.

Legacy is not simply what we leave behind. It is what continues after we are gone.

A home. Property. Land. Savings. Investments. Retirement accounts. Life insurance. An estate. A business. These things often represent a lifetime of God’s provision.

Have you ever considered allowing part of what God has entrusted to you to continue changing lives long after your lifetime?

By remembering Orphan’s Hands in a will, trust, estate plan, beneficiary designation, or other planned gift, your generosity could still be protecting children, educating young people, sharing the Gospel, and changing future generations from now.

Imagine a child you may never meet discovering hope decades from today because of a decision you made now.

Read My Story

If you have never had the opportunity to read the full story of my adoption, it is told in my dad’s book, Our Bummer Lamb. You will read how God brought Dad and Mom to Romania, how they found me, the obstacles they faced trying to bring me home, and how - when everyone seemed to say “No way” - God miraculously made one.

God still makes a way.

Thank you for standing with our family. Thank you for believing in the children we serve. And thank you for helping us make a way for the others.

With love and gratitude,
Andrew Cameron