Today’s Good People, Good Works will be presented in Hungarian, with subtitles in Arabic, Aulacese (Vietnamese), Chinese, English, French, German, Hungarian, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean, Malay, Mongolian, Persian, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish and Thai.

Never give up; you should always go on if something doesn’t succeed. Never give up.

Welcome, gracious viewers, to another edition of Good People, Good Works. Today on the second part of a two part series we travel once again to the city of Déva in southern Transylvania, Romania to visit with Brother Csaba, a monk of the Franciscan Catholic order and the founder of the Saint Francis Foundation of Déva.

The Foundation, with a 200-member strong staff and 1800 volunteers, is dedicated to caring for those children in Romania without homes or that cannot live with their parents for various reasons at 50 “child protection centers” throughout the country. Most of the children who are taken in are ethnic Hungarian and thus only speak Hungarian as previously Transylvania was part of Hungary. Brother Csaba, himself, is an ethnic Hungarian from Transylvania.

Currently there are 1,800 children looked after by the Foundation. The child protection centers feature what are called “social families” that are comprised of one or two foster parents and eight to 10 children living together in a large apartment owned by the Foundation. Each social family is independent.

I think I believe in what we started here, not because it was our idea, but because it is a good system. As it is not a state institution, it is much easier to involve citizens as well, the worshippers and others, and it’s easier to maintain financially and somehow more realistic. And it is so nice the worshippers arrive to the church in the morning, bring bread, put it in front of the altar of Saint Anthony and we eat it at noon. In other words, the connection is so real.

Recently one house was in need of firewood, and I told them to go out to the riverbank to pick up the garbage and after finishing to go to the mayor and sing for him, and the mayor sent them some firewood indeed. And by doing so kids learn that they should participate in earning their living. Externally it may seem to be a bit ad hoc, but my experience in 17 years is that this system works well and it is living and healthy.

Kids are calm and silent. In these 17 years I didn’t have any police involvement. I have never been to the police-station; the kids haven’t committed anything against the law. “If you behave badly, we will take you away from your parents and put you in an institute.” Our system is not like that. Rather the parents and kids themselves apply in writing for us to take the child in.

And if he or she cannot behave, then I say: “Sorry about that, but if I cannot cultivate you with nice words, and I won’t do that with force, I will take you home.” And that kid becomes more silent and manageable.

My father and I used to go to the church and there was a priest who used to come here to hold the Mass. And he said that there is a foundation and the priest visited us and he asked if I wanted to come here and I said, "yes." It is easier here because here we have a place to sleep, there is hot water, there is a bed, you can go to school and become intelligent. We study German, Hungarian, English, Latin, and how to say "hallo” nicely, how to have good manners, and how to eat nicely.

Besides offering shelter, Brother Csaba has always strived to provide the youngsters under his care with an excellent education so that they are prepared to succeed in life. The first batch of children that he rescued from the streets in 1992 became academic all-stars. Following completion of their studies, 14 out of the 15 students were accepted to university.

Recognizing that higher education is not something that all children may wish to pursue, today vocational training is also offered and youngsters can learn furniture making skills. By learning this trade, they can find gainful employment after leaving the Foundation’s care.

Most kids – thanks to God – take their school exit exams and over half of them can get into universities or colleges. So for example, we have two houses in Cluj (Romania) for those kids who have already passed their school exit exams and would like to study at universities. If someone is honest, punctual, neat, well-disciplined, then he is a useful citizen of this planet.

These children leave here at the age of 18 to 20 and I would like them to earn their living righteously, and to have that standard of life like what we can provide them here in the name of God. Otherwise they become frustrated when they go out from here and they feel bad about just working, working and cannot get ahead in their lives. I expect them to be happy, cheerful and full of vitality and strive to earn their living and so they become like that.

After these messages, we will learn more about the lives of the children cared for by the Saint Francis Foundation of Déva. Please stay tuned to Supreme Master Television.

In this world, only God’s mercy is endless, everything else has an end. And whatever has an end, we can finish it. So, all those troubles and problems that weigh down our soul and probably extinguish the optimism and constructive thinking in many, these have an end. These (problems), if we join together, we can end them.

Welcome back to Good People, Good Works on Supreme Master Television. The Saint Francis Foundation of Déva, based in Déva, Romania provides children without homes or who cannot live with their parents for various reasons a place to live that features foster parents who care very much about them and a loving family environment. Pente Andrea is a foster parent for the Foundation and genuinely cares about the welfare of the children she looks after.

I’ve been working here at the Foundation for three years, at this child protection center in Déva, and I’ve been trying to guide 10 boys for these past three years. At first I arrived as a volunteer, then later on as I got acquainted with the work of the Foundation , then I desired to work here.

Volunteer means that you get to know the work of the Foundation more; you help several foster-parents and accomplish various tasks. The foster parent is in charge of 10 boys, solely for those 10 boys, and is spending time with them 24/7.

Firstly I came here because we’ve often heard Brother Csaba saying that, “If you love, it will spring forth their goodness.” Basically, I came here to try to see whether or not this is doable. I succeeded in the first year, and I saw that the kids develop through my love for them, and through my daily work with them. So these three years turned into three years because it is very hard to depart from these kids. There is a connection. We are humans and we love and it is very hard to end this relationship.

With 10 children in the household, the family’s schedule is always hectic. What are the days like for this busy foster parent and the youngsters?

Weekdays are naturally different. When the kids go to school, study comes first. Weekends are free. We have time to get out a lot, play, that’s a whole different story. On weekdays we have breakfast together, then the kids go to school at eight o’clock and come home only in the afternoon.

We have various tasks and have time to run our personal errands in the morning. In the afternoon we study. In the evenings we have different courses for the kids, like guitar lessons, folksong lessons, and flute lessons. They can come to the library as well. The junior school students are coming here, to this monastery, right next to us. The kindergarten is here as well, and the senior students are going to a state school.

Now let us meet two of the residents of the child protection center in Déva.

My name is Kakucs Sándor, I’m 15, I am from Târgu Mureş. I like living here very much, because there’s a place where I can learn. I have been here for a long time since kindergarten.

And what do you like the best here?

Oh, a lot of things. Doing sports and learning.

What sports do you do?

Football, and sometimes basketball.

I’ve been here since I was three and I feel happy here.

Will you tell the viewers how old you are?

I’m 16.

What would you like to do ? Have you got plans for your life and where to study next?

Yes, I would like to work as an assistant in Cluj.

And what does (working as an) assistant mean?

That means taking care of people and curing them.

Could you tell us an interesting story, as many things have happened here since you were three that you remember well?

Well, Brother Csaba came after me and brought me here. It was a great experience and I enjoy myself here and I am very grateful.

To close, here are some inspirational thoughts from Pente Andrea and Brother Csaba.

Faith is extremely important for me, and for the kids. I know of myself that without God, without faith, I could not do this. Because you spend every day with 10 kids, and the 10 kids have different problems. They are of different ages, either teenagers, or little kids and you cannot do this without having faith and love.

I’d like to ask you if you have any special message for the broad viewership of Supreme Master Television?

I rejoice that there’s a television channel like this and I ask God’s blessings to you and I ask and encourage this television channel to strengthen the brotherly togetherness among people. I jokingly have said many times that Jesus Christ in Heaven will not set different tables for different people and for different religions but we’ll have to sit at the same table. And I rejoice that there are communities that build humanity’s huge family in a conscious and loving manner. May God’s blessings be upon your work!

We sincerely thank Brother Csaba, the foster-parents, and the volunteers of the Saint Francis Foundation of Déva for touching the lives of so many vulnerable children in Transylvania and greater Romania through their love and dedication. May Heaven bless them for their selfless work and all the children with bright futures.

For more details on the Saint Francis Foundation of Déva, please visit: www.Devaigyerekek.hu

Thank you for joining us today on Good People, Good Works. Next is The World Around Us, after Noteworthy News. May your life be filled with abundant joy and inner peace.