Happy Birthday Dad

Birthday Wishes from some of the girls in Stella's House.

To my dear father!!!
It is your birthday again,and here i am trying to put together the right words.
When it comes to fathers,there is lots of them about.God send me the greatest gift,i ever had,and i call him dad!You are the very very very best of that,there is no doubt.
Sens that day when you walked in our world full of darkness,you have been a blessing to me!
You gived me the love and guidance,when no one did.
You tot us how to love one another,when no one did.
You are the one who tot us about life,when no one did.
You looked at me and treated me like your own kids,when no one did.
I regret all the trouble i have caused you.
You are the best father wished to have!
I like spending time with you,specially when you preach to me and to others!
You made everyday of my life to be a beautiful day!
You are doing a great job for God dad!
Today you need to look around and see how many lives you have changed!
I love you very very very much dad! I wish you were here with us today.
Happy birthday dad!!!

Galina T. C.

Life is like a bridge and the hardest moment is when you pass the bridge and the other side you have to choose the right way that you are going to go for all your life. You passed the bridge and now, because of your love and kindness, your encouragement and big heart, your teachings and preaching's we know exactly what the most important thing in our lives is.

We were losers and we had no personality but you teach us how to faith and to be the winners, you showed us the love of God, you told us that no matter what, we are special in God's eyes.

Will come a day when we will be in your place showing the love you showed us to others who never new that love exist, like we didn't till someone special send by God came and told us...No matter what we do, we will always forget to forget you...Love you always.
Happy Birthday
Nads.

For my Hero

I used to see my life in pieces,
To knock at doors that will not open,
I used to spend the night in garden,
And pray to die until the morning,
I used to hear that I am stupid,
And there is no space for me in this world,
I used to be another nothing
To think that I am a mistake.
Today I think of you
And I am filled with love
Daddy you have a place of honor
Deep in my heart
You have been my hero
From the very start
I love you dad
And I want you to know
I feel your love
Wherever I go
Touching my heart
You showed me my new life
You helped me see things clearly
I will always look up to you
And love you very dearly!
Happy birthday my blond daddy!!!

Dasa Cameron!

happy birthday to you
happy birthday to you
happy birthday to my daddy
happy birthday to you....
i'm so lucky to have a dad and to be proud of my daddy, i thank God for bringing you in my life.
Because without you i wouldn't have been here, knowing Jesus and knowing what love in a family is.
Dad,
Every year, your birthday reminds me how grateful I am that you are my father.
With all that's going on in the world today, I'm thankful I get to watch you,
to look up to you, being an example of a good man.
What a privilege it is to observe your strength, your competence, and your kindness.
I am so blessed to be under your wing, your protection, your care,
learning important life lessons from you.
If all fathers were like you, the world would be a very different
and much better place.

Happy Birthday, Dad, from your admiring daughter.
Irina Cameron

hi !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Happy Birthday Dad
Happy Birthday Dad
Happy Birthday Dad
Happy Birthday Dad
Happy Birthday Dad
Happy Birthday Dad
Happy Birthday
I want always to see your smile............Thank you for helping me.......You gave me a family....You brought light into my life with your help I know Jesus...........you have a big heart..............you are wonderful...............i love you..... i love you

Christina

Happy Birthday,Happy Birthday.....
Do not know if God has gifted everyone born with a great heart with kindness, generosity, love... But you poured very very very very very.....................................very very very many gifts...............
I love you..............................
I miss you..............

Happy Birthday to you,
Happy Birthday to you,
Happy Birthday my daddy ..............

Maia

HEY,DAD....I want to say you HAPPY BIRTHDAY ! I want to say thank you because you gave me the oportunity to be a better person and to have a better future!!! Thank you because you accepting me your dauther and gave me the family who loves me very much and take care me!!!! Thank you for showed me the God's love ,for the food I have when I came from school, for my own bed,and because I can take a hot shower ,FOR THE NEW LIFE WHICH I HAVE NOW, I LOVE YOU VERY MUCH AND THANK YOU FOR MY SWEET LIFE!!!!!!!!!

Stella

Hope is a crazy thing

Sometimes we just accept what our lives have become, what life has dealt us, and think, "Well, maybe this is what God has for me."

Ok, so maybe.

But what if someone came along and said, "Look. I can give you a glimpse of yourself a year from now." SO, they pull out their iPhone, tap their little videos icon, and show you living your life in 12 months time. You actually see with your own eyes, your OWN self doing stuff that never entered your mind. All of a sudden, you see the possibility of things you'd never imagined laid out right in front of you.

How would that change your life? If you saw yourself doing things you thought you couldn't do. Being someone you thought you weren't. Accomplishing things always seen as impossible. How would it affect the way you lived? The way you thought? The way you acted and spoke? How you spent your time? How you treated others? Would it keep you awake at night? Would it be the only thing you thought about? The only thing you talked about, ever?!

Tonight we had 2 dozen girls in Stella's House that came from the orphanage in Straseni. Up until Friday when we went to meet with them at their orphanage, they had been living their life... ordinary and dull as ever. They wake up, make their bed, eat breakfast in a huge cold dark cantina, go to class, eat lunch in a cold dark cantina, do homework, wander around outside for a while, eat supper in a cold dark cantina. Go back to their room, get ready for bed, go to sleep, then do the exact same thing the next morning.

Actually, such an ordinary life is wonderful compared to the unknown that these girls have been facing, knowing that they are leaving the orphanage at the end of this month with nowhere to go and no chance at anything. They don't have guidance counselors helping them pick colleges to go to, big sisters to model after, parents helping them figure out what they want to do. Heck, most of 'em don't have parents, period.

But today... someone pulled out the iPhone and showed them. Today, hope messed them AAAAAALL up. When they first arrived at the house, they were timid and shy. They were afraid to speak, to move, to sit. When it came time to eat, they were embarrassed to help themselves to food for the first time in who-knows-how-long...if EVER!? Our girls made them feel comfortable, told them to feel at home, to ask questions, to take as much as they want, sit where they want, speak what they want.

We also told them that this was a house made especially for them. We told them despite the fact that they've felt alone for so long, that God has been nudging them towards this day all their lives. We told them that He had a plan for them, and had specially chosen them to come and be a part of Stella's House.

Eyes that, before, were full of embarrassment and shame and fear became full of excitement and disbelief and hope. The once quiet room became drowned in sounds of chatter and questioning. You could feel the shift. You know those Hollywood movies where the adventurer finds an old doorway that has been hidden and covered over for ages, and they hesitantly open it, unsure of what's behind it... and as they do, the door or the big stone creaks and dust falls because it hasn't been touched or approached for SO LONG. Then the camera cuts to what's behind that door, and the character's face as they discover the hidden gold, or the missing treasure, or the lost person that they have spent the entire movie looking for (normally lit with a beam of light from who knows where)? Well, that was the story today in Stella's House. These girls hesitantly entered into something that hasn't been seen or touched or even approached for a very long time... Hope. Spot-lit just for them.

We told them they could go to school. We told them they could be whatever they want in their lives. We told them to dream big, then go even one step further than that big dream. THAT, we told them, is where the could be a year from now.

As the girls left to return to the orphanage, eyes that were full of excitement and disbelief and hope turned to eyes full of tears. They didn't want to leave. Inside our house they saw themselves as intelligent, loved, important, special girls. And now they had to return to the ordinary life. But, for these girls returning to their dark cold cantina, homework and blasé rooms, the ordinary life isn't as wonderful as it was before. Their view has shifted. I wonder how much they will eat at dinner tonight, how long it will take them to do their homework, how much sleep they will get tonight in their bed now that they know... that they have seen what can be. Hope has been added to the story... and hope changes everything.

For us, it is such an exciting thing to spend time with these girls when they first come into Stella's House, because we take a good look at them, and we know that when we are sitting with them a year from now they will be unrecognizable. We can see and imagine the things they'll be doing that they themselves never thought they'd be able to do. They will be educated, refined, loved young daughters. They will be changed completely. Its such an incredible thought.


The story is the same for us. Maybe we aren't orphans without a hope of going to school, or affording to care for ourselves, or belonging to a family. But we still go about our day, ordinary as ever, thinking that life as-it-is is the norm. We acclimate and excuse ourselves into half-lived lives. We don't even let ourselves dream because we just assume that it'll never happen. But He has wild plans for us, as well. He has been nudging us along to THAT point, just as He has with these girls from Straseni. That point where the shift will occur, where our eyes will light up and our purpose is lit up so its impossible to miss.

What are the things that we have dismissed and added to the "too-crazy-to even-dream-of" box? Who said it was crazy? Who said it was impossible? Are others doing it? Then why can't you? Maybe THAT is what God has for your life. You just needed someone to show you possibility. The possibility of you having complete health, or an entire family all serving God, or you reaching thousands of people for Christ, or giving ridiculous amounts to help others in need isn't any more crazy than the possibility of those girls graduating from college and having a family that loves them.

So, be eaten alive with the hope of what you CAN do, who you can be, what you can accomplish. Eat, drink, sleep it. Who knows whose life is depending on the scope of your vision.

We serve a God who can do all things. He's given us His power.

All we need is His vision...

And maybe a little bit of hope.

Life Stories : Constantia

Enjoy this interview with Constantia as she shares her story.

PCM Offices Destroyed by Fire… Update 1

It's been two days since the fire. My determination to come back stronger than ever is undiminished, and I am so mad at the enemy right now, I know for certain that he will greatly regret this attack.

As we begin the process of getting a temporary office put together, I am beginning to realize how big a task we have in front of us. Vital records, property deeds, vehicle titles and more are all lost and the enormity of the task of tracking everything down and trying to reconstitute decades of history and documentation is just, to me, quite breathtaking.

I had one piece of wonderful news today that has blessed me beyond words. I spoke to my brother back in Scotland and he told me that after they heard about the fire, as they prayed for us, Mom was telling everyone, "I know what Philip is doing. He won't be worrying a bit about the building - he'll be looking for his dad's bible."

As I mentioned in my previous message, that's exactly what I was doing, and even before I had a chance to tell her, she knew exactly where my heart was.

Mom called me today. She had spent all of yesterday evening going through boxes of memories from her life with Dad. She knew what she was looking for and, after a long search, she found it. "Philip," she said, "I found your dad's first bible!"

This was the bible he used when he first got saved. An alcoholic who mercilessly abused Mom for seven years after she got saved, God saved him and transformed him in an instant. Totally delivered from alcohol, He literally became a preacher overnight. His first sermons, which Mom wrote out for him and helped him get ready to preach, are still in that bible.

"Philip, I want you to have the bible!" Mom told me today. We talked a long time, and we laughed and cried and took a long trip through those years of memories as we remembered Dad's first sermons. He became an incredible preacher, and now I have a precious reminder of his first steps as he took up the calling God placed on his life.

Mom did more than search through boxes yesterday. She often writes poems, and she wrote one yesterday that has just blessed me all day today. She speaks what she imagined was going through my mind and heart as the fire raged. I'd like to share that poem with you here:

I stand amazed in unbelief
And for a moment-quiet relief
That none were injured in the fire
That seems to rise forever higher

The fiery tongues reach to the sky
As I watch my life's work slowly die
And through my blurred and cloudy mind
There comes a memory and I must find

Amid the blackened ruins lies
Somewhere hidden from my eyes
A treasure money cannot buy
I cannot see, but I must try

To find this book, this gift to me
Part of my fathers legacy
The bible he used every day
From which he taught me how to pray

What I find is scorched and wet
And even amid the sadness yet
There rises up within my heart
That call from God, to make a start

And shelter from the cruel hands of men
My orphan girls...... again

Only a mom can write like that. Thank you, Mom... I love you!

PCM Offices Destroyed by Fire

There are just some things you don't expect. And today, the unexpected arrived in a big way. At around 3:30 this morning, my phone rang. Philip King, director of the camp we have at Brigadoon was on the line, breathless, almost beyond his ability to compose himself. "The office..." he said. "It's gone!"

"What are you talking about?' I managed to ask, still struggling to find a sensible level of consciousness.

"The office is on fire!" Philip gasped. "It's already burned to the ground!"

I was up and dressed as quickly as I ever have in my life. I called around our staff and my kids, and we hurried down the thirty-plus miles to Brigadoon as fast as I dared drive.

I arrived there to see something that looked like a war zone. The flashing lights of about ten emergency vehicles cut through thick, billowing smoke and dozens of firefighters were in a frenzy of activity trying to get the blaze under control. Their speedy arrival and amazing skill saved a building next to the office, but it was too late to do anything about the office itself. Most of the roof had already collapsed to the ground, and all we could do was stand there and watch the conclusion of the devastation.

First, I was so deeply grateful for the bravery and dedication of the volunteer firefighters who worked tirelessly through the night and into the morning to bring the situation under control. And I thanked God that no one was hurt or worse. The office is just a building and everything in it is just stuff, and all of that can be replaced, but if we had lost anyone in the fire, that really would have been a tragedy.

After the sun had been up for a while, the firefighters helped us check to see if anything had survived. We looked at some of the computers that were reachable - nothing salvageable.

I realized that the hundreds of photos we had taken over decades years of ministry, taken before the age of digital cameras, were all gone. And countless special personal photos and mementos were also lost. That hurt.

Similarly, hours and hours of video footage dating back to our first missions efforts in Romania in 1990 were incinerated. Again, that hurt, but worse was to come.

The only thought that had brought tears to my eyes since Philip King's phone call was when I remembered my dad's Bible. He used it as he preached around the world, and it has been one of my most treasured possessions since Mom gave it to me when Dad died. I kept it in my office, always within reach, and it is irreplaceable and beyond precious to me.

While the firefighters were still working in one end of the building, I told one of them where the bible should be. I went with him as he picked out safe footing and graciously led me through the charred, soaking remains of my office and helped me search. Soon he stood up from the midst of a pile of debris, and handed something to me.

Tears began to roll down my cheeks as I recognized the familiar maroon cover of the bible. I felt sick to my stomach as I examined it. Most of the pages were totally burned, and not too much remained of those that were left. The binding was gone and the outer cover and pages were separated from each other. Dad's handkerchief survived, still tucked into the front pocket of the cover just where he always kept it. I only cried twice today; at that moment, and later in the day as I told Mom about the bible.

As for the rest, I know this: "All things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose." (Romans 8:28).

I don't know why this happened except that I know the enemy has once again overstepped his mark. He may think that this will discourage us, slow us down, or make us give up. HE COULD NOT BE MORE WRONG!

We will rebuild, we will make it better than it was before, and we will keep on doing God's will, watching Him do miracle after miracle in the lives of those He has sent us to serve. There will be more young girls saved from horror in Stella's Houses, more children kept well fed, warm, and cared for in the orphanages of Moldova, and more lives touched and changed by the power of the Gospel than ever before. Of all this, I have no doubt!

Please keep us in your prayers as we try to pull together temporary arrangements so our staff can get back to work, and as we determine the best options for a new permanent facility.

The building was insured, but not for nearly the amount it will take to build again. We need your prayers and, if God speaks to you, your help.

Thank you for caring and for praying. It means so much to know I can share my heart with you like this. I am not only not discouraged, I am excited in my spirit to see how God will use this day to demonstrate His glory.

With the words of David, I am thrilled to say, "Bless the LORD, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name." (Psalm 103:1).

In His love,
Philip

Watch news reports from WSFA and WAKA

Click here for a photo gallery of the aftermath