More than 16 years ago, Julie Jones and her husband, Eric, made a trip halfway around the world to meet their future son, one-year-old Luke. Last month, Julie made the same journey – this time with 17-year-old Luke by her side.
The Joneses, of Sully, adopted Luke from Romania through Bethany Christian Services Adoption Agency in December 1999.
Julie and Luke walk out the door of the orphanage that Julie carried 12-month-old Luke out of on Dec. 5, 1999.
“We chose Romania to adopt from at the recommendation of our adoption agency as Romania was the country where the adoption process was going most smoothly at that time,” Julie said.
She and Eric picked up their new son from the “House with Open Windows” orphanage and spent 10 days completing the necessary paperwork in Timisoara, where the orphanage was located, as well as at the U.S. Embassy in Bucharest, Romania’s capital. They were at the embassy the last day it was open before its month-long Christmas break. The timing couldn’t have been more perfect. After the break, Romania closed the country to international adoption – and it still hasn’t reopened all these years later.
“A valuable lesson that God proved to me through the infertility/adoption process is that God’s timing is always perfect and He makes all things beautiful in His time!” Julie said.
From the moment they brought Luke home, Julie dreamed of being able to take him back to Romania for him to see his country when he was old enough and if he wanted to.
Luke takes one last look at the building that served as the orphanage where he spent most of the first year of his life.
“Fast forward 16-plus years, and the time came for us to explore, experience, and celebrate the country of his birth,” she said.
Julie and Luke, who will be a senior at Lynnville-Sully in the fall, left for Romania on June 18. Julie had worked with a tour company through email for six months leading up to the trip to determine their itinerary and work out the details. According to Julie, everything fell into place perfectly.
Luke’s top two priorities were going back to Timisoara and seeing the orphanage, and he also really wanted to golf in his homeland. Although golf courses are quite scarce in Romania, he was able to live out both dreams.
Luke with Nicoleta – the Bethany Social Worker the Joneses worked with in 1999.
In their seven days in Romania, Luke and Julie traveled more than 1,000 miles with their guide, taking in the beautiful countryside of Romania, a country about the size of Oregon. Cornfields, sunflower fields, and wheat were common in the flatlands in the southeast with the Carpathian Mountains situated in the middle of the country.
One of their stops was at the hospital/orphanage where Luke was born and once lived. The hospital is a very old building in rough shape. Since it was not air conditioned and the lobby area was packed with people, Julie and Luke didn’t stay long. They also went inside the building that used to be the orphanage. It has been renovated and now serves as a kindergarten school for 200 three- to six-year-olds. The cook for the kindergarten had been the cook at the orphanage, and she remembered Luke, or Mario, as he was named then.
Luke in center of the city of Timisoara, the city where he was born, with an Orthodox Cathedral in the background.
“Words can’t really describe the emotions of this part of the trip, but it was a good experience that will never be forgotten,” Julie shared. “Eric and I are so thankful that God chose us to be Luke’s parents; we are blessed beyond measure!”
While in Romania, Julie and Luke were able to reconnect with Nicoleta, the Bethany so-cial worker Julie and Eric had worked with in 1999.
“She came to our hotel to visit the first night we were there, and she was so excited to see Luke all grown up,” Julie said. Nicoleta still works for Bethany; however, since international adoption is no longer allowed, the agency’s focus is finding Romanian foster and/or adoptive families.
Luke’s second dream came true when he golfed at the six-hole Diplomatic Club Golf Course in Bucharest. The owner of the course is Professor Demis Papillon, a former professional golfer who was born in Romania but lived in Australia and the U.S. before returning to his homeland. Luke had the privilege of golfing with Papillon on his own golf course.
The hospital where Luke was born in Timisoara.
The rest of the Joneses’ time in Romania was spent exploring various parts of the country. They toured three distinctly unique castles and also saw several elaborate cathedrals, churches, and fortified churches.
In Bucharest, they walked through the “Village Museum,” an outdoor exhibit of 350 structures that have been relocated from all areas of the country to Bucharest to show how people lived in the 1800s. They also took in Revolution Square, the Royal Palace, and the Palace of the Parliament – the second largest administrative building in the world.
One night was spent in Sibiu, the chief city of the Germans, where they saw fortification walls and towers and two beautiful cathedrals – one Orthodox and one Lutheran. Another night was spent in Sighisoara – the only still-inhabited medieval citadel in Europe. The entire “town” is considered a live museum dating back to the 1200s and is where Vlad the Impaler (Dracula) was born in 1431.
Julie and Luke were in Brasov for two nights. It’s an important Saxon town with a rich heritage. There, they toured the Black Church, which is named due to a fire it sustained.
With the gypsy family – Itzed, Victor, Little Victor, Eva, and Maria.
Another highlight to the trip was spending an afternoon in a rural village visiting with the “child” the Joneses have sponsored through World Vision since 2007, Andrei.
“It was a very special time to get to meet with Andrei and his mother, Rodica, along with three World Vision staff members,” Julie said. “Andrei is now 17, and he is a very mature, hard-working, kind, humble, and tall young man.”
Andrei has completed two years of a three-year program in mechanics and is excited to finish the program and begin working. He is one of 12,000 children sponsored through World Vision in struggling Romania.
“From what several people told me, under Communism from 1948-1989, the people did not have any freedom but the economy was booming,” Julie explained. “From 1989 up to today, they have their freedom, but the economy is still really struggling for a large percentage of the people, to the point that many of the young adults do not feel comfortable getting married and having a family due to the economy. Also, they feel the European Union is exploiting the resources of the country, and the country has to pay far more into the EU than the benefit that they receive back. Therefore, they would also like to leave the EU as the United Kingdom has voted to do.”
Luke at the Libearty Bear Sanctuary, Zarnesti – home of 80 rescued brown bears.
Julie noted when she and Eric were in Romania in 1999, the exchange rate for the Romanian currency (the Lei) to U.S. Dollars was 18,000 to 1. This time, the exchange rate was considerably less at only 4 to 1.
“When I asked about it, they said that in 2005, they dropped four zeros from their currency, so what had been 10,000 Lei became 1 Lei,” Julie said. “This re-denomination was done because the Romanian Lei was the least valued currency unit in the world at that time.”
Also on the trip, Julie and Luke were able to learn about the culture and identity of Romanian Gypsies after their tour guide arranged a visit to the home of a non-nomadic Gypsy family. The gypsies left India approximately 1,000 years ago, and many of them live in Romania today. They arrange the marriage of their children, and they usually marry in their mid-teens.
“They demonstrated for us how they make products from copper through a lot of hammering and heating the copper over the fire, and this is their livelihood,” Julie said. “The family all seemed very sweet and hard-working; however, when they started trying to sell me some of their copper items, I was ready to leave. I don’t like high pressure and am terrible at bartering so that was a little rough.”
Luke golfed with the owner of the golf course – a former professional golfer, Professor Demis Papillon
The Joneses’ touring also took them into nature, including a visit to Bear Sanctuary in the foothills of the Carpathian Mountains. The sanctuary is home to about 80 brown bears that have been rescued from horrific captivity situations. They are now free to roam around on 600 acres as they are rehabilitated from the physical and emotional trauma they have sustained.
The tour company also arranged for a hiking guide, Alex, to take Julie and Luke into the Carpathians, leading them through some very scenic mountain villages.
“We experienced the rapidly changing weather in the mountains as it was hot without a cloud in the sky when we started; however, before we finished, there was thunder and lightning, and we walked in the rain for about an hour. It was great to get out into the open and enjoy the beauty of God’s creation – so peaceful and magnificent,” Julie said.
After taking in Luke’s birth country, Julie and Luke began the journey back to his real home – arriving in Sully on Sunday, June 26.
Luke (left) and Julie (right) with their World Vision sponsored child, Andrei.
“It was a dream come true to see the city where I was born and to see the orphanage I lived in,” Luke said as he reflected on the trip. “It was also a dream come true to play golf in Romania, and it was extra special to golf with a retired professional golfer who signed the scorecard and gave me some tips along the way. I was glad to see Romania but am glad that I am back home in America now.”
