Andy Baker

In the mid-1990s, I was sitting on a tour bus in England when a Romanian man named Mircea Toca turned to me and asked, “Would you like to see my eighteen children?”

He began showing me photos—child after child he had adopted—with unmistakable pride. Then he did something even more unexpected: he invited me to come to Romania and meet them.

The following year, my wife and I spent three weeks there. What we saw changed us forever. We witnessed children living in heartbreaking conditions—neglected, forgotten, and without hope. The contrast between the loving home Mircea and Lidia had built and the stark reality of government institutions was overwhelming. It was a time to grieve. A time to pray. And ultimately, a time to act.

As we said goodbye, Mircea embraced me and offered three simple words: “Remember the children.”

In 1996, Remember the Children was born. For more than two decades, our focus has been clear—serve the children of Romania. We have helped provide critical resources, built homes and churches, invested in leaders, and partnered with trusted Romanian friends who continue this work with integrity and compassion. Our goal has always been simple: to leave Romania better than we found it.

Years later, Mircea sensed a call to invest his experience in Africa. That chapter grew into new homes for orphaned children there, and we were grateful to witness it. But the heart of our calling remains in Romania, where long-standing relationships and deep roots continue to bear fruit.

That first trip also changed our own family. In 2004, my wife and I adopted two daughters, and our forever family began. I could never have imagined that a brief conversation on a tour bus would so profoundly shape our lives.