“The foxes found rest, and the birds their nest…but Thy couch was the sod, oh Thou Son of God . . . when Thou came-est to earth for me.”
Claudiu (Bobi to his family) was alone in this world after being abandoned as an infant. A wonderful Christian family took Bobi, and another 4-year-old orphan, into their family two years ago this Christmas. Bobi, who suffers a mild form of autism, does not yet speak but his bother Yo Yo ‘speaks’ for him. The boys know the love of a family and life in community.
This amazing act of mercy reflects the generosity and compassion of the God that the Balog family serves. During Advent season, as we celebrate God’s gift of His Son to us, I am encouraged and amazed by the many acts of mercy carried out every day by God’s people at RCE, people, like the Balog family and many, many others who have adopted special needs orphans.
And right now there are hundreds of impoverished families in rural Romania who will be warm this winter, living in safe and decent houses, with farm animals in the stable to provide milk, eggs, and meat for their children.
There are seventy children with special needs in the city of Arad enjoying the opportunity to learn and reach their full potential at Sunshine School. Abandoned children who knew suffering and abuse at the hands of those who were meant to love and protect them are now safe at Darius House. And young people with special needs are learning how to become responsible adults through the dignity of work and independence.
God has loved us in order that we might love others and show His generosity and compassion to the widow, the orphan, the poor and oppressed and the stranger at the gate, in humble obedience. In these troubled times when so many in our own country and around the world are excluded for political, religious, and racial reasons, we are called not to exclude but to embrace and speak peace in word and in deed!
May God bless you and your family during this Advent season! Thank you for your partnership with RCE in making mercy happen for the ‘least of these’ in Romania.