Baking a Cake

Some of the classes from Sunshine School are vocational classes, where students learn through more practical daily activities rather than math, Romanian, or history. These classes have older kids, and they learn to mix snacks, clean their room, wash dishes or cook.

One of these lessons proved just how fun learning can be, when they baked an apple cake! Everybody had something to do: cut the apples, mix the eggs and yogurt, and mix the flour with sugar. The hard part was waiting while the cake was in the oven and then waiting again for it to cool down.
 
The kids had a special guest for this activity, Doina Martin, as a mother who cooks at home for her family. The kids listened to her very well, and the result was a delicious cake!
 
Thank you very much for all who give so that we can provide all the supplies kids needs in their learning process. Enjoy the video! Sorry we can't post the cake to share too...

Snow Day!

Life has been hard for Dani, Luci, and Marian. And they are only 5 years old! Abandoned by their families – all three little boys came to live in RCE’s Darius House over the last 12 months. They have been labeled as ‘disabled,’ but most of their challenges come from neglect and abuse. All three are high-functioning and have great expectations to thrive in the loving, recuperative environment at RCE. The boys attend the Kindergarten class together at Sunshine School and are affectionately known on campus as ‘the babies’.  

RCE takes fun seriously for children who have been denied the joys of childhood. You can see that in this note and short video from Lorena Martin (Assistant to the Director).

We had a great time today, playing in the Snow with Luci, Dani And Marian, the babies from DH. They love Snow!

The weather today is great! Bright shinny sun and amazingly white Snow!

God is So Good! Their smiles and fun can light up your day!

Enjoy it!

Love,
Lorena

thank you for running for their lives.

UPDATE: Thanks to everyone who ran for their lives Saturday morning at Landon! We had amazing weather and loved seeing so many of you (almost 200 supporters!) come out to help this work we are all doing together, by God's grace, to rescue and care for "the least of these" in Romania.

Check out our recap video below and click HERE if you'd like to give to our campaign.

*****

Our spring event this year is the FUN RUN on Saturday, April 28th from 8:15-10:15am at the Landon School in Bethesda. This year we have an official timed cross country 5K and a half mile fun run/walk suitable for families with young kids. The run/walk starts promptly at 9:00 and brunch follows the race.

SCROLL DOWN OR CLICK HERE TO REGISTER

Our special guest this spring is Claudiu who was rescued at age seven by RCE after living much of his young life on the streets. He is accompanied by Cipri and Lorena, two of his excellent teachers at Sunshine School. By God's grace, Claudiu is surrounded by the loving and supportive community at Darius House.

If you are interested in creating a personal fundraising page and asking friends and family to sponsor you to participate in the 5k or Fun Run, please click HERE.

If you would like to donate please click HERE and scroll to the bottom.

RCE is a 501(c)(3) non-profit and all donations are tax-deductible.
All donations go directly to helping children like Claudiu, so each gift truly makes a difference.

With your help, we can continue to end cycles of abuse and poverty by giving kids like Claudiu a hope and a future.

RCE is grateful to the following businesses, schools and churches for sponsoring the 2018 Fun Run:

Elm Street Development

Vendt Brothers Insurance

Ellison Corporation

U-Home Consulting

Matt Stone, Nationwide

JuicePlus

Nickelsporn & Lundin, P.C.

Race Packet

Washington Christian Academy

Ambleside School

McLean Presbyterian Church

Fourth Presbyterian Church

Victor Llewellyn Group

Adfero

Bust A Move Movers

Chick-Fil-A Westfield Montgomery Mall

Mary Bajwa, Long and Foster

Reston Wealth Management

Washington Institute for Dentistry & Laser Surgery

Linking Arms to Make Mercy Happen

Erin Jones is a freelance writer and humanities teacher, who visited Romania in 2014 with a group from her church, Fourth Presbyterian in Bethesda, MD.

This past October when RCE celebrated 25 years together, Nicoleta Balog shared her family’s experience of adopting Darius and Claudiu. She spoke in Romanian, and Carmen Bosca joined her at the podium, translating for her as she shared. The moment these two women took center stage to share a story together evoked an image that has been a common and beautiful thread throughout the story of redemption: God loves to work wonders through women supporting one another.

Just think back to the in the book of Ruth: in the midst of horrific heartbreak and tragedy, God used the bond between a mother-in-law and daughter-in-law to bring redemption, not only to their lives and circumstances, but to carry on the lineage of Christ.

Think of the bond between Mary the mother of Jesus and her older cousin Elizabeth, who hosted and supported Mary in the midst of the confusion and scandal surrounding her pregnancy. Their friendship would later be carried on through the bond between their sons, one the incarnate son of God and one the messenger and evangelist John the Baptist who heralded arrival of the long-awaited Messiah.

In his comments in October, RCE Board Chair Jim Perry, spoke about the beginnings of RCE, mentioning in particular Founder Mary Ann Bell’s heart to help the women of Romania. That heart and vision led to the formation of many gospel partnerships over the years--with women like Doina Martin, who started RCE's work of mercy by holding babies in state orphanages. She now provides leadership in the Poverty Prevention Program--helping over 200 impoverished families each year become self-sustaining. 

The support that the daughters of God show for one another is clearly close to the heart of the Father. It was present at the organization’s inception, and demonstrated 25 years later in a very simple moment of translating a story from Romanian into English.

A New Home

How many of us have experienced the joys and challenges of moving to a new place? What emotions come up? What does it take to transform a house into a home?

Sorin’s House has been built with great purpose and intention just like every RCE project. We are motivated to make it happen for the orphans and disabled children that grow under our care by the idea of future young adults living there. With that vision in mind, we work to provide young adults like Sorin, Boti, Adina and Leti with a house perfectly suited to them where they can live happily together.

As we work, RCE’s Counseling Department has prepared a plan to help these future Sorin’s House residents feel less stressed throughout this process. Each week, all four of them travel to see the site and to feel more connected to their future house. During one recent visit, Boti, Sorin, Adina and Leti helped prepare the yard.

Each time they visited, they had good interactions with the workers, saw the walls becoming bedrooms, bathrooms, and a kitchen, and witnessed  their future bedrooms being transformed from mere bricks to walls that will one day hold pictures and decorations.

Sorin often mentions the process of covering the house with a roof, as well as the day the windows were fixed into the walls, leading to a noticeable difference in temperature.

What a blessing to have a home to spend all the years that God has prepared for them!