It’s a Miracle…

Advent is a season of miracles. Starting with the miracle so grand it caused angels to sing and shepherds to leave their flocks and go seek Mary and the baby. They returned “praising God for all the things they had heard and seen”.

The Kingdom had come to earth that Christmas night and as the great hymn writer reminds us… ‘It’s not with swords loud clashing nor stir of distant drums but deeds of love and mercy the heavenly kingdom (continues) to come’ when . . .  

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Orphans are rescued.

Paula (in the gray dress) was once an orphan but now she is a beloved daughter and enjoys singing praises to God who rescued her. 

This very week a little boy who had been psychologically tormented and physically abused until he was 7 years old (by his father) moved from Darius House to his own new family where he will know love and life in a community.  A great Christmas miracle!   

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The hungry receive food.

The RCE vans are busy delivering food, firewood, presents, God’s love and Ovi Martin’s special brand of Christmas cheer to needy families in and around Arad. 

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The sick receive care.

Rafael (new at Sunshine School) finds special education and physical therapy to meet his needs in a warm and friendly place.  

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Mournful broken hearts rejoice.

And children sing!  This class of Sunshine school students (all previously abandoned kids now part of loving families in the Mures River Valley) celebrate Christmas together with their teacher, families, and friends in their own satellite classroom.

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Thank you for helping RCE make mercy & miracles happen for those in need at Christmas time and all year long!

Year-end contributions can be given here and are gratefully received.

A Monument to Courage

Teo will always seem like a boy to me; that adorable little boy who came to live at Darius House.

But he died in January very much a man at age 23. He had dignity despite the ravages of the disease that had destroyed his body and rendered him physically helpless. Teo had endured abandonment – not once but twice - and a long slow physical decline that would have broken lesser souls. But Teo did not just survive, he thrived. His faith increased and his smile endured. 

Unbeknownst to Teo, until he was a teenager and living in his adoptive family, he had a younger brother.  RCE found and rescued Alex and brought him to live at Darius House. The boys were thrilled to meet each other. They were very alike. Same handsome face. Same beautiful smile. But they also shared an inherited disease, Duchenne muscular dystrophy, which is found only in boys.  Their mother kept and raised her healthy daughters. Teo and Alex had to live with that rejection, come to terms with it, and eventually find how to forgive.

By God’s grace RCE found a family for Alex also, but his decline was more rapid than Teo’s. 

Teo’s death was hard for Alex. His adoptive father asked him at the funeral, 

“Do you want to go to the casket to say good-bye to Teo”, Alex answered with great wisdom. “No, it would be too hard for me. I will look at you as you say good-bye to Teo for me.” 

Then a month ago, his parents, Sebastian and Flori Salajan, had to say goodbye to Alex.  The pain of losing a child begs description, but Alex is also mourned by his brothers in the Love House family - Manu, Ghitza and Sandu, who have also known abandonment and disability. All are non-verbal and unable to give voice to their pain. Sandu had been Alex’s ‘brother care-giver’, a role Sandu was never assigned but took on when they were roommates at Darius House and continued when they were placed together in the Salajan family. Sandu pushed his wheelchair, cut his meat, turned him when he was sore. Covered him when he was cold.  Took him to the toilet. Alex utterly trusted his friend and now Sandu has no words (literally) to explain or share his grief.  

I said good-bye to Alex in September when it was clear his time on earth was ending. He was proud of his mustache which showed he was now a man, he said. His physical condition broke my heart and his smile was weaker, but it was still there! Teo and Alex had put their faith and trust in Jesus and gave testimony to that faith through baptism. All pain and suffering now over, their tears all wiped away, the brothers are reunited. 

Teo and Alex taught all of us fortunate enough to know them how to trust God for every day and how to bear every burden no matter how heavy the load. Their lives are truly profiles in courage and the Kingdom grows and spreads by such as these. 

Sale de Sport Teo.

Teo’s Sports Hall is going up right now next to Sunshine School on the RCE Arad Campus. It is a monument to courage.

McLean Presbyterian Church and Capital Presbyterian Church (VA) will be sharing their Thanksgiving offering with RCE to help us finish Teo’s Sports Hall in memory of his life and for the use of the many other abandoned children with disabilities rescued by RCE. 

They Couldn’t Keep from Singing... and Everyone Loved It!

Marcus Albu is 14. He has never had a music lesson in his life. He taught himself to play the guitar, the accordion, and then moved on and taught himself to play the piano when RCE provided him a small one through the Christmas ‘Grant a Wish’ gift program.  

Marcus accompanied his family as they sang together at RCE’s annual celebration at Fourth Presbyterian Church (MD) on Saturday. Guests were amazed at his talent and touched by the story of a family that fell into dangerous poverty when the father was hurt while working on a construction job. They had two children and a newborn when he was hurt. With medical bills piling up, they took out bank loans that carried high interest rates. Living in one room with her parents, with growing debt they couldn’t pay off, the family was desperate.

What Dina and Ionut did have in abundance, even in their darkest hour, was a strong faith and lots of determination. They prayed. God heard and answered. Ovi and Doina Martin met the family and began to help. No-interest loans, construction materials, fire-wood for winter, a baby goat, summer camp for the children, RCE’s support changed their lives. The family got back on their feet financially and today, debt free and able to work again, Ionut is helping other families in need.

Ovi and Doina Martin lead RCE’s Poverty Prevention program helping over 2,000 families like the Albu family over the years. This short video by Oti and Ancu Bocsa tells the story of RCE’s ministry to families in need.

If you would like to partner with RCE in Making Mercy Happen for families like the Albu family, you can help us reach our fundraising goal for the evening of $90k.

Thank you for your prayers & support for God’s work of mercy in Romania!

New Mercies Seen: A Normal Life

This post comes from the New Mercies Seen blog, written by members of the McLean Presbyterian and Capital Presbyterian Fairfax churches who served in Romania in July 2019. Click the link above for more in-depth stories and pictures from their week.

What do you do with a free day in July when the weather is beautiful? Climb a mountain to see the ruins of a 14th century castle and enjoy the incredible views from the top. While at the top, play silly games with your friends and then enjoy a quiet walk in the woods. And before you head down, have a picnic lunch. That’s the stuff of a normal life.

And that’s what we did with the first half of our day. But we got to do it with the orphans from the Darius Houses and Amy’s House. These kids have a variety of cognitive, emotional, and physical disabilities. Today we enjoyed the same simple pleasures together.

At the top!

Jump, Anna!

Angela and Sorin

We started our afternoon by learning about RCE’s Job Center programs. These are programs that provide vocational opportunities for young adults with special needs, including young adults still with RCE, and others placed in local families years ago. They make a variety of snack packages (salty and sweet!) and jams that are sold in community. They sort, cut, and package old clothes into bundles of rags that are sold to local industries. And they work in RCE’s vegetable garden, yielding produce for all the different RCE kitchens. And they learn the joy and dignity of work. All part of a normal life.

RCE Job Center jam for sale.

We finished our afternoon at RCE’s Pecica campus. This is RCE’s residential campus for older teens and young adults who came through the Darius Houses, but were never adopted into a Romanian family. The residents vary greatly in their abilities and function. Some live a semi-independent life. They have a small private apartment and take the tram each day to Arad to work at the Jobs Center. Others live in Sorin’s House, a beautiful new home that opened in March, 2018, or in Pecica House. All enjoy the peace and quiet of the beautiful campus and the security and significance of simply being known and loved. A place to call home where you are known and loved. All part of a normal life.

We spent a couple of hours working on the campus. We cleaned, we painted, we worked on a new swing for the playground, and laid brick pavers to help finish a large covered porch. And we played games and laughed with our friends. All part of a normal life.

A lovely bright peach color for the sides of the new porch. Romanians love bold, bright colors for their homes.

The world doesn’t count disabled orphans in Romania as worth much. But to our Lord, they are just as precious as any of us. And through His love and power, RCE restores their broken lives to what they should have been.

Today is July 4th, our nation’s birthday and our Independence Day. But how can we celebrate 4,500 miles from home? Our Romanian hosts took care of that: the biggest feast yet, a live band that began with the Star Spangled Banner, some Romanian fireworks, and a wonderful “birthday” cake. We all felt incredibly loved by our Romanian friends.

Happy Birthday USA!!

Just when you think the day is done: US versus Romania in soccer. The Romanians prevailed 4-3, but only because we ate more!

Summer Camp: Sharing Grace and Experiencing God Together

Drew Gray is a high school senior from Fourth Presbyterian Church who served in July 2019 at RCE’s Summer Camp which benefits children and families from RCE’s Poverty Prevention Program.

This past summer I had the exciting opportunity to go on a Missions Trip to Romania with RCE. It was a wonderful experience, and if you are reading this thinking about going on the trip-- you should totally do it. We arrived in the morning after a red-eye flight and drove two and a half hours from Budapest, Hungary to Arad, Romania. I don’t remember anything from the drive since I was asleep the whole time. We arrived at Sunshine School around lunchtime and ate lunch with Ovi. 

On Sunday we went to Ovi’s church and worshiped with them. Since none of us understood Romanian we couldn’t make out what the sermon was about, but it was still a good day. Monday we split into two groups-- one group helping build a house for a family while my group went to Pecica and Sorin’s House where we helped with the kids and did some simple tasks. Later that day we drove to the camp, where we stayed for 4 days. 

During the camp week we interacted with the kids by playing games and serving food, and sleeping in teepees alongside the kids. Even though there was a language barrier we were still able to communicate with the kids, which was important. Each day had the exact same schedule which was helpful in figuring out when and where you needed to be. It was an overall fantastic time with the kids, but my favorite event at the camp was the USA vs. Romania soccer game, because if you watched the Romanian kids there would be a few cheering for USA and a lot cheering for Romania. Another fun thing that we did was explore an old castle from the 1400s on one of the afternoons. 

Going to Romania taught me many things, but the most important thing that I learned is that there are kids being neglected all over the world and it doesn’t take that much time or effort to help them. We were able to help out for a week and still have an impact on the kids lives for the better.