A Great Success!

We worked hard, and we visited many families.  Through this experience we were able to gain a real understanding of what RCE does.

  We helped a family toward living a better life. We saw special needs kids being loved by RCE employees and being taken in by loving families. 
 
 

 

In the words of Ovi Martin, our host for the week, we experienced "making mercy happen". 

 

 

It was a great trip, but, as you can see from the photos in this post, it was exhausting!

 

 

 

 

 

" and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry

and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,

then your light will rise in the darkness,

and your light will become like the noonday."

Isaiah 58:10

 
 
 
 

Friday - The Last Day of our Trip

Friday morning was all about concrete. We used two mixers to turn water, rocks and cement into wet concrete, wheelbarrows to move the wet concrete to the house, and buckets and ladders to get the concrete to the top of the house. But after 4 hours of hard work we finished pouring 6 structural columns and 5 lintels over future windows, and our construction work was done! We concluded our time in Barzava with a brief stop at the existing home for the Toma family. Eight children (with 2 year old triplets) plus mom and dad living in 2 rooms of a shared house. RCE's goal is to have them in their new home in the fall of next year.

In the afternoon the team visited two families in the charming village of Savarsin. Both families have each adopted two children with special needs from RCE's  Darius Houses this year. What a blessing to conclude our day by sharing in the joy of 4 more children restored to loving families of their very own!

We spend the late afternoon back in Arad for a little shopping and souvenir hunting. Dinner was another pizza party with many of our new Romanian friends followed by some final games of volleyball.

Time to pack and say our goodbyes!  

Thursday with kids from Amy's House and Darius House

Thursday morning, the team had breakfast then walked to Amy's House to visit with the three teenage boys who live there with the Mihelczek family and their two sons.  Amy's house is operated by RCE to facilitate semi-independent living for teenage kids with moderate disabilities.  The three boys who currently live there, Otto, Manu and Ghitza, all work together at the second hand store operated by RCE, managing the inventory and helping customers pick out merchandise.  The three boys will soon move into the center in Precica, which will have a newly renovated apartment for them.

After our visit to Amy's House, we went back to the Sunshine school to meet some of the students and see a demonstration of the things they have learned and to see how their class rooms work.  We were amazed to see how orderly and well behaved the large group of students were.  They sang for us, demonstrated their knowledge of the seasons, the days of the week, colors, the months of the year, and they spent time praying and thanking God.  There were some games as well, and we could see that the students really love their school and their teachers.  The students are now on summer break, and we could see how glad they were to see each other and be back together.

For lunch, we headed to a local park for a picnic with the Darius House kids.  We played games of soccer, Duck-duck-goose and CRAMPA!  After games, we all enjoyed a lunch of sandwiches, chips, tomatoes and water.  The chips were a real treat for the kids.  After lunch, we all walked through the forest to the Mures River.  Afterward, we all packed up and headed back to Darius House and the Sunshine School.

While back at Sunshine School for a short break, the team took a short tour of the RCE offices and spoke with Ovi, Mimi, Cara and other staff about their work.

In the afternoon, we had a short stop at the RCE second hand store in Arad where we once again got to see Otto, Manu, and Ghitza.  One of our fellow construction workers, Daniel, was there helping supervise.  The boys were glad to see us again and helped a few of us pick out some great merchandise!

Late afternoon, we visited a village called Manastur.  We visited on family that had a farm and had purchased a cow through the assistance of a microeconomic development loan from RCE.  The cow provides milk and cheese for the family and is pregnant, so the family is expecting to be able to have additional resources once the new calf is born.

We then visited the house of a very poor family who have sought help from RCE.  The staff of RCE are attempting to help this family have a better life, but their situation is much worse than any others we have seen on this trip.  This visit made us all reflect on the blessings God has given us and how thankful we are for his love and care for us.

Our last visit was to the Moldovan family.  They live in a small house that has been refurbished thanks, in part, to the McLean Thanksgiving offering.  These funds with the assistance of RCE helped to install a new floor, bring electricity to the house, install insulation, and install a new wood burning stove for both heat and cooking.  The family expressed their thanks to us and to God and pledged to care for their new home.

Our day ended with a spaghetti dinner and more volleyball back at the Sunshine School.  It was another great night of fellowship.

Wednesday Evening - Visiting Families assisted by RCE

On Wednesday evening we had the privilege of visiting some of the families that RCE is assisting and seeing some of the great progress the ministry has made.  We first visited the Maxim family,  who are being assisted by RCE.  They are a family of eight and have been living in very limited space.  Mr. Maxim had already started the foundation of their new home and has participated in the RCE loan program to finish their home.  The downstairs of the house has been very nicely finished (by Mr. Maxim, who is a skilled craftsman), and the upstairs is in process. RCE has provided loans to the Maxim family, and they have all been paid back, and the ministry is considering providing one additional loan to provide the materials needed to complete the work.

Next, we visited the Filips family.  They have a family farm where they grow tomatos, peppers and eggplants.  They also have a cow, pigs, and a few sheep.  Last year, a heavy snow collapsed the covering for their greenhouses, so RCE has made a micro-economic loan to assist them to reconstruct and recover the greenhouses.  We toured their farm and saw the bounty of their hard work.  This is an enterprising family, and they were so thankful for the help they have received from RCE to continue to grow their family business and support the family.  We enjoyed a snack with the family, including fresh tomatoes, fresh cheese and salata de vinate (Romanian roasted eggplant salad). Before we left we prayed with and for the family asking God's continued blessing on them.  

At the end of the day, we joined the Pasca family, who hosted us for dinner.  Mrs. Pasca is a widow who was left with six children and a small home.  Through the McLean Presbyterian Thanksgiving offering, RCE has assisted the family to expand and finish their home to provide a livable space for this family.  We were treated to a fine meal of traditional goulash cooked in a kettle over an open fire.  We had a delightful evening in the newly finished kitchen and dining area of the house and were pleased to be able to see how God has used the funds raised to provide tangible mercy to this family.

Wednesday - More Progress on the Toma House

On Wednesday the team headed back to Barzava to continue work on the Toma house.  With the team of Romanian professionals we have been working with this week, the walls have been completed.  Frames were installed, and we were able to complete two of the structural concrete columns.  We again walked into town to have lunch with the Toma family and some of our Romanian fellow laborers.  In the afternoon, we made good progress and again enjoyed an unexpected summer rain shower that cooled everything down.  By the end of the day, we were pleased with the progress that the team had made and headed out to see some of the other work that is currently being done by RCE.

Tuesday in Romania - lighter work and visiting

Tuesday morning the team visited RCE's newest project in the village of Pecica, about 10 miles west of Arad. This project is lead by Costel and Christina Serban and has two components. First, the family is in process to adopt three boys with disabilities from the Darius Houses into their family. And later this year, three 18 year old boys with disabilities from the will move from RCE's Amy's House into a small apartment on the second floor. They will live here as semi-independent adults and receive vocational job training as part RCE's Enterprise Center program. The goal is for these young men to live a semi-independent live and to be integrated into the local Christian community, The team spent the morning doing some light some light construction work and enjoyed a wonderful lunch with the Romanians in a shady part of the yard.

In the afternoon the team visited families that had adopted children with disabilities through RCE and heard the stories of how the Lord had used these amazing Christians to restore these children to God's design for them: in a family, and no longer an orphan. Our visits included the Roxin family, which received assistance as part of the Thanksgiving offering from McLean Presbyterian Church last fall to obtain adequate housing.

The evening brought pizza with soccer and bocci ball with some of our Romanian friends.