Came not to be Served, but to Serve

Attempting to wrap your arms around this country and its beautiful people is a tall order. I write to you now from the RCE headquarters still in my concrete-caked clothes after 8 hours of hard labor.  This work was to love and support two families part of “Project Caring.”  While RCE is most known for its work in rescuing abandoned special-needs orphans, Project Caring is yet another way this ministry is “making mercy happen” here in Arad, Romania.

The mission of this work is to provide support for over 200 Arad area families in crisis to end the cycle of poverty.  As Doina, Ovi’s wife and Project Caring program leader, likes to put it: we focus on the children. If we can provide better opportunities for the children, the bet is it will snowball to a community of love and redemption.  Today it was in the form of a house upgrade for two incredible families.  Our team split up into two groups: Ovi took Matt, Stuart, Miller, Anna, Sarah, and Becca, and Doina had me, Jim, David, Doug, Annie, Lilly, Emma, Kayla, Lisa, and Julia. 

Ovi’s team went to the wonderful Priala family.  RCE seized on an opportunity to help this family of 7 kids, ranging from 15 to 6 months.  The original structure of their home was built in the 1930’s when the common practice was to use mud bricks and straw.  Over time, moisture had overtaken the structure and made it completely unlivable for this family.  Last week, a team from Fourth Pres in Bethesda managed the demolition to pave the way for us to lay the new foundation.

The Priala Family

That was all going on while our team served the sweet Ivan Family.  RCE found this family a few years ago because two of their now 6 children were referred to the RCE’s summer camp.  RCE fell in love with these kids and once their housing situation was made apparent, there was no looking back: we needed to help.  The father of the family works as a carpenter and the mother stays home with their beautiful kids. The only problem is their home is more aptly described as a guest room.  Mrs. Ivan’s parents have provided a simple 10 x 10 room for the eight of them to sleep with an adjacent kitchen and bathroom – simply unsustainable for their growing family.  The ministry’s vision was to have God do an incredible thing for this family: a completely new home on the back part of the same property.  Today’s work brought us 17 pallets of concrete blocks (952 blocks in total) and the rest of the materials needed to build the walls of their new home.  The team later remarked about RCE’s wisdom in this work.  They ask the families they serve to show personal responsibility, and help others as they have been helped.

They prioritize personal responsibility and foster ownership by having the families contribute what they can.  One of the memories I will treasure from the Ivan family today is an exchange between me, Doina and the grandmother.  Again, we are out in blazing 85 degree heat and dealing with some serious extended labor.  About 6 hours in, I see the grandmother hauling a block without work gloves.  I rush to Doina to say please translate for me so I can tell her we have extra work gloves for her.  Doina dismissed my question, but, to humor me, asked anyway.  Grandma’s response: “Psh. I’m Romania! We don’t need work gloves like you laptop using Americans!” (Loosely translated).  In all seriousness, the family, including mom, dad, several of the older children, and, yes, the grandmother were out there working alongside to make this new home a reality for their kid’s future.

Past recipients of Project Caring are some of the most loyal workers for RCE.  Tonight showed a perfect example in the Tina Family.  Danny Tina was leading our mortar and wall-making team at the Ivan Family Residence and hosted us for dinner.  The story, as Danny tells it, is his family had been praying for 16 years to have God provide the financial help for an addition on their home of 12 kids.  Two and a half years ago, RCE made that prayer a reality with a team from our church, including Senior Pastor James Forsyth.  Today, we enjoyed the harvest of those seeds by eating dinner in the new kitchen that RCE broke ground on 30 months ago. 

I’ll leave you with the true culmination of our day.  As dinner started to wind down, Danny came back to the kitchen, but this time with his accordion in hand.  He summoned his children up and played a familiar hymn: How Great Thou Art.  While communicating was nearly impossible with this family, we could still worship the same God together and know that we are brothers and sisters through Christ. Goosebumps moment for sure!  The Tina family prayerfully came before the Lord for 16 years, yet didn’t get an answer until God used RCE.  Now, two of their twelve children are out of the house and with jobs or studying in university. That is what mercy can look like for this family and country when you end the cycle of poverty.

The Tina Family

Thank you for your prayers and support.

With Love,
Will

P.S. Enjoy some of the pictures, and the title of the blog is in reference to Matthew 20:28.