Last days in Romania!

'Some' of those gathered on my last day!

One of the most unexpected amazing days I had while I was in Romania was the Friday before I left- April 1st. And it wasn't because it was April fool's day-- they don't call it that in Romania, but they did pull off many a trick or gag on their colleagues, so it's alive and well over there. The day was amazing because of what I walked into as Doina and I returned from a visit to see Stefanie. We pulled up to the office/Sunshine School in the red Opel to find the yard crowded with people. I said to Doina.."what's going on in front of the school?"  I got out of the car, someone grabbed my camera from me, there was music playing (soundtrack from the Lion King, I think), then saw the big signs and Romanian/American flags you see in the pictures here.  It was a thank you gathering for me. I was totally overwhelmed, esp as I looked around to see every child from the Sunshine School, the Darius Houses, all the Sunshine School teachers and assistants, everyone from the RCE offices and even a couple of folks who weren't even working that day but came in anyway.

Cake makers Adina and Mariana

Sunshine School cooks Adina and Mariana made a HUGE cake that apparently took the better part of two days to construct. I heard after the fact that I almost walked in on them as they were making it. But luckily someone locked the door to the kitchen before I could. The flowers that surrounded the cake were made by the Sunshine School kids in their classes. The cake was nearly all gone by the end of the celebration.

Ovi making a speech

Alex

I was given gifts-- a beautiful bunch of notes from each class of the Sunshine School that were attached together on gray paper with holes along the edges so as to look like they were on a roll of film. Ten year old Alex gave them to me in a 'Kodak' film canister constructed by the creative Sunshine School staff. Ovi presented me with an old picture of Arad and a neat coffee mug.  He also made one of his famous Ovi speeches, which is always a treat. He mentioned that I was the first board member to stay in Arad for a month-- oops, I forgot I even was a board member.  Then we ate!  I didn't take one picture, but my camera was passed around to many. In the end, 124 pictures were taken by a number of talented photographers. (I think some folks also really liked holding their finger on the shutter of my camera-- the Nikon D90 that I have can take 4 frames per second.)

my trusty Nikon D90

If you've been following this blog regularly or even occasionally, you know there's LOTS more to learn about RCE and to support the work of the incredible folks here in Romania..  If you would like to get involved (and I hope you do!) here are a few ideas:

Doina, Lorena, Andrada, Carina and Ovi Martin



1. RCE Walkathon is being held on Saturday May 7 in Reston, Virginia.  This is our annual Spring fundraiser and it will be an opportunity to learn more about RCE while also raising support. Ovi and Doina Martin (Mar-teen) and their three girls- Lorena, Carina, and Andrada-- will all be there for the event. They arrive in DC on Friday April 29th and will be in the area through Monday May 9th.  If you've ever spent any time with the Martin family, you know that this is an event that shouldn't be missed!  For more information and walkathon sponsorship forms, go to: rcenterprises.org or call our Exec Director, Mary Ann Bell at the RCE office in Virginia at: 540-554-4255  Even if you can't make the walk, you can help sponsor the Martin family, or make a donation.

2. Church events: The Martins will also be at Fourth Presbyterian Church on Sunday May 1 for both morning and evening services and at McLean Presbyterian Church at some point on May 8 before they head back to Romania.

3. Ongoing support: One time donations are a HUGE help, but regular monthly support is even better :) There are many ways to contribute. One example...many of the animals you saw pictures of in my blog, and that I wrote about were provided through RCE's Christmas giving program to poor families.  If you are interested in supporting us in any way, please go to the RCE website, rcenterprises.org, call Mary Ann at 540-554-4255, or use our US mailing address:

RCE  21058 Unison Road, Middleburg, VA 20117
Many thanks to those of you who have been longtime supporters of RCE! You have made a difference in the lives of so many!

4. Blog: While there won't be any new postings after this one, this blog will stay up, so send people who you think might be interested in Romania or RCE to it. I posted 36 blog entries between March 3 and April 5 and the site got nearly 2,000 page views up till today. Most of the viewers were from the US and Romania but there were also a few from Hungary, Germany, Denmark, Italy, the UK and France. I'm hoping there will be some additional views after today so people can continue to learn about Romania, the culture, its people and Romanian Christian Enterprises.

It's been a great privilege and a personal blessing for me to have been able to share my experiences in Romania with you this past month.  I want to thank Judy Zdobysz, a longtime friend at NRH in DC where I work, for encouraging me to do the blog. I was reluctant at first and had never even seen or read a blog before...but once I started writing and posting it became obvious that this was a great way to try and capture some of what goes on in this incredible ministry each day.  I took over 1500 pictures while I was there, had so many wonderful experiences, and heard so many interesting stories while I was there that it was a daily challenge to decide what to post.

In the end, I hope you were moved, encouraged and even challenged by the blog in ways you did not expect to be. I also hope this experience encourages you to consider supporting RCE if you don't already. You've seen the evidence, you know the stories, you KNOW that whatever you can do for RCE will go directly to helping those in need..and here, the need is so great I can't even begin to put it into words..which is why I tried to let my pictures do some of the talking..

Thank you for your support of the ministry, of me while I was there, for your e-mails/comments to the blog and for following along with me on this most incredible of Romanian journeys. It was my 20th visit to Romania over the past twelve years, but by far the longest and the very BEST!

God's blessings to you all!

Marti (Martha)

Romanian words of the day:

Friend= prieten/prietena

Great friend= prieten bun/ prietena bun

Incredible= incredibil

Journey= calatoria