Greetings, dear friends!

          Ever since we heard each other, things have evolved at Ray House.

          The garden and the solarium were filled with vegetables that grew seeing with the eyes, but unfortunately the weeds competed with the vegetables, so in several stages we had to go clean the garden of unwanted weeds, mow the grass in the yard, water the flowers and gather hay for the animals. The children were involved, each according to their abilities, in all these household activities. (pictures 1-5)

          Regarding the farm, we have in these past 2 months also entrances and exits, as follows: we bought 60 turkeys, slaughtered 2 pigs, we sent the goats to the sheepfold and we have already received a slice of curd from them, egg hens have entered production, and the meat chickens have reached maturity and we started sacrificing them. Glory to God for our daily food, He cares for us at every step. (pictures 6-11)

          We all want the hope that came into the world with the resurrection of Christ fills your hearts and homes. Christ is risen!!

          We celebrated Easter in peace and quiet, even though the house was full of bustle in the days leading up to the holiday. Visits from children who grew up at Ray House, visits from friends at home, visits from relatives, visits to relatives, cleaning, food, relaxation, songs about the death and resurrection of Jesus all created a festive atmosphere. We leave you to feel a crunchy moment of these, looking at the following photos. (pictures 1 - 22)

          At the beginning of the month, more precisely on April 11, we had another occasion of celebration, when Doinita and Cristi got engaged. We say again that God will fully bless them and give them wisdom at every step on this new path they have set out on. (picturea 23-27)

          And two more reasons to celebrate, Vasilica who turned 10 and Ionela who turned 13. Blessed are you, dear ones! (pictures 28,29)

          March for us continued with the hosting of the group from Ukraine. We had pleasant moments together, in which we told each other small fragments of life, tense moments when with our mouths open we waited for news from their family left in Ukraine, sad moments together when we saw them with tears in their eyes when they received news that other objectives were bombed, moments of relaxation when we went on a trip to Red Lake, moments of strengthening the relationship when we worked together etc.

          In other words, we believe that the time we spend together and the situation they are in has given us some lifelong friends.

          After this group of 22 people left, we kept waiting for other groups, but no one came. In the north of the country, the Suceava area is full of refugees, who stay for a night or two and then go to other countries, but below, to the south, they rarely host.

          Anyway, we have the door and arms open for such people and we look forward to them whenever they need a bed and a warm meal. (pictures 1-12)

           Good to see you again, dear friends!

          We were preparing to present to you how the months of January and February passed for us, here at Casa Ray, but in the light of the new events that have taken place on the border of our country, in Ukraine, our hearts and thoughts are preoccupied with these people, who are in great suffering and distress.

          We could not remain indifferent to the trauma our neighbors are going through and knowing that we have empty guest houses, we showed our willingness to accommodate some of those in need. This is how 22 people have been able to stay with God's help so far. Practically the Casa Ray home has doubled its number of "tenants", 22 children beneficiaries of our center and 22 guests.

          All those we have accommodated so far, are passing through Romania, and will continue their journey to their relatives who are further away, and in their place will come other people and so on … We expect a continuous flow of people.

           Blessings in the new year, dear collaborators!

          May all the possible hardships of 2022 make you stronger and may all the joys of 2022 form a heart full of gratitude.

          In short, we want to present you some aspects from the last month of 2021, December, the month of gifts.

          As every year, the beginning of this month was marked by the decoration of the house, both inside and outside, which makes us happy and gives us the strength to do all the things with joy, while we hum carols. (pictures 1 and 2)

          Of course, the traditional "Christmas cleaning" followed when each room was lined up and made "extremely tidy", the garden was also cleaned, the shed was supplied with wood and so on. (picture 3)

                Hello, dear ones!

               Autumn has come to an end, and winter has rushed to make its presence felt both through its specific cold and through a few happy snowflakes. However, we want to go back two months and tell you what we did at Ray House in October and November.

               We started by harvesting the last apples and the fodder beet. Thank God that this year too the orchard was fruitful and so was the garden. (pictures 1,2) From the fallen apples on the ground, we made jars of jam, only good for spreading on bread or for use in tarts.(pictures 3,4,5) We also received a donation of apples (and a pumpkin J) from Rotaru family from Bacau, to whom we thank, with the help of whom we made apple juice and put it for the winter. (pictures 6,7,8)

          Welcome back!

          May peace, tranquility and health accompany you every day. Warm greetings from Casa Ray - Dobreni - Romania.

          August and September were very busy for us, you can see this even after the "speed" with which we come to you with the monthly reports :)

          August, being the last month of summer and implicitly the last month of holiday, was marked by 2 camps, one for young people aged 14 and over and one for children. With God's help, because this year the restrictions were less during the summer, these camps could be organized.

          Good to see you again, dear ones! We hope you are well and healthy.

          At Casa Ray, with God's help, in the months of June and July, even though we went through some more difficult moments in terms of health, we overcame them all well. Ionela Matei (picture 1) was hospitalized for a week, being suspected of appendicitis, and the other children had to overcome an epidemic of enterocolitis, which "haunted" the whole country.

          As I said, we thank the Lord that now, at this time, we are all well.

          This period of 2 months, started with a holiday, on June 1 we celebrated CHILDREN'S DAY! Special thanks to our friend Heike Kunze, who together with her friends organized a small party for children with balloons, sweets, fruits and juices, exactly what children love the most. They felt pampered, and Father Mihai said a blessing prayer for them, which is very precious! (pictures 2-5)

          Welcome back!

          With God's help, this spring we planted about 25 new fruit trees in our orchard. Various varieties of fruit trees, from which we hope that in a few years, we can taste full of gratitude. We also planted raspberry seedlings that leave our mouths watering just as we think about them. (pictures 1 and 2) Spring cleaning was also important, the wind scattering on our property no less than 18 garbage bags.(picture 3)

          This spring was quite cold in our area, so the arrangement of the garden and the solarium was a little late, but at the end of April, the natural fertilizer was spread in the gardens, and seedlings and seeds of all kinds were planted. (pictures 4-6) God made it rain, made it grow, and at the end of May, we were already able to use greens from our own garden, and weeds were to be taken out… with bags. (picture 7)

          Greetings, dear friends!

          During the period when we haven’t heard from each, respectively the months of January, February and March, we had to face some challenges, but with God's help, this time we are well and working in normal parameters.

          The first challenge was to deal with a small staff and to quickly find replacements to take over the tasks. Mrs. Lica from the laundry got sick with covid, and after overcoming this disease she started to fight with a strong depression that she has not overcome yet, no longer being active in the Ray House. Mrs. Aurica from the kitchen turned 66 and wanted to retire because the 70 km commute she made to get to Ray House was too exhausting for her. Also, the sudden departure of my mother, who was involved in many aspects of the Ray House, left many gaps.