Welcome to 2020!

          For the children at Ray House, the year 2020 started very well, with the holiday !!!

          Almost half a month ago, the children were able to enjoy the free days they had. We made an outing in the city with the little ones, they played with the little snow we had in our yard, we went with the big ones to a "second New Year" together with the young people from the Pentecostal church, and the children received one more gift. If we were to look at it from the perspective of these activities…. let it be a vacation!! (pictures 1-14)

          In addition to these recreational activities, of course the household activities continued their course, two of the children, Florin and Ciprian, even participated in a volunteer activity. They helped to clean an apartment of a single mother, which was affected by a fire. (pictures 15,16)

          Welcome back! We hope you are well and healthy!

          For us, October was a month full of blessings, we saw fully how God poured out of His goodness over the Ray House.

          He multiplied the fruits of our lot, so we harvested fresh vegetables in October. The glory of Him who makes us grow and fills our rooms! (pictures 1-6)

          In addition to what we have managed to gather from our own harvest, we also have benevolent friends who share their crops with us, which is very helpful, considering that the Ray House serves 2250 meals a month. God bless all those who care for orphans! (picturea 7-11) From the gifts received, we were delegated to help some other families in need, and the joy of those people filled our hearts, living on our skin the verse that says: “It's happier to give than to receive!” (pictures 12,13)

          The big event of September was definitely the start of the 2019-2020 school year. Some with joy, some with sadness, others with curiosity, passed this new school year under our prayer of blessing. Gheorghita is the one who first met the school, which already gives him a headache, and Dumitrita, Madalin, Vasile and Ionel got acquainted with the high school and everything involved, including the shuttle. Now we have 10 young people who are in higher education, high school, vocational and 10 children in secondary education. Our children grow up! (pictures 1,2)

          "Vegetables" is another word specific to autumn, which will accompany the month of September. Young and old, with ours, but also with aids, for example Mihaela Anton, one of our big girls, we managed to fill 2 refrigerated boxes with 100% natural goodies. Praise the Lord for the work power he gives us and especially for that he gives to mother Tatiana. (pictures 3 – 8) Besides the vegetables, we also have the tasty meat, all naturally grown, also from our own farm! (pictures 9,10)

          The last holiday month has passed so quickly ... as one day passes. It is now August 1st and we immediately woke up and said: it's the last day of summer!

           However, our young people have taken full advantage of these days, going some of them to a camp at Voronet and another part to a camp at Bicajel.  Here they gathered beautiful memories, new friends, good teachings, intense experiences ... only good to make them very melancholy and unwilling to start school. :) (picturea 1-6)

          While the big ones were away in camps, at home there remained a small group of small children who enjoyed all the attention and space we have. The whole yard and all the toys were theirs. Gheorghita enjoyed less, because after an incident at the swing he had to stay 2 weeks with his hand in the plaster. (picturea 7,8)

          Welcome back! We hope you are well and healthy. Again, we will take a few moments with new information about the events of July.

          July brought a lot of joy to the children, because they were gone to the camp. Both the small group and the large group had a blessed time with other children in our county. The camps took place in Campulung, at a cottage in the middle of the mountains. Socialization, games, refreshment, fellowship, good food, hikes, testimonies, etc. were the main activities of the camps. The children came very excited at home, most of them enthusiastically telling about the moments they lived. We are glad that after a whole school year they were able to have these moments of relaxation and joy. (pictures 1- 8 with the children’s camp, pictures 9 – 19 with the youth camp)

          Of course, besides these weeks of total relaxation there were also days full of household activities. The boys again gathered the hay (picture 20), and the girls picked beans ... and ... by the way, we had a very rich year in terms of beans. (pictures 21,22,23)

          November was a month of intense preparation for winter, implicitly for December. Pickles, wood supplies, general cleaning, garden plowing, home decorating etc. (pictures 1-6)

          Besides these activities, we managed to develop the electrical installation of the two halls we have. Now our sleep is quieter knowing that we have eliminated dangers such as electrocution and the outbreak of a fire due to electrical causes. (pictures 7,8)

          Another thing we were very happy about was the fact that in our area, an orthopedic doctor from Crimea came and she was able to check the back of all our children and young people. She did some massage sessions, because unfortunately, we have some children with quite serious problems: vertebrae displaced, scolioses etc. We hope she returns to our area to continue what she started. (picture 9)

          Thanks to friends in Germany who also blessed children with clothes and toys this month. (pictures 10-12)

We started the month of June in force: an army of men, 5 lawn mowers, 3 wheel barrow, 5 rakes, and heaps to be mown. The rainy spring we have had has given us a lot of work in this area (pictures 1, 2), but, on the other hand, beautiful plants grown in our garden. ( pictures 3,4,5)

Thanks to our friends from Targu Neamt for the offered vegetables, it seems that their garden was blessed too. God to reward them for this year's offering of their fruits. (picture 6)

And in order to have a balance in the diet of the children, besides the vegetables that grow in our garden, we "endowed" the farm also with a few poultry: ducks, chickens and turkey hens, who are now "enrolled in the continuous fattening program"” J (pictures 7, 8, 9) Kittens are just for entertainment. ( pictures 10)

          With the help of the Lord we came to the end of spring. A rainy spring but blessed with health and peace for Casa Ray.

          Like every year, every season is marked by specific activities, and spring is recognized for planting all sorts of seeds. The Garden House Garden is now "up to date" in terms of gardening timing :) We are praying that God will now grow fruitful plants from small seeds. (pictures 1,2,3)

           We would like to thank specially to all those who have been involved in the project of changing doors and windows. There were enough pieces to replace, but with the help of the Lord, this project was completed in May. We are are looking forward to the next winter to feel the difference. (pictures 4 - 8)

          The spring is here! ..and even if the temperature does not look so clear, we started the spring-specific activities. The livestock was cleaned, the fertilizer was scattered in the garden, the solarium began to be reconditioned, some of the wood for the next winter was purchased, etc. (pictures 1-5)

          Because the temperatures were rather low for this period, the flowers were delayed to appear, so ... we felt a spring glimpse from the flowers created by the children on “Mărţişor” month. (pictures 6-9) Claudia, a visitor to the Ray House, from Switzerland, also took part in this activity. We spent together 3 beautiful days in which we were able to get to know each other better. (picture 10)

          After a six-month stay in America, Mihaela Anton returned to the country and we had the pleasure of spending three days with her. We pray that God will guide her steps and give her victory in all the plans she has. (picture 11)

          We want to begin with thanks to God for the beginning of 2019 was quiet and without unpleasant events.

          The month of January, being a stagnant winter month, allowed us to have only classical indoor activities such as: music lessons, diverse manual work, household chores, intensive learning and study, and last but not least, preparation of food, in many cases with own farm products, large turkeys of 20 kg. (pictures 1-5)

          We managed to go with a lot of children to an ophthalmologic control during this time. So far six of them need glasses, we'll see what will be after we manage to go with the second row of children to control. (picture 6)

          In terms of arrangements, small changes had to be made at the entrance hall, as the walls were a shingle, considered flammable by the Department of Emergency Situations. We have now complied and everything is in line with standards. (pictures 7,8)