Gathering to Celebrate Making Mercy Happen…

“Silence in the face of evil is itself evil. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act.”
Dietrich Bonhoeffer

It was 30 years ago that God’s people in Arad -- together with their partners at McLean Presbyterian Church -- began to speak and to act on behalf of the suffering orphans imprisoned in horrific state institutions in Romania at that time.

Last Saturday night, Oct. 2, God’s people gathered at Fourth Presbyterian Church to celebrate the last three decades of Making Mercy Happen and hear the stories of amazing grace in the lives of victimized children and impoverished families. 

Mr. Ovidiu Martin, General Manager of RCE, was our special guest along with Ionut Ciorban. Ionut came to RCE as a broken and angry young man of 14. Today he is a young man being healed of that anger and filled with hope for the future.

Ionut is now a resident of Amy’s House on the Arad Campus – where he is learning life skills, and by God’s grace, to be able to live an independent life one day. 

See a little of his story in this short film shown at the event:

Thank you for your generous gifts that evening that more than met our $20,000 matching grant and took us nearly to the overall financial goal for the event of $95,000! Thanks be to God and to each of you who prayed, who helped, who came, and who gave. You are not standing silent in the face of evil but ‘acting’ to help RCE bring justice to its victims.