“I will open my mouth with a parable; I will utter hidden things, things from of old – things we have heard and known, things our ancestors have told us. We will not hide them from their descendants; we will tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord, his power, and the wonders he has done. He decreed statutes for Jacob and established the law in Israel, which he commanded our ancestors to teach their children, so the next generation would know them, even the children yet to be born, and they in turn would tell their children. Then they would put their trust in God and would not forget his deeds but would keep his commands” – Psalms 78:2-7
It was perhaps a little before the beginning of the 2004-2005 school year. The teachers from the current Constantin Paunescu Inclusive Education Center, Recas, Timis county (School), shared their concern with us about the high rate of early school dropouts among children in the administrative area of Recas. Children aged 10 -12 dropped out of school even before graduating from primary school to help and work with their parents in agriculture. We then understood that one of the causes of this phenomenon is the precarious economic situation of the uprooted families as a result of the communist demographic policy. This was the moment, our partnership with the school went beyond the limits of the former Recas Placement Center, moving towards the children of the community. It is worth recalling that the former communist orphanages had their own schools. It was only later on that the school and the fostering centers were separated and the children from the community and those from the orphanages were integrated together. The Bible education workshops that we are running in the foster care center, exclusively with the resident children, would move into the classrooms of the school and include the children from the community. In order to respond to the material needs of the children in the community, in partnership with the school, we have implemented a scholarship system, consisting of basic food and hygiene products, school supplies, and clothing. The scholarship is awarded based on attendance and results at school. This is how Missio Link International (MLI) started the Back to School program, which continues to this day annually serving over 200 children, ages 3 to 18, coming to the school from eight different villages adjacent to Recas.
Over the years, not only has the early school dropout rate decreased, but also the academic situation has improved with more and more children graduating from secondary school and then vocational school, being the first generation in the family to have completed more than four classes and even with a professional training. The passage of time, the closer relationship with the school and also with the families of the children in the program, helped us understand that they are actually the children of a second generation of illiterate adults without a qualification. These adults were displaced from other areas of the country or were former children raised at the children’s home in Recas, one of the communist orphanages. We thus understood that school dropout was a consequence, the root issue was the lack of healthy parenting models based on values and principles that can break not only the cycle of poverty but also of abuse and juvenile delinquency in the communities where children and their families live.
For over ten years, we could see the fruit of the Word of God in the lives of the children we worked with at Recas,we saw them flourish, trusting in them, having dreams and making plans for the future.
During every visit, these children amazed us and still amaze us by reciting Scripture and even poems composed by some of them. We are moved to tears hearing them sing with all their heart and with all their strength “Amazing Grace”. The children and grandchildren of uprooted adults without a home of their own and without a place to return to, would find their identity and belonging in Christ, and not because they were told so in Bible education classes, but because during the course spent in school, they feel loved and valued both by the staff and volunteers of MLI and by the teaching staff of the school. The harmonious relationship between the adults in their surroundings gives them a different model of life. We thus understood that in order to change the paradigm in the communities of these children, we need to help the parents to find their identity, and where else can we start but with the mothers.
With the support of the school, we identified a group of 15 mothers with whom in the Fall of 2015, we started a new project at Recas called “Moms’ School”. Twice a month, Christian psychotherapists Mariana Mitrofan and Adriana Ciacia working with MLI and the school’s speech therapist Dana Oros, met with the mothers included in the project in parental counseling sessions, helping them understand how to be mothers according to the will of Christ. Counseling sessions were alternated with hands-on workshops where mothers interacted with their children using the newly learned principles. The power and importance of prayer, valuing the child but also disciplining in love, games that show mother-child relationship, were just some of the themes addressed until the end of 2019. Unfortunately, the pandemic prevented us from continuing the project, but was resumed in the spring of 2024, with a number of six mothers who together with Psychotherapist Adriana Ciacia, went through the Circle of Safety program, a program that they successfully completed on June 11, 2024.
The Circle of Safety is an intervention program in educating and raising the child, based on over 30 years of research in Attachment Theory, which teaches that the child’s relationship with parents plays an essential role in their well-being. A secure relationship will help the child form the patterns on which he/she models relationships in adult life. Although the course is aimed at parents and educators, Adriana Ciacia also integrated practical workshops with children’s involvement. She brought Emily, a German Shepherd trained for therapy, as her assistant. “By integrating Animal Assisted Therapy (AAT) with the Circle of Safety (COS) program, mothers and children can benefit from a multi-faceted approach to building secure attachment, improving communication and reducing stress. The presence of the therapy dog can serve as additional support, strengthening the secure foundation that COS aims to create in the family. For example, the “command and reward” activity aims to build trust and improve communication skills. Thus children learn to give commands to the therapy dog, such as “sit”, “lay down” or “fetch the ball”, while mothers guide their children to give clear, calm commands and praise the dog’s obedience. The dog’s role is to respond to commands helping children see the immediate impact of clear communication and positive reinforcement. This activity reflects the confidence-building aspect of the COS’’ – explains the psychotherapist.
We congratulate the mothers for completing the Circle of Safety course, being convinced that their children will have a safe environment in the family. We desire to meet with them and other groups of mothers again in the Fall.
We are honored by the almost 20 years of partnership with the Constantin Paunescu Inclusive Education Center in Recas. Our collaboration in educating the children in the Recas area and the change in their lives led churches, companies, individuals from the country and abroad to join us in offering spiritual and financial support to continue the programs in the Recas area.
Together we learned and showed others that everything is possible with God.
