In the NE of Romania , 37 km from Suceava (the administrative and political centre of the Suceava county) you’ll find the small town of Radauti (of about 35,000 inhabitants). It is situated in the middle of the low land between the Obcinele Bucovinei mountains at the N, and the rivers Sucevita and Suceava. Radauti is one of the oldest Moldavian settlements, dating back to the 14th century. In this town, travellers may find the Bogdan Monument of Mediaeval Architecture, built by Bogdan I (1359-1365). They may also visit the Museum of Bucovina Folk Techniques. Founded in 1934, the museum displays artefacts reflecting the traditional occupations of the inhabitants, as well as collections of ceramics from Radauti, Marginea, Kuty, etc.

The town still has a life of is own, with a Friday open market and an annual crafts and market show which takes place every August.

The area is surrounded by art and cultural monuments and centres of inestimable heritage value both national and globally. They would stand comparison with the Italian or Western European centres of the Renaissance. Such centres would include the towns of Voronet, Sucevita, Moldovita, Humor, Dragomirna, Arbore, etc. Additionally, in the villages around, the visitor can see the reminders of past spiritual and cultural traditions.

The people are open, hospitable and very hard working, with a great sense of humour.

These all factors give the town and area a special character and a romantic air.

Under the Communist regime it was against the law for people to meet together or set up any kind of denominational or religious group, except for the recognised churches. Because of this, an underground movement developed where many Christians were trained and given good, solid, Biblical knowledge. Those involved were aware that, if caught, they could lose their freedom or even their life. If spite of this and very hard conditions of living that we experienced in those days, there were quite few that underwent this training.

My husband, Orest, and I, Christina, before our marriage, were both trained in such underground Bible study groups, so when we decided to get married, we united not only our lives, but our Biblical training and strengths. We developed a small Bible study group in our home.

After the fall of Communism, we realised a new door had been opened with many opportunities to share the Gospel. So, we decided to found "Dorca".

Romania: situated in the SE of Europe; on the lower course and at the mouth of the Danube river, bordering the Black Sea and having the Carpathians as a "vertebral commune". Romania borders Ukraine and the Republic of Moldavia in the N and E; Bulgaria in the S; the Black Sea in the SE; the Federal Republic of Yogoslavia in the SW and Hungary in the E and NE,

Area: 238,391 sq km, 11th largest country in Europe and 79th in the World.

Population and administrative division: population around 22,000,000 inhabitants, the 8th largest in Europe and the 38th in the world. The population structure by nationalities is: Romanians (89 %), Hungarians (7%), gypsies (2%), Germans (1%), Ukrainians (0.3%), with small numbers of Jewish, Greek, and Polish people, etc.

The territory of Romania is divided into 41 counties and the Bucharest municipality which has county status. There are 262 towns and 13,285 villages.

Religion: There are 15 legal religious denominations in Romnaia: Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Reformed, Greek Catholic, Baptist, Pentecostal, Christian Brethren, Adventist, Unitarian, Mosaic, etc.

Capital: Bucharest - over 2,000,000 inhabitants

Official language: Romanian, the mother tongue of 89% of the population. It is a Latin language and so belongs to the same family of languages as French, Spanish, Italian.