From Maria's Desk



Leeds, England registered UK Charity No.1087961
Kingsport, USA charitable non-profit # 86-0957704
Oradea, Romania registered Charity No.14839712

 
...making smiles in Romania





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A Letter from Maria's Desk
May 2016

His plans or ours?!?!?

"Who am I, Lord God…that you have brought me this far?!" – 1 Chronicles 17: 1-20

"When God’s timing and design for our lives do not match our expectations we often get disappointed"- this was one of the devotional studies I had this month. And I was wondering at the time, when was the last time when I was disappointed just because I had too high expectations? And the answer came very fast: every day!

And very often it’s because of myself. I like the example of King David, when he wanted to build the temple. He had the right motives, leadership, resources, and abilities. Still God said "not you". At that time he said, "right who am I?" He could have said lots of reasons why he could, but he valued his relationship with God more than his ambitions. "The true satisfaction is found in yielding ourselves to the will of God" it was the closing of the paragraph and that’s sooo true!

I pray that God will help us to achieve and understand that!

The same is in the work place. Many times because of our ambitions we try to take control over everything. I’m happy, even though at times it’s hard to understand, that when I go over the line God sends me "reminders" of needing to change the course of the things.

Practically? Well, let me give you a few examples from this past month!

My craft project. A year ago when I took it on, I was wondering "for how long I can carry this?" I’m happy to see that God gives me power, resources and people to help me move on. What is more amazing is the way the ladies respond. At the beginning of April I had a chat to them and I told them that from now on, the ladies that come to church will be allowed to come to the craft group too. I was a bit ‘scared’ that not many would come. My big surprise was when they did, and in a big number. I hope and pray that will remain, because at the end of the day, that’s why we do all the things we do for them. This past month I had Margaret and Carol visiting us, and they took the responsibility for the ladies for a week. It’s always a big help for me to have them around and I would like to say a big THANK YOU to both of them for everything they do for the ladies in Tileagd. Be blessed and thank you for giving up your time to be with us. Can’t wait to have you back!

Rapa project. Three years ago this community was forgotten by people. Smiles found them and today there are a lot of people who are praying for them, thinking of them, helping them to see their dream of having a house become reality! In April we had a team from Gorsley Baptist Church (UK) coming to help us build house # 4 in Rapa and lay 2 more foundations.

Seven men, very strong, but with soft hearts, came to share God’s love with the people of Rapa. THANK YOU guys for everything you did for us. Look forward to have you back….by then I will try to get my own digger in order to make it easier for you!

Towards the end of the month we had a new container filled with goodies arriving in Romania. Amazing. I remember the first container we had delivered in 2009 from NI. So many great things in it! I was wondering then ‘will we ever have another one?’ Well God surprised me each year. Through the kindness of the people in UK and USA, each year since that moment we have one or two containers coming to us!! I appreciate everyone’s EFFORT, MONEY, ENERGY and TIME that they put into making this possible. May God bless you abundantly! And I appreciate each driver that drove that big truck! Thank you for your time and effort guys!! BE BLESSED and thank you for being a blessing for the people of my country.

JFL 1 and 2- is a project that we started working on 5 years ago. Initially we planned for a "two year project". 5 years later we were still working on it. There were lots of things that I did not understand why God took us through, but looking now at the final results, it is more than I can have ever dreamed of. I told you about the progress as it went along, but this month I loved every single hour spent on decorating the place, making sure everything is in the right order.

Mr Hoy was kind enough to give me his credit card and I was allowed to ‘shop’. Still he is hoping that I will find people that are willing to continue covering the cost of the things I purchased! It looks amazing and I’m really happy with what has been achieved.

If you do not believe me ... COME to see for yourself!! On MAY 1st weekend we have the grand opening! Please pray for these days and for every single person that will be contacted through this project. For the residents and beneficiaries, for the new staff and for the leaders. It’s a lot of work going on. And pray for Georgi Opreanu, my friend and colleague. She will be the one that will now take the responsibility for this project that I have been working on for the last 5 years!

So God’s will is MUCH BETTER THAN MINE!! And I see this over the years in many ways.

You might wonder, ‘ok what will Maria do now that the JFL is finally finished?’. Well, this year, Cornel and I will celebrate 3 years of marriage. And as a gift attached to it, God blessed us with our first child! Yes, I will be a mummy!!!! So I guess that that will take up a lot of my time in the coming months!

It is wonderful and I’m thankful to God for the blessing because I will have time to think of the new project that is waiting for us in 2017!!! YES you’ve heard it right! A new project coming! BUT it’s a surprise and I can’t tell you more right now. Still I ask you to PRAY for God’s guidance over me, Smiles, and everything we do.

At times I’m wondering ‘who am I that God brought me so far?’ ….I’m nothing, but with Him I’m EVERYTHING!!! And for that I give Him praise!!

THANK YOU for everything YOU ALL do for us! Without you, a lot of the things we try to do would not be possible! May God bless you and may HE keep you in HIS WILL!!

Be blessed and thank you for being a blessing!

With love

Maria

Maria Hava ,
Director of Operations, Romania
maria@thesmilesfoundation.org
 


Previous letters from Maria:

April 2016 - Good, Good Father
March 2016 - Rainy Days
February 2016 - Frozen
January 2016 - A thankful heart

December 2015 - Make someone happy!
November 2015 - Like father like son
October 2015 - It's between you and God
September 2015 - Our Unchanging God
August 2015 - I trust Him no matter what
July 2015 - I've had enough
June 2015 - Things that make me happy

May 2015 - Butterflies
March 2015 - Sovereign over us

February 2015 - My Grace is sufficient for you
January 2015 - From the Management Team

 

 

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