homepage
projects
mission
trips
support
wish
list
fundraising
events
news
videos
prayer and praise
organisation
contact
details
smiles
reports
Nia's Ministry
links
search
disclaimer
|
|
May 2015 |
Firstly, I want to thank those of you who
came along to the ‘Sharing Something Special Tour’. It was
great to see so many, catch up together and welcome Kevin and our
Romanian guests to the UK. I know we were all inspired & challenged by
the presentations; some maybe looked at projects with fresh eyes, some
maybe became aware of needs for the first time, some felt a tug at the
‘heart strings’ looking at a photograph or listening to a song, some
openly shed tears as we worshiped our living God together.
Secondly, we have celebrated Easter. Many of
us have reflected on the cross and the sacrifice of Jesus Christ for
‘me’. It is a time of hope, it is a time of new and fresh hope, a time
to celebrate. I trust you have had a peaceful and reflective Easter
time.
Last
time I mentioned the ‘100 Love Club’ ; Sharing Love to
Children living with family difficulties. We also have the
‘200 Hope Club’
; Giving Hope to
families living in poverty. The word hope makes me think of a renewed
confidence or a reason to do something. From my visits to Romania, I
see many people with very little hope in their lives, very little
reason to have confidence in life or the meaning of life, as they
merely survive in desperate conditions with little food, clothing,
love or support.
We should not just enjoy the confidence of
our own understanding of hope for our lives, sit comfortably and
smugly in our own security. We have a duty and an opportunity to
restore ‘hope’ to the lives of others.......how can we do that?
Some can GIVE, some can GO, some can GIVE
and GO, some can GO and GIVE OUT on someone else’s behalf.
Friends, it is the beginning of the Mission
Trip season with Smiles; please, please consider taking up the
challenge to GIVE or GO, or GIVE and GO! There are weeks set
aside, there are people signed up, there are spaces available! You
will not be alone, there are teams building, we are needed on the
mission field to bring ‘hope’ to those living without hope in Romania.
I want you to meet Lindsay McKinlay,
our young Ambassador in Scotland who has taken up the challenge, and
shares her passion with us;
My
involvement with the Smiles Foundation started in 2012, when I went on
a summer Mission Trip. 3 years and 5 trips later, as a Smiles
Ambassador, I have a real passion for the work being done in Romania.
Every person on the staff is so completely dedicated to the work they
do and the people they work with – I’m very proud to be even a small
part of such an incredible organisation.
If you haven’t seen it first hand, it is impossible to understand the
scale of the need in Romania. The photos and stories can be upsetting
and difficult to comprehend, but meeting the people living day to day
in unimaginable situations brings home the injustice and inspires me
to do something to help. Every time I go on a trip I am hit by a new
story which fuels my passion to do more to help. So my first piece of
advice for anyone wanting to get involved is get yourself to Romania!
If you can manage to go on a Mission Trip your eyes will be opened
and your heart will be changed.
There are other ways to help too, if a
Mission Trip is not practical for you at the moment. Monthly
sponsorship is vital to keep the projects running and without people
making these financial commitments, Smiles cannot budget for the
future. Sponsoring a child or family is wonderful as you get updates
from Smiles about their progress and if you do go on a trip, you
will be able to meet them in real life. I’ve built up a wonderful
relationship with the child I sponsor in Tileagd, and with her whole
family. Sponsorship starts from just £5 a month – maybe people from
your school, university, church, workplace, sports club etc would be
interested in joining together to sponsor a project?
Fundraising is another vital source of income for Smiles – get some
people involved and come up with a plan! Maybe your family would
join you in a sponsored cycle? Make up a quiz sheet and sell them
for £1 each with a £10 prize? Or could you organise a concert or
ceilidh? Bake sales are always popular – or you could do something
big like a marathon or bungee jump! I did a sponsored haircut and
let two children cut 14 inches off my hair! No one person can meet
the needs of the Smiles Foundation – but we can all support in
whatever way we can and, just as importantly, encourage others to do
the same.
I hope you are able to help in some way –
and maybe one day I’ll see you in Romania!
Lindsay McKinlay
Lindsay and her husband Calum are just
back from a Mission Trip; here she is again with some more
encouragement;
Post Script: Just back from my 6th
mission trip and still recovering from a wonderful, emotional,
challenging week! We had a fantastic team - couples, singles and a
school trip - made up of a mix of ages from all over the UK and
America. It was a wonderful chance to work alongside these people
and serve with them. I was overjoyed to see progress in many of the
projects including JFL and Rapa and hear some really positive
updates from people in Tileagd who I care for deeply. It wasn’t all
easy - I saw some of the worst living conditions and heard some
truly heart-breaking stories - but it’s only fuelled my drive to
keep working, praying and fundraising for Smiles. Again, I encourage
all of you to get to Romania and experience a Mission Trip for
yourselves!
We also had Wayne and Cathie Mulholland
from Belfast visiting Romania on a whistle stop tour, let’s hear their
story;
"We
have just returned from a short trip to The Smiles Foundation in
Romania. Our focus was the Tileagd Craft Group and the
development of new skills for the ladies in the creation of new
jewellery products to help form a sustainable business. In addition
to this, we were advising on the development of an online presence
to market and sell the products the group produces based on our own
business experience. Wayne also had the opportunity to meet
Pastor Vasile, whom our church supports through Smiles. The trip
was a great success and we are excited for the potential going
forward for the project! In particular, the impact it can have on
the ladies in Tileagd, their families and the community as well as
the development of an income stream to further support the great
work of The Smiles Foundation in the area.
Although this was our first visit, we look forward to returning at
some point in the future! We would highly recommend visiting Romania
with The Smiles Foundation to see and take part in the amazing work
they do alongside the great staff team based there. You will be
changed forever!"
Cathie & Wayne
Spring time is a wonderful time of year to get busy with
Fundraising, I will be sharing lots events and photographs next month,
so please come back for another read. I want to leave you with a very
encouraging story of one of our supporters, and indeed an inspiring
challenge to us all.
Gregg Allen
runs a Ferry Business. He faced a major challenge this winter to
restore his Ferry to a sea worthy state before the Easter season, an
investment of £20,000. Gregg considers it miraculous that it was ready
in time, and then the beautiful English weather provided him a bumper
week. He and his wife Marilyn decided to tithe their Easter takings
and sent Smiles a cheque for £750.00. What a blessing to us all!
Have another great month. Please write to me
with your thoughts and activities. Whatever you are getting up to, we
want to share it to encourage each other. I look forward to hearing
from you.
Thank you and God Bless.
Barbara
Barbara Morrison
Development Ambassador &
Volunteer Coordinator
The Smiles Foundation
E-mail:
barbaramorrison@thesmilesfoundation.org
Telephone:
0788 087 5845
Previous Reports
March 2015
- Welcome backMarch
2015 - Welcome back
February 2015 - Introduction |
|
Return to the homepage
|