Special Report



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

 
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Adi Matis – Smiles Romania Assistant Director
September 2014


A summer of experiences!

We had a summer full of activity – many visitors came to see and experience the Smiles work and to have involvement with the people in need, those we serve, all across Bihor county. Everyone came with their own ideas and understanding, but most of the guests, would testify that their whole perspective changes and the life itself gets new meanings once they’ve been here, to taste and test!

I couldn’t tell you exactly how many guests we’ve had at the Mission Centre this summer, but I know for sure that we’ve heard many stories about how interesting, exciting and even life-changing the experiences were. I had the opportunity to take many visitors in my projects, just as many of my colleagues did, and we took the time we spent together to explain and to present the real life conditions, situations and the people, so that everybody would indeed understand as well as possible, the variety and the complexity of our work in Smiles.

Be it with specialised teams like Regent University students and graduates, or with new people that knew nothing about Smiles before coming here, or with the long-time friends that came back again and again – even their 21st visit! – we went to see the need wherever it was! The homeless people, the families, the children and the elderly, the Salard, Tileagd, Cuiesd and Rapa communities, and all the others that I will not mention, but were very happy to see that people cared enough about them to come from many miles away, just to see them and to encourage and to support!

This issue, while might go unnoticed, is in fact a huge deal!

The simple presence, a hand shake or a nice word or smile will make the difference. Constantly people will tell us how good it feels for them to be visited, even in their most modest conditions, they feel like they are not only by themselves, but have friends too!

Some of the people and places that we visited made a very powerful impression on our guests. For the average UK or US citizen, it is inconceivable that there’s no running water, a toilet, electricity or even food in so many homes. Then on top of this, the medical problems, infections, disabilities, illness which needs to receive proper assistance, but sadly, not too much in Romania.

Adding to that the poverty, the lack of chance and opportunity, soon we have a pretty dark image of what the actual life is like here for so many. No wonder we’ve seen many tears in our guests’ eyes...

But in the end, we could and should look ahead with hope and faith! No doubt there is so much poverty and despair, but we know there’s a solution to all this. No matter how overwhelming the difficulties are, there is an answer. And that is God – not a distant and a "conceptual" God, but a very personal, very close friend, who will show us how to live and love those around us. And because He can give a hope and a future, all we need to do is to listen to Him, to do what He wants from us as we put all our trust in Him.

We were encouraged to see that most of the visitors we had here through the summer share the same belief and faith! And that’s the most important thing: when we all believe and act upon our faith, the miracle will happen! When we all do our little bit, the whole world can change. Remember one of our slogans: „We cannot change the world, but we can change the world for somebody!" Little by little, with perseverance and patience, we might in fact see the changes happening before our own eyes.

Thank you for all the support and the encouragements! May God bless you richly! As always, I will be happy to receive and answer all your emails, please let me know when you are coming to see us!

Adi Matis
Project Manager
Assistant Director Smiles Romania

adrian.matis@thesmilesfoundation.org

 


Previous reports from Adi:

August 2014 - Salard Community Reloaded

July 2014 - Sessions for the Mind

June 2014 - Unknown

May 2014 - Celebrate with us

April 2014 - Beliefs

March 2014 - From being taken care of to taking care...

February 2014 - My dream... to become a pig caretaker

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    Page last updated on 01/09/2014 12:21:15 PM
   by ADMIN1

  

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