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“The Container
Challenge”
A Mission Trip Experience
By Adrian Pogue of Ballymena (Northern Ireland) |
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Last year’s Mission Trip had left an undying
impression on so many of us that we started planning this year’s trip
almost as soon as we got home. The support we had received last
year in filling a container with much needed supplies spurred us on to
do the same again this year.
A couple of “wish list” days at local
supermarkets produced over 150 boxes of soap, shampoo, clothes,
stationery and other supplies. A “wish
list” day simply involves taking a copy of the
Smiles wish list
off
the website, handing it to shoppers as they go in to do their
shopping, and asking if they would buy just one item off the list and
donate it to Smiles.
It is amazing to see how people take this to
their hearts when they realise that the item they put in our box will
be used by a family living on the streets in Oradea, or be given out
by the Smiles social workers to families on their daily rounds.
Indeed, many people came up to us on their way out to say they had
bags of clothes they were going to throw out or give to the local
charity shop, and could we use them in Romania?
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After weeks of fundraising, a team of 16 people from Ballymena set off
to join another group from Richhill to head out to Romania. The
generosity of local folk had ensured that not one, but two forty foot
containers had been filled with much needed items such as clothes,
shampoo, pampers and household goods, and were already on their way to
the Smiles warehouse in Romania. |
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The first day of the trip was spent unpacking the contents of the
containers. Unlike last year’s trip, the containers this year were
being left in Romania to be converted into houses. It is hard to
imagine living in a container, but conditions in
 villages
such as Salard are so bad that a container is looked on as a palace.
For one family in particular, they have particular reason to thank the
people back home for their generosity. Living in a ramshackle house
with floorspace no bigger than a couple of pool tables, the father,
mother and baby were struggling to keep going. One child had already
been taken into care due to the living conditions, and the threat of
the baby being taken away as well had already been served on them if
their situation did not improve.
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When Linda and Karen heard of their plight, it touched
 their
hearts, and when they realised that the money they had raised from a
number of fundraising events could completely renovate a container
for the family, they immediately gave the go ahead for it to be
used. It was a moving experience to go back to the village on our
last day to tell the family the good news. They should now get their
first child back out of care, and be a complete family again, able
to make a new start in a new home by the end of this summer, all
through the generosity of people in Northern Ireland.
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For 12 or 13 of the team, this was their first time in Romania, and
at times they were far outside their comfort zone. Visiting the
homeless in the city of Oradea was a particularly harrowing
 experience
for many, seeing the most vulnerable members of society - the
elderly and young families - living beside hot water pipes to keep
warm, and others making their home in the sewers. Smiles workers
go out every evening to look for such people, bringing basic
supplies such as food, hygiene products and medicine and members of
the team accompanied them each night, helping bring the supplies to
those in need. Most nights, the team members arrived back with tears
in their eyes, appalled at the conditions that some people had to
endure. |
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One evening was especially poignant for some of the Richhill folk,
when they saw one of the boxes they had packed back home being
handed out to a homeless man. Seeing the complete chain of
collecting items back home, packing them in the container, unpacking
them again into the Smiles warehouse and finally handing them out to
needy folk in Romania was a most uplifting experience. |
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 A
visit to an old people’s home brought mixed feelings to the team, and
confirmed to us how well off we are here in Northern Ireland. Five
years ago, the Pascu family took 3 homeless people off the streets and
started to look after them in their home. Now they are looking
after 50 men and women in three properties, but they are sleeping 4 or
5 to a room. Many of the residents have had legs amputated because
of the ravages of frostbite and gangrene sustained from living rough
through the harsh winters. One of the things that struck me most was
the fact that Mr & Mrs Pascu had 3 boys just like I have, and they
were much the same age as my family. Although the family income was a
fraction of what we enjoy, they did not flinch from taking on extra
responsibility, and their faith in God to provide their daily needs
was very humbling, and put me to shame completely.
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 One
story in particular highlighted God’s provision. For many years,
Mrs Domokosh
looked after her physically and mentally disabled grand-daughter in a
flat which was in danger of falling in on top of them. Attempts to
find alternative accommodation proved fruitless, and it was thought
they would have to stay there until a new facility for the elderly was
built by The Smiles Foundation. However, space was eventually found
for them in this home, and three days after they moved in, their old
home finally collapsed. Coincidence or
God’s hand at work protecting his people?
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It was great to meet up with old friends in the
Tileagd community at church
on Sunday morning, and so encouraging to
hear that another baptismal
 service
is being arranged for June, with 5 or 6 people attending classes with
Pastor Ile. The steps forward which
are happening in Tileagd in various areas – education of the children,
home improvements in the village, craft classes for the ladies, and
especially the deepening of the community’s faith in God as evident in
the church service on Sunday and prayer meeting on Wednesday evening –
all of these things give hope for the future. We look forward to
welcoming the choir to Northern Ireland in early September.
A very special part of the week was Kevin’s nightly devotions,
followed by a time of praise and worship led by John and Raymond on
the guitar, and the two nights when we were joined by Daniel & Esther
Gergely and other members of Octavia’s church will live in my memory
for a long time.
Special mention must also go to Anna
and Bill Quelch – the only English
people on the trip that week. They did well to understand the Northern
Ireland accents, and Anna has even joined Facebook to keep in touch
with the rest of the group. They hope to come over to Northern Ireland
in September when the Tileagd School choir are visiting, and we look
forward to meeting up again. The Facebook home pages of most of the
team are now filled with pictures and stories of the week we spent
together - a week of laughter and tears, ups and downs, a real
rollercoaster of emotion. We have made new friends, and existing
friendships and relationships have been strengthened and deepened.
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 For
anyone wondering if they should go on a Mission Trip, my advice is “Go
for it”. You will not regret it, and you will come home a changed
person. We are already planning for next year – the fourth year in a
row for some of us.
I could go on and on about the week we spent with Smiles – I have not
had time to tell about the paths that were laid at Gepiu, the Elderly
luncheon which was excellent again, decorating the Cihei Family Centre
(with the help of the children there) or Roger helping out in the
Dental Clinic. That’s the thing about a Mission Trip with Smiles –
there are so many opportunities to serve in different ways that you
can do something different every day.
Thanks to everyone who supported the team in
any way – financially, donating items for the container or upholding
the team in prayer. With your help,
The Smiles Foundation is making a difference in the lives of over
1,300 people in Romania, and showing the love of God in a practical
way. May God richly bless Kevin, Maria and the whole Smiles team in
everything they do for the families they meet day by day. Every year
we go out, we are made to feel so welcome, and the tireless enthusiasm
and the way you patiently explain what you are doing (and hope to do)
helps to spur us on to further fundraising efforts. Romania in
general, and the Smiles Foundation, the staff and the people you
support in particular have a very special place in our hearts. Many
trippers have said that the week spent there has been the highlight of
their year. You are constantly in our thoughts and prayers, and we
look forward to seeing you all again next May.
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