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IRELAND's DA REPORT - AUGUST 2011 from
Barbara Morrison
Psalm 121 v 1 – 2
‘I lift my eyes to the hills –
where does my help come from?
My help comes from the Lord, maker of heaven and earth.’
 I am
writing this on the way home from a 2 week trip to Romania with Sam,
sorry to be going home but delighted at the work done, progress made,
new friends for life and every emotion that goes with spending time in
Romania.
It has been great being part of the team preparing the glass house and
planting some 9200
cucumber plants, as well
as working and helping around the farm. We wish Smiles well with this
Business Enterprise and encourage you to pray for its success to
support the many other projects helping the poor and needy, and
offering hope for a better future.
So, what is happening in Ireland? Lots! And lots more coming up, there
is some great work going on, love and commitment to The Smiles
Foundation, a big family of supporters and I would like to say thank
you everyone for all you are doing.....and add, keep up the good work!
At the beginning of the year we had
Nia in Northern Ireland
for a 3 night tour which was very enjoyable and brought together some
supporters who became involved through her ministry. We had 3 great
nights and were able to promote Smiles through the concerts.
 Container
activity has been busy
again with units leaving Ballymoney on April 4th and then
Ballymena April 25th. As always we have been amazed at the
generosity of people donating to us. We have again enjoyed our
Wish List Days
in both towns and as always are overwhelmed by the volume of goods we
receive in those days as well as the extremely generous cash
donations. They have proved to be very social days where we fly the
flag for Smiles and have many opportunities to share stories and
promote the cause. On April 2nd we were delighted that
Kevin, Georgi and Maria
joined in the Ballymena
day to see how it’s done. The girls also did a ‘shop’ for their own
Save and Smile shop and we were able to get this packed into a
container. It was lovely to have them a part of that.
 We
have had some interesting fundraising over the past year. Coffee
Mornings have progressed to
Coffee Days
with desserts served, and cake sales included. The support and money
raised from these marathon events has been amazing.
Richhill
organised a ‘Come
Dine With Me’ in the
church which proved to be a very successful evening....the room could
have been mistaken for The Ritz!
Enniskillen had a Pyjama
Walk in the park and a
Teddy Bear’s Picnic
unfortunately on one of the worst days of the year (and we have had a
few bad ones!), but they braved on and added willies instead of
slippers!
Ivan Sibbons
set an interesting challenge to raise money by growing his hair for 4
months and setting the clippers depending on the sponsorship. Finally
they were set at No 4 and what fun we had at church clipping the long
locks which have been sent to Romania to make dolls. Worth all the
combing and spraying for the
£1300 raised,
well done Ivan!
Concerts
have been a big hit this year all around the province, with a gospel
concert in Benburb, a Country and Western in Ballymena, Concentio
Choir Concert in Hillsborough and in Ballymoney. All these proved very
successful and enjoyable evenings....and are lined up for next year
again. These have been great opportunities to present the work to many
new people.
 We have
many schools supporting us, and are always delighted to get
opportunities to go into assemblies and SU’s to tell the children
about life in Romania and see a positive reaction from them and
genuinely wanting to help.
We suggest Smartie Tube
Collections, Brown Money Days, Non Uniform Days, Sponsored Walks or
Cycles and Healthy Snack Days.
All in a good cause.
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It was great to have
Kevin, Maria and the Choir
here in September to visit schools in Coleraine and Ballymena. We had
a brilliant and very busy 3 days, but made an impression on our kids
and encouraged support. Thanks for coming.
I have been visiting
Castle Tower Schools in Ballymena
all year following the Choir concert in September. There are 3 schools
for children with varying degrees of physical handicaps and learning
difficulties. These children sponsor
Violetta and Ana
in Romania. I love going in to visit these children who work so hard
to raise money through various school activities, but the highlight of
the year was the end of term ‘Smiley Faces Party’ in Beechgrove where
we had good old cake, buns and juice, then danced the afternoon away
to the Tileagd Choir music. I have not seen love and commitment to
their sponsor sisters in Romania. |
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 And
finally, I could not fail to congratulate the
Kilimanjaro Team.
We have watched you train, heard your plans and prayed for you. It was
great to hear that everyone was safe and well, and the fantastic news
of £20,000.00 raised.
I understand most of you won’t be there again next year, hope the feet
recover soon, and the legs and backs.
Well done all!
To read
more of Penny’s Diary, follow the link.
We are always trying to expand and move to new parts in Ireland with
the Smiles stories, share the good news of Jesus and the amazing
things that are happening in Romania. It was great that
Ian and Amanda
were able to lead their church group from
Sligo
out in June for a very successful week, and we have had
Yasmin from Monaghan
on a trip last week. Opportunities are available in Donegal so we look
forward to going there.
If anyone is interested in a talk and power point presentation, please
contact me at any time and I will be glad to come along or send one of
the team.
Thank you for your support and prayer for the work in Ireland......
’for great is the Lord
and most worthy of praise’ (Ps 96 v4)
God Bless
Barbara
Barbara Morrison
Development Associate
for the Smiles Foundation
Ireland
Email Barbara
Previous DA Reports
July 2011 - South East of England
June 2011 - Wales
May 2011 - South
East England, Region 4
April 2011 -
North East, Region 1
March 2011 - North Midlands, Region 3
February 2011 - The South West
January 2011
December 2010
Scotland, November 2010
Wales,
October 2010
Northern Ireland, September 2010
North East, August 2010
South East, July 2010
Southern Counties, June 2010
North West, May 2010
North Midlands, March 2010
Scotland, February 2010
South East
Counties, January 2010
Southern Counties, December 09
North East, November 09
South
West, October 09
Northern Ireland, September 09 |
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