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You have turned my mourning into JOY

…..these are the words of David from the book of Psalms, a great man of God who had a great impact on the nation of Israel. Through his life, he went through many difficulties and he had to face many great obstacles, but he always found his strength and joy in God.

If we take a good look at the people around us it is quite hard to find someone who can say “I have enough reasons to be sad or depressed but I choose to be glad and thankful instead, because God is giving me the strength to do so”.

In the Tileagd Assisted Living facility, we encourage our residents to make this journey in trusting God and rejoice for the little things in life.

In this last month we had many reasons to rejoice and I would like to share some of them.

Our oldest resident, Paul Kiss, has been in our centre since December 2017.
His faith and trust in God is such an example for all of us. Even when it’s hard, his prayers are always of praise and thanksgiving to God.

This last month has been the most difficult for him since he came in our centre, he went through a surgery and because of that he became very weak, we thought we might lose him but God has given him strength to come through. He had to go through intense physiotherapy and learn how to walk again. With a lot of work and determination he is gaining strength and making progress.

Last week we celebrated his 92nd birthday. What a great JOY!! I hope God will keep him and give him many more days because his faith and prayers are an example for us all!

We are glad to introduce to you our newest residents, Irina and Zoltan Hergenrichter, a married couple from Oradea, Irina is 73 and her husband Zoltan 76 years old.

They have been married for 53 years and they are so happy together today as they have been 53 years ago. You can see the love and respect for each other in the way they speak and take care of each other. Even if because of their illnesses they are not able anymore to be independent, having each other is a great comfort and help to overcome these obstacles.

When they first told me for how long they’ve been married I sad “wow I really need to know the secret” and Lady Irina told me that learning to FORGIVE each other is what kept them together!!

Even when sickness comes, problems may seem to take over our life, it is always our decision to not give up, receive help and SMILE because God has given us second chances.

As we are used to in our residential home, we receive many visitors, from very nearby such as the kids from Tileagd and Oradea, and from very far like our friends from America.

The kids from the nursery visited us for a special day of activities and fun with the residents. We played games, did some crafts and listened to a story together. The place was filled with laughter and fun!

People ask me sometimes (not as often as I would like, but still… some people do ask) “how can we help this project, we don’t have much to give but we would like to do something for the residents” …. My answer – “there is ALWAYS something that you can do and a way that you can bless others”

This last month, 3 hair stylists from Vinnie’s barbershop Oradea contacted me and offered their services for free. They came in our centre and for one day they did new haircuts for our residents. It was so refreshing and such a nice treat for our residents.

It doesn’t have to be much, sometimes just spending time, giving a hug, sharing a smile and singing a song with the residents it makes their day so much better!

I am very thankful for all the volunteers that are coming to our centre, from Romania, UK and even further like the USA. May the Lord bless you and reward you for taking time to encourage those that are in need.

Thank you for your continued support in prayer and with our financial needs.
We all look forward to seeing you again soon.

Ligia Cralic
Project Manager – Tileagd Assisted Living
E-mail:
ligia.cralic@asociatiasmiles.ro

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