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Dear Friends
Another month
has gone and I can’t believe we are already in the middle
of 2009!! May was another busy month in the life of the Smiles
Foundation and my “desk” was as busy as always.
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May 1st -
I got ready for a new experience that I was so looking forward to
it. At 11 pm the previous day, I received a phone call that said:
“the container from Ireland is near to the border and you need to
come here in case the driver needs help with translation”. So, off I
went, but our God worked in miraculous ways and I was not needed to
 translate a word. By 2am the big truck with the Container was
already in Cihei!!!....Was great to meet Sydney (the driver of the
truck) and I was amazed at his passion for driving that huge “car”
to a country that he had never been to, to a charity that he did not
know much about, but willing to say: “here I am, use
me”......Because it was so late, we decided to park the truck with
the container outside in the valley because we did not want to wake
up all the neighbours.....BUT next morning at 10 am we park the
truck with the container in the Smiles Yard..... Was a big
challenge....but Sydney did great...
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May 2nd - the team arrived and the
party began!!!
The march ritual they did from the mission centre to
the warehouse was soooo funny and I could not stop laughing! When Mr
Hoy opened the Container doors I was shocked by the way that all
things have been packed......nearly 1000 boxes - all sorts of sizes,
beautiful carpet, huge amount of pampers, construction materials &
tools, garden tools – I was amazed at the generosity of the people
that put all this together!!
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Thank you very very much for everything you did
for my people in Romania and for all the great gifts you sent us!!
Everyday I open a box I feel like it’s Christmas morning!!!! So if
YOU are one of the persons that gave one penny or £1 or £100 or
donated the supplies from our Wish List - I just want to say THANK
YOU AGAIN FOR DOING SO!!!
Our warehouse looks full and I’m really happy!!
We don’t have to spend so much money for our projects ....
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Having the team for the
entire week was great fun as well! Great people made my week to feel
like I’m on holiday and reminded me once again that a Mission Trip
Experience is a life changing one....not just for the visitors but
for me and my people as well!!
(Mission
Trips). Different projects every day, different
experiences, different people, different circumstances, made one of
my new friends to describe the week as “an emotional
rollercoaster“....
I remember Tuesday I had
all the team, 22 people, with me for the day!! It was amazing!!! I
loved it....Was a new experience for me as well (never had a big
team on my own for the entire day from 9 am till 6 pm........so I
want to say thank you to my boss for trusting me with this task and
also thank you to the mission team for being such a good team and
listening to all that I said !!
We visited Tileagd
Nursery, School, Complex, Gypsy village and then we went to Bratca!
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 Bratca
is
a special project for me. First time I went there
in 2003, I could not believe that something like this existed in my
own country. I could not sleep properly for weeks and my mind was
always with those kids. I said at that time that I would never go
back, but soon I discovered that I took every single opportunity I
had to go and see them again. Today, it is a better place.......They
learned to SMILE.....Not because their circumstances got much
better, but because they know there are people
that LOVE THEM!!!
I have some great friends there: Pepi, Marcela, Moni, Petrica
and Andrei
 are
few of the 25 patients that know and
understand when I talk to them, hug them, play with them, sing with
them. The team I had with me did great and I was very proud of them.
We took a new wheel-chair for my friend Petrica and this picture
can’t express the happiness he felt when he saw it and sat in it!!
We did sing with the kids and play and their faces radiated
happiness.....I can’t wait for the day when we all get in heaven and
these kids that are now mentally and physically disabled and can’t
do or say much, will share their life story with us.
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They are my dear friends and their smiley
faces against such hard conditions makes me appreciate more what I
have, happy with the way I look, pleased with the way I am ... ONLY
because God loves me as much as HE loves them!! As it says in
Mathew:
Matthew 25:40 (New International
Version)
40"The
King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of
the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'
As soon as the team left, and my ‘holiday’
finished
I came back to my desk! We (the management team) started “a marathon
of meetings” where our days were made of 8-10 hour
meetings....planning, structuring the work of Smiles Foundation in
Romania, and how the activities and current circumstances in the UK
and USA were affecting our opportunities.
And what’s next?? Well I’m getting ready for a
“marathon trip” to USA where for the next 9 days I will spend all my
time in meetings or travelling! Please pray for safe travels and for
God’s blessing on us! I will tell you more about this on my update
in July!!
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So, thank you again for
reading my report every month, for your encouragement to me and my
staff, for your prayers and for your financial support. Without the
generosity of people like you our work here in Romania would not
have been possible. May God bless you all.
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And if you did not book
your holiday yet and you are not sure where to spend your time, I
invite you to come and visit Romania, investing with the Smiles
Foundation. You will meet great people, see great places and have a
great time....and you will never be the same again. Promise you, you
won’t regret it!
Be blessed,
Maria Cimpoca
Smiles Romania
Previous letters from Maria:
May 2009
April 2009
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