From Maria's Desk



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

 
...making smiles in Romania





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... A Special Month !!!
          Maria's Report – October 2012

Oooohhhhhhhhh ……… where should I start?
Last month I left you, saying that I’m off for a holiday!
……. I HAD AN AMAZING TIME!! Very refreshing and recovering from the busy summer and the stress I had in the last few months! The location, the accommodation, the food and the view of the beauty God created, made my holiday perfect!


Being most of the time on my own, I had time to reflect on things…had time to pray…had time to think ..had more time with God…which was perfect!! I really missed that! Sorry for Mr Hoy who spent his time looking after the kids!! 
But the week went fast, and soon I had to come back to work!

I would like to say thank you very very, very much to Mr Hoy for this amazing holiday! Me and the kids really appreciated that but the sad part for Mr Hoy is that now we are making plans for the next one ....!!!!!

Being back in Romania, and missing for 2 weeks, meant I had a lot of things to catch up on! The school and nursery started their new academic year. More challenging than ever before! Due to the new structure we had to put in place because of the financial restrictions, the people there including Lady Clara, Geta, Ghiuri & Meda, the teachers, the kitchen staff, the security staff - all need to work harder and longer……but they do a great job even if it’s harder!! THANK YOU!

First day of High School
You might have heard, but now we have kids in the nursery, primary school 1 to 4 grades, kids in 5-8 grade, and High School!! I’m soooo happy when they understand and appreciate the education they get. It is not easy but no one said it would be, but it is worth the challenge! For the first time ever in the Tileagd community, we have girls in the high school! Please pray for them as they need our support all the way through. The first day when we went with them to the opening, the girls said: ”we won’t survive here one day” ….well is nearly 2 weeks and they have survived. They enjoy the school and we hope and pray for them getting to the end of the school year.

But all of this can’t be done without your prayers and financial support! Things in Romania are getting very bad and feel over the top! I can’t really understand how people can survive!...only by God’s Grace. I know everybody says we are part of the EU but the instability, within the country is more than we can imagine. There is no balance between the salary people get and the prices that are on fuel, food, electricity and so many other things! For example, the average salary in RO is around £300/$450 a month. The cost for 1 litre of fuel is £1.22 ($6.50 a gallon), the cost for a loaf of bread is £1/$1.50. The utilities for a 3 room apartment for a family of 4 people is around £250/$375 a month!

No wonder Smiles’ is so crucial to help in the community! I think God is using us in an amazing way! I wish to have/to receive the money that we had in 2008, before all the financial crisis started around the World! But I’m happy that God is helping us to still do the job we do!!! Please continue the support you are giving to us, even with small amounts… God will bless it and make the impact double!!!

All the other projects started their full time programme following the summer break.
Gepiu Centre is in full swing. We have there over 30 kids coming to the after school program and Rebeca, Calin, Violeta, Anita, Livia and Danut are doing a wonderful job. Between the horticultural project we have there and the Centre the entire community
benefit from our help!

Great news is that the Glasshouse and the Farm are doing good too. If in August we told you about the sad news with the Glasshouse crisis, now we started from the beginning again with a whole new crop! We plant salad crops of lettuce, sp
ring onion as well as flowers, all of this helping us to raise money to pay the bills and support the work of Smiles!!

I thank God that He made woman!! Because of them, the Sminro Shops are doing a great trade! We should not underestimate the men, but still the ladies are the best customers we have month by month!! Please continue to look around for great offers on clothes, buy them and send them to the Leeds office, marked for the RO SHOPS!

So overall a good month, a very busy desk ….. even if at times it’s hard!! But when things are hard, God sends us little messages that He loves us an
d He cares about us!  Or there are other good things happening, that are covering the bad ones!

This past month I had one of these things happening to me!
I got engaged!!!

Well, yes you’ve heard/read correctly - ENGAGED!! Is not a misprint, it’s real! Some of you might ask “when on earth she had time for this??” Some might say ”finally she made it public and recognize it”…Either way I understand you!!

 …Let me tell you a little bit of the story and the guy! He name is
Cornel Hava, and is 32 years old. Works as a cameraman at the TV station in Oradea and nationally, he loves God and he loves me! That’s enough, right??

The truth is that I have known Cornel for nearly 2 years and a half! In all this time we had ups and downs, but as every relationship made to last, we got over it! No one says a successful happy life is always easy! There are sacrifices you have to make.

We’ve met each other at Dr Claudia’s wedding!!! Me, Georgi, Mioara and others Smiles girls were organizing the wedding! I was in charge of the flower arrangements, and the transport of the bride!...to make sure the timing is ok and no delays!! So being with the bride all the time, I had to wait and wait and wait until she had all the filming and photos done! Cornel is filming at weddings as a hobby with other friends, at weekends, so he was present there! I did not like him at all….especially when I’ve heard that he works in media! I’m not a good friend of media, not in Romania at least !!

But he did not give up! At the end of the wedding he asked me out! I said “you boys are all the same……..you say one thing and do another thing”…I thought this would put him off! I was busy with my work and did not have time for jokes! But because I had to do my report update on my desk, for the May 2010, I asked Dr Claudia for the pictures she did in the office that day as a bride!.. She said, “no, I did not get them yet, but please call the guys that did them and ask them to give it to you because you have my permission!”…So I did! And in less than 10 minutes I had the pictures in Cihei and the guy that brought them, was Cornel!!...

Then again, he was asking me out, for the 1st of May!(in RO that day is off)…but because I had my favourite mission trip in the country….plus a container full of goodies I refused “his offer!!!” .....This time I was sure he will give up!

Then I had a holiday booked, in Cyprus with the girls. If you read my report back then, you see where I ended up after that holiday!! …. in the hospital, sunburned!!!! Apart from Georgi and the girls that were with me, the only other person that visited me in the hospital was Cornel…… So, this time I did not have where to run!!!...from there everything else is history!!!


This past month, on September 14th, he popped the question. Unexpected! Unplanned! …but cute!! That story another time …After a few hours thinking……(I joke) I said YES!! Then I shared my news with Georgi and Sefu (Mr Hoy)…and our families!! To see the support that I’ve got from these people means the world to me! And I will never have enough words to thank God for each of them! LOVE YOU LOTS!

Soooooooo, the plans for the wedding are beginning! It will happen, with God’s help, next year in
May 2013…….so if you want to have a mission trip around that date and see me, the bride….talk to Mr Hoy!!


Until then, please DO NOT forget about the Smiles work we do here! Continue to pray and support! Continue to give up your time and come to help us! God is doing an amazing job with HIS CHILDREN and THROUGH HIS CHILDREN!!

Let’s show HIM we are one of them!


Sincerely   

Maria

…..and PLEASE make sure you send a THANK YOU note to our UK administrator DAWN WILSON that is celebrating on October 1st , 25 years since she is working with Mr Hoy and Smiles!!!! Should I say HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAWN?!?!.....THANK YOU for everything you are doing for us!!


Previous letters from Maria:
September 2012 - .....and they lived happily ever after

August 2012 - When the oceans rise & the thunders roar... what do you do?
July 2012 - Its Summer Time!
June 2012 - Oooooooo what a wonderful world!!
May 2012 - God's Grace for Unthankful Hearts
April 2012 - Happy Birthday to Me!
March 2012 - Miracles in Life
February 2012 - Time Flys
January 2012 - Have a blessed year!

December 2009  November 2009  October 2009  September 2009 
August 2009  July2009  June 2009  May 2009  April 2009

 

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