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Changing destinies
is God's speciality!
Georgi Opreanu,
Director of JFL Elderly Care Home |
|
 February
has finished!!! A short month, but at JFL we make it count, as each
day is a gift from God.
Even if it is officially still winter in Romania,
more than once this past
month it felt more like spring so it
was a great opportunity for the residents to spend
some time out in the yard and enjoy the sunshine. New residents came
in and 2 had to leave as they couldn’t adapt in their new home. We had
more requests about the facility so more people will come soon.
 We
also had 2 birthday celebrations. Husband and wife, Gavril (81 years)
and Maria (86 years) celebrated their birthdays in February. It
was a great joy for us to be able to bring a smile
to their face, a smile that we don’t see too often because of the hard
life they lived.
As I promised in my
last report, I will tell you about how your money, time and prayers
change lives , but I will start telling you about meJ
. This past month on a Saturday afternoon I start to have the symptoms
of flu so not feeling too good. Next day I couldn’t go to church so I
asked my mother to pop in the elderly centre to take to church those
who want to go. Felicia,
the lady that I want to tell you about, won’t miss a Sunday from
church but that morning she didn’t feel well either, she had flu.
My mother told me
about her not feeling well and I could relate as I felt poorly too.
Next day I was feeling even worse, and everyone around me tried to
help me to feel better. So while I was having my hot chicken soup,
coughing and sneezing, a thought struck me...who would care now for
Felicia if JFL would still be a dream??? Many of you respond to
the challenge of giving time, money and prayers to Romania and if you
didn’t respond, Felicia would still be living alone in an old
chicken shed with no one around to cook for her, buy her treatment
or to say a few words of encouragement.
Many will ask
‘who is Felicia?’.
She is a blind lady that is 63 years old and
when we visited her she lived in a rented garden shed. She was living
initially in an apartment in Oradea but because she borrowed money
that she couldn’t repay, she lost everything. She and her son moved to
a rented house and they lived there for a while. After some time, the
son left the house and left her with debts that she is still paying.
At that point, the family she rented the house from considered
evicting her as she couldn’t afford to pay the rent, so they moved her
into a shed.
The son never came
back and to this day, she doesn’t know anything about him for 3 years
now. Her landlord called me in winter of 2012 to find a way of helping
her and find a place for her to live. At that point we didn’t know
when J FL will open but I promised she will be put on the waiting list and give
her a visit when we are close to opening. During 2013 she called me
several times and she start losing hope that we would ever finish the
Elderly Care Home.
Felicia start
losing hope with life and started to be depressed because she felt
that she was a burden on her landlord as she couldn’t pay just a small
amount towards the rent and she had to cook and clean for herself, not
so easy when you are blind.
In September of
2013 when we went to visit her, she could not believe that we didn’t
forget her. During that visit we told her that we need to assess
her case and
see if we will take her in as she is under the eligible age for being
in an elderly home. On October 16th she came to the centre
and I will never forget the first reaction. She took a very deep
breath in and said "I like it here, smells clean and fresh".
For us this is not a big thing and we often take the fact for granted,
but for somebody that can’t see and lived the last years in a place
that she could not clean properly, perhaps
cook and burn the food as she couldn’t see when was ready, ‘clean and
fresh’ is like an oasis in the desert.
In January when I
told her that we will take her to be seen by an eye doctor she told
her roommate that she is happy, but also afraid. She had hopes that
maybe something can be done for her eyes, but if she will see again
will we tell her that she needs to leave? At that point I told her
that God brought her to the centre not for a few months but for as
long as she will need help. Unfortunately, nothing can be done for her
to recover her sight, as she didn’t have the treatment at the right
time.
 Since
she came in the centre she found inner peace. She doesn’t need to
struggle cooking or washing for herself. After 4 years of longing to
go to church, now she can go every Sunday. She confesses to us that
she didn’t believe we will come and take her in the place that we
promise her. During the period of waiting for us to come, she prayed
to God and said that if God is there and gets her to Salonta - she
will believe in Him. So she took the
decision to become a Christian and on March 16th she will
be baptised together with another lady that took the decision to give
her life to Jesus after she saw how He cares for her.
Felicia is so thankful to God for the miracles that He made in her
life by bringing her to the Smiles Centre. Her life is completely
changed since she came in Salonta. Now it will change again as she
comes to Jesus.
This story is not
about me or you, it is about many others like Felicia, who just
need somebody to care enough and changes will be made. Would we be the
ones that will respond to the challenge and serve God, serving people
like Felicia?
Cavett Robert said
"Three billion people on the face of
the earth go to bed hungry every night, but four billion people go to
bed every night hungry for a simple word of encouragement..."
Can we do something about this? YES we can. We can’t change the world,
but we can change the world of somebody. God changed Felicia’s destiny
and used us to help. He would do it any way, but I’m so glad that we
could be a part of His miracle.
Love Georgi
x
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Prayer
points
- To have a loving and caring heart for
those in need;
- For health and well-being for residents
and staff
- To be able to show Gods love, so others
will get to know HIM.
- For people to respond to the wish list.
Wish list:
- DVD player
- Digital camera
- Radio/CD player
- Pampers (Tena M, L or Abri-form M,L)
- Shampoo
- Shower gel
- Liquid soap
- Toilet paper
- Kitchen roll
- Cleaning supply (domestos/bleach, )
- Detergents – kitchen floor, wood, linoleum
- Shaving cream
- Anti-bacterial gel
- Hand cream
- Deodorants
- Sponges
- Washing detergent
- Fabric softener
- Dish washer
- Window cleaner
Furniture spray
Air freshener
Bin bags
Activities
- Craft materials
(cardboard – different colours, wool, glue, colour pens, beads, etc)
- Games for elderly
(bingo, scrabble, soft balls, puzzle, plastic ball, bowling, Uno,
etc.)
In May a
container is planned to leave from
Northern Ireland.
If you can help with these items on our Wish List, please note on the
box that is for JFL.
Thank You and may
God Bless you for your love and support.
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Previous Reports
from Georgi:
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