Hope
In the last month or so we have been
bombarded with news coming from all over the place, bad news, which
created a lot of tension and stress and a lot of mixed feelings among
people. Many of you will probably realise what I am going to talk
about.
There are so many reasons to be worried and
stressed and really only one to be calm and confident, but it is such
a shame that most of the people do not know about that option. There
is more and more confusion, violence, threats and conflicts that one
can only wonder where we’re heading? What is going to happen to this
world? And when?
Of course, everyone is looking forward for
the coming Holiday season, as always there is a growing anticipation
as we get closer. There will be a lot of Christmas songs on the radio
and wherever you go, be it in supermarkets for shopping or for a
coffee with friends, there will be many lights and colours. We all
wait for it, definitely the children are waiting for it! My kids are
pretty sure what they want as presents, even the young one, she’s only
three! The letters to Santa were sent already and the reply we’ll get
on Christmas morning. They can hardly wait!
But
this year is a little bit different. It started in Romania with
a terrible accident in one of the music clubs a few weeks ago when a
fire started from the fireworks in a concert and many people were
killed and injured, some very severely making a total (up to now) of
56 casualties. This became immediately national and even international
news and very soon there were some very significant street movement
against the corruption which kills – many officials were arrested
because they either did not check or they closed their eyes to the
problems.
Anyway, this became so serious that tens of
thousands of people went onto the streets in the main cities and even
the government resigned as a result. All in all, this whole situation
was quite disturbing for Romanians and many felt either upset and
angry or worried and concerned for their future.
Then only these past days, the whole world
was shocked with the news from France and the effects upon the
realisation that no one is safe anymore, no matter where they are or
what they do. In front of fundamentalists that have very few ideals,
but act without remorse or hesitation. This truly is an extraordinary
situation and all the hopes and desires for better are shaken and very
few people can say they are unaffected.
Then,
on a smaller scale, we get news everyday about the very serious issues
many families have to deal with. In Salard, two of the containers
were destroyed by fire – all was lost but fortunately no one was
harmed. The very little those families owned was lost in smoke. In
Family Care or Homeless, or any other project, we hear again and
again how difficult it is and how little hope people have – and all of
these are situations that happen every single day.
People lose hope, lose belief in their
future. Who knows what else is coming? We never know, the next big
thing can happen anytime. Who would have anticipated these recent
events? And so, it is probably only a matter of time before we are
again struck with something that will break our confidence in pieces.
In the midst of so many
problems and such disturbing news, when nothing seems to work anymore
and the plans we build and trust in are torn down and broken, what
could give us a little hope, a little light in the dark? What would be
the solution when the problems we know so well? Not only ours, but
everybody else’s!
This month we will celebrate Christmas, such
a great and anticipated occasion, when the hopes are high again and
we’ll be invited to spend more, to buy new things, gifts for the loved
ones, we’ll all enjoy the period and then we’ll all go back to the
same routine of life, back to our little or big concerns and before we
know it, we are again trapped in the same circle.
The one thing we can do is to stop and
realise all our plans, life, ideas, desires, all are in God’s hands.
It is only then when we can start to have a better perspective, a more
appropriate one, about our own future. I do not know what hopes and
plans you have, but whatever it is, make sure you entrust them to God,
he is the only one who can protect, can make it successful and can
raise you up when you’re down.
The
only hope we all have is Jesus. Without sounding too religious,
this is the bare truth. When everything is bad, little blue sky and
only dark clouds around you, He is the one to go to. He will
understand what it is to lose everything, as he lost everything, but
despite that, he conquered death and will show you how to be more than
a conqueror in all aspects.
When celebrating, many people will not be
exactly sure what they are celebrating – but those who will understand
the true celebration is to have Christ and then will have a joy that
will never be lost, despite all circumstances. When everybody else
could be terrified with terrible news, you will know God keeps it
all in His hands. Never was He away or unaware of what is going on
and even though we do not understand why bad things happen in this
world, we can be sure that He knows and He is with us, to comfort, to
encourage and to raise up.
Emmanuel God with us will be soon
proclaimed all around so please keep this truth in your heart, not
only for Christmas time, but all the time. That will give you hope.
That will give hope to people around you, people you interact and work
with, those that you support, colleagues, friends, family!
In closing, I want to take a short moment
to say Thank you! For all you’ve done for Smiles Foundation and the
people we help, for all your financial support, for prayers and good
thoughts, for visiting us in Romania and for planning to do so in the
future… For everything, THANK YOU!
May God bless you with a great Holiday
season and may hope be ALWAYS high in your life!
Yours most sincerely,
Adi Matis
Assistant Director
Smiles Romania
adrian.matis@thesmilesfoundation.org
Salard Community Project
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