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Adi Matis – Smiles Romania Assistant Director   December 2015

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


Previous reports from Adi:

November 2015 - Salard Life snapshots

October 2015 - After Summer

September 2015 - The Small Things that go a Long Way

August 2015 - Mission Trips with significance

July 2015 - A great way into knowing God

June 2015 - History with a man that is no more

May 2015 - A Story Worth Sharing

March 2015 - Here in Romania, but not only...

February 2015 - New year, new hope and new plans

January 2015 - Management Team Reports

December 2014 - Preparing for the Celebration

November 2014 - A man's true story... an inspiration to us all

October 2014 - Golden September

September 2014 - A Summer of Experiences

August 2014 - Salard Community Reloaded

July 2014 - Sessions for the Mind

June 2014 - Unknown

May 2014 - Celebrate with us

April 2014 - Beliefs

March 2014 - From being taken care of to taking care...

February 2014 - My dream... to become a pig caretaker

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    Page last updated on 27/11/2015 11:01:04 AM
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