Today's Widows Ministry

This morning Adina and I were out and about on the icy snowy roads shopping for the Widows Mite boxes for the Judet of Arad.  Today went  shopping for food and other items for 14 widows to make up their monthly food parcels.   First we needed to buy the food and then pack it  ready for distribution possibly tomorrow with the Christmas boxes, slippers and blankets.  Adina had a plan - her uncle has an unoccupied flat in the city. He rents out the bottom floor to a food wholesalers.  So we called in there to check the prices - they were good and Adina negotiated a discount on certain items.  Adina is incredible at stretching budgets  And the plus was the staff helpded us carry all the items upstairs so we could lay them all out and start packing.

There is  an enormous amount of manual handling with the food parcels (just like the shoe boxes both in Wales and here).  Usually the goods are purchased in large supermarkets and because Adina and Her parents, my hosts live in a second floor apartment and there is insufficient space to work there,   they have been transported to Jackie's house, 5 miles outside the city.  They were then unloaded, packed and reloaded before being distributed among the widows.  So to me this is an excellent plan.

Today's food parcel consists of:

2 bags per widow

Oil, flour, marmalega (maize), gris (like semolina). sugar, rice, soup noodles and 2 other kinds of pasta, 2 tins of meat and 3 tins of pate, 1 tin of sardines, 1 tin of sweetcorn, 1 tin of mushrooms, 1 tin of peas,  1 tin of pineapple,1 packet of tea, 1 packet of coffee,1 carton of stock powder, 1 packet of biscuits, bar of chocolate,  1 packet of sweets, 2 packets of desserts to mix with milk, 1 jar of jam, 1 jar of honey, 1 packet of washing powder, 2 toilet rolls, 2 bars of soap.

Other items that are supplied but not necessarily monthly are salt, other condiments, washing up liquid.  

This work gives me a lot of pleasure because of the desperate need of the widows who receive them.  They simply cannot live on their minimal pensions - 2 ladies have no pensions at all.  Taking into account the monthly food, the wood supply for the winter and the gas allowance for the few living in the city plus the cost of medication for some, it costs around 35 pounds per month to run this ministry - that is without the cost of fuel to deliver and the majority live in remote villages.  This is why Adina runs the Judet of Arad project  and Vlad does the Judet of Timisoara,   However the project does run out into 2 other bordering states.

There are currently 38 elderly people on the project.  Bearing in mind that we require  35 pounds per person per month, then the current cost is 1330 pounds per month = 15, 960 pounds per year.  RR receives 45 pounds per month designated for this project from regular sponsors (540 pounds per year) and we do have designated donations plus we arrange some fund raising events.  The majority of funding come in from the States but there is a huge shortfall which Pastor Jackie often makes up out of her own private funds.   When she sees a need she adds people in faith that the Lord will provide.

If there is anyone out there who has a heart for this ministry then please consider making a monthly donation by standing order.  Several people donating just 5 pounds per month could make a huge difference.  It is essential that we are able to maintain this essential ministry. Please contact me if you can help.  

With the food packing done, Adina and I then visited Ecaterina (one of our widows that I wrote about yesterday who lives in a 6th small apartment near here.)  She is in the city hospital on a ward on the 5th floor and feeling poorly. She was admitted last week with heart problems.  She says little has been done and she is being discharged this afternoon.  We took her along some bananas.  Please join us in pray for her - she is almost 79.

Please bear with me about the missing pictures - I am trying to resolve the problem.  It is now 7 pm.  I admit to feeling poorly this afternoon with sinus problems for which I am taking medication.  We are back out shortly to visit a Homeless Shelter on the outskirts of the city to give them a surprise treat which will be revealed later when I blog.