The Widow's Mite Project - Smilia and Aurelia from Dolat

Many of you will recall my writing about the above mother (aged 90) and her daughter (aged 66) who had mental and physical disabilities and who resided in squalid conditions in one room of their run down home in a remote village in the Judet of Timisoara near the Serbian border. This photo was taken 2 years ago.

We last visited them whilst in Romania in December and were upset by their declining health and inability to get out of bed or eat.  I wrote movingly on the blog and  we prayed that God would take them both home.  It had always been Smilia's prayer that he take them either together or that Aurelia die before her.  We give thanks that this week God rewarded her for her faithfulness as she passed away a day after Aurelia.  There is no more pain nor sorrow but peace in eternal life with the Father.

Prayers for my Mum and some dear friends

With so much happening in January and our return to Church Ministries I prayed that God would spare me some uninterupped time to meet the 31st  deadline for submission of my own income tax return and the Charity Commission Return - thank you that I made it in good timewith the help of Pastor Chris, our Chairman.

Unfortunately my mum (seen here on New Year's day) sustained a minor stroke and was again hospitalised for a week - we give thanks that she has made a good recovery.  However there has been a further hiccup in the past few days when she needed a biopsy so please pray for a satisfactory result.   I am currently spending a lot of my time supporting her thus travelling a great deal so please bear with me if there are delays in my blogging.    I suffered a fall myself last week resulting in concussion for several days but am now truly healed. 

I would also appreciate your prayers for our sister,  Gladys from the Almond Tree Ministry who is 88 and poorly in hospital and whom I visited this week.  Our dear friend and loyal RR supporter, Teresa is also in need of your prayers as she faces trials and also Diane as she slowly recovers from her appalling injuries following a fall. 

Our treasured friend - David James

In my previous blog, I mentioned that our dear friends of many years, David and Diane James from Brecon had joined us for Christmas Day.  They were also loyal supporters of the Charity.

Sadly on New Year's Eve we received news that David who was a former Baptist Pastor has suddenly passed away earlier in the day.  I want to pay tribute to a wonderful friend who would always go the extra mile to help any one.  On Christmas Day he was full of enthusiasm and excitement about his new job and volunteered his services as a driver to Romania.  It was truly a blessed day with lots of laughter with Diane organizing an after dinner quiz.  We also have great memories of them both organizing all the flowers for our wedding.

We give thanks for his life, for the fact that he did not suffer, that he died during such a happy period when he was about to embark on writing his life story but  most of all that he is in heaven.

Please pray for dear Diane, his widow who sustained multiple injuries following a horrendous fall after his death.  We give thanks for their beautiful children, Clive and Deena who have been a tower of strength. 

Back in Wales for Christmas

Contact at last - I can only apologise for the delay.

We arrived home from Romania to heavy snow in Britain.  We met passengers at Heathrow who had been stranded in the airport for 3 nights so we gave thanks for our safe arrival with no delays.  We were grateful to our friend Ivan who had dug out his car to collect us from Aberdare Station. With Christmas looming we made for Tescos to do some food shopping.    Collecting my little car from Kay and Ray's farm was not an option as it was snowed in and we arrived home to an unwelcoming log cabin with frozen pipes.  After collecting our mail we made for Brecon and spent the night in the comfort of Mum's bungalow. Praise God she had fully recovered from her chest infection but we received sad news that Aunt Barbara had passed away

Wayne took several days to defrost the pipes and incurred a few bursts along the way so we transferred Christmas celebrations to mum's bungalow and I set about doing the shopping, cleaning and cooking.  After stuffing the Turkey we returned to Wayne's old Church in Seven Sisters for the midnight service.  It was great to meet up with old friends who support our projects in Romania.  To avoid undue travelling we attended the Christmas Day service at Mum's Presbyterian Church in Brecon with our friends, Diane and David who later joined us for a truly memorable day.  On Boxing Day Caroline, Richard and Morgan came over for lunch - my son, Wayne was unfortunately laid low with a stomach bug and we truly missed his and Becca's presence.    Hubbie, Wayne and I took Morgan  out on the sledge which was great fun.

After such a busy time  and with the cabin dried out Wayne and I took a few days out before the New Year to just rest up which is very unusual for us!!!

My family is so dear to me - here are a few pictures of us over the festive season.