Babies, previous Iasmine and catching up with old friends

Its been another busy busy day as I enter the last few days of my trip.  The morning was spent with Adina and Lynsey caring for babies at the city hospital.  This really is a blessed time - today we give thanks that little M aged 15 months overcame her fear of being bathed and then proceeded to chatter most of the morning.  She was definately on a high and was not ready to take her afternoon nap after being fed!  This is a very rewarding ministry.

Iasmine and Adina

After leaving the hospital we went to meet little Iasmine and her mother in a park.  She is aged 7 and  very dear to my heart and I have nothing but admiration for her mother, Adreana who devotedly loves and cares for her.  Iasmine has spinabifida and many other health problems and is in an out of hospital all the time and is often at the point of death.  I have never a little girl with so much joy and determination to live or a mother so devoted to her daughter's needs.  We shared some cakes and an icecream in the park and Iasmine was facinated by the fish in the lake.  We will continue to offer some financial assistance towards the huge medical costs of her treatment. I always find it hard to say goodbye to Iasmine and Adreana.

Adreana, Iasmine's  devoted mum

Then it was out shopping for food for 2 poor families out in the village of Vladimirescu.  First we visited Leontina (with dwarf syndrome) and her husband..  Sadly the couple lost their only child, Rebecca last year and they are still grieving.  We had such a warm welcome and we sat around in the shade outside chatting for a while.  She was thrilled to show us 10 pairs of socks she had knitted for the widows.  They are very poor and we had made this arrangement last year to help them financially. They are lovely thick knitted socks and we buy them off her for 2 pounds a pair to give to the widows in their Christmas boxes.  We have ordered more.  Later we visited another couple with a physically and mentally disabled daughter.  The father is a wonderful songwriter and his group of 5 men have recently recorded another album.  Some of you may recall that last year I brought back a carol CD of theirs which we gave away as Christmas presents.

Leontina and the socks she has knitted

The evening ended with a delightful meeting with 2 girls from a Children's Home we are involved with in Timisoara.  There are 7 girls in this home who are so well cared for by Christian friends of ours.   I have known both girls for many years and one of them is sponsored via our Charity thanks to Anne, who is a friend of ours too.  It was great to meet up with them both and to share what they have been up to since my last visit in December.  Their mother has psychiatric problems and I will be meeting up with her later at Mocrea Hospital.   For reasons of privacy I have not included pictures in this blog but have sent them through to the sponsor.

Church services, Vinga babies & news of prison ministry

 I have been truly blessed with 2 Church services today.  This morning I went with Adina to Harvest Metanoie Church in Arad.  There were around 500 people present - the worship was awesome and the senior pastor spoke on Praise and Worship.  He always gives an excellent Word.  I left feeling really lifted and encouraged.    You will find this Church on the internet.

Then it was home for a delightful Luca lunch before being picked up by Jackie for the Vinga afternoon service.  It is always a blessing to be back among my brothers and sisters in Vinga and we enjoyed a great service - today Jackie gave a very challenging Word on Caleb.  Afterwards we visited some Church families in need in one of the poorer areas of the village.  There were 3 babies who required a supply of milk formula and pampers which I had purchased yesterday.

God plants many people in our path and yesterday whilst out with Adina I was introduced to a lovely lady called Daniella, who runs a prison ministry in Arad.  We often hear news of what foreign charities are doing in this country but there are too many Romanian Foundations who do incredible work in the name of Jesus.  Daniella has 6 volunteers who go into the womens' section of Arad prison daily to befriend, build relationships. do crafts, learn skills and give the ladies the gospel.  I was greatly inspired to hear of this incredible ministry and I hope we meet again.

Rozalia and Mira

Yesterday we called with several people in need.  First there was Rozalia, a 66 year old double amputee.  I first came across her during my December trip.  She is a widow and has been a diabetic since she was 15.   She also has heart problems.  Sadly she has had both legs amputated above the knee.  She lives with her son and grandson who take care of her food needs.  However, they are not able to provide for her sanitary needs and so she has been added to the Widows Mite Project supplying just one pack of incontinence pads each month which does not meet her total needs.  The Lord has laid it on my heart to buy an extra pack per month which will provide additional help.  If there is anyone out there who can help with a further 2 packs to meet her total needs - then please contact me.  By shopping around we are able to buy a pack of 30 for 59 lei - equivalent to just under 12 pounds.

When I met her in December she was so depressed - having just had the second amputation.  I was so pleased to see her spirits lifted yesterday when Adina and I called.  She was a different person despite her continuing difficult circumstances.  She was outside in her wheelchair and had acquired a dog who clearly adored her.  They have such a close relationship and the dog is very protective of her.  I am giving thanks to God because I had prayed that He would bring people alongside her to befriend her.  She told me that not only had she acquired a beautiful dog who was her best friend but a Doctor and a Nurse that had previously attended to her needs were now calling in to see her periodically outside their professional role.    Bless her , she is now much more at peace with herself.  We prayed before we left and I asked if she had a Bible and she explained that she had problems with her eyesight.  An audio Bible would be the answer and so we will look at meeting that need.  For sensitive reasons I have not included a photograph of Rozalia.  I will revisit in December.

Yesterday we also visited Mira and her 2 daughters,  aged 13 and 11, who also live in the same neighbourhood.  I have known this family for several years. Mira's husband is institutionalised with mental health problems and she and her daughters lived with her mother and grandmother.  M has a full time job, but is not well paid.  However, with the small pensions of the mother and grandmother they managed to survive. Sadly the mother died last year and on Tuesday of this week the grandmother was buried.  The future is going to be financially very difficult.  We give thanks that M and her daughters are committed Christians and she relies on God for her provision.  Part of that provision was a food basket that we took along when we went to pay our respects.  They are such a lovely family and we will continue to support with food and Christmas boxes during future visits.

Update on Natalia and Tabita

Rosalia & Tabita on day of hospital visit

You may recall that last December I wrote about  2 girls that Adina was supporting with hospital consultations and who were being funded with growth hormone treatment via daily injections.  Both are doing well and can be seen here before one of their hospital visits.

Although I have not seen Tabita this trip, I did yesterday with Adina visit Natalia and her extended family.  Natalia is now 8 years old and shares one room with her parents and 9 siblings.  Another baby died aged 3.  Mum is seen here with the latest addition to the family aged just 4 weeks.  Mum by the way is aged 34.  The last birth was a C section and she gave consent to sterilisation at the time.

I love this water melon!

Baby No.11

The entire family, including gran and grampa and another 2 daughters and their families live under one roof, with each family having use of one room.  Last evening we arrived with 2 huge water melons which we cut up and shared with the family in their garden. It was lovely to spend value time with this family who are poor and live in substandard conditions.

A taste of Romanian culture

On returning to the apartment last night Adina and I called in at this festival in the city.  It is an annual celebration for "Arad Day" and each community hold their own event.  This is the Vlaicu one for the area in which I stay.  The dancers were very impressive and there was lots of barbecued food.

More widows

Here are a few more pictures of widows in the villages of Graniceri and and Dolat.  Notice 2 of the ladies are making boulion from fresh tomatoes to preserve for soups etc for the winter.  Others were making jam.  We can but imagine what daily life must be like for these dear people especially in the middle of winter -  having to dig themselves out through snow drifts to get wood, water from a well and to go to what we would call the Ty Bach in the garden.

Last December due to heavy snow, we were unable to make it to some of these remote villages - please pray that this will not be the case this December.  Back in Wales most of their Christmas Gifts have already been made up - see earlier article on Debbie from Seven Sisters. I will be making up the rest on my return as we now have 43 on the project. They also look forward to receiving new slippers each year so if there is anyone out there who can donate a pair we would be very grateful.  One dear lady, Mina reminded me that she needs size 39 (all noted in my book together with other needs).  I have also bought a supply of multivitamins for them all to come out with their Christmas gifts.   On returning to Wales we will also be busy making up lots and lots of Christmas boxes.

The joy and sadness of visiting our widows

For the whole of Thursday and Friday I was out with Pastor Vlad delivering food parcels and spending value time with 10 widows in 4 villages in the Judet (State) of Timisoara.  Vlad lives in Timis (a larger city than Arad and about our hours drive away) and so to avoid excess travelling I stayed over.  For me this was a time of great blessing because this ministry truly touches my heart.  Most of these forgotten people are very lonely and just so appreciate a visit.  We are always so warmly welcomed and they love to just sit and talk.

The home of Magdalena seen below

They live in the most difficult of conditions with earth toilets, garden or street wells and homes in disrepair.  We currently have 5 widows on the total project who have no pensions at all and so they are forced to take seasonal work with neighbours or local farmers to survive.The highest pension we came across was 350 Lei equivalent to around 75 pounds a month.  Due to problems accessing adequate health care (due to cost and distance to nearest doctor) most have a multiple health problems.  I am always touched that these poor people who have so little always want to give us something in return such as fresh grapes from the vines,  pears, plums and eggs.    For the ones who manage to plant their own gardens, they preserve the produce and the fruit.  However, there was one lady with no pension  who needed sugar and so I was able to help.  I understood there was a lot of rain here in May and so the crops have not done well this here although there does seem to be an abundancy of plums. Others needed financial help with prescription costs - one lady was paying 150 lei per month - approx 30 pounds (out of her pension of 75 pounds). With God's provision I was able to help provide some financial assistance this trip.

The youngest person we have on the programme is aged 57, having lost her husband just a few months and the oldest is 90.   There were widows who had such a determination to survive and there were others who were ready to die.  Some had nursed their sick husbands for years.  On the one hand we met a son, very poor himself, who was so devoted to his stroke victim mother that he left his village to move in to care for her 24 hours a day.   He really is doing the best he can under very difficult circumstances - little money, no sanitation or running water and his mum is incontinent and losing her mind.  On the other side of the scale you have widows with children who do nothing to help, some even robbing their own mums, which is so so sad.  It is hard to explain the pain that these widows feel.  However, some of this is a legacy of communism when people were encouraged to go out and work and not worry about their parents because the state would take care of them at large residential homes and we are all aware of what the media found after the overthrow of the communist leader in 1989.

I would add that the food baskets provided are only a supplement and not sufficient to last a widow for a month.  The wood we are able to buy for them is only sufficient for around 3 months.  Winters here are long and hard with temperatures dropping to around minus 20.  Also I need to point out that on a monthly basis we  are only able to help with medical expenses for a few of the widows and so much more financial help is needed.   IF THERE IS ANYONE OUT THERE WHO CAN MAKE A DONATION TOWARDS THIS MINISTRY AND BECOME A MONTHLY SPONSOR (FROM AS LITTLE AS 5 POUNDS PER MONTH) THEN PLEASE CONTACT ME. I will be going back to Wales with a determination to raise more funds.    Here are a few photos - I will attach a few more in a separate blog.  I may do separate blog entries for some of the cases when I have more time.