Dear Friends
Newsletter March 2019
It’s hard to believe we are well into 2019 already and we know that many of the families we support in and around Barlad will be glad when the warmer weather arrives. The winter has been very mixed but there have been periods of snow and extreme cold. GNfR has been able to help each month, ensuring that the families have had enough food, warm clothing, medicines and money for anything they need. The children had a really lovely Christmas thanks to everyone’s generousity. Each child was given a bag of gifts, sweets and small toys and any child that needed a new coat or boots got them. They also received extra food which made them very happy. A group of the older children were also given the treat of a visit to the pizza restaurant, a rare treat which they all really enjoyed. ROSCA FAMILY: This family continues to struggle, their main home, which has subsidence problems, continues to be an issue and the tumble-down shack where Sebastian and Tiberiu sleep has been badly damaged recently. A neighbour further up the village left a tap running all night by mistake and the water ran down the hill and through the shack, taking the back wall with it! It isn’t straight forward to sort these issues but we are trying to sort it as best we can. The good news is that the Rosca parents have continued to stay sober, this means that we can pass on the monthly money for Tiberiu’s bus fares which hopefully will give some self worth back to the parents. They know we are monitoring their situation and they won’t be trusted with the money again if they abuse it. We trust they will continue to stay sober and therefore ensure a better life for their boys. MICU FAMILY: The winter hasn’t been easy for Lidia (74), her husband and their 10 grandchildren. Lidia has been in hospital a few times with exhaustion and heart problems and she also had a fall which has meant the children were left in the care of Grandad (84) and the older children. Lidia really isn’t in good health and looking after her 10 grandchildren must be taking a toll on her health. Due to a generous financial offer, we have been trying to persuade Lidia to accept some regular help to feed the children/help with their washing etc to ease her burden. Lidia is a proud, humble lady and she felt that she really couldn’t accept more help than she was already receiving each month. It has been explained to her numerous times that GNfR really want to pay someone to help her and at last…. Lidia has agreed that she will accept help 2 days a week. Again this help is being monitored and hopefully Lidia will realise that this is necessary. We obviously don’t want her to think we are taking all the responsibility away from her but she deserves the help. The children have got quite thin over the winter but are doing ok. When Claudiu visited the family recently, they were all sitting in the dark as they had a problem with their electricity supply. Lidia had been in touch with someone and was hoping they would come and fix it very soon and we have heard from Cristina since that it’s all ok now. They are always happy to see Claudiu & Ada and Kath is in touch with Cristina online regularly. PROJECTS: Claudiu & Ada have put together detailed projects of work necessary for The Rosca home (solar panels) & Lidia’s home (major project), if you would like a detailed copy of these which includes costs, please do get in touch. People have been found to do the work. OANA ZANET: Oana has struggled over the winter months, spending time in the dismal apartment doesn’t help her mental state but she contacts Kath online and chats when she’s feeling low. She gets ‘bad thoughts’ and often she just needs reassurance and encouraging words. She’s an intelligent young lady and it would be good if she could get a job, her lack of self confidence and health problems doesn’t help this but we keep praying. Her Mum Maria has kept reasonably well apart from a bout of flu but life is always a struggle. CLAUDIU & ADA: Claudiu & Ada are keeping well and continue to help and support these families. Unfortunately, Claudiu has been told by his company that he needs to be working in Germany for the time being. He finds being away from Ada and everyone very difficult but is just grateful that he has a job. He does get back to Barlad regularly and continues to visit the families, buying food for them and encouraging and helping them. Ada continues to support the children as they continue to call her regularly. We get regular photos of C & A visiting the families and we are kept up to date with any needs. Please pray that Claudiu will get back to Romania asap. With the help of a solicitor, he continues to work on becoming a registered charity so that he can eventually run the charity on a full time basis. RUBEN, CRISTIAN, ALEX, ALEX U, STEFAN, BIANCA AND MARA: These young people continue to go to Claudiu & Ada’s house on Sunday mornings when C & A are home and they love studying the bible with Claudiu explaining it to them. Sadly it hasn’t worked out that the young people go to the apartment for Sunday School, its not anyone’s ‘fault,’ it just hasn’t happened. They are happy to help with shopping for the families we support and also visit the poor families. Their home lives aren’t so easy so GNfR is also able to help them although they consider they are fortunate compared to others they see. A few weeks ago, the boys were chatting to Claudiu and explained that they had found out that Stefan was struggling at home and things were difficult. They explained that they had all taken it upon themselves to help Stefan, even though they have very little themselves, that was so encouraging to know that these boys are totally unselfish and have a heart for those in need, we are sure this comes down to seeing Claudiu & Ada selflessly helping others. Claudiu visited Stefan’s home and found things quite shocking, especially as Stefan had never given any indication that his life was so hard. Stefan and his parents all live and sleep in one room and no one has a job. Stefan tries to, in Claudiu’s words: ‘he tries to produce something for the daily needs of the family’. GNfR is able to help with food & clothing and again, Claudiu keeps an eye on this situation. Barlad MUNTEANU FAMILY: Mirela and her 5 children have been supported by the local orthodox priest which is great news. He has found her a washing machine (it won’t be automatic as she doesn’t have any running water) but it is a big help. Also, he has helped the family to be accepted onto a government project from the EU to give poor families help with food. Not all families receive this help and we aren’t sure how long it will last, but we continue to help them a little and if Claudiu finds that anything has changed with this EU support, we will help where necessary. Ada is in contact with the social worker that is involved with this family and she is not concerned about the family at the moment and has told Ada that there are other families that she knows who needs help, we wait to get information about these families! MILENA: Milena continues with her study which is really good news, she is working really hard and enjoys being at college. She has just got a new boyfriend so we really hope she continues to be sensible and not let anything get in the way of her studies. We continue to support her. STELA & ANDREI: Unfortunately, Stela has found a boyfriend and has moved away, leaving her baby Andrei, in the care of her Aunt and Uncle. This is very worrying but apparently isn’t uncommon. We just hope Andrei is ok, he is certainly well looked after and loved. ANDREI DINCA: Kath chatted with Andrei a few days ago and he said he is doing really well and has just finished 3 large exams and feels they went ok. He said he is ok financially and always asks if we have anything for prayer. He continues to run the University Christian Union and he volunteers on the ambulances. He deserves to do well and will make a good doctor. We’ve been praying with Andrei about his father who was an alcoholic, Andrei shared that for the past couple of months, he has stayed away from drink, very encouraging. ADA & ETIEN BUMBU. We were able to help both these young people with some university expenses recently; they work really hard to be successful in their studies and are extremely grateful for the help from GNfR. DANA, ANDREEA & BEATRICE: Dana is doing ok with the help of her sister Oana Rosca. Oana’s boyfriend Florin continues to work abroad so is able to help the family financially. It isn’t a huge help but it just eases the burden. Unfortunately, late in October, little Beatrice was scolded when a pan of boiling water spilled over her. She was in hospital a few weeks but is doing well now thankfully. Dana thanks everyone who prayed for them all during this time. NORTHERN IRELAND GUYS – GEOFF, CHRIS, PAUL & MARK: During their fleeting visit to Barlad in October, Geoff & team were really moved by what they saw, so much so, they have now committed to helping financially each month and although over recent years they have taken on different charities to support each year, they have decided to commit to supporting GNfR long term. This is fantastic news and such an encouragement for us and the families we support. We’ve had numerous conversations over the past few months and the next big event is that this year, they, and their wives, want to visit Barlad and be with us when we go to Barlad in June! They want to see more than they saw last time and then work out how they can help in the future. It will be a busy time but how encouraging to have such support. We hope to have Gary with us this time as he is also involved with fund raising. CAMP: As you know, each year, Claudiu & Ada run a camp for the families we support. This will happen again in August and the children are super excited about this and can’t wait! We hope to be able to provide a place for around 25-30 children and around 5 helpers and if you feel you can contribute towards a child having a wonderful week in the beautiful mountains of Romania, please fill in the attached slip and send it back to us. Unfortunately, with rapidly rising fuel & food costs, we estimate the cost to be £70 per child for a week of fun, laughter, bible teaching, singing, walks, games, treats of ice cream, good food and support. What a wonderful gift it is for each of these children. CLOTHES FOR CAMP Some of the children come on camp with only the clothes they stand up in so each year, we send new clothes so that each child can receive some new clothes/trainers etc while on camp. If you can help, please do let us know. The closing date will be for this collection will be July 2nd COFFEE MORNING/BRING & BUY: Our next coffee morning is on Saturday May 18th at our home, 1 Wythburn Avenue, and is from 09.45-12noon. Everyone is welcome! If you can bake cakes, make jam etc or have any new gift sets or as new gifts that can be sold, please do let us have them or bring them on the day. Thank you! Once again, we want to thank you very much for your love, support and encouragement, it means so much, not only to us, but most of all, to the families we support. We aren’t sure of our travel dates in June yet but appreciate your continuing thoughts and prayers. We will give you a full update after camp. We wish you all every blessing and hope you have a blessed Easter and a good summer.
Much love & thanks,
David, Kath & Mandy. (Mandy will also come to Barlad with us in June)