In 1999 the war in Kosova hit the headline news. Appalled by pictures that flashed across the TV screens, the world’s aid agencies sprang into action to help with the refugee crisis. At that time we were pastoring a Baptist church in Kent, and we too felt compelled to do something. Within a couple of days, we received an email from our friends at a small Baptist Church in Skopje, Macedonia, asking if we could help them as they had so many refugees flooding into Macedonia and they couldn’t cope.
We set to work! Word soon spread that we were collecting aid and for several weeks we sifted through hundreds of bags full of clothes, blankets and toiletries. With a team of willing volunteers we began sorting and packing the aid in the church. The days came and went, and it was not long before all the pews were full of black sacks! We contacted a local organisation and asked them if they would like the aid to take to Kosova, but they were unable to help.
"Now what do we do?" we asked ourselves. We had a church full of aid that was desperately needed but no-one to take it.
Consultation needed ... we prayed ... the Lord answered ... "You take it!"
OK, we both thought. Clive likes travelling. All he needs is a lorry, insurance cover, free tolls on all the roads and money for the petrol. After what seemed like hundreds of telephone calls, it soon became apparent that no-one would loan us a lorry to go to a country in the middle of a war, and no insurance company was prepared to take us on either. There was also one other problem – there was so much aid, one lorry was not going to be enough!
We prayed again ... the Lord answered ... "You take it!"
The penny finally dropped! What the Lord meant was "All of you take it!" There were obviously many questions we had to ask ourselves, and answer. "What about the children, would it be safe for them?" "It’s such a long way, will they cope with the travelling, the weather?" Then there were the inevitable "What if" questions.
We decided that we either trusted the Lord with everything, including our children, or we didn’t. There was just one other detail, however – Ruth had never driven in Europe before, let alone a lorry, and the prospect of that seemed to fill her with a little trepidation!
It was amazing to see how the Lord provided everything we needed. We had a truck each, one of which was kindly lent by our local gas company Transco (we could not take an articulated lorry as neither of us had an HGV licence), we had insurance cover including full breakdown and recovery, free toll exemption on all the roads and petrol for the journey.
The journey begins
On 26 May at 6 am (our wedding anniversary) we set off from Kent to Macedonia. Ruth and our daughter were in one lorry, and Clive and our son were in the other. What transpired over the next 8 days is a testimony to God’s love, protection and a closeness to Him that we would not want to have missed for the world. After taking the aid into Macedonia and seeing the astonishing needs of a whole nation torn apart by the atrocities of the war, we knew in our hearts that this is where we should now concentrate our ministry. In September 1999 after 11 happy years we left the security of the pastorate and stepped out in faith to launch our charity Smile International – Sharing Ministries In Lands Everywhere.
Behind each picture is a graphic story of devastation and heartbreak that only God in His mercy can heal. In our photo gallery pages, and in our Smile magazines, the pictures reflect something of the core of our ministry – where people in desperate need seek the very basic things in life just to survive.
Smile is committed to the long-term rebuilding of lives by sharing in practical ways God’s unconditional love for a needy world. We trust the information given on these pages will encourage you, your family, friends, church or business colleagues to team up with us through your prayers and practical support.
