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ON THIS PAGE:
Visit Romania /
Valea Lui Mihai /
Margita / Team member's comment
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Smile has been working in Romania
since 2002 in partnership with Rev Istvan Gergely, President of the Hungarian
Baptist Convention of Romania. Smile has provided humanitarian aid, shoeboxes,
computers, sewing machines to help the church in their outreach to the Roma
people. Our ministry teams have helped by running holiday clubs for children and
Gospel concerts. We have sent out trucks of aid to Romania. |
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Kids Club at a Roma church –
Unloading the Smile truck – Aid distribution at church
Visit Romania
Why not visit Romania with Smile on a ministry trip or gap year? Please see our
Ministry Trips and Gap Year
pages for opportunities for service in 2008. There is great scope for ministry
in Romania and Smile plans to channel more aid and teams to this country.
Smile team members
distributing shoeboxes to Roma families
Valea Lui Mihai
– Pastor Istvan Gergely
Smile’s partner organisation in Romania is Pastor Istvan Gergely of Valea Lui
Mihai, where has a building project for a new church. Over the past several
years, he has raised £50K for the construction work which is nearing
completion, and needs a further £50K to fit it out:
- £10K to pay for the roof,
which is now completed, but for which a loan became necessary in order to
safeguard the fabric of the building
- £10K for doors, windows and
floors
- £10K for central heating and plumbing
- £10K for electricals
- £10K for fitting kitchen,
guest accommodation, furniture, soft furnishings, carpets and computer
system
Smile would also like to provide Istvan
with a new car, as his present one is beyond repair - £5,000 will provide a
reliable vehicle to enable him to fulfil his many duties around the country as
pastor and as President of the Baptist Convention of Romania.
Istvan’s new church building -
progress at May 2008
The building is now roofed and
protected from possible weather damage, although the cost was considerably more
than anticipated. The building is not only a church, but rather a multi-purpose
centre. Pastor Istvan would like to run a nursery, a pre-school programme and
other social action projects. When the proposed new kitchen is complete, he
would like to set up a feeding programme for the many poor and needy children in
the area. If your church or organisation would like to help with this project,
please contact Smile to discuss ways in which you can help bring to fruition
Pastor Istvan’s vision to help those in great need in this region.
Clive and Istvan –
Preaching at a Roma church
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Margita
Margita, aged 47, is the wife of a Baptist pastor who oversees three churches in
Oradia, Romania. They have 25-year-old son and a 10-year-old daughter. Nine
years ago she had sight problem in her left eye causing headaches and much pain;
five years ago the doctors in Romania, due to lack of specialist equipment and
training, diagnosed this as a cancer and told her she did not have long to live.
Smile brought Margita to the UK in where she saw a specialist
in December
2007.
To her great delight, this was found to be not a life-threatening cancer but a tumour behind her eye.
She spent 20 days in February undergoing radiotherapy at St Bart's Hospital in
London, which has been successful. We are very grateful to all the staff at St Bart’s for their care
during the treatment throughout February.
Margita returned to the UK in June
and was given the all-clear by the specialist, for which we praise God. We would
like to thank all those who have prayed for and supported Margita, who has
expressed her gratitude to all those that have made this life changing treatment
possible.
Our thanks go to friends at Coney
Hill Baptist Church, Kent, for their ongoing support for Margita, and to Bob and
Christine Milburn for the kind hospitality during her stay in the UK..
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Know therefore that the Lord
your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a
thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commands.
(Deuteronomy 7:9) |
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We have had £400 towards the cost of
the treatment (which cost approximately £5,000) and if
you or your church or organisation are able to contribute, we would be most
grateful to hear from you. If you wish to help, your gift will be greatly valued and appreciated. If you would like to make a
credit/debit card donation in support of Margita's treatment, you can call 01689
870932 with your details or donate through the Just Giving website
www.justgiving.com/smileint/donate
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Romania trip 2007 – team member
Rev Graham Morgan: "This was my first visit to
eastern Europe. Romania is a very poor country and I was greatly touched by the
humility of the church there. My understanding of what Paul really means has
been challenged, as indeed has my own personal attitude to personal wealth."
Smile team at Kids Club –
Team preaching at a new Roma church – Typical Roma village
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