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Dear Friends
May 1st 2008
What an amazing month April has been. Time
is racing by as we prepare for the historical events in Tileagd over the
week-end of June 7th & 8th, but we must take a moment
to reflect on God’s Goodness this past month.
Just 24 hours after our last update, we had an e-mail informing us of a very
special gift we were to receive during the month. £60,000 / $120,000 had
been pledged to the Complex and we all stood in awe of God’s provision. The
donation was duly received and ‘the impossible’ took one step closer to
becoming reality. Our dream had been to complete the Complex by June 7th
both in construction terms and debt free. This single donation reduced the
outstanding liabilities before June to £38,682 / $77,364 and we believe God
can cover this through His faithful and obedient people.
Do any of you remember in June 2007 we announced the beginning of Phase 2
for the Complex which required £260,000 / $520,000? Did any of you think
‘Impossible’?
Well, please pray
with us for God’s continued provision over these remaining few weeks prior
to the Grand Opening.
Progress has been good this past month and the
Picture Gallery
is updated for your information and enjoyment. This is likely to be the
final update of the Gallery until after the Opening, so that those attending
the Celebrations will see the finished work first.
We now have over 80 people from the UK and America booked for the
Opening
with just a few spaces
remaining – whether for the long week-end option or the full Mission Trip.
If you would like to be a part of this historical occasion – contact the
office immediately to check availability and make arrangements.
On June 8th at the
Opening Service
of the Tileagd Community Church we will be holding a
Special ‘Gift Day’
offering. This offering is being especially set aside for the Operational
budget of the new Church and Medical work within the Complex. Our new pastor
will be inducted that Sunday and we need to provide Ovidiu many things for
effective ministry. One major item is a car for him to travel freely between
his home in Cihei and Tileagd. A 50km (30 mile) round trip each day.
It seems another miracle
is needed, but God does it time and time again.
When Dr Claudia needed a car, money for one was provided and we believe
the same is possible for Pastor Ovidiu. We anticipate £5,000 / $10,000 is
needed for a reliable vehicle. Please pray!
The Gift Day is available for everyone to contribute , not just those
present on June 8th. You can make a gift for this special
offering by mail, telephone or on line, but if you are coming to the
Opening, save your gift for the June 8th offering as we will
offer to God all the Gifts that Day, including those received prior to the
opening, for His Blessing.
Also in June, we will be publishing a beautiful new
Smiles Calendar.
It is a 16 month calendar from September ’08 – December ’09 featuring a
different project of Smiles each month. There are more than 100 photo’s
featured in the calendar and helping us with capturing so many great shots
was
Tony Lane,
ARPS (Associate of the Royal Photographic Society) who is based in South
Wales and provided his service free of charge, spending 2 weeks in Romania
shooting photos. We are very thankful to Tony for his support on this
project which will go on sale from June 1st and will hopefully
raise a lot of money for all the Smiles projects!
April proved a busy month
at Cihei
with 56 Mission Trip
guests staying. Many were from our friends at Poarta Bucurier who now
regularly use our Mission Centre for their trips. It is truly great to see
such successful utilisation of the investment we made 5 years ago now.
April also saw
Romania celebrating Easter
last week-end. A
month later than most of us in the UK and US. This is because of the
Orthodox calendar, but it is great to be reminded of the Joy and Hope Easter
brings on two special week-ends!
At Tileagd Community Church
– our Easter service on April 27th
was celebrated outside in bright sunshine. We could hear birds singing,
frogs in the pond croaking. Dogs barking of course (it’s Romania!) but for
sure – life was all around us as we celebrated the Risen Lord and the New
Life He offers.
As we look to May, which will be a busy month in final preparations for the
Grand Opening, we also look forward to our second annual
Educational Challenge which begins May 25th.
Our
educational advisor, Stephen Woodward will join chief executive, Kevin Hoy
to lead the group of 19 teaching professionals on
‘Partnering
Possibilities’
with the Smiles School and Nursery.
We also look forward to welcoming new missionaries to Romania to work with
Smiles. Andy
and Jutta have recently finished a five
year commitment with YWAM on their Mercy Ship in Africa. As they sought new
options to serve God on the Mission field, they found Smiles. After visiting
in February, they returned home believing God could use them in this work,
so on May 11th they move to Romania. Please pray for them in this
significant move and that God will use them in a mighty way for His work in
Romania.
We are also delighted that in May, many special fund-raising events are
taking place for the ‘Smiles Focus Month’. Lots of events are listed on the
Events Page
so take a look,
support where you can and pray for them to be successful in enabling the
great work of Smiles to continue.
Thank you for your continued interest and support. You have a very important
role in the work of Smiles and we’re delighted you are with us.
Keep in touch. We hope to
see you soon.
Our thanks again for your prayerful
& practical support.
God Bless |