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Opening Story: Mary — a predestined name…
Mary was the virgin throughout whom God brought His Son to Earth. Mary was also the name of my mother, the one who gave me life. Nevertheless, the gist of this editorial is not the story of these 2 women, but of another Mary, a little girl living in a Gypsy community whom I met a few days ago.
Two cars appeared suddenly in the Gypsy settlement near the dam. Mary was the first to come by with her serene face, a peaceful look and a pair of blue eyes gleaming of hope. From her look you could tell that she was anxiously waiting to see what Santa would bring her. Maybe she even placed at the window of her house the only pair of shoes she had to be filled with goods because she hoped that Santa will fill them with goodies. She had found out that he will pass by their homes.
Our guide got out of the car and started to call all the children on the street. He came across Mary and told her: “You’re not on my list. You weren’t at home to count you and tell Santa!” All of a sudden, Mary’s face changed completely. She withdrew near a fence starring at the entire scene before her. Child after child started to receive their presents from Santa. Mary stood still, gazing at this picture. At one point, she rushed away and hid somewhere behind a fence. Santa had come, but not for her…
The presents were all gone and we got into the car. I could see from there a group of children opening their presents, but somewhere in the nook of the settlement was Mary standing brokenhearted: for her, Santa hasn’t come.
My wife burst into tears. The tears came down her cheek. All of a sudden she said: “I can no longer bear seeing a child looking at this scene! I can’t stand here and watch the sadness in the eyes of this child! It breaks my heart thinking that while the other children enjoy their presents, Mary is somewhere crying. She was simply ignored…” We therefore stopped by the first store we found open and put together a few more presents.
We got into the car again and got back to the Gypsy settlement. There was no one on the road now. When we got to the end of the road, there were found Mary with another boy. They were the only ones left with no presents hoping that Santa will eventually come to them as well. When we got out of the car with the presents, we could see again the glimmer in Mary’s eyes, her cheeks blushing as she rushed towards us. There was such a joy in her eyes and on her face that I couldn’t hold my tears. I gave her the present, I hugged her and got back home. On my way back, I remembered what Christ said:
Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me. (Mathew 25:45)
And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones who is my disciple, truly I tell you, that person will certainly not lose their reward.(Mathew 10:42).
Just like Mary, a little anonymous girl from a Gypsy community, there are many others on Earth. Don’t forget to make a present for at least one of these children and you’ll make Jesus – the child born in Bethlehem – happy.
— Daniel Ciupe
Updates
Nehemiah Program
We continued to serve the Nehemiah Church from Tileagd through preaching. What is more, we helped the church financially to buy and fix the stove and build the chimney that is needed to evacuate the smoke.
Charis farm
We managed to pick all the apples and grapes from the fruit yard and make natural juice. We also cut 15 trees that had dried out and got the place cleaned up so that we can plant 25 more fruit trees in the spring.
Give and it shall be given to you
This project included 2 actions. The first one was to make shoeboxes for 65 Gypsy children from the Nehemiah Community from Tileagd. The second one was to distribute 35 boxes with goods for Christmas to the Gypsy families in the Nehemiah Community from Tileagd.
God’s Garden
We focused especially on several actions: we bought a stainless steel table and we fixed a professional hood in the kitchen; we introduced the hot water system in the kitchen and annexes; we covered the entrance roofs to the conference room with asphalt shingles to protect the roof; we insulated the building and we modernized the electrical wiring on the 1st floor.
A chance for everyone
Lately, we focused on modernizing Daniel’s home – we fitted 2 double-glazed windows, a door and we managed to insulate and paint the exterior. Moreover, we connected his home to the water supply network.
Prayer requests
This year we started our ministry in the Gypsy community from Tiglead and we founded Nehemiah Church. Pray that God may bless, strengthen and increase the number and the faith of the people attending this church.
This year as well, there have been people that offered financial support to the foundation:
- Edith & Dennis,
- Georgina & Chris,
- Mary- Theresa, Jacquie, Glynis, Andrew (UK),
- George & Louann (USA),
- Mariana and her colleagues from the Oradea Water Company ,
- Mona, Daniel, Lucian, Ema, Rebeca & Cipri, Ioana & Vitalie (Romania).
Pray that God may bless their families and reward their effort and generosity.
Charis ministry wouldn’t have been possible this year without the support of some churches and institutions:
- St. Stephen Church Tonbridge, Stewardship, Twiga Ltd (England),
- University Christian Church (USA),
- Compania de Apă Oradea, Biserica Baptistă Manaştur Cluj (Romania).
Pray that God may bless their ministry and reward their support.
Urgent Need
In October-December, we had to borrow $3000 in order to cover all the running costs (salaries, taxes, utilities). If you would like to give, please do so on our Donate Page.
We have to give this money back in the next period.
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