People across several Romanian cities have expressed discontent over the past four days against the government’s austerity policies.

Peaceful rallies have taken place across several large Romanian cities, including Cluj, Timisoara and Lasi. But violence broke out in Bucharest as protestors threw rocks and set fire to newspaper stands and rubbish bins.

Demonstrations began last Thursday 12 January in support of the deputy health minister’s resignation against health care reforms. But the protests then widened to include general discontent with the government’s policies, and a call for the resignation of President Traian Basescu and the centrist government of Prime Minister Emil Boc.

While many express concern over Romania’s unemployment rate and health care, Mission Without Borders seeks to provide the impoverished with hope for the future.

Over the past year in Romania we have:

• Supported 6,512 children living in homes (orphanages).
• Walked with 309 families in our Family-to-Family sponsorship scheme, enabling them to take steps out of their poverty and into self-reliance.
• Served 50,050 meals to the elderly and homeless in communities centres where they keep warm, enjoy other’s company and are treated with dignity.

Last winter we helped 7,300 familes to survive Romania’s bitter winter.

Donate now to keep even more families warm this winter.

Our Autumn Newsletter is now available.  You can read it on-line or contact the office on 020 7940 1370 and we’ll mail a copy to you.

The excitement is definitely growing!  Here is another glimpse into the anticipation of the young people selected to attend Summer Camp this year.

 The distribution of Operation Christmas Love parcels is underway.  We have received three videos showing the work so far - one from Ukraine, Romania and Moldova.

This year we are aiming to distribute 30,000 parcels to some of the neediest people in Eastern Europe.  Each parcel costs £15 and is packed full of basic food supplies and some Christmas treats.  They are a real lifeline for many and bring hope to all that receive them.

Click here to watch the distribution in action

Our Supporters Tour to Romania came to a successful conclusion with the safe arrival back at Terminal 5 on 26th September - complete with luggage!

It was a tour with lots of memories.  Romania is a country undergoing considerable change and parts of it are are barely recognisable from our earlier trips.  As one of the trip members said, “it was a very spiritual experience and God spoke to us all in different ways about the situations we saw, our lives and our responses”.

Many of the MWB Romania staff and the people we met were a great encouragement, for example:

• the pastor of the small Baptist church who works 6 days a week in construction because of the poverty of his fellowship.  He blessed us and thanked us but we had already been blessed by listening to the stories of those attending the Community Centre for warmth and food
• the smile on a boy’s face as he realised that he was being given a remote control car to keep!  That his sponsors from the UK cared about him
• the youngster that wants to become a Policeman - he met one of our party who had been a Policewoman for 30 years and listened attentively as she encouraged him to “hang on to his dreams”.  Not something that many children in the Homes ever hear.
• Seeing the volume of washing that 10 children can produce!
• Looking at the MWB staff as they quietly went about their work of “Reaching People for Christ”

The memories go on.  It was both challenging and encouraging.  Over the coming weeks we’ll write up more of our diaries and try to summarise our thoughts.  A very big thank you to everyone who prayed for the trip.  Romanian roads are improving but some of the roadworks, surfaces and drivers presented “challenges”.

The members of the trip (excluding David who took the photo!)

arriving back at Heathrow T5

Over the next few months we will be planning a trip to see more of MWB’s work in Eastern Europe.  If you are interested in joining such a tour then please contact the office and we’ll keep you informed as plans develop.

Many have died and over 20,000 thousand have been made homeless by devastating floods across Eastern Europe.  

Hundreds of towns and villages have been flooded as a result of 5 days of constant heavy rain.    People’s homes have been swept away in the deluge in Ukraine, Romania and Moldova.   Many houses in rural areas are made out of little more than mud and straw and cannot withstand the torents of the last week.

16 people have died in Ukraine, five of which are children.   In Romania there have been 4 deaths reported.  Thousands of kilometers of road are unusable and thousands of wells were destroyed.   In Moldova, wells have also become contaminated by the flood waters and many are left without drinking water.

Next year will see a tragic shortage of food as many crops have been destroyed by the waters.

And of course, it’s the poorest that will suffer the most.

Mission Without Borders is already bringing relief to the most vulnerable and helping them to bring about a better future.

Last year many of you joined us for our supporter tour to Ukraine.   This year we’re off to Romania.    Our aim is to go in September but the final arrangements have not yet been made.
Romania was the first country where we saw plight of the children in ‘orphanages’ just after the collapse of Ceausescu’s regime.   There were often four or five children to a cot and desperately neglected.   That was when we started our Child Sponsorship scheme.   Together over the years we’ve been able to help thousands of children.
You’ll visit some of the children’s institutions we support, and may even have the opportunity to meet your sponsored child.  You will have the opportunity to see other aspects of the work of Mission Without Borders and take in the sights.
Please let us know if you are at all interested.   There is no commitment at this stage.   Just contact us and we’ll send you more information.
Many of you have already expressed interest, but it would help us if you would let us know you’re still interested.
See you in Bucharest!