Eastern Europe has seen a sudden drop in temperature in the last couple of days. Although people are used to freezing winters the extreme change has caused deaths and many have sought help from the authorities.

Eighteen people have died in Ukraine, many of them homeless, and hundreds more needed medical treatment for hypothermia and frostbite. Ukrainians have seen daytime temperatures of -16 C, which have fallen to -23 C at night.

In Bulgaria a man has died, emergency shelters have been set up in Sofia, and emergency decrees were declared in 25 of the country’s 28 districts. Heavy snowfall in Bulgaria and Romania has also left many cut off.

Click here to support Winter Rescue, which provides food, blankets, clothes and fuel to help people survive the winter.

(Above: Vasyl and Ivanka received warm winter coats through our Winter Rescue appeal)

This week eight families in Albania received water pumps, hoses, fertilizer and seeds for the crops they wish to grow.

As we begin a new year these families are able to go forward with hope. The Seeds of Hope project will enable them to use their land and time effectively to grow food and earn income. In addition to the items given, MWB subsidises the expense of hiring agricultural machinery.

At the moment it is time to plant wheat and grain, and in a couple of months the families will be able to plant vegetables and fruits as well. This is a wonderful opportunity for families to improve their lives.

Pray that God will bless these families and their crops, and ask Him for good weather conditions and a bountiful harvest.

Give £15 for a Seeds of Hope starter pack from our Present for the Future gift catalogue to help more families help themselves.

Legacies play a crucial part in funding Mission Without Borders’ work. During the past few years, generous legacies have allowed us to meet some of the greatest needs of children, families and elderly across Eastern Europe.

Young people from the Krupnik community, Bulgaria, have big dreams. Dreams that a legacy could make come true.

“I’ve been wondering what special, God-given talent I have. I decided it could be the thing I enjoy doing most. For me, drawing, making designs for clothes and fashion are what I like. So the School of Textile and Design in Blagoevgrad would be the best place for me when I finish the seventh form, though my parents are not able to support me.” Asen (13)

“Biology is my favourite subject at school. I would really love to become a doctor and help people. Although it is impossible to even think about now, I dream of studying medicine at university after I finish school. If I do my part and study hard, I believe God will help me and use me to heal people’s bodies and souls.” Avgustina (15)

You can help us to fund a youngster’s dreams.

• Please consider including a gift to MWB in your will.

• If you have already made a will, but would still like to leave a legacy to MWB, you can make an addition or change it without re-writing your current will. This addition is called a codicil.

• Or you may want to give a lasting and meaningful donation to remember a loved one.

To talk things over or request our guide to making your will, please contact us now or phone 020 7940 1370.

Chickens, Bible courses, Mother-care parcels are all best-sellers from our Present for the Future catalogue. Thank you for buying these – and many other – alternative gifts. You have made such a difference for the people MWB supports in Eastern Europe.

Getting to know God
“I like the Bible lessons,” says seventeen year-old Sidorela from Albania. Through MWB’s Bible Correspondence Course Sidorela says “I got to know God. I learnt that God loves us, cares for us and saves us from our sin.”

 

Self-reliance through chickens
“We couldn’t make ends meet before,” say the Zdermciuc family in Moldova. “But now we have fresh eggs in the home and also meat.” Chickens donated through MWB have given the Zdermciuc family a new lease of life.

For Valentine’s Day
Why not buy your loved one something different – a present that makes a difference?
Choose from our range of gifts in Present for the Future.

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.

An inspiring new GIVING ENVELOPE that helps donors to give and simultaneously sign to claim their tax back is now available from Mission Without Borders (MWB).

If you are putting on an event raising funds for MWB, this easy-to-use, pocket-sized envelope is perfect for handing out to people who want to support you. Or if you are telling others in your church about MWB, then place the envelope in the church pews to encourage them to give. Why not ask others in your church to take a three or four envelopes to pass on to friends and family so that they can give too?

And by making sure donors sign the form on the back, you help to give MWB even more: For every £1 given, we can reclaim an extra 25p through Gift Aid.

Ideas for handing out our giving envelopes:

• Running a marathon? Holding a coffee morning? Selling on ebay or at a carboot sale? Give away MWB’s giving envelopes to help us raise funds. Look at our fundraising ideas for an activity that may suit you.
• Book a speaker for your church or group. MWB has staff and volunteers who are passionate about supporting Eastern Europe’s most vulnerable to take steps out of their poverty. We will tell you more about how we work, who we are supporting and how you can help. A speaker will really bring MWB and Eastern Europe – a forgotten part of the world – to life.

Your donation will make a huge difference:

• £15 could provide extra food or clothing for a family in need.
• £30 could provide bedding for two children like Olesya and Artem
• £75 could provide an elderly person with additional wood for heating and cooking
• £120 could provide a family with simple tools to make home repairs.

We have many other ways that you can give.
Or donate now to make a difference today.

Please note: MWB does NOT advise sending cash through the post! If you do encourage others to give donations in these envelopes, please deposit any cash into your own bank account and write a cheque made payable to Mission Without Borders equal to the cash. But remember to send us their signed envelopes so that we can claim the tax back.

Hundreds of people who gave to our Operation Christmas Love appeal made Christmas special for many struggling families.

THANK YOU to everyone who generously donated to Operation Christmas Love. Your response was so encouraging.

You have supported us to give crucial, life-saving food to thousands of families and elderly people. It was because of your donations that we were able to pack and distribute the planned 30,000 Operation Christmas Love boxes.

• Sabina in Bosnia-Herzegovina said, “this food is such a help, thank you.”
• The Operation Christmas Love gift really supported the Seferi family in Albania (pictured above): ”We can’t afford  to have much food on the table, but here you are. God has blessed my family this Christmas. You are a blessing.”

Mission Without Borders will continue to support such families throughout 2012.

Seeds of Hope is our spring focus that will enable some of Eastern Europe’s most impoverished families to plant their own vegetable plots and grow their way to self-reliance.
Order free Seeds of Hope resources to support families taking steps out of poverty.
Free resources include worship materials and a primary school lesson plan.
Order your free resources now, or phone 020 7940 1370.

Romania’s government department for child protection thanks MWB for its long-term commitment to serving children in institutions.

Vasilica Florea, Romania’s Director of Child Protection and Social Assistance Department, stated that very ‘every day, for 20 years’ Mission Without Borders was a ‘loyal partner’.

Mr Florea goes on to emphasise that MWB has helped his department ‘to improve the quality of our social services for children in residential homes. Our relationship with you was very important to us and very beautiful for the children.’

Mission Without Borders’ Romania manager Eugen Macavei recently received the encouraging letter in which Mr Florea congratulates MWB for its ‘dedication, seriousness and perseverance. We want to thank you for choosing to work with us over so many years. With people like you, our life becomes richer and filled with wonderful surprises for the little ones, as well as the bigger children. We want to express our deepest appreciation for your entire activity.’

Join with MWB to sponsor a child and change a life today!

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Mission Without Borders works in approximately 90 institutions (children’s homes) and with children in families across Romania. With Romania’s entry into the EU, a policy of deinstitutionalisation has come into effect. Many institutions are closing. Children are going into foster homes, or being re-united with their own families. Often these children will have problems, having known nothing but institutional life. Mission Without Borders is committed to supporting children institutionalised in homes and those who are fostered.Our aim is to encourage hope for the future by improving children’s immediate quality of life, and equipping them for integration into the community.

Saturday’s edition of The Times newspaper featured a fantastic article about Mission Without Borders.

In the article, taking up two-thirds of the Register Faith page, Mission Without Borders’ UK Director, David Hardisty, tells of the charity’s work to bring some of the poorest people in Eastern Europe hope and healing by helping them in very practical ways.

The particular focus for David at this time of year is Operation Christmas Love. Mission Without Borders makes every effort to sustain the neediest families and elderly during Christmas by distributing over 30,000 Operation Christmas Love boxes. Stuffed full of basic foods, some treats and a copy of the Christmas story, each box is a small way to bring light into darkness; hope to the hopeless.

David passionately recounts the impact of such ‘love in a box’: He remembers personally visiting one Operation Christmas Love beneficiary, Svetlana, who was tragically suffering from cancer. She asked David to ‘tell the big hearted people who sent us this box, that last Christmas they saved our lives: they gave us hope.’

Read The Times article here.

Donate now to Operation Christmas Love.

You still have time to order Christmas gifts from Presents for the Future.

Presents for the Future are gifts that make a lasting difference to people living in poverty.

• Give a mothercare parcel for just £15 and you’ll make sure a baby’s new life starts safely.
• Give some chickens for just £20 and you could provide a whole family with nutritious eggs and meat to eat, manure to fertilise their fields and chicks to sell at market.
• Give a catering course for £65 and you will set up a young person with skills to gain employment.

We have lots more Presents for the Future gifts, and all of them will bring hope for a better future to someone living in Europe’s poorest countries.

View all our gifts and order online.

Or phone 020 7940 1370 to place your order now in time for Christmas.