Hundreds of workers and volunteers are packing Operation Christmas Love boxes to bring love and hope to vulnerable families.

Across six countries in Eastern Europe Mission Without Borders staff and volunteers are packing boxes with basic foodstuffs to meet the needs of hungry families and the elderly who are destitute.

Bogdan is one of the volunteer packers. He used to live in a state institution and now receives a scholarship from Mission Without Borders to help him through his college course.  He is studying medicine in Sibiu and is in his final year. Asked why he had volunteered, he said, “I wanted to be part of sharing the Good News of Christ’s birth. And in the same way, to thank you for your help to me over the years. You changed my life and my volunteering today is a small ‘Thank You!’”

Neither staff nor volunteers are paid for packing boxes. They have volunteered after a busy week at work. They are doing this to share as much blessing and joy as possible to poor and needy families and individuals.  Mission Without Borders believes that Christmas should be a time of hope; a time for sharing; a time for love.

It costs just £16 to pack and distribute an Operation Christmas Love box.

Share the love of Christmas with Mission Without Borders.

Gifts from MWB’s Presents for the Future catalogue really give people hope for the future. People like twelve-year old Renaldo.

Renaldo had no chance of learning English at school. His family could not afford the extra classes so he never dared dream of going to university – until his family received a MWB Present for the Future gift of vocational English training. Today, speaking in English, he says, “I’m really learning English now.”

At his beach school, ‘Bajram Curri’, in Durres, Renaldo studied as best he could. But in Albania English is a requirement for anyone wanting to go to university, or to find work. So Renaldo needed to improve his language learning. Along with all the other children at the beach school, he needed extra lessons.

But Renaldo’s family struggle to make ends meet. They are a family of four living in a one-room hut in Durres’ slum ‘beach community’. Since the collapse of communism, many poverty-striken families made their homes in former beach cabins.

Over the two months since Renaldo has taken extra English lessons, he’s grown in confidence: “I feel more secure during the lessons now. I know that I am poor in English, but thanks to the course and to the dedication of my teacher, I am able to do my English homework by myself, without help.”

Renaldo’s mother, Zana (41), cannot hold back her thanks: “It is a blessing. I can’t find the words to express our gratitude to the mission and the donors that invest in Renaldo’s education. These essential courses are very expensive. It is unthinkable for us to be able to send our children. What a wonderful opportunity this is for Renaldo to build a future.”

Vocational training currently available includes:

• Computer course for £40
• Tailoring for £45
• Bee-keeping for £55
• Catering for £65.

Give someone hope for a better future; give a Present for the Future.

‘We had nothing; no oil, sugar, rice or semolina to give food to the children – until we received the Operation Christmas Love box.’

Valentina is still amazed at the surprise delivery of an Operation Christmas Love box to her family:

‘We never thought that anybody was thinking about us.’

But last Christmas Eve, Mission Without Borders gave the Dimitrov family a special emergency food box. It was stuffed full of all the basic foods the Dimitrovs needed: oil, tea, tinned vegetables, tinned meat, sugar, flour, pasta and rice. It came at just the right time.

‘We were desperate: We did not have any oil, sugar, rice or semolina to prepare food for the children. These things are very expensive at the market and we couldn’t afford to buy them. Everything you gave us was so essential to feed the family.’

Valentina and Vasile have four children all under 7 years old. The Dimitrov family could not celebrate Christmas. They had no way of paying for special meals or presents. There was little joy and no help from anyone. But last year was different. In a trembling voice, Valentina exclaimed that ‘the whole family really appreciates this generosity. I can tell you that we felt loved and blessed.’

It costs us just £16 to make sure another family like the Dimitrovs will be fed this Christmas.
Will you give this Christmas for emergency Operation Christmas Love food boxes to feed hungry families?

Over 7,000 food boxes packed and ready to give to families in need across Romania.

Mission Without Borders workers and ten volunteers in Romania have packed around 7,000 boxes with staple foods. These are Operation Christmas Love boxes filled with flour, oil, rice, pasta, coffee or tea, tinned meat and vegetables, sweets, jam, biscuits and a copy of the Christmas story.

Working with local churches, as well as regional councils, Mission Without Borders co-ordinators will deliver the boxes free to some of Romania’s poorest families and elderly over the Christmas period.

Each box costs just £16 to pack and distribute. Mission Without Borders aims to hand out over 30,000 boxes across Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Moldova, Romania and Ukraine.

Help us to give away more Operation Christmas Love boxes. You will change someone’s Christmas, and maybe their life.

Donate now.

Give a gift this Christmas that will make a real difference to people living in poverty.

Our Present for the Future alternative gifts are a great way to show your friends and family that you are thinking of them. At the same time you will help to change lives across Eastern Europe.

There are gifts for everyone. Take a look at our online Present for the Future catalogue:

Christmas Presents for the Future

Poverty-striken family given joy through Operation Christmas Love.

It was already dark outside when Mission Without Borders’ co-ordinator visited the Bosca family. Snow was deep around their home; the Romanian winter cold and unfriendly. The family of four were struggling to keep warm. Even though Maria and Vasile Bosca worked hard, they never seemed to have enough money to heat their home and to feed themselves properly. Their daughters, Esmeralda (12) and Alexandra (5), were not looking forward to Christmas.

But as the Boscas opened their door, they saw the co-ordinator struggling under two boxes decorated with hearts and the words ‘Operation Christmas Love’. Vasile came out to help.

Inside their small home, the whole family was excited – the girls curious as to what was in the boxes. They gathered around the table carefully taking out the items one by one.  Their happiness showed in all their actions and expressions. As they saw the flour and the sugar, they started talking about baking biscuits with their mother for Christmas.

Surrounded by the Operation Christmas Love box contents - pasta, rice, tinned meat and vegetables – the whole family jointly thanked our coordinator and also passed on their gratitude to everyone who thought of them to help send the Operation Christmas Love box.

The Boscas received joy and love, as well as basic foodstuffs to keep them going for Christmas.
For just £16 you change a family’s Christmas by giving an Operation Christmas Love box.

Civil society group ‘Citizens’ Action’, based in Sarajevo, plans to march to the state Parliament of Bosnia-Herzegovina. They want Bosnians across the country to join their protest against lack of government. The theme of ‘Citizens’ Action’ is: ‘There is work to be done, everyone to the Ministries!’

Bosnia-Herzegovina’s last general election was in October 2010, over twelve months ago. But the country has had no government since then. The block to forming a new government is the failure of the country’s six main political parties to reach consensus on appointments to the Council of Ministers.

Bosnia and Herzegovina is run using a technical mandate outlined in the post-war Dayton Constitution (1995), requiring representation of the main ethnic groups. But lack of an effective central government means that Bosnia is losing about 340 million euros per year and facing plummeting foreign direct investment. People are struggling with rising unemployment and a stagnating economy.

Mission Without Borders (MWB) supports those children, families and elderly suffering under such political chaos, waves of joblessness and decreasing social security. In 2011 across Bosnia-Herzegovina, MWB:

• Partnered with 11 churches to provide community centres feeding hundreds of elderly and homeless.
• Donated ‘Seeds of Hope’ start-up kits for eighty families to grow their own vegetables to feed themselves and take the first steps towards self-reliance.
• Gave more than 2,500 families and older folk food parcels to survive the winter, while another 60 families received crisis assistance of food, clothes and mattresses following flooding last November.

Support our Operation Christmas Love appeal to help families surivive this winter in Bosnia-Herzegovina.

With the arrival of their third child the Xhavara family were filled with joy and fear. They were worrying over whether they could afford to buy food, but then had an unexpected surprise.

When Najada found out she was pregnant again she says, ‘it did not bring me great joy. We became stressed and worried. Our income is so limited. Ervis works when he can, but it is very difficult to find a regular job.’

When Mission Without Borders workers visited the Xhavara family, Najada says they ‘brought hope and warmth into our lives. They offered love, support and advice and helped us through the fears we were facing concerning Anxhela.’

Najada received ‘an unexpected surprise’ when she was given a Mission Without Borders Mother Care parcel. ‘It really cheered us up. It contained nappies, baby oil, powder, milk…. oh, here is everything she needs!’ Najada exclaimed.

With a big smile on her face, Najada shared thanks for everything in her Mother Care parcel: ‘I am very touched by your support in providing my baby with the basic items she needs. Thank you for your kindness. It is unthinkable for me to buy such precious gifts for my child. I am very happy, especially for the milk and nappies. I thank you with all my heart.’

Choose a Christmas gift that makes a real difference.

Over 6,000 people are receiving free copies of the Bible. In the Bihor District of Romania, up to 16 Bibles are being given away every day. The Betel Baptist Church in Salonta has organised the big Bible give-away, along with many other local churches.

They are giving Bibles to people from all walks of life; bank workers, public sector workers, teachers and lecturers, university students, nurses and elderly in care homes. Even shoppers at the market and prisoners have received their own copies.

The churches in Bihor are also making sure that as many children as possible receive special children’s Bibles. These include illustrations to help children read about God and His Son, who came to save the world.

Mission Without Borders donated the 6,000 Bibles in celebration of the organisation’s 50th anniversary. Director of Mission Without Borders Romania, Eugen Macavei, states, ‘because of this project, we are blessed way beyond our expectations as we see people starting to attend church, read the Bible and get baptized. It is wonderful! God is good and it is only by His strength and love that we can do this. May His name be praised at all times!’

Be part of this Bible give-away by donating one Bible per month.

Valjdet and his wife have two young children. They live in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Valjdet is fortunate to have a job working for the city refuse collection department, whilst his wife cares for their children.

However, even with a job, the economic problems mean that Valjdet is not paid regularly. To suplement his income, he takes additional work where he can find it. This allows him to support his family, but means that he has less time to spend with them.  He shared the frustration that having an irregular income is. They need food every day but they do not always have the money.

When they saw their Operation Christmas Love parcel last year, the family were delighted. Valdjet’s young daughter picked up the food she liked and began waving it around. “There is enough food here for a while, so I can be with my family until this cold period ends,” he said.  What a blessing - a parcel of food meant a family could spend Christmas together.

To support families in need this Christmas with an OCL parcel, click here. One parcel costs just £16.