Mustard Seed Jersey Prayer Update
January 2010
Dear
Prayer Supporters
Thank you for
blessing us with your prayers, please be encouraged to continue, as we have seen prayers
answered.
Our Christmas aid trip was
successful, many encouragements but some challenges and real concerns. First
and foremost we give thanks for safety for all involved.
ENCOURAGEMENTS
It was a HUGE encouragement to us to
stay at Casa Mabel the home built by Mustard Seed to house needy
pensioners.
I have to say that I believe the
organisation of it is quite inspired with the elderly pensioners on the
ground floor and the young women who had been in the sheltered apartment living
on the upper storey. It is amazing to see the younger women turn to the older
women for advice and
guidance and to see the obvious pleasure the older ones felt relating to the
younger ones. The younger ones were all in the
Mustard Seed apartments all come from state orphanages. One summed it well
"I never had a grandmother but now I have 3 to love”.
PRAYER REQUESTS
Please pray for the Casa Mabel staff:
DANA (full time main carer and care
manager);
ADELA (full time assistant
carer);
NELU (the cook and supervisor);
ADELINA (part-time assistant carer -
weekends / evenings)
ALEX & RODY (over all supervisor
of all Mustard Seed Romania projects who will spend most weekends there to give
the other staff time off)
Please pray for the elderly residents
MARIA (no specific known needs);
TEREZ (many medical problems, at
times can be very distressed - pray for peace for her);
ANA (frequent visits to hospital due
to problems with her legs);
IULIANA (soon after moving into Casa
Mabel she was diagnosed as having TB and now is in isoltaion
hospital for the next 3 months)
THANKFULLY nobody else at Casa Mabel
has been infected - this was a real concern as several years earlier Maria one
of the young women needed treatment. (TB is quite common in Romania).
There is space for another elderly
lady downstairs - please pray for guidance for selecting another lady who will
fit into the happy family atmosphere.
Upstairs the younger residents would
value your prayers:
FLORI (many needs due to prolonged
kidney dialysis - too unwell to work); ADELA; ADELINA, ESTERA, MARIA, and
MARIANA. There is space for another 3 young
women, please pray for guidance for selecting more to join the home.
CONCERNS
Please pray for
Alex and Rody as they work to raise
funding in Romania to pay for the running costs of Casa Mabel.
Mustard Seed Jersey
guaranteed the funding for the first year but after that the
expectation was that Mustard Seed Romania must take on a good part of
that.
However there appears there will be a serious shortfall in June 2010.
Please pray for
wisdom for us in Mustard Seed Jersey and also for Alex and others
in Mustard Seed Romania
CONCERN & PRAYER REQUEST
NELU from FI (different from Nelu the cook) would very much value prayer as he continues
his battle against hepatitis C. He is responding quite slowly to the treatment,
we understand and it is likely that he will need to continue it for 18 months
instead of 12 months. The good news is that the Romanian health authority have now said that it will be funded by them
instead of by him (or us). Recently he has had difficulty obtaining the needed
medication in Romania. The effects of the powerful treatment are clear and he
lacks energy and strength and has experienced some hair loss. Pray for his wife
CRISTINA.
Pray for their work among a number of
very poorest people living in the city of Oradea. Pray Nelu
will have wisdom to know what he can do and what he cannot do as he has had to
cut down his hours.
Among the people Nelu
and Cristina assist are a group of people known as the FACTORY FAMILIES who are
homeless and squat at a ghastly disused factory warehouse with no facilities.
We were shocked to hear new families had moved in. Please pray for these
families. Especially remember ETVES family who had been there at the factory but then moved to a rented house as they
obtained steady jobs at the local large supermarket, BUT they are out of work
now as the supermarket has closed down after under 2 years. They are now
collecting scrap metal to sell as their only means of income.
Please pray also for MONIQUE who is
also collecting scrap metal as she can find no work.
ROMANIAN GOVERNMENT running out of
money. We were horrified to learn that all state employees must have one enforced
week's unpaid leave every month, almost certainly this
will last throughout 2010. This is across the board, teachers, social workers,
university lecturers, doctors, nurses, etc. This will obviously most affect the
poorest of the poor, including the people we assist - please remember this
situation in your prayers.
We in Mustard Seed Jersey are
seriously concerned about what will happen to the poorest of the poor in
Romania. Although there are signs of prosperity, better roads, etc. there
is a sharp increase in prices and taxes but not a comparable increase in either
pensions or the lowest wages.
In Jersey we plan to send 3 aid lorries this year - one in the spring, one late summer or
early autumn and the December lorry. Please remember us in prayer as we plan
ahead.
In the immediate future we are snowed
under with aid needing sorting and packing! Please pray urgently for some more
volunteer packers or for some seriously elastic walls in our packing loft!
Please continue to bless us with your
prayers.
Wishing you God's blessing throughout
2010.
Rose