The Return of Winter September 2014
Greetings friends Already it’s time to say goodbye to summer as our kids head back to school (for BC kids we hope they’ll be back as you read this). It’s time for us to prepare for the hectic season ahead leading to Christmas and the celebration of the birth of our Lord and Saviour. Of course it also means the return of winter. A delightful season for many of us throughout Canada, but a dreaded one for so many across Eastern Europe. Now it’s heading into the time when poor families have to start making hard choices. Food or fuel, do we go hungry or do we freeze? Far too many moms and dads are asking themselves this. At Mission Without Borders we seek to take away the necessity to ask that question. We offer hope and opportunity to escape from having to make that choice.
Taking control over their lives Recently a Family to Family (F2F) family in Ukraine was greatly blessed by our “Exit Fund Help” project. This family is going to be withdrawn from our F2F Program, and this project became a very good support towards selfsufficiency for them. The father, Anatoliy, is a carpenter by profession. He equipped a small workshop in their basement and earns a living by making furniture and different items out of wood for commission. Anatoliy and wife Oksana have nine children, so he needs to work hard to provide for his loved ones. The family has struggled over the years to get out of the poverty cycle and MWB was there every step of the way. Now as they were about to take the final steps to complete self sufficiency our coordinators decided to help out once more. MWB bought a new, quality compressor, hand milling cutter, vibratory grinder, fastener driving machine and a joiner’s exhausting blower, as he needed all these things for his work. The family is extremely grateful to MWB for all the support they received throughout the years and for this great project, in particular. “Mission Without Borders radically influenced the life of our family” Anatoliy says. “There was a very difficult time, when we had to move from one rented flat to another with our five small children. And just at that time MWB started to support us. That became a great blessing, for without your help we would not be able to build our own house. God blessed us richly so that we could buy a piece of land for construction for a very cheap price. And all these years the Mission helped us with food, clothes and other things while we had to spend our income on building materials. Sometimes we would have to use the food from the Mission’s food parcels very sparingly to have enough till the next month.”
The family’s sponsors also helped them with some building materials and sanitary engineering, such as the floor and tiles for their bathroom, washbowl and shower cabin. Sponsors also helped by providing a refrigerator, vacuum and food processor. Oksana, the wife, shares, “Due to the Mission’s help we were able to get on our feet, and I would say that our life then and now is very different. We were much blessed by the Mission’s assistance, and we pray and wish all our sponsors abroad to be richly blessed by our Lord. Thank you so much for everything you have done for us! Please, be aware that you are doing a great thing by helping Ukrainian families, something that changes the circumstances of the families and their lives forever.”
OPERATION CHRISTMAS LOVE During Christmas, many families in rural Moldova (indeed throughout Eastern Europe) face a daily struggle to simply eat and keep warm. With three small children to feed, parents Gheorghe and Inga often go without food. “Today I have made boiled beans for dinner, but we don’t have enough for lunch, so we’ll have some tea with a biscuit. At Christmas, our meal is usually the same, because we don’t have money to buy anything special to celebrate” explains Inga. The idea of beans, tea and a biscuit for Christmas dinner is very sad. That’s why every year about this time Mission Without Borders starts to prepare thousands of parcels for families like Gheorghe and Inga’s for Christmas. May we please ask for your support for this project? Christmas is coming quickly and we are faced with deadlines to get the packages prepared and ready for delivery. You can designate the family you wish to receive the parcel or leave it to us to get the parcel to a needy family. You can contribute more than the cost of a parcel for a family if you like. We would then give the family a parcel and the rest of your donation would go to them for things most needed. The Gift System is available from September 1st; deadline for orders will be October 31st and the parcels will be delivered during the month of December.
Mission Without Borders 1-800-494-4454 | www.mwbca.org email: dinwood@mwbi.org
P.O. Box 2007, Abbotsford, BC V2T 3T8
“... we’ll have some tea with a biscuit. At Christmas, our meal is usually the same, because we don’t have money to buy anything special to celebrate” Family Program Family Large Parcel $60.00 One family parcel per sponsorship share can be bought. In other words, a family can receive up to 4 parcels. If one sponsor sponsors all four shares in a family, he/she can buy up to four parcels if wanted.
Marmalade Canned meat Coffee, tea, juice Chocolates, sweets, biscuits Family board game Towel set bathroom/kitchen A set of thread and needles Decorating items Table cloth
Children’s Gifts $28.00 in F2F Program Can only be bought if a family parcel is ordered at the same time. Each child in a family (regardless of how many children in the family) will get one of the 3 age relevant gifts below if a “F2F Children gifts package” is bought. If more than one sponsor buys a “F2F Children gifts package” for his/her family, the children will still “only” receive one gift each (and the additional gifts will be given to other needy F2F children. Package 1 Sweets and stickers and a book Package 2 Sweets and crayons and drawing book
supplies, clothes, shoes and personal hygiene items to use and to take home to their families. The camps present an opportunity to learn about the love of God through the bible, Christian puppet theatre, counselling, devotions and by the example set by our MWB staff.
Sponsor Tours Romania and Moldova Spring 2015
Are you interested in going on a sponsor tour next spring? If there is sufficient participation we will organize tours for late spring in either Moldova or Romania or both. Sponsors pay their air fares and living costs while in country. We will arrange the itinerary and act as your tour guides. Please call, email or write to let us know of your interest. It would be so special to meet your sponsored children and families, for them and you.
Package 3 Sweets and deodorant
CRI Program CRI: One parcel per child (can only be bought by the sponsor) CRH: Any number of parcels can be bought by a CRH sponsor to go to his/ her home. We will strive to cover any gap (in a CRH home) with general gifts given - to make it a party for all children involved.
Girls (4-11) large parcel $50.00
Girls (12-18) - large parcel $50.00
Boys (4-11) large parcel $50.00
Boys (12-18) - large parcel $50.00
Shampoo Shower Gel Hairclips Scrunchies Toothbrush Toothpaste Notebook Crayons Sweets Watch Book Puzzle Warm Gloves Warm Scarf
Shampoo Shower Gel Hairbrush Toothbrush Toothpaste Deodorant Perfume (Eau de Toilette) Sweets Watch Book Warm Gloves Warm Scarf
Shampoo Shower Gel Toothbrush Toothpaste Hairbrush Building Blocks (Lego or similar) Notebook Crayons Sweets Watch Book Warm Gloves Warm Scarf
Shampoo Shower Gel Toothbrush Toothpaste Deodorant Hairbrush Aftershave (Eau de Toilette) Book Sweets Watch Warm Gloves Warm Scarf
Prayer Guide
We invite you to look at our new prayer guide. You can find it on our website at http://www.mwbca.org/get-involved/ Look under the Prayer team entry.
Do you live in Abbotsford and area and like to volunteer?
We need some help doing general office work, a little computer stuff. There is nothing complicated, some of it can even be done on your home computer. We also need a little help in receiving, sorting and packing donations. No heavy work is involved. If you’re interested please call and speak to either David or Bonnie. We’d love to hear from you. Thank you to all that you do to help those in need whether it be through MWB or in other ways. We are all very grateful. May God bless. David
David Inwood National Manager
Summer Camp Success Just in closing I want to say thank you to everyone who supported our summer camp program this year. 2014 was perhaps the busiest and most successful summer camp season Mission Without Borders has had. About 3000 children attended these ten-day camps throughout Eastern Europe. For the children these camps are a wonderful diversion from the daily difficulties of their lives. For example, the camp in Victoria, Romania in July hosted 99 children mentored by 11 adults. From the arid plains of Victoria, the children were moved to a green forest; from clay huts to spacious wood cabins; they slept in their own bed with clean sheets; they had three meals and treats (fruits and sweets) every day. More than that, at camp they received toys, school
1-800-494-4454 | www.mwbca.org