Red Tulip Appeal update This year’s Red Tulip Appeal was a direct response to the unforeseen needs of our partners amid the coronavirus pandemic. We wanted to grow hope in Eastern Europe and the Balkans through your prayers and giving. The Red Tulip Appeal logo was designed by one of our new trustees, Nicoleta Mezei and in-house we created a profile picture frame for Facebook to help raise further awareness. Our partners’ stories were all too familiar. Lockdowns directly impacted businesses and jobs. Church members couldn’t meet, and services had to move online. Church income dropped dramatically. The pandemic spread throughout communities. More than 20 of our partners were infected by the virus and some are still recovering. We lost two dear friends and partners, Lucian Tabac and Mirco Andreev and we’re still coming to terms with the devastating loss of their presence. In March, along with the Connect magazine, we mailed out 2,000 red tulip postcards to our supporters which featured a painting of a red tulip, donated by Pam Sharples. We included a prayer of hope for our partners as we approached Easter. We also held an online prayer gathering and were joined by Andrew Saxton of
Life 2 Romania. Andrew works closely with our partner, Gavril Covaci and highlighted the needs of the Roma communities they serve. “The cramped conditions of many homes mean that if one person contracts coronavirus, the rest of the household contracts it too. Quarantines mean that people can’t leave to work and without state support, many families are going hungry.”
We have raised just over £6,000 through our Red Tulip Appeal, and TEN has added a further £5,000 to support our partners as they come through the coronavirus crisis. Your donations have been sent as urgent relief grants to support our partners and their communities. Thank you for your prayers and kind donations—we really appreciate them. We know that God is at work through every prayer offered.
Find out more and donate at ten-uk.org/redtulip 9
