25/40 Romania – Andrew and Jackie Howlett

Family Sponsorship Project in Lupeni 16 families are being helped through this project and since the project began 3 ? years ago, 21 families have been involved. As their financial circumstances have changed so families have left the project and more needy families have followed them. The project is run by Anca and is linked with the Baptist Church. Each weekday the families are able to access the church lunch-time canteen to collect cooked meals. There has been a dramatic rise in the cost of living which has affected families badly especially in the winter months. Owing to the need to buy medicines for their families, most families suffer from poor health during the cold winter months due mainly to poor diet and having little or no heat in their homes.

The project runs a Homework Club each weekday morning from the sponsored families whose children are struggling at school. Education is considered to be very important in Romania and unsuccessful children in the annual tests are often made to repeat and eventually get ashamed and drop out of school. So these struggling children are helped with extra tuition. Anca also runs a girl’s bible study group and also a women’s bible study group (for mothers of the sponsored families) and is seeing an increased open-ness to the gospel.

Child Sponsorship Project at the Baptist Church Orphanage in Lupeni There are currently 15 children at the orphanage. One of the olderboys has moved on to vocational training but comes back during the holidays to be with all his friends. The atmosphere in the orphanage is a warm and loving one and it is run very well by Vasile and Katsy (who have two children themselves). Al the children appear to be doing well at school and considering further study then they leave.

Child Sponsorship Project at the House of Hope in Baru This home continues to be a real “home” for 9 children including one your boy of 4 whose parents live on the streets of Bucharest and we realised that they could not look after him. Dani who runs the House of Hope (with his wife Lili) used to work with the street kids of Bucharest and knew the little boy’s parents. Dani is also Mayor of Baru, a very busy and influential responsibility, and the day to day running of the home falls to his wife, a cook and 2 “mothers” who care for the children day and night. The emphasis in thewarm and happy home is on “family”, firm discipline and an openness to God. All the children call Dani and Lili mummy and daddy because they really feel that they are their parents. The House has recently had a new two-storey extension which makes the use of the accommodation easier for all.

There are plans for another House of Hope style home in Baru and Dani is acting as an advisor to this new project in addition to his role in the House of Hope and also being Mayor. Please pray for Dani and Lili, for the responsibilities that they have. They have very little relaxation time together and with their own two children – pray that God will enable the times they do have together to be rewarding. May He bless them and give them the joy of serving and seeing the rewards of all their hard work coming to fruition in the lives of the children and in the wider community.

The Drop-in Centre for poor children in Baru This has now been running for 3 years and opens weekday afternoons during school term time and is attended by 18 children who are selected by their teachers and by Dani because they come from poor families and for the potential and determination that they have shown to improve themselves.

They arrive at the centre at lunchtime when they finish school have a hot meal. For the rest of the afternoon they are helped with their homework, taught English and study the Bible. There are plans to expand the Drop-in next door to take more children and to provide a shower area as most children do not have hotwater at home.

Sponsorship to send poor children from the Dropin Centre in Baru to High School When children reach 14 years of age they can start High School and they spend 4 years there (having attended Primary School from ages 7-13).

There are no High Schools in Baru and the children’s parents cannot afford the £10 per month for bus and train fares to send their children to the nearest High School. This would mean that their education would stop at 14 years which would seriously affect their employment prospects and would probably result in their being unable to break out of the poverty cycle. Ten children have been helped for 1 year. Please pray concerning the next three years so that these children may graduate.

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