OPERATION CHRISTMAS LOVE 2012

Christmas is a special time of year around the world where people come together to celebrate the gift of God, Jesus Christ, the Saviour of the world. Some enjoy special times with family, friends, food and exchanging gifts in a festive

atmosphere. Usually in October, sparkling decorations appear, shops offer special food for the Christmas table and TV programs and commercials appeal to holiday shoppers. But how can those in poverty in Eastern Europe, who barely manage to survive, celebrate Christmas?

This Christmas, as we have done in past years, MWB brings Operation Christmas Love (OCL) delivering 30,000 crucial parcels of food to the poor in Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Moldova, Romania and Ukraine. Joining hands with local churches, we shine the light of the Saviour by showing God’s love to the most needy in society - staff in Children’s Homes & Hospitals, families living on minimal wages, families where the parents have lost their jobs and are unable to provide for their children, the disabled and elderly people who are on their own without any support.

The Zonevi family of Bulgaria received an OCL parcel for the first time last year, and it brought

a reminder to the family that they have placed their trust in the right person, Jesus Christ.

Sotir and Iliana have been married for twenty years and have three sons. Both unemployed, this ordinary Bulgarian family struggles to make ends meet. Their only hope is their faith in God and His goodness. Iliana shared: “Ten years ago I was really confused with life but then I found comfort and peace in God. From that moment on, I knew in Whom I could put all my trust. Every day, we are confronted with hardships and trials, struggling for our daily bread. It is indeed difficult to be a mother of three in Bulgaria. The social services are

inadequate and barely offer any support at all. Expecting help from anyone other than Jesus is just useless. Last summer my husband was forced to leave and search for work in Greece. He found occasional jobs for a week or two, but then was out of work again. He tried to find more work but he didn’t succeed

and returned to Bulgaria. I used to work as an assistant in a small shop but my employer had to let me go due to the economic downfall. I now clean private houses for a small income so that we can at least have bread to eat.”

Aware of the family’s situation, Pastor Julian Sotirov of the Blagoevgrad Church brought an OCL parcel to the Zonevi’s small apartment. “This parcel was God’s merciful gift to us. Receiving these food products lifted the heavy burden from my heart. I was so glad we were to have a peaceful Christmas with food on the table. We were all so happy. Thank you to everyone who sacrificed and worked hard, so that we could have joy in our home at Christmas.” said Iliana, describing the family’s joy and gratitude.

We Were all so happy. Thank you To everyone Who sacrificed and Worked hard, so ThaT We could have joy in our home aT chrisTmas

The Zonevi family

Operation Christmas Love - the need is great!

Operation Christmas Love aims to show love to families and elderly people at a time they really need our help. Iryna Borodiy of Ukraine and her five children; Vlad (who

lives with his grandmother), Yulia, Nadia, Mariya and Anhelina feel betrayed as the person they loved, their father, has left them all alone. He decided that the family could cope without him and left for Kyiv, two years ago and hasn’t returned. In spite of poverty and all the difficulties Iryna has met on her way, she cannot say anything bad about her former husband, as he is the father of her children.

Iryna comes from a non-Christian family. However, when she studied at college, she met some Christians, who invited her to church. She realised the difference between life with God and her former life and she eventually repented of her sins. Shortly afterwards, she met her husband, got married and left her life of churchgoing behind. However, as troubles and difficulties began to appear, Iryna remembered that God was the one who could help so she began to go to the local Baptist church together with her husband.

Life has always been difficult for this family, but when Iryna was left alone with the children, she was in despair. How would she provide for the children? How would she repair the house? When it was especially difficult, Iryna knelt and prayed. She found a night job as a watchwoman close to her house. During the day, she can be with the children and work in the fields and then work at night. The family was enrolled in the Family to Family program and now regularly receive food parcels, hygiene items and clothes. God has answered Iryna’s prayers!

When MWB came with the OCL parcel, the family was really happy to receive it. They were grateful for every item in the parcel – whether it was flour, rice, buckwheat, tinned fish or sweets. Iryna said that the parcel was also God’s answer to her prayers. With these products, she would be able to prepare perfect meals for the Christmas holidays, bake a cake and some cookies, make a salad with the tinned fish and the children will even have chocolate as a treat!

Iryna knows that she is not alone with her problems. She knows that God will never forsake or betray her. However, there are many other families who don’t know these truths. For them, an OCL parcel is just another proof that they are not alone.

Happy for OCL

The Borodiy family

The Brasoveanu family live in Cahul, Moldova. Vasile and Ecaterina, have three children; Andreea, Marius and

Iulian. The Brasoveanu family thought that the holidays would be the same as always for their family and would have no joy for them. Ecaterina said: “Because of the poverty we are faced with, I didn’t even think about the way we would spend the coming winter holidays, but I know God is great and He is always with us. He has a plan for us for sure.”

As if the poverty the family faces daily were not enough, last year a tragedy befell the family. A drunken neighbour behaved aggressively towards Ecaterina and the children. Vasile tried to protect them but accidently killed the man. Vasile was found guilty and sent to prison. It was a dramatic situation for his wife and children, and life became even more difficult for Ecaterina, who is unable to find work and doesn’t have anyone to help her look after her youngest children.

All four members of the Brasoveanu family share one room in the house of Vasile’s mother, which is old and in disrepair. Vasile’s mother often gets drunk and bothers Ecaterina and her children. The fence that protects their house is old, rotten and falling down and thieves came and stole some of their poultry. For Ecaterina, every morning means more challenges and hard work to find some food for her children. All she wants is to keep them healthy and help them grow normally.

Winter brings new challenges for Ecaterina who has to solve the problem of providing wood to warm their house. “The children are small and to keep them healthy, I need to keep the room we stay in warm during the cold season. I try to dress them in several layers of clothing to keep their little bodies warm. I borrow the donkey from one of our neighbours to bring water from a well a kilometre away and pick up some branches and bring them home to make a fire to warm our house,” said Ecaterina.

Ecaterina has so much sadness in her eyes. While many families have different dreams and wishes, her only wish is to keep her children healthy, for them to stay together and to have at least the minimum to feed and support them. “I can’t offer my children much, but I love them immensely and everything I do is to help and support them. We gathered some walnuts in the autumn which I sold so I could pay for their school supplies. For a week, I went looking in rubbish tips, on the streets and in the woods and collected iron which I sold, but I still barely managed to earn much money. Still my heart rejoiced and praised God that He did not leave us. He was with us and I know He watches over us,” remembered Ecaterina, concerning one of her recent trials.

Ecaterina planned for the family to eat their usual fried potatoes and bread with tea at Christmas. The family didn’t even have pasta, rice or the children’s favourite, buckwheat.

They were amazed to receive the OCL parcels and deeply moved by all the items they saw in the parcel. The children couldn’t wait for their mother to open the OCL parcels and with great enthusiasm talked about the sorts of meals they would enjoy thanks to the food items they received.

“I am deeply surprised by the OCL food parcel we received. In the winter, we always find it difficult to offer our children good food, because food is very expensive to buy in winter. With the support of the OCL parcel, I will bake my children’s favourite pie and cookies. It will be a great surprise for them. This will help them feel the special atmosphere of the Christmas season. How glorious is our God! Some days ago, I read Psalm 127 in the Bible and was encouraged by its message. Receiving the OCL parcel reminded me of what God promised me in this Psalm. I want to express heartfelt words of gratitude to Mission Without Borders and the generous people who made our Christmas holidays brighter and brought joy into our hearts. Thank you for being close to us and thinking of us during these hard times for our family and at Christmas. May God bless and reward you in abundance,” said a grateful Ecaterina. The cheerful smiles of the children make the mother’s heart joyful and give her the strength to move on with more courage and determination.

Operation Christmas Love parcels given as a gift of love, are a reminder to the recipients of God’s care, His love and His gift to us at Christmas, Jesus Christ, the Saviour of the world. Will you consider joining with us this year in our aim to provide 30,000 parcels of love to the poor and needy of Eastern Europe? Each food parcel costs around $40.00 and contains

essential items such as flour, sugar, oil, rice and pasta, as well as sweets, chocolate, tea, soup mix, tinned foods and Christian literature. With your help, Mission Without Borders will make a huge difference in the lives of poor people, bringing joy and hope, and assuring every single beneficiary that God is providing for their needs at the time they need it most. You may choose to donate by mail, on our website www.mwb.org.au or phone our office on 02 9647 2022. Thank you for your support and prayers.

The Brasoveanu family

OCL brings love

Winter brings more difficulties

Coordinators and ColleCtion Points

What is needed – UPdated list!!!

Please contact our office, or the

nearest collection point listed below,

to organise getting your donated

goods to us in sydney or Melbourne.

david turner is the australia-wide Coordinator Sydney Office: 10 Stubbs Street, AUBURN NSW 2144PO Box 7533 SILVERWATER NSW 1811 Phone: (02) 9647 2022 Email: dturner@mwbi.org

Jenny Grainger is our Victorian Coordinator: 3 Exner Drive DANDENONG NORTH VIC 3175 Phone: (03) 9795 6141 Email: jenn.mwbvic@internode.on.netWorkshop: 8 Birch Avenue DANDENONG NORTH VIC 3175 Open Fridays 9am- 3.30pm. Saturdays 10am -2pm (except VIC School Holidays). soUth aUstralia

- leila lydeamore 33 Ina Close CRAIGMORE SA 5114 Phone: (08) 8255 0092 Email: leila@chariot.net.au

aCt- Christine Bollen 2 Barron Street DEAKIN ACT 2600Phone (02) 6282 2210Email: bollens@netspeed.com.au

ViCtoria -Geelong- John & hermina thierry 24 Coulter Street NEWCOMB VIC 3219 Phone: (03) 5248 7437 or 0407 502 733

tasMania- Carlene irwin 114 Sheffield Rd SPREYTON TAS 7310Phone: (03) 6427 3113

QUeensland - Brisbane - elize du Preez Elize is our new collection point. Contact her after 4:30pm weekdays or on weekends to make delivery arrangements. Deliveries: 14 St Ives Circuit FOREST LAKE QLD 4078 Postal address: PO BOX 4672 FOREST LAKE QLD 4078Phone: 0439 696 837 Email: figaroe@bigpond.com

Western aUstralia- debbi Wilson Unit 4/110 Matheson Road APPLECROSS WA 6153 Phone: (08) 9316 2466 or 0417 926 695 Email: deb7543@gmail.comPlease note: Deliveries can only be made on weekends and weeknight evenings. Please phone first to arrange a suitable time.

Your gift in kind donations throughout the year have been a huge blessing to the children, families and elderly we minister to in Eastern Europe. So far this year, our containers have gone to the needy in Romania, Bulgaria, Ukraine and Moldova. With the European winter season fast approaching, the items we have already sent will certainly be a welcomed necessity to keep people warm. A family in Romania commented “Thank you very much for everything you are doing to help us! The items we received are very useful because it is freezing here over winter and these clothes help us to keep warm. We love them, they have nice colours and they are exactly what we need”. But the need is still so great!! We appreciate your continued help and involvement.

Knitted, Crocheted and handmade items: • Knittingpatternsareavailable- contact our office or visit our website www.mwb.org.au if you would like some guidance and ideas.• Blankets

•Theminimumsizeourfieldcountrieshaverequested for knitted or crocheted blankets is approximately 160cm x 140cm (can be knitted by: 4mm (size 8) needles, 8-plyyarn,40stitchesx80rowstomake56squares)

•Ifyouareonlyabletoknit/crochetsmallerblankets,then they could be joined together with other small blankets to make a larger blanket. Knit/crochet small blankets measuring 80cm x 80cm-four of these can then be joined togethertomakealarge160cmsquareblanket. •Ifyouareonlyconfidenttoknitsquares(20cmx20cm), wewouldloveyourinvolvement.Squarescanbegiven to us to be joined into blankets by others or they are sent

to our field countries to be sewn together into blankets by the ladies who attend our Community Centres and children in our Vocational Training projects. • Patchwork quilts and polar fleece blankets.• scarves, gloves, mittens and bed socks.• Beanies- for adults and children (at 2 years old, a child’s

head size is the same as an adults).• Knitted teddy Bears• Jumpers – older children, teenagers and adult sizes are

in greatest need. Patterns with a crew neck are most appropriate for the climate.

• We cannot accept “aids Baby Jumpers”.• all items for sewing, embroidery, knitting and craft activities - Fabric, wool, cottons, needles etc. (for the Vocational Training courses; for poor families and elderly who would love to sew or knit for themselves but cannot afford the materials).

note: Please do not send seCond hand or Used clothing items to us. We are unable to send these to our field countries, due to customs regulations we must adhere to.

street address: 10 Stubbs Street AUBURN NSW 2144opening hours: 9am-5pm Monday-FridayPostal address: PO BOX 7533 SILVERWATER NSW 1811www.mwb.org.au Phone: (02) 9647 2022 email: australia@mwbi.org

‘Gift in Kind – Operation Cover Up’ Update