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PRISON FELLOWSHIP ROMANIA

No. 3, July - September 2010

NEWSLETTER

HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE AGENDA OF OUR PRESIDENT,

CONSTANTIN ASĂVOAIE

7 July 2010, Ceremony for changing the President of Rotary Club;- 10 si 11 July 2010, preach in God’s Army Assembly and in a wedding in Rome ;

- September 2010 Collaboration Protocol signed for three years with the National Penitentiary Administration- Meetings : Martin de Graf, Hoost Europa, Olanda

Sofie Bjorkman, Erikshjalpen, SuediaNiels Arne Skov, chairman Danish Balkan MissionLeadership of Rotary International

John,14:12I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what

I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these,because I am going to the Father.

In just a few words I would like to share some thoughtabout the TEAM. In the above verse, the Great Teacher is ad-dressing a team he worked with for over three years. It was ateam of simple people but very different from each other. Some-one once said that, in a team, usual people accomplish unusualthings.

For the last three months we have tried to talk in our weekly bible study about ways we can enhance the efficiency of team work. We talked about our identity and the values we cher-ish. A team is not built over night and you can't expect resultsfrom one day to another.

I have been preoccupied by the issue of team work for along time and I realized that unfortunately sometimes my weak-nesses and limitation might be an obstacle to the efficiency of theteam. I have been trying hard to allow the leaders develop their own personality and make their own decisions. We learned thehard way that a team needs to evolved through at least fivesteps: forming, storming, norming, performing and finally, re-forming as in going separate ways, because, everything in theworld is temporary. It is amazing that all PFR leaders benefitedfrom managerial training but also learned from valuable books aswell as the hands on work in the fields as I learned in the little

village where I was born.That was true for Gina, Rares, Mihaela, David, Carmen,

Alexandra, Kinga, Ovidiu...Believe it or not, at the moment we are in storming, a stage

that forces us to give in, and allow our attitudes, feelings and our capacity to listen, allow all those things to be shaped. And that isso hard to do, as all of us fear vulnerability, failure, discourage-ment. I am the first to admit that it's painful to feel sometimes thatthe 20 years of experience I accumulated is not always wel-comed, but the truth is that we all need to change, even the older of us…

It's been on my heart for a while to allow the team to workmore freely, and that will start more and more at the beginning of 2011.

Many leaders believe that God had called them to a posi-

tion for ever. I, myself might be in this category. How could I thinklike you, dear youngsters, when we are 30 years apart? I used tostudy at candle light, go to school, tend the animals around thehouse and spend the whole day crying at times.

It is so different for you: intelligent young people, well edu-cated and experienced in a different world.

Dear ones, I VALUE THE TEAM AND I LOVE YOU SOMUCH!

I just looked out the window and noticed that the storm haspassed...

Her name is Gabriela Tunde. She came to Sobarilor Center on the17th of August, 2010 and she immediately caught our attention withher slow walking and her bent body.She’s only 40 years old and had an oscillating life with glimpses of unknown pains and tears that make you wonder: how was she able togo through all that?Immediately after her birth, her parents divorced, and she was raisedby her grandparents until she was 7 years old..."You're my girl, come to mama ..."," You're the only grandchild wehave got, come to your grandparents! We want to adopt you ... "Her mother remarried and Gabriela (as I like to call her) started ele-mentary school and then economic high school.After only two years she leaves school in order to take care of her bedridden grandfather.At just 18, Prince Charming comes with the promise: “until death dous part!"Her husband was not what she expected. Well, yes, love lasted four years... after that: fights, violence, physical and mental abuse...

Gabriela goes through another divorce…Just two years passed, and another Prince Charming comes into her life and gives her "a nightmare marriage" …Spring 1997: In a flat, a drunken stepfather hits his 8 years old daugh-ter directly into the heart.Hearing the cry of her daughter, Gabriela comes from the kitchen,sees the nightmare scene and instantly gets stabbed in the stomach.With a last effort she pulls off the knife with both hands and loosesconsciousness.

Like in a movie, there’s only dark-ness, 6-week coma in a hospital andblind pain, a lot of pain....Two weeks after being dischargedfrom the hospital she is arrested for murder.

The only proof: fingerprints onthe knife…

The lack of witnesses and proofs could have helped her if she hada lawyer. There was a process that she did not understand. What sheunderstood was only a number: 18 year sentence, years of harsh andundeserved life.

She was then moved from prison to prison: four years here, eightyears there, two years somewhere else …

The ruthless disease struck a devastated human being, and thiswas the reason why Gabriela was released from prison and broughtto us by Lydia Dan…

The most painful thing is that her life is still a struggle: ambulance

twice a day, Oncology examinations, perfusions, morphine and pain,a lot of pain!

"Now nothing makes sense anymore. I WAS NOT GUILTY! Evenif it could be proven I was not guilty, what's the point? Like the swanthat sings before her death I have one last dream: to be with mydaughter on the shore of a lake, to be touched by the willows and theLord Jesus to be with us. I believe this with all my heart! We do notneed good references, higher education, or a lot of money. We onlyneed His mercy and His grace, His grace alone ... "



Freedom behind bars... NEWSLETTER

We walk again with our Lord’s help behind bars in SatuMare prison. And still with God’s help we bring bread andfish to those marginalized by society but remembered by theLord. Thank God for He uses us in His work behind bars!

We have received many letters from prisoners and weare thankful we can talk to them face to face. All those deal-ing with prison ministry must take into consideration thegreat need of those behind bars to know God, to know thatHe offers forgiveness as a gift for all those who trust in theatoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross.

There are souls in prison who do not know this andtherefore they are going through a great spiritual crisis.

I met prisoners that although had an idea about Godused the gifts that God gave them only for private purposes just looking for opportunities to gain things. But we must notbe downhearted.

Visiting several churches I noticed that most Christiansdo not go to those behind bars, do not even mention them inprayers, and it’s very sad.

Our brothers from the Simleul Silvanai - "Bethany"Church gave uspower to go on, hav-ing great love for those behind barsand being engaged inthis work. We thankGod for the fire Heput in the heart of our brothers.Christian magazineswith crosswords from

the Bible have a big impacton prisoners. They do notreally read, but they enjoycrosswords, and trough

crosswords they learn a lotabout God.We met with the prison

chaplain and we went to-gether to the church where36 prisoners were waiting for us. We prepared 40 bags withsome sweets, notebooks, Christian literature and some other things for them.

We all sang together then we read from Luke 13 andbrother Laios and sister Judith explained the Word. Weprayed and I briefly told my testimony about how I met theLord behind bars.

Some of the convicts cried and we were glad to thempraying.

Many times when speaking about the work in prison

some brothers asked me if we have some results, somefruits. I thanked the Lord and said: "One of the fruit is me!Praise the Lord! "

Yes, we have a lot of fruits in the prisons! We have peo-ple there who are free in Christ!

They need us, they need our love, let’s not marginalizethem especially now that the time is so short. Pray for thosewho are behind bars and for those who serve in prisons.

May Lord make us all free in Christ!

Iulian & Iudit

When we visited Mrs. Mary and her family the secondtime in September this year, we realized we had seen a saint.We met her last year at the very beginning of the Angel Treeproject. Mrs. Mary is the ex-wife of a murder convicted, andalso mother of three children: two boys (of five respectivelynine years old) and a twenty years old girl with epilepsy andsevere mental disorder. The only income of the family is rep-resented by children’s allowances and the girl’s disability pen-sion, but Mrs. Mary’s trust and hope, as she confesses, comefrom a sincere and strong belief in God as her Father andprotector.

Although very difficult, this family’s life is no differentfrom the life of other families with one parent in prison; or atleast, this is what we thought until few days ago. Instead of

three children, Mrs. Mary has now six children to feed andtake care of, six children to send to kindergarten or school.The explanation is as simple as it is stunning. After the di-vorce, her ex-husband lived with a woman who already had achild and who gave birth to two more children. When the manwas arrested, his concubine took care of the children for awhile, but due to the difficult situation she decided that itwould be easier without them. Without saying the new situa-tion is unjust or too difficult, Mrs. Maria offered to take themhome and take care of the three children abandoned by her ex- husband's concubine.

I cannot express in words what an encouragement andexample Mrs. Mary was for us. Through her sacrifice shereminded us of Hosea. Indeed, she and her children are the

"angels" that the name of this project is referring to. Wewanted to help them, but we ended up realizing that we werethe ones who were helped. All I can do is pray God to takecare of this woman, and prevent us from being indifferent to

such people and children.Prison Fellowship Romania through Angels Tree project

tries to visit a few times a year families of convicts from pris-ons in Transylvania. Every year before Christmas, PFR rep-resentatives and volunteers go to prisons and give convictsthe opportunity to be part of this project. Their children re-ceive Christmas presents and then volunteers are tellingthem they are from their parents who are in prison. In addi-tion, during the year we are trying to visit these families sev-eral times bringing them food and clothes or covering other needs knowing that we bring God to them and in the sametime we fulfill his commandment.

Christmas is coming again, time to visit other prisonerswith the intention to renew and extend the Angels Tree pro-

ject. We invite everyone who read these words to thing aboutthe families of those who are behind bars and say a prayer especially for their children. You can do more for these peo-ple who are our brothers, sisters, our children, and our familyhere on earth:

1.Come with us to the families of the project (with your own car and covering fuel costs)

2. Give financial support to volunteers who do not havecars or cannot support fuel costs

3. Financially contribute in order to purchase food,school supplies, shoes and clothing for these families4. Spread the word about our project and motivate your friends or acquaintances who are concerned about charitableactivities to get involved.

Thank you all! God bless you and reward your efforts!



NO. 3, JULY - SEPTEMBER 2010

The primary aim of this camp was to spend time in na-

ture. Our beneficiaries had contests and activities within the

local community. "It was exhausting but also a new experi-ence: we covered nearly 40 km cycling although after few

interesting tasks my feet were not responding anymore. It

was interesting to realize how important is to keep up with

the group that you belong to and to see altruism. (LIA) The

lake had been for several hours the trail for canoe com-

petes, where our children received awards. "I considered it a

normal day of boat ride, but I liked that I had an itinerary to

follow and on the water it was difficult to reach the indicated

points. The tasks at each stop were quite complicated and

interesting. For example one of the tasks was that three

people from the same team had to stand upright on a surf

board and keep their balance so that they did not to fall into

the water. "(RAZVY)The highlight of the camp was also an unforgettable

experience: in the middle of the day we had a wind storm of

90 km per hour and a hail layer of 23 cm. It was the day

when I saw our group as a united team. We worked in the

rain and we prayed together for good weather. We immedi-

ately felt that God loves us ... is there something more to

say?

CAMP ORGANIZED IN HUNGARY ON LAKE TISZAWITH OUR FRIENDS, PFR VOLUNTEERS

‘Royal rangers” means surviving in tough conditions on

your own and with the materials you find in nature but also

not to interfere with the nature God created.

Discipline is the key word and if you’re not disciplined,

trough RR you will become a disciplined person.

The camp was intended for our beneficiaries but also

for the members of the community who were able to socialize

and learn new things about the team, nature and God.

"Some of us were group leaders in this camp so we had

to take care of our team, to observe the camp rules and to

make sure that we are the best. We had contests, trips on the

mountain; we visited a cave and learned together how to live

in nature". We attended games that had biblical themes, for

example the struggle between David and Goliath was actually

a rugby match, and David obviously won. And many other

interesting games. (RAZVY)I liked the idea of preparing our own food and we

worked as a team. I think I understood what it means to cook

for more people and administer your money for longer peri-

ods of time and for a large group of people… we have built

twig fences to surround our tents with. Oh yes! We also made

a table and a clay oven where we made fire with no matches,

but using ancient methods. We had a terrific time!!! (LIA)

At the end of the camp everyone was impressed by the

atmosphere created and we lived wonderful experiences. We

got scared at some point when, like in the Philistines times, a

cop came and told us we should immediately leave the area

and we did not know where to go! OH! How much work we

had to do with our tents with the place we were, because we

had to leave it as we found it, cover the ditches and leave

everything clean.

But eventually, it was a great lesson to learn. "(EMILIA)



NEWSLETTER

Earlier this summer, PFR has started a new project. InJuly we started a literacy program with the convicts in TarguMures prison. The main reason we chose to initiate this project is related to the needs observed and reported by theprison management, at our very first meeting. Writing andreading are prerequisites needed for the development in al-most every field nowadays, being indispensable social tools

in the rehabilitation and inner transformation of those impris-oned, and their reentry into society.

We selected 42 people out of the 101 convicts enrolledin the literacy program, the ones who we considered reallyneeded literacy. We separated them into three classes andwe met twice a week. After the first month some of them gaveup and we also realized that the "students” had very differentliteracy levels so we re-divided them into two classes: begin-ners and advanced. The students’ average age is 20. Wemeet twice a week and we spend one hour each time. Be-sides the actual lessons we find time to listen to short storiesabout their lives, their families and even their children. Lastweek we celebrated the birthday of one of them and it seemsprison is the place where many celebrated their birthday for

the first time.Many of the convicts we work with are illiterate, and werealized that it entails deep feelings of inadequacy and inferi-ority. With God's help we hope to make them free themselves

from the frustrationand inability to expressthemselves and regaintheir dignity. We inviteyou to first ask God tosave what is lost inthem and for them:

childhood years whereresponsible parentsshould have takencare of them and teachthem to swot, years of adulthood when they did not progress enough and intellectu-ally stagnated at the level of children in elementary school,years of inappropriate entourages and prison, when theycame to believe that the strength of fist and not wisdommakes them men. Then, if you consider it useful, please sup-port this project financially (the highest costs involve transpor-tation from Targu Mures to Cluj, then special costs for variousschool supplies needed, and special costs for birthdays or rewards) or even join our volunteers. You can always contact:

Rares [email protected] (0730078555) and [email protected] o (0744329672).

May God bless you!

Green Carnival July 12 to 17 GILAU, Cluj County Edition- II

Goal: develop creative skills, shaping personality

throughout aesthetic values.Description: Children of the Christian Centre for Street

Children attended the Green carnivalheld in the creation camp week in Gilaufrom the 12th to the 17th of July 2010.The costumes were created by chil-dren’s own ideas. They were made of various wastes (Scrap textile, bottlecaps, newspapers, and colored paper)colored with tempera, and creating vari-ous costumes that children wore. Eachchild received a name depending on the

desired costume(Princess, clown, Ga-bor, gypsy, florist, Miss

Ecology, fairy leaflets,Charlie Chaplin).

Activities:Art therapy: paint-

ing, creation of cos-tumes for carnival

Children wereawarded prizes for: re-alization of the costume, dance, and painting (most ecologicalexponent, the most beautiful paintings on canvas, and themost beautiful works in thread)

Green Carnival July 12 to 17 GILAU, Cluj County Edition - II

An unforgettable day...The 12th of June, 2010 - BCR Cluj (Romanian Commer-

cial Bank) offered to the children of Prison Fellowship Roma-nia a gift that will hardly be ignored: "An unforgettable day!"

A total of 45 children from two centers of the Founda-tion benefited from a trip to the zoo in Targu Mures.

For children the Feast was celebrated with great joy:• Transportation was arranged with a four stars bus• Road stops where children were given snacks and

juices were also arranged• Zoo visit lasted over two hours, and children were

greatly amused

The children received gifts from BCR Cluj employees.They had lunch at Charis restaurant in the center of Targu Mures.

The Road to Clujwas full of storiesabout the most beauti-ful animals seen andthe jokes made onAlexandra, whosehands were"kissed" (bitten) by a pony.

We thank BCR Cluj from the bottom of our hearts.These exceptional people have a special place in the heartsof our children. BCR Cluj is "guilty" of the joy and love of thechildren who know that this the third time they were invited at

this event. As a symbol of respect, appreciation and grati-tude, BCR can be accessed on Prison Fellowship Romaniawebsite.

An unforgettable day...

mailto:[email protected]




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