MORNING THOUGHT for Wednesday April 18^th 2007 broadcast on BBC Radio Jersey, presented by Rose Helie:

Good morning. Earlier this month we were in Romania on Mustard Seed's most recent humanitarian trip. Each day this week I hope to share with you some of our experiences in the last year as we have taken relief aid to Romania. Some of these experiences have encouraged us, some have disturbed and disappointed us.

This morning I want to tell you about what for me was the most disturbing visit of our most recent trip. The particular family we visited have been on our sponsorship programme for a couple of years but they have huge problems, the major difficulty being that the father is a gypsy and as a result has found it impossible to obtain permanent work; the best he can hope for is casual work or day work at the market, but he ends up being unemployed possibly half the week. He and his wife have 3 children, the older two are in their early teens and doing well at school and the family struggle to continue to afford the cost of stationery, etc. The youngest child is about 3 years and to be realistic it was probably her birth which stopped the mother from working, thus reducing the family income to what the father earns.

We first met them when their rented apartment was to be sold and they found themselves homeless. They had no chance of paying a deposit and even with help from Jersey to pay deposit then half the rent they could not manage. About a year ago they moved to a ghastly basement room, which was damp and was used as a passage by 2 other very needy families when they went to the one toilet that served 6 families. The family had constant coughs and colds there – ah it was a horrible place, I hated visiting them there.

When we were in Romania earlier this month we heard they had moved again, this time to one of the many very poor courtyards where the poorest of the poor live. The room – for which they paid the equivalent of £20 a month – was tiny, no electricity, no running water, no doors – they had blankets in the door-ways, and again 2 other families went through it on their way to their equally poor little rooms. At least it was not damp and was much brighter and I felt they were slightly happier. The only real glimmer of hope was a little rabbit sat by the wood burning stove eating grass. They said they had intended to eat her but they now all loved her too much to consider that.

As we were leaving a quite frightening fight broke out among several of their neighbours at one end of the courtyard, and we felt really very intimidated as we left, with one man brandishing a knife and another a brick. Others were screaming at us as we had mobile phones to phone the police.

We left there, thankful to get out safely but deeply concerned for the family. I am praying that God will give us the resources to help that family move out of the hell hole they are living in.

God give us the serenity to accept the things we cannot change; courage to change the things we can; and the wisdom to know the difference.

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