Wednesday April 2^nd 2008 MORNING THOUGHT

Good morning. In Mustard Seed our motto is “Your help makes a difference” and during these morning thoughts I want to share with you some true recent experiences that confirm that the help from Jersey is making a real difference to the poorest of the poor in Romania, where Mustard Seed is working. One area where we frequently see that difference is in people on our sponsorship programme. Needy pensioners, needy families, young people from state orphanages, children and teenagers from very poor families who need support for their education – because with education comes the hope of a decent job and escape from the poverty trap. For most of the families and young people the sponsorship is temporary, just a few years till they can stand alone.

When I was in Romania in December I was particularly struck by the contrasts I saw – the huge difference between those who have and those who have not. When visiting a number of those who are sponsored and live in Oradea, it seemed that many live near the centre of the city. In the same road as government offices and various lawyers’ offices there were tall metal gates. And behind these gates it was another world of squalor and misery.

In visit that I really remember from the December trip was my last visit before going to the pizza bar for lunch (where incidentally the pizzas are the most delicious I have ever tasted) I went to see Floare. Floare lives behind one of these high forbidding gates off the street where the primarea’s offices are. There are about 10 single room little shacks in the courtyard. The lucky ones have electricity and a tap – the toilet is a shared shack in the yard.

Floare is disabled, she has lost her legs, she spends much time in a wheelchair – she is a well educated woman who has fallen on hard times. It was bitterly cold that day – she had her door wide open to see what was going on in the courtyard to alleviate the boredom; she had no heating and I saw she had hardly any wood for her wood burning stove which is for cooking as well as heating. When we arrived with her food parcel she was moved to tears and explained she had no money left till her pension was due in 5 days time, her cupboards were totally bare. Tears came into my eyes too as I realised how desperately important that food parcel was.

We left her and we went to have pizza for lunch, because we could afford it. But it made me stop and think. But for the grace of God it could have been me totally dependent on someone’s generosity to stay alive. Or it could have been you.

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