St. Macartin's Cathedral
Enniskillen, Northern Ireland
The Church of Ireland - part of the Anglican Communion
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Here are just some of the many photographs that were taken on the mission trip - if anyone has others which are visually appealing we would be glad to publish them!
Trip to Romania 2006
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The Smiles Accommodation block where our team stayed
Some team members with new friends from the Gypsy village
Ironically this building, which used to be the regional Communist Party Headquarters for the village of Mierlau is now a Smiles-owned safe house for homeless people...
This elderly gentleman, Mr Ionika, (pictured with Myrtle Irvine) used to be homeless but is now living in the safe house. He was made homeless after being ejected from Government accommodation as he was too old!
Our team decided to use a large part of our funds to buy the field in which they are standing here, so that it could be developed by the Smiles Foundation in the village of Geipu.
The boy and his mother in this picture was one of the families visited by team members and the social workers. They had a monthly income of about £70. The boy had motor difficulties in that he was unable to use his legs.
Three month-old Joanna was everybody's favourite. She was a permanent resident of the Cihei Children's Centre, having been abandoned. She is shown here being spoiled by Sammy Holmes and Helen Noble!
A team of 33 people from the Cathedral, including friends and family, went on a week-long mission trip to Romania at the beginning of July. The trip was organised with a Christian charity, The Smiles Foundation, whose primary aim is to promote the Gospel message through practical support to those in need.
We travelled from Dublin to Budapest, and then by bus across the border to a city called Oradea, in the north west of Romania. It is easy to see as soon as soon as you enter the country that there is much poverty. Road conditions and housing are, mostly, very poor. It was compared by some to Ireland sixty years ago.
The Smiles Foundation manages many different projects, such as emergency housing for the homeless, or visiting lonely, elderly folk. A typical day for us on the mission trip involved getting up early, going out on project work in small teams, and then coming together in the evening time for a meal, devotions and worship. Every night we had the opportunity to learn more about the charity from project leaders and to discuss what we had each seen and felt that day. And what a variety of experiences there were!
Some of the most horrific were when we visited families to distribute food or medical care. Team members were overwhelmed by the circumstances they met: small, dirty houses crowded with large families, some with nothing left to eat. Often, we happened upon young children left alone, or even families who had no home at all.
Most of the team had the opportunity during the week to serve in the local children’s hospital, feeding and changing the babies on two wards who had been abandoned. It was difficult to understand how such tiny little bundles of love had been given up, and their stories were often frustrating. Several of the team would happily have smuggled a few home in their suitcases! Whilst there, we painted the playroom on one ward for the toddlers. It was also refreshing to see that the Smiles Foundation was providing care for the neglected, abused and abandoned children, particularly with the recent opening of a children's centre, delivering foster care for such children.
One project which particularly captured the hearts of our team was the work in a small village called Geipu. In this village, several Smiles staff are working relentlessly to help the village folk in practical ways, and in the last year, twenty young people have become Christians and been baptised because of this work. Our team helped to dig a septic tank, Romanian style, for the community centre due to open there soon. As it is a rural community, the staff are also trying to train the young people in farming skills. They have begun a pig farm, and we spent time plastering and fixing the pig shed, weeding and cleaning. We also had the expertise in the team to fix their old tractor.
Fundraising for this trip far exceeded any expectations we had. We raised £35,000 in total, £25,000 of which we donated to The Smiles Foundation, and it was in this village of Geipu that we decided to spend this money. With £22,000 we were able to buy 7½ acres of land and two houses in the village. The land will be used for farming, to feed those in the village, the animals they rear, and to educate young people. The housing will probably be used as emergency accommodation for homeless families. We felt it was money well spent, and the charity was astounded at the generosity of our church.
Overall, the group gained many things from the mission trip. It certainly raised awareness for us of how much need there is in our world, and made us question our values. However, it was also wonderful to see how much faith and hope in God many of these people had, despite their circumstances. There is an overwhelming sense of need, and relatively little we could do, and so we learnt to rely on God, and relinquish control to Him who can do miracles where we fall short. There were many tears, but also a lot of fun and laughter, and by the end
of the week we felt very much like one big family, supporting one another in reflection of the church as I believe God intended us to be.
If you would like to hear more about our experiences, we will be doing a presentation in the Cathedral Hall on Friday 8th September at 7.30pm, where we will be able to share photographs and some more personal experiences. Finally, we would like to thank everyone for their support - financially, in prayer and through words of encouragement. There were 33 of us in Romania, but the hearts and minds of many more were with us along the journey, and we couldn’t have done it without them. Amanda Irvine (Group Leader)
We travelled from Dublin to Budapest, and then by bus across the border to a city called Oradea, in the north west of Romania. It is easy to see as soon as soon as you enter the country that there is much poverty. Road conditions and housing are, mostly, very poor. It was compared by some to Ireland sixty years ago.
The Smiles Foundation manages many different projects, such as emergency housing for the homeless, or visiting lonely, elderly folk. A typical day for us on the mission trip involved getting up early, going out on project work in small teams, and then coming together in the evening time for a meal, devotions and worship. Every night we had the opportunity to learn more about the charity from project leaders and to discuss what we had each seen and felt that day. And what a variety of experiences there were!
Some of the most horrific were when we visited families to distribute food or medical care. Team members were overwhelmed by the circumstances they met: small, dirty houses crowded with large families, some with nothing left to eat. Often, we happened upon young children left alone, or even families who had no home at all.
Most of the team had the opportunity during the week to serve in the local children’s hospital, feeding and changing the babies on two wards who had been abandoned. It was difficult to understand how such tiny little bundles of love had been given up, and their stories were often frustrating. Several of the team would happily have smuggled a few home in their suitcases! Whilst there, we painted the playroom on one ward for the toddlers. It was also refreshing to see that the Smiles Foundation was providing care for the neglected, abused and abandoned children, particularly with the recent opening of a children's centre, delivering foster care for such children.
One project which particularly captured the hearts of our team was the work in a small village called Geipu. In this village, several Smiles staff are working relentlessly to help the village folk in practical ways, and in the last year, twenty young people have become Christians and been baptised because of this work. Our team helped to dig a septic tank, Romanian style, for the community centre due to open there soon. As it is a rural community, the staff are also trying to train the young people in farming skills. They have begun a pig farm, and we spent time plastering and fixing the pig shed, weeding and cleaning. We also had the expertise in the team to fix their old tractor.
Fundraising for this trip far exceeded any expectations we had. We raised £35,000 in total, £25,000 of which we donated to The Smiles Foundation, and it was in this village of Geipu that we decided to spend this money. With £22,000 we were able to buy 7½ acres of land and two houses in the village. The land will be used for farming, to feed those in the village, the animals they rear, and to educate young people. The housing will probably be used as emergency accommodation for homeless families. We felt it was money well spent, and the charity was astounded at the generosity of our church.
Overall, the group gained many things from the mission trip. It certainly raised awareness for us of how much need there is in our world, and made us question our values. However, it was also wonderful to see how much faith and hope in God many of these people had, despite their circumstances. There is an overwhelming sense of need, and relatively little we could do, and so we learnt to rely on God, and relinquish control to Him who can do miracles where we fall short. There were many tears, but also a lot of fun and laughter, and by the end
of the week we felt very much like one big family, supporting one another in reflection of the church as I believe God intended us to be.
If you would like to hear more about our experiences, we will be doing a presentation in the Cathedral Hall on Friday 8th September at 7.30pm, where we will be able to share photographs and some more personal experiences. Finally, we would like to thank everyone for their support - financially, in prayer and through words of encouragement. There were 33 of us in Romania, but the hearts and minds of many more were with us along the journey, and we couldn’t have done it without them. Amanda Irvine (Group Leader)
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