Dear Sponsor

Just recently, a report came in about a family in Bosnia. This family has Kiwi sponsors, and two of those sponsors are Stephen and Shona, who worked for the Mission visiting supporters around the South Island a few years back. I found it heart-warming – and I am sure you will too! Thanks again for all you do in supporting our work and especially with families.

Warm regards,

Andrew Wilks, Director

My sponsors – My friendsThe Andric family is small: just the father Milenko and his sons Aljosa and Vuk. Milenko’s wife passed away in 2005. Milenko suffers from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder from the 1993-95 war in Bosnia and has knee problems, and receives a meagre invalid pension.This is the family’s only income.

Aljosa (16) and Vuk (12) are typical teenagers – healthy, at school and their dad takes good care of them. Through the years this family has been supported in many ways through the Family to Family sponsorship programme, with regular food and hygiene parcels, clothes, shoes, and other household things. However, a significant aspect of their wellbeing is the bond they developed via correspondence with their devoted New Zealand sponsors.

Milenko, the father, always mentions their sponsors, and what follows are a few things that Milenko shared about his sponsors – his friends, as he calls them:

“It’s so good to know that there is someone who always think of you and cares about you...”

Spring 2013MISSIONWITHOUTBORDERS

FaMily to FaMilyF2F is the Family to Family sponsorship programme of Mission Without Borders

Milenko and his sons

“My neighbours don’t believe me when I say to them that I have friends in New Zealand who help me and my family. Then I show them their photos and letters. This makes me so proud!”

“In the last couple of years, no one wrote me a letter nor asked me how am I doing except my friends in New Zealand who write to me every year.

“If my sponsors lived somewhere near, I would personally travel to visit them and thank [them] for all the joy they brought me.”

“I feel so special when my sponsors send me letters for Christmas and when they send presents to my boys. This attention and care is what we deeply feel and appreciate. It is a special bond that we have, it is something beautiful and cannot be explained by words.”

“My sponsors enabled me to have firewood during the cold, long winter. I cried out of happiness and I was really touched by their kind hearts. Every time when I put some wood into my stove, I remember my sponsors’ generosity and this makes me think about good deeds and I feel the change in me as well. What more can I say than that I feel loved by them, and that they make me feel humble.”

Milenko could talk about his sponsors all day long and his face reflects his love and huge appreciation towards them. And this is exactly what he himself needs – to be loved for who he is. ♦

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Milenko brings out his scrapbook and pictures of Stephen and Shona

MISSIONWITHOUTBORDERS (NZ)PO Box 56264, Dominion Road, Auckland 1446 Phone 09 309 6969 Email nzadmin@mwbi.org Website www.mwb.org.nz Reg. Charity No. CC37218Helping to Change Lives in Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Moldova, Romania and Ukraine

a ray of hope in dark timesHard times can befall any family, no matter how what their circumstances. The Gheorghian family was enrolled in the Family to Family programme in March 2005.

Gheorghe, the father of the family, works as a shop assistant at the Vet’s. He is a maths teacher by profession. He and his wife Aurelia have six children. The older two in their mid 20s have left home but the other four are studying or at school.

Before being enrolled in Family to Family, life was very tough. They worked some land but the severe drought that hit Moldova two years ago didn’t bring the rewards they expected. Then the father’s illness (kidney problems) made their living situation more difficult. They then decided to cultivate and grow some garlic, strawberries and raspberries, but what they gathered and earned from this activity was only enough to survive.

“We were so desperate and asked God for a ray of hope and for His guidance in our lives. We had little money and my husband was very ill. This went on for over three years. When we were deeply desperate, God sent MWB’s representatives into our home. We all believe

that it was God’s hand. MWB not only came to us, but they offered us hope for tomorrow and strength to move on, even in those hard times,” Aurelia, the mother recounts.

Gheorghe, the father adds, “Knowing we had somebody that cared for us, despite the long distance, made us stronger and more courageous in fighting all life’s obstacles. It is amazing to know that someone like our sponsors wants to offer us a helping hand. We will never forget them and will always carry our sponsors in our thoughts and prayers.” ♦

The Gheorghian family, Moldova

In October, 10 Kiwis are travelling to Romania, Moldova and Albania to visit sponsored families, children and to see other work being done by Mission Without Borders in those countries. The group will spend about a week in each country. We are considering another tour in 2014, possibly late September-October, to a different combination of countries. We will publicise details on our web site and in our inFocus newsletter. Let us know if you are interested to receive more information about it in due course.

SuppORTeR TOuR 2013

If you would like to take advantage of our system for giving a standard Christmas gift parcel to your sponsored family, and extra items for their children, we have a way you can do this. You simply use the separate order coupon and send us the money, and our staff in the field country will buy and assemble the gift parcel for you. This system avoids border control problems (especially in Ukraine), and means all families get the same sorts of gifts. Please do not feel pressured to support this – it is entirely voluntary.

Christmas Gift for your sponsored family

romaniamoldova

albania