Newsletter Issue 6/2019
What Makes You Happy?
BY LYUBA YEPONCHINCHEVA
Krasnoyarsk, Russia
Lyuba (on the left) with Svetlana
DEAR FRIENDS, WHAT DOES HAPPINESS LOOK LIKE FOR YOU?
For me, happiness is being able to help children
and to bring joy to their hearts!
I am privileged to help mothers and children in difficult life situations.
I am grateful to get to deliver a bag of groceries to a home where a single mother’s money is running out, payday is a week away, and she needs to put food on the table.
I love bringing a Baby Box to the maternity hospital for a mother who, due to financial distress, is planning to leave her baby in the hospital - but when she gets a box full of clothes and supplies, she decided to keep her baby!
As I have been doing these things, some people have said to me, “There are so many needy people, you will never be able to help all of them!” and “Why is it you who has to do this?”
I am doing this because it is simply so wonderful!
I want to help children and adults, and I am happy to have the opportunity to do so!
I believe that by doing this I can help them know and believe in God’s love.
We Christians have been called to be light to others.
Jesus said, “You are the light of the world.
Let your light shine before men,
that they may see your good works
and glorify your Father who is in heaven.”
(Matthew 5:14&16)
Thank you for spreading the light with me!
Together we can enlighten the hearts of more people with God’s love!
GOODBYE, OLD SHED!
PHOTO: “Say goodbye to this old shed?
Yes, say it! Bye-bye, shed! I am now moving with my Mommy to live in a nice beautiful room that has water and heating!”
Lyuba talks to little Victoria while the family’s belongings are packed in the van.
Two ears ago I was contacted by the maternity hospital in our city. It was a regular occurrence for new mothers to give up their babies after delivery.
MP and the hospital staff decided I would be called when this was the case, and I would go and meet with the mother one-on-one.
When a mother is opting to give up her own child, there are usually very compelling reasons.
No woman naturally wants to give her baby away. In such a crisis, a mother secretly hopes that someone will come and help dissuade her from following through.
Almost every one of the mothers I’ve met in this crisis changes her mind when I promise, “I’ll help you!”
This ministry is very important to me
because I can be used to pull these ladies
out of the abyss at the very last minute.
SVETLANA IS ONE SUCH MOTHER WITH VERY DIFFICULT LIFE CIRCUMSTANCES.
One year ago we took a Baby Box to her and newborn daughter Victoria.
When we took them home from the maternity hospital, it turned out “home” was an outdoor shed in terrible condition!
I regularly brought them food and supplies. When Victoria had a fever, I took her to the doctor. Frankly, I would rather not have returned the baby to the cold shed with no water or toilet, and with just a wood stove for heat.
Svetlana dreamed of having a living room, a seemingly impossible wish. But for God it wasn’t impossible! He helped us find them a dormitory room.
What a wonderful day it was
when we packed up their belongings
and left the old shed for a new home!
We continue to help and support Svetlana and Victoria.
PHOTO: “Well, now we’re here! This is Victoria and Mommy’s new room! Much better than that old shed, right?”
GOODBYE SHANTYTOWN!
BY PÄIVI RANTA, MP's Finland Coordinator
I remember vividly the first time I stepped inside a shack in a Bulgarian slum village.
The small “house” of about 100 square feet was home to a family of eight. It had a dirt floor, a small table made of boards, one single bed, a pile of blankets, and no electricity or running water.
Since then I have visited many homes in shantytowns. Not all have been as primitive as the first shack, but most are quite dismal, nonetheless. The residents’ shaggy hair, dirty clothes, and bare feet also speak to their living conditions.
I recently went with our Bulgaria team to visit some slums built on a former dump site, situated just outside the village of Pevtsite.
We used the church building to conduct a teaching session for mothers and then took Baby Boxes to some homes. The help was eagerly welcomed, and many mothers asked for prayer for their children.
We left the slum and went to the main village to the home of a young couple, Plamen and Maria. They had just had their first child, lovely little Esther, and we wanted them to have a Baby Box.
When we entered Plamen and Maria’s home,
the difference between theirs and the slum dwellings was huge.
The home was clean, pretty, warm, and cozy. Unlike many homes in the shantytowns, there was no dirt, no offensive smell, and no flies swarming in the rooms and landing on the faces of sleeping little ones…
This home is a living testimony of how a change inside the heart and mind also changes the reality outside!
Plamen and Maria were both born and raised in the slum outside of Pevtsite. Their parents grew up in the same dire conditions.
The slum was their world and their future,
but then something changed.
When Plamen and Maria were very young, Mission Possible established a church in their village. A soup kitchen opened and literacy classes for children were offered.
Faith and their church family have had a tremendous impact on the lives of Plamen and Maria.
Most people who are born in these shantytowns live and die there. For many of the children there today, their first venture outside the slum has been to one of Mission Possible’s summer camps.
The Gospel message,
Biblical teaching,
and education shape the values and attitudes
of the children and their parents and produce faith,
purpose, and responsibility.
For Plamen and Maria, the change within them has opened the door to a new life – and brought them out of the slums.
The smiles on the young parents’ faces reflected happiness and gratitude, as well as a little pride, as we admired their home and their precious little girl. They offered us chocolates and shared their dreams for the future, which include opening a small shop inside a building they are currently renovating.
Throughout our visit, Baby Esther slept sweetly in her crib, unaware that she represents a new era for her family.
Little Esther is the first in the family line
not to be born and raised in the slums!
Be a part of this change in the lives of children and families. Thank you for your help!
Goodbye, Worn Out Shoes!
BY IRINA GRIGOROVA, Bulgaria
Winter’s bitter cold is coming.
Our team in Bulgaria has distributed a large number of warm boots, socks, and clothing to children in the slums.
In the destitute villages where we’ve been working for several years, the winter clothing situation has improved, but there are still children who are barefoot or wear just sandals regardless of the season.
PHOTO: A strange feeling: warm feet! This girl in the village of Karnare came to the church wearing plastic sandals and left with winter boots on her feet.
It was a cold and windy day in the slum village of Karnare. We gathered the children inside the church where it was nice and warm. They know we always bring good things to eat: apples, pizza, bread with chocolate spread. But that’s not the only reason they come. Once their tummies are full we sing together, teach a Bible lesson, and pray for them.
There were two children that especially caught my attention.
Four-year-old Maria was barefoot,
and her two-year-old brother Asen
wore a thin jacket and mismatched shoes.
They looked sad. We were informed that their parents were out working and the children were left at home to fend for themselves.
We went to visit the shack where these two live. The tilted door was insulated with rags. On the floor was a bare foam mattress that the whole family sleeps on and some carefully folded clothes in the corner.
We put warm coats on the children and wool socks and winter boots on their cold little feet. We left a box of clothes and a wool blanket in the room.
“Lord, please protect and bless these children,” we prayed when leaving this impoverished home.
The Gospel and aid bring hope to one of the poorest slum villages in Bulgaria.
Siblings Maria and Asen live in the village of Karnare, one of the most impoverished and miserable communities we’ve come to know. There is only one single faucet in the village. This picture shows the home of Maria and Asen’s family.
We have been working in this village for three years. There is a congregation of believers there now who meet in the small church building we built. Every week it is filled with eager listeners. During the winter season, we use the church building to run a soup kitchen for the children, and we regularly offer aid to families.
THIS YEAR MANY WHO WERE HOPELESS WERE GIVEN HOPE.
Many in need received help and encouragement.
Many who were hungry and cold were given food and clothing.
Many victims of violence were given shelter.
Many who were bound by drugs were set free.
Many heard the Gospel and found a living faith.
A HEARTFELT THANK YOU
on behalf of Mission Possible's teams
and volunteers in Eastern Europe!
Without your help we would not have reached these people.
