THAILAND PERU ROMANIA

a taste of a taste of

InternationalInternational

MissionsMissions

ROMANIA - OAZA- Caminul Felix- Casa Minunata

Brian & Margaret Burton

Phuket Phuket --ThailandThailand Church contacts Church contacts

Neil and Valerie HarrisNeil and Valerie Harris

Margaret Saunderson

LimaLima-- Peru Peru Church contactsChurch contacts

Bill and Norma Trahearn Bill and Norma Trahearn

Caminul Felix Caminul Felix ––

Casa MinunataCasa Minunata

Third Edition Third Edition

March 2008March 2008

David Faulkner, Jonathan Start, Nigel Rowe

KenyaKenya

Jerusalem Jerusalem Jenny RobinsJenny Robins

JERUSALEM KENYA

RomaniaRomania Church Contact Vicki AllanChurch Contact Vicki Allan

The Opening of Sussex House, Phuket

Earthquake Devastation in Chincha, Peru

Lek from Sussex House

Gypsy Camp - Oradea, Romania

a tastetaste of internationalinternational missionsmissions a tastetaste of internationalinternational missionsmissions

JERUSALEM POST Jenny RobinsJERUSALEM POST Jenny Robins

I returned to Israel in the middle of September, knowing what I was going back to of course

because it's all familiar, but not really knowing what God was going to do this time round,

that's always a mystery!

I arrived right at the beginning of the new Jewish year, so there

was an overload of Jewish holy days, festivals, celebration such

as Rosh Hashanah (new year, the completion of Torah reading to

begin again for the new year), Yom Kippur (Holiest day, the day

of Atonement, a period of fasting, praying, repentance,

forgiveness and celebration accordingly) Amazing to see people

really celebrating the fact that they are forgiven, if only they knew the Freedom Jesus

brings/ bought, but .......He said, The knowledge of the secrets of the Kingdom of God has

been given to you, but to others I speak in parables, so that, 'though seeing, they may not

see; though hearing they may not understand. 'Luke 8v10.

The majority of people who listened to Jesus were Jewish people as he was! We have

freedom when we know we don't have to wait for the new year

to come round to be forgiven! Then there was Succot or Feast of

tabernacles (a time of remembering God's faithfulness to the

Jewish people while they were in the wilderness). As well as

Jewish traditions there are other people groups including Muslim

celebrations of Ramadan. So it's a big mish- mash of religious

holidays. It's hard to keep track of them all. Its fun trying to run a

guest house when all of our different suppliers are Muslim,

Jewish, Catholic whatever and having to think about when they won't be working and how

long for because of their holidays! ha!

I began to get involved with an Orphanage in the Palestinian area of Bethany. The Lazarus

House' is a 'Big House' with 36 girls and one little boy. These children are all from Muslim

backgrounds and not particularly nice backgrounds, obviously! The lady who heads it up is

a Christian Arab lady called Samar. Pray for her! She is amazing. She is one of two Christian

ladies that work there. She personally raises the money for each

child to be sent to the best school in the area which is a Russian

one, and is in constant battle with the school because of the way

they are treated because they are orphans. So please pray for

her. I go either to cut hair or teach them to sew, which is really

fun coz these kids are amazing and they love a lot!

sharing in whole school gatherings

(at the girls’

school, around

800 of them!)

• Preaching at many different

churches, in many surrounding

villages

In the second week we were focussed on

helping to teach at a leaders’ conference for

probably around 500 people, mainly from the

Butere district. It was great to be able to

teach God’s Word, in small and large groups,

to people who were hungry to hear and to

learn, and to do so alongside teaching pastors

from Tanzania, Uganda and Kenya. I’m sure

people went away better equipped to lead

and live for Christ than when they arrived.

I thank God for safe-keeping whilst we were

there, for His blessing on all that we were

involved in, and for everything that I learned

from such a wonderful trip. There are so

many things I could mention, but primarily

when listening to the church leaders from the

various African nations both publicly and

privately, many of whom work in extremely

demanding situations, I was struck by:

• Their clarity of thought – they are

wholehearted in their commitment to God

and His Word; if God has said something in

His Word they seek to obey it.

• Their confidence – they trust God and take

Him at His Word despite hardships that I

for one have never experienced

• Their courage – just like us, but in

different ways, they face tremendous

opposition to proclaiming the gospel in

their various different circumstances, but

seem to count their lives as worth

nothing compared to knowing Jesus and

doing what He has called them to do.

I’d finish simply by saying that anyone who

has the opportunity to go on short-term

mission to a two-thirds world country should

take it. It grows your trust in God, and is thus

an experience that brings you closer to

Him. I’d also ask that we continue to pray for

the nation of Kenya. As is well-known, shortly

after our trip, the election took place and has

been followed by violence and economic

hardship. We pray for those of our team who

remain there (especially Jonathan) but also

for our brothers and sisters for whom this is

home, that God would grant peace and

reconciliation and

that many would

come to Christ at

this very difficult

time.

David Faulkner

P.S A total of

£3200 was raised

on Sunday 17th

February for the special appeal from Mike

Jones in Kenya. Many thanks to all those

who gave.

Outreach to Kenya, Outreach to Kenya, continued continued David FaulknerDavid Faulkner

10 1

2

JERUSALEM POST JERUSALEM POST continued continued Jenny RobinsJenny Robins

a tastetaste of international international missionsmissions

During November and the beginning of December the managers of the Guest House were

home in Leicester. So I was supervising while they were gone, which involves a lot such as

delegating jobs that have to be done, lots of practical things but at the same time as

dealing with every different type of person whether its guests or volunteers or staff or

whatever. At this time I probably should have been stressed but I couldn't be because of

all God was teaching me about Freedom in Him, and what is there to worry about

(whether its practical, spiritual, personal whatever) when I have nothing, because of giving

it to Him and dying to all daily, 'be anxious about nothing pray about everything' right!

(Also easier said than done).

Christmas was amazing also. Christ Church is one of the only places not Catholic, that

celebrates Christmas. The town being where it is and what it is, attracts Israelis.... in bulk

on Christmas Eve! Hundreds and hundreds of people, mostly Israelis, come through our

tiny compound to see us sing and celebrate the birth of our and their Messiah! Crazy! To

observe our carol service and ejoy the friendship that we all want

really between us and them, mov- ing on from past views and

happenings. We want to share and prove the sovereignty and

love of God, with the world, all people groups, all nations not

missing out one lonely face, no one. I believe this begins with

the Jewish people because God's plan through history

concerning them proves that He is who He says He is. God's love

and mercy and justice has been displayed to them throughout

history whether they have been good or not, if that's not a dis-

play of God's love, mercy and faithfulness for the whole of mankind I don't what is.

If you want a better look at what God has been doing go to my blogspot, I have many a

tale about teapots and daddys which are both very glorifying to God which you can find

at:- jenniferdaniellerobins.blogspot.com or email me at:-

jenniferdaniellerobins@gmail.com.

If you want to support what I am doing in Jerusalem in prayer, or finance email me or talk

to Mom, Kathy Robins home number 01384 830543

a tastetaste of international international missionsmissions

Kenya 2007

It was a great privilege to visit

Kenya for the second time in

November/December 2007,

two years after my first trip.

Nigel Rowe, Jonathan Start

and I travelled with a team

put together by International

Mission Support (see www.imsmission.org)

headed up by Mike Jones, who lived in

Stourbridge for many years but now

resides in Kamloops, Canada. The team

was a great mix of ages (if I recall correctly

17 to 67!) and, by the time we arrived at

our destination it was a great mix of

nationalities too – Kenyan,

Tanzanian, Ugandan, American,

Canadian and of course a few Brits!

We were based for 14 days in Butere,

which is about halfway between

Kisumu, a large city on Lake Victoria, and

the Ugandan border, and is pretty rural

and basic. IMS has worked there for many

years and therefore although for Nigel and

I this was a short-term mission, it was very

much part of a long-term commitment by

IMS to the region, which has helped see :-

(a) dozens of churches planted in

surrounding villages and thus

hundreds (if not thousands) come to

Christ;

(b) the church taught and equipped;

(c) material/economic

support given through

financing the establishment of

small businesses; helping to

build a school, homes and

church buildings; and even

whilst we were there this time

the setting up of a small

(interest free) loan scheme.

I thank God for the example of

holistic mission provided by

IMS. A the same time as the activities

described below, there was much going on

behind the scenes, one example of which

was the announcement that after detailed

discussions during the second week, IMS

would be paying for a lovely pastor from

Tanzania, brother Moses, to establish a

facility in his home town to look after

widows in his community, which he had

been longing to be able to do for many

years. It was an honour to be present

when Mike broke the news.

The first week focussed on :-

• Outreach into the upper market of

Butere and two more distant villages,

via testimony, drama (Nigel and I

working on sketches together for the

first time in

20 years!)

and

preaching.

Visiting the

boys and girls

secondary

schools and

Outreach to Kenya Outreach to Kenya David FaulknerDavid Faulkner

9

We were also able to pass on the sum of £125 to Noble House to assist with the refurbishing of their

kitchen project. This money was donated by cell groups and individuals from Amblecote Christian

Centre.

It was very encouraging to note that many electrical kitchen items were donated by members of

Amblecote for Noble House and sent with the lorry. Other requested items i.e. boxes of cereals,

washing powder, canned fish, craft materials, toys and clothes were also donated in abundance by

Mops, New Life, cell groups and individuals for which Casa Minunata, Caminul Felix children and the

gypsy families are extremely grateful. The e-mails we have received in response to the lorry’s delivery

have been so touching.

The families and friends in Caminul Felix and Casa Minunata are fast becoming a very important part in

our lives with bonds of fellowship deepening at every visit. The nurturing of the physical, spiritual,

emotional and socio-economic needs of the children is paramount to Caminul Felix. The house parents

are now beginning to experience new problems with the teenagers in some of these areas which vary

from behavioural and relationship problems to finding funding for further educational needs.

The children are growing up and some are even getting married. Does anyone remember Lavinia from

Lisa Potts House who came over for several years with the choir? Here she is in 2007 on her wedding

day!

TLC are now setting up an area of fundraising in order to support the educational needs of students and

have been able to send the sum of £1100 with the lorry before Christmas to assist this on going need.

This money was raised from a sponsored slim earlier last year.

Bill and I spent time discussing these situations with some of the house parents and our links with Care

for the Family in England may prove advantageous as we are putting them in touch with the work of

Care to see if they can be of some support. …...

So the Mission continues this year ……….

Romanian Mission 2008

A team of eight will be flying out to Caminul Felix in May, four of whom will be visiting for the first time.

We would value your pray support as we plan for this trip to enable us to show TLC (The Love of Christ)

to those less fortunate than ourselves. The team includes Bill and Norma Trahearn, Valerie Harris, Vicki

Allan, Jenny Bufton, Christine Sutton, Gill Swan and Kate Gregory.

Romanian Focus Romanian Focus continuedcontinued—— Bill & Norma TrahearnBill & Norma Trahearn

A few Lines from Nok — Brian went to England for a couple of

weeks in October 07 as he had to take

Lek to IBTI. She’s one of the girls from

Sussex House. She will be there at least 2

years. When she comes back she will surely be

a great help to me especially with all the

translation work I have to do. Please

pray for her to be able to adjust to the

weather, food and language. Last time I

was in touch with her, she seemed to be

getting on well with her study and

English food except the weather is a bit

unbearable at times. You know why!! News from Brian & Margaret Burton

In January Brian was in Hawaii where he was

given 15 minutes to share about the work in

Thailand but was then invited as a speaker at a

Pastor’s Conference which followed.

Although the original intention was to

spend time with Margaret she had been

unable to go so the whole trip was taken

up in ministry.

a tastetaste of international international missionsmissions

In November last year I set off for a month long trip to the island of Phuket in Thailand. Whilst

over there I worked alongside a team called the PAIS Project and Phuket Christian Centre

which is led by Pastor Brian and Margaret, former members of ACC.

For the majority of my time there I worked in schools

teaching sport and drama, in a home for HIV children

and an orphanage. This was great fun and it gave us

many of opportunities to share Gods love with the

children. At the HIV home we were forbidden to talk of

anything to do with Christianity, however they are now

letting the team teach the children Christian songs

which is really amazing.

I also visited the Morgan Island with Adrian and Pastor Nok. Now this was something else!

These people are also known as the sea gypsies and live off fishing in the sea. It was crazy to

see how different these people’s lives were and how their island was so bare…However, they

had such inspiring faith and they have experienced many miracles from God especially after

the Tsunami. This was a big encouragement to me and I loved the way that their experience of

‘church’ was so natural, i.e. they all met in their own homes (tree house like buildings!) and

talked and worshipped God together.

Thailand was a big eye opener to me, I learnt many things whilst out there

and came back encouraged and inspired by the lives of the people I met and

worked alongside. I can also say that I certainly grew up! Living in a com-

pletely Thai speaking town alone was definitely challenging but I have to say

it was also great fun!!

Mission Mission -- Phuket, Thailand Phuket, Thailand Keeley WaldronKeeley Waldron

Lek

a tastetaste of international international missionsmissions

3 8

a tastetaste of international international missionsmissions a tastetaste of international international missionsmissions

Following our visit in May 2006

Bill & I felt compelled to return

in October 2007 to build upon

relationships made with

Caminul Felix Villages, Casa

Minunata and Theranova. At

the same time we hoped to follow up existing work

with the gypsy families and also establish new

connections. A practical project of making rustic

tables for use in Noble House had previously been

arranged. Our daughter Jennifer and son-in-law

Andy had the task of constructing 12 tables in a

week. No mean feat considering the materials

provided were unprepared tree trunks!

In the meantime Bill and I became ‘chambermaids’

for a week in Noble House, helping in the

preparation of hosting a party of 45 people from

Sweden. This entailed humping a dozen mattresses

around the building, preparing an unused room to

convert into a dormitory, ironing 45 duvet covers,

sheets and pillow cases, cleaning rooms, making

beds and reversing the

process when the party

left at the end of the

week.

In between the domestic

chores Bill and I visited

Theranova, the Teenage House, spent two days

working with the children with special needs at Casa

Minunata, visited Sunflower Design, delivered

sponsor gifts to Casa Falkenberg (Swedish House at

Caminul Felix 11) and spent time with the children

and families at several of the houses on Caminul

Felix 11. We managed to fit in helping prepare the

barbeque for an evening with the Swedish party and

listened to a presentation of the vision of Caminul

Felix in Swedish!

A Marriage Enrichment Seminar led by an American

couple was also arranged for the House parents

from both villages to which

we were given an

invitation. This gave us

the opportunity to renew

our friendships with the

House parents from

Caminul Felix 1 as well as

receive some very encouraging ministry. So all in all

we were well blessed!

During week 2, in between varnishing the tables, Bill

and I were taken to visit the gypsy families living on

tips. It was a huge privilege to be able to take with

us enough food to feed 10 families for a few weeks,

sponsored by TLC. To witness first hand how these

people live is simply shocking and there is obviously

much work that could be done to help these people.

We understand that the Smiles Foundation in

Oradea also have contact with these families.

From the gypsy camps we were taken to visit

another poor family with special needs. Ioan and

Maria Falvaschi are a dwarf couple with a normally

developed 7 year old daughter, Cristina-Maria.

Because of their disabilities they are classed as

outcasts in society and are unable to find work.

They live in very sparse accommodation funded

initially by Americans who have now moved their

support elsewhere. This couple have difficulty

making ends meet and needed another sponsor to

help support them as they do not come under the

umbrella of the Smiles Foundation.

Funding to provide them with enough support for 5

months was found for which they were

extremely grateful. On our return we shared this

situation with TLC and

they have agreed to

provide the necessary

sponsorship of £25 per

month from January 2008.

Romanian Focus Romanian Focus —— Bill & Norma Trahearn Bill & Norma Trahearn

New Life is supporting a

ministry in Constanta, South

East Romania called “Heart

to Heart”. This ministry

(totally

independent & separate

from any work at Caminul Felix) began when a

young pastor & his wife, Traian & Elena Pascalau

felt a burden from God to reach out to

Pensioners living in their town. Not all of these

people are homeless or extremely poor but some

are poor, homeless & living rough on the streets.

Many Old people in Romania lost their homes

when the former Communist government

collapsed. The government had housed many old

people in the homes of those who had left the

country under Communism. When these people

returned the older folk were forced to vacate the

houses they had been living in, putting them on

the streets. Considering temperatures can be as

low as minus 20 degrees Celsius in the winter

sleeping rough is not a pleasant experience.

The Church provides a welcome, a hot meal, a

hot shower & a change of clothes, if needed, to

around 30 people over the age of 60 three times

per week at the day centre Whenever possible

meals are taken to peoples homes if they are

unable to attend the centre. Hospital transport,

financial help etc is given when possible, many

being unable to pay for things we would take for

granted, the basic pension being around £10 per

month.

The project was started

without any offer or promise

of help. Much of what has

been done has been through

the giving of the Church

people, it isn’t a large Church

& the average salary is

around £80 - £100 a month.

Things are beginning to

change, people, groups etc

like us are seeking to support

this wonderful work.

Traian, Elena & the Church have a dream to build

a residential old peoples home. The dream took a

step forward in April 2007 when someone in

Sweden gave them 30,000 Euros to buy a plot of

land that they wanted to purchase for this

purpose. Through the “Heart to Heart” project

several older people have made a personal

commitment to Jesus & 5 were baptised in the

Black Sea in September 2007.

New Life members want to help those similar in

age but in a much worse situation. We are giving

financially on a monthly

basis. We will be looking for

ways that we can raise extra

finance during this year.

Some members of the Team

will be visiting the project

this year to see how we can

best support the Church in

their efforts to help the older folk. Later on it is

planned to take a group of New Lifers to meet the

older people of Constanta.

If you would like to know more or be involved

with this New Life project please see one of the

Team., which include Phil Cook, Christine Cox,

Andrea Hall and Linda Methuen.

Phil Cook

New Life Ministries

RomaniaRomania——‘New Life’ Heart to Heart Project ‘New Life’ Heart to Heart Project

4 7

Step team! It is a shame as the

nursery is doing really well at the moment,

and Maryluz has now organised for the

children to have lunch as well as classes. She

works very hard and is amazing!

Chincha: In this earthquake affected area our

involvement has grown in a way we didn’t

expect! Those of you who prayed for Mary

Salazar will be delighted to know that she did

become a Christian and so did several

members of her family! So we went down to

disciple them and found that there were 50

people there wanting to study the Bible!! - A

bit like Peter going to Cornelius’s house!

So we have been trying to hold a regular

Bible study for people in the neighbourhood

but it is not easy being so far away ( nearly

200 miles!) However various of the women in

La Tablada have been helping in this (that

church really has a missionary vision) and

they also started a children’s work there on

Saturdays which is now being carried on by

Mary and her family.

Kenya 2007

It was a a tastetaste of iinternational nternational missionsmissions a tastetaste of international international missionsmissions

And now a contact of Jono’s called

Manuel, who lives in the area is going

every Weds to hold a service there, which

is a great help.

The community is giving us a plot of land

to have a children’s club and Bible studies,

hold medical campaigns, and teach

handcrafts. So we need to build a simple

wooden structure there and please pray

that we will know how best to develop

this work and that God will provide the

right people to help. and that more

people will come to know the Lord in a

real way. I keep saying I am not going to

start any more new works but God keeps

opening doors!!!! And I have to say that

beginning new works is exciting!

Jono has been able to provide quite a lot

of little houses for people there as

housing is now the main problem in the

aftermath of the earthquake and the

government doesn’t seem to have done

much to help with that. So that is

something that still needs a lot of help

and many people’s employment was af-

fected as well.

*The money raised by*The money raised by

Amblecote Christian Centre for Amblecote Christian Centre for

the houses and earthquake appeal the houses and earthquake appeal

so far is £408, Jane Longden is still so far is £408, Jane Longden is still

on the case with her works swear-on the case with her works swear-

box!box!

While I was away in

the summer the one

major event that

happened here was

the earthquake on

15th August with its

epicentre about 130

miles south of Lima

which you no doubt saw pictures of on the

news, and many of you wrote to ask me

about.

It caused great destruction in the towns and

villages of that area with over 500 dead and

some 80,000 suffering damage or loss of their

homes and belongings. I was very impressed

by how people all over Peru responded to

help in the aftermath, and the church in La

Tablada has kept up an involvement in the

area around Cañete through the Word of Life

group who came to La Tablada in May. Jono,

another Latin Link missionary who is working

in La T, has been doing a great job

co-ordinating and channelling gifts so as to be

able to provide food, clothes, blankets to

some of the more remote areas.

He also discovered some prefabricated

houses for £100, measuring 3x3 metres, so

took 20 of those down in a lorry! Obviously

they are really small but are better than a tent

or bamboo matting on top of the rubble

especially as it has been really cold. We want

to help another community in Chincha which

is also very needy and which I visited last

month. It is very sad to see people with no

home trying to rebuild their lives and although

our help is only a drop in the bucket, people

are very appreciative.

Our contact there is Mary Salazar, the

regional supervisor of nurseries in la Tablada

whom Maryluz introduced us to. She was in

the earthquake when it happened, visiting her

family, so was quite traumatised, but we have

been able to pray with her and she felt better,

so pray she can come to know Jesus.

We are very aware that if the epicentre had

been here in Lima, the damage would have

been immeasurably greater and millions of

people would have been affected. There have

been some knock on effects though, and one

of these has affected our nursery because it is

built on the side of a hill on terracing. The

authorities are tightening up on safety

regulations and even though it is only a

wooden building they say that it would not be

safe if there were a strong quake in Lima. So

they have said we must rebuild it with

retaining walls and proper foundations. And

we have to do it before the school year starts

at the beginning of March, so really as soon as

possible!

We were planning to do this in January 2009

with the possible help

of a team of firemen

from UK but they were

not free to come this

Jan, so it will be quite a

big job a bit like

building La Roca

church but without a

Peru Peru Earthquake Update Earthquake Update Margaret SaundersonMargaret Saunderson Peru Peru Earthquake Update Earthquake Update Margaret SaundersonMargaret Saunderson

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