Dear Friends
We begin with apologies for being a couple of days late publishing our February e-news and website update. We're sure you'll understand the busy-ness of recent days with the start of the US Tour.
Preparing to leave Romania for nearly 6 weeks meant we were very busy up to the wire of leaving on January 28th and then arriving late into Jacksonville FL on 29th. After a nights sleep we were on the road by lunchtime of the 30th heading north to Leesburg GA for the first engagements of the Tour. Two morning services at First Baptist Church, Leesburg and then an evening concert at Porterfield UMC in Albany GA meant an exhausting first day - but a fantastic start to the five and a half week Tour.
Unfortunately, an ice-storm hit the mid-Atlantic states and all flights from Richmond VA were cancelled. So with our DA stranded inRichmond, we had to manage the first week-end without Greg, but he caught up with us in Atlanta by February 2nd.
It's great to have the Choir back on the road and the American congregations appear to deeply love and appreciate the ministry with tremendous support in prayer, offerings and monthly sponsorship. Thank-you Leesburg and Albany for giving us a great start to the Tour. We trust and pray the rest of the Tour will be equally as successful. Full tour itinerary.
Before the US Tour, January was a very busy month. Immediately after returning from the Christmas/New Year holiday, the Leeds office was fully occupied preparing the first ever published ‘Annual Report' for Smiles. The 20 page 2009 Report is a great insight to the Foundation's Work - its early years, its current projects, its financials and its immediate plans for the future. A copy has been mailed to every donor of Smiles during the past two years. The last batch was mailed February 3rd, so if you haven't received your copy yet, it should be with you in a few days. Extra copies can be obtained from contacting your regional DA or the Smiles central office.
There is also a PDF of the full ‘Annual Report for 2009' available to view or print from the website.
By mid-January we were busy in Romania with a Mission Trip from Essex. The third year Smiles has partnered with former High Sheriff of Essex now operating as the Kemp-Welch Partnership which works helping young lives to turn around. We had another great week serving the poor and vulnerable in Romania and once again, the young people of Essex demonstrated tremendous compassion and support for those less fortunate than themselves.
In the week run up to leaving for America, we first had the Romanian Staff Conference in Cihei.
Smiles staff from all the projects had a wonderful day together sharing the highs and some lows of the past year, but just as important were the hopes for the year ahead. Nearly 70 staff meeting provides a lot of talking points, especially as this only happens one day a year, but this is the 4th year it is taken place and continues to be very much appreciated, so January 2011 will enable everyone to get together once again.After the Staff Conferences some important meetings were held concerning the Farm Purchase we told you about last month. We believe this is an exciting project God has set apart for Smiles to be involved with. You may recall from last month, we need to raise £600,000 / $960,000 in 180 days. In the short month of January since we launched the project £13,000 / $20,800 has been raised, with many more contacting us for further details. Our first major deadline is March 31st when £265,000 / $424,000 is needed for Smiles to take control of the Farm Management from April 1st.
We are praying for the Lord to move many of our supporters to help meet this deadline with a donation or loan towards the Purchase. Full information is on the website and a further leaflet can be sent by contacting the Smiles office or e-mailing: kevin@thesmilesfoundation.org
This is a truly remarkable opportunity that we have stepped out in faith on, believing it is what God wants us to do. Please consider your support now and contact us for further details.
The Website has had its usual monthly updates from key people within the Foundation.
The UK DA Report this month comes from Scotland. Smiles DA, Ann Cowan provides a full and informative report on the past year activities in Scotland along with some plans for the future. Don't miss the read.
February update from US DA, Greg Willis talks of the excitement building in his own Church with the imminent arrival of the Tileagd Choir, as well as how the Tour is linking up some long time supporters of Smiles who Greg is really looking forward to meeting in his new role of Development Associate for America. Be sure to read the Report and if possible, come and meet Greg at one of the Choir Concerts.
Finally on the regular monthly updates, Romanian Director of Operations, Maria Cimpoca shares her heart and some personal items for prayer in her monthly Report. Always an interesting insight to Romanian life within Smiles, we recommend you don't miss Maria's webpage.
We have also been delighted with the positive responses we receive from so many concerning our video's which you both enjoy and find inspiring and beneficial to use in Smiles Presentations.
Many are often asking us for CD's/DVD's of the videos so to make the process easier, we have created a special ‘Video Page' on the website. Now you can view the options available and download your requirements to your own computer. We trust you will find this a very useful facility.
We continue to be overwhelmed by the adventurous and untiring efforts people make in raising both the profile of Smiles and considerable amounts of money to support the projects. This past month we were sent various reports of events for which we thank-you all. We have featured a couple of the events on a ‘Fund-Raising Page' which we hope you'll enjoy. Many congratulations and sincere thanks to those who so successfully raised so much money to help the people of Romania.
Finally, we want to announce the Smiles Regional Conferences that will be held across the United Kingdom in March. We want as many people as possible to attend these short but information packed events and would like you to consider this your ‘personal' invitation.
Between March 20th and 29th, our Chief Executive will be joined by a few of our Romanian project leadership visiting a different city every day giving a 4 hour presentation on the progress of projects, plans for the future and current needs you can help with. It is a great opportunity to meet the team, including your regional Development Associate and many others in your area involved with supporting the Smiles Foundation.
Check all the details on the EVENTS PAGE and RSVP the local DA if you can attend for refreshment purposes. We look forward to seeing you.
So, there we must end another bumper update of stories and reports from the world of Smiles. So much happens in a month. Be sure to keep up to date with our monthly mailing, direct to your inbox.
Thank you for all you do to support the work of Smiles.
We appreciate you very much indeed and thank God for you.
Keep in touch.
The Smiles Foundation UK: P O Box HK70, Leeds LS11 6YR Tel: 0113 276 5060
USA: P O Box 35602, Phoenix AZ 85069 Tel: 423 239 9525
