At the beginning of the month, on October 3^rd - Paul Swithenbank and Edward Lawton embarked upon a mammoth fund-raiser for Smiles - Trekking the Great Wall of China. In addition to an amazing experience, the two raised over £5,000 ($8,000) for the Smiles Nursing Home. The new project we plan to build in Romania next year. Be sure to read the Special Report and see the wonderful photographs of the Great Wall.

Also, on October 4^th, Stuart Wallace undertook a Skydive for Smiles, raising over £400 ($640) in the process. Sincere thanks Stuart for your bravery and commitment for the work of Smiles.

Towards the end of the month, our friends at Chadsgrove School in Bromsgrove had a Concert to raise funds for the Centre for Children with Disabilities planned in Cihei. We are delighted and thankful for their contribution towards the new building project for 2010.

It was also amazing to hear that P6 and P7 pupils at Strandtown Primary School in Belfast, have just raised approximately £2,500 with an Energy Fitness fundraising adventure where they were sponsored for taking part in all sorts of crazy fitness classes with 'Freddy'.  This tremendous amount of money was raised for their sponsored child's education in Romania through the School Partnership initiative.
For further information on the Partnership - click here

 

We are also delighted that October had a large Mission Trip team in Romania with 30 folk from across the United Kingdom plus one American. The man from America was Greg Willis - the Smiles Development Associate who joined Smiles in August and returned to Romania for the first time since summer 2003. A few changes to be seen, not least the Home Base for the Mission Team which is now the Smiles Mission Centre in Cihei instead of the grand Continental Hotel in downtown Oradea. Greg has a lot to share about his trip to Romania, so don't miss the read under U.S. DA Page.

UK Trustee, Brian McKee from Northern Ireland, was at the DA Conference and is pleased to share his reflections on this special day of the DA Conference. Enjoy the insight to this exciting day.

  
Towards the end of the Mission Trip, we were thrilled to welcome Rob Nightingale and John Chrystal to the Mission Centre who had driven their Mercedes van across Europe full of Crucial Aid for our projects in Romania. Rob is our Development Associate for the North-East of England and has a Special Report this month as our UK DA Region 1.

The Romanian team are always excited when supplies arrive and as big as a Mercedes van is, Containers come much bigger! Scottish DA, Ann Cowan, is very excited this month with the amazing response in Scotland to our Container Challenge. If you are in Scotland and can help with our much needed supplies, detailed on our Wishlist please contact Ann to make arrangements.

The Container Challenge is not only making enormous impact on our supplies at the Cihei Warehouse  - it is also fulfilling the dream of providing Converted Containers as Homes for the desperate needs of families in our Salard project and for the Homeless families living on the streets and in the sewers of Oradea.



It was fantastic on the final day of the October Mission Trip to have the joy of delivering two Containers to Salard for two families who have been living in atrocious conditions for far too long. Now each family has moved into a beautiful new Container Home - fully furnished including a stove for heating and cooking.

As marvellous as it all is, Smiles isn't finished yet. We still hope to have another brand new Container Home delivered to Salard before Christmas - fulfilling our commitment to have 5 new Containers in place giving 5 families some real joy within the past 12 months.

If you would like to share the joy of delivering the next Container, join us on the December Mission Trip (6^th-13^th) and be a part of the action along with being ‘Santa' through the incredible Sack of Smiles project. Contact the office now for details or check the site. (Mission Trips)

We are delighted to see great interest building in Mission Trips for 2010 and many bookings are already confirmed. On the Website we have many testimonies as to the power and impact of a Smiles Mission Trip. 2010 could be your year to return to Romania or make that ‘leap of faith' to undertake the Mission Trip you've thought about for years, maybe your entire life, but never done. Now's the time! Contact us for further details.

  

For making your plans in 2010 you need to be sure to have the new Smiles Calendar. Another beautifully printed Calendar, just published, for the full 12 months of 2010 plus great information on all the key projects of Smiles. You need a copy for yourself and they make super gifts for family and friends. So order as many as you can. This year they cost just £5 / $10 including postage. Please telephone or e-mail your order TODAY for guaranteed delivery by December 1^st.

Thinking of Christmas Gifts - in addition to your family list of presents, please remember the children of Romania who will face a Christmas without a Gift unless YOU sponsor one for them through the Smiles S.O.S. programme. Sack of Smiles sponsorship, whether a complete sack at £30/$50 or any contribution towards a sack, will enable Smiles to purchase brand new hygiene supplies, winter clothing, Christmas treats and eats and a course a toy for every child in our projects. If you have special interest families or children you help sponsor, you can sponsor a Sack of Smiles this Christmas and have it delivered as your Christmas Gift with name tag and all.

Send your support and if appropriate, who the gift is for, and we'll do the rest.
Go to the web-page or telephone the office with your support.

As we begin to think of Christmas, it really won't be long before the Tileagd Choir are packing bags once again for a major American Tour. Today, flights have been booked for the 12 travellers who will leave Romania January 29^th and return March 9^th. We plan to visit Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia. We have some space on the Tour so could add more stops and we'd love share at your Church the great work God is doing in Romania. Please contact us about scheduling options on our American Tour.

To make some final preparations for the Tour, Kevin and Maria will be in America from November 15^th - 24^th. YES, this month! They will be meeting and travelling with Greg, developing the network of support in the US. If you would like to meet us during the trip, please e-mail now to allow us to consider the possibilities.