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Click here to see Holiday Accommodation in Romania, Supporting Our Work
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Prayer Support
Hospices of Hope is a Christian organisation that works with people of all faiths or none on the basis of need alone.
We need God’s help We are certain that without prayer and church support this project would not have come as far as it has to date. Indeed many lives have been touched through the work, either through direct help from the hospice teams or through an exposure to the hardships yet generosity of spirit that many Romanians both endure and show.
We refuse to pay bribes However, there are things that have made the project more difficult that it could have been. Unfortunately, in Romania there is a problem with corruption, and sometimes this relates to people in public office. We remain resolute in our refusal to pay a single bribe, but this has meant that some simple procedures are delayed and some doors have remained shut.
Our encouragement We are comforted by the story in Daniel 3 of Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-Nego, who when bound and thrown into a fiery furnace, were seen by Nebuchadnezzar to walk unhurt and freely in the midst of the fire with a fourth man who looked like a ‘son of the gods’. We are very encouraged by the end of the story when they come out of the fire unharmed – ‘..the fire had not harmed their bodies, nor was a hair on their heads singed, their robes were not scorched, and there was no smell of fire on them’.
We ask for your prayers in this area – that those in authority will have the eyes of their hearts opened, and that our refusal to engage with unethical practices will be seen as a testament to our faith.
We also ask you to pray about financial provision for the project. There is still a huge unmet need and at present we struggle to raise funds for our existing work.
We have included a prayer below, but invite you to find out more about our work. If you would like to have a representative talk to you further about Hospices of Hope, if you would like a speaker to visit one of your church groups, or if you would like to request regular updates on our work please do send an email to office@hospicesofhope.co.uk
A prayer for patients in Romania Gracious God, we thank you for your enduring love and the gift of life that you have given to us. As we seek to understand your will for each of us, we thank you that you have opened our hearts to the needs of others. We lift up to you today, the needs of the people of Romania and South Eastern Europe, and the work of Hospices of Hope. We pray for the medical, nursing, and administrative staff and for the volunteers. We ask that you will give them the ability, wisdom, strength and love to minister to those who are living each and every day in pain and suffering. We pray for the patients and families, as well as those who have been bereaved. We lift them before you and ask that they feel your love in times of blessing and in times of hardship. We pray for those in authority and ask that you will open the eyes of their hearts and guide their actions. We ask that those who have the means will be moved to help those who are not able to help themselves. We pray that you will bring comfort in place of pain. Amen
Could you print an article about our work in your church newsletter? If so, here is some copy that you may wish to use.
Romania Still Needs Our Help Fifteen years ago Romania was in the grip of the worst oppression it had experienced during 15 years of dictatorship. When the population was queuing for bread and having its villages bulldozed, President Ceaucescu was building himself a palace, only surpassed in size by the Pentagon in Washington. He built homes for the people as well – thousands of poorly built blocks of flats that have deteriorated since. The people were always watched. They were not allowed to congregate in large groups. They were even suspicious of one another as it was rumoured that one in four adults were ‘Securitatea’ informers.
The revolution, when it happened in December 1989, was swift. A popular uprising in Timisoara, protesting against the planned eviction by communist officials of a Hungarian priest, was met with bullets. A tidal wave of anger and resentment against the regime swept through the country and within days had reached the very seat of Ceaucescu’s power - Bucharest itself. By the end of December, the President and his wife had been executed, and 1104 people had also paid the ultimate price for freedom.
When television pictures began to reveal the true horror of Romanian life, the outpouring of humanitarian aid, especially to the orphanages in the early 1990s, was tremendous if short-lived. However, it was never just the young who suffered.
In 1992 a Christian charity, Hospices of Hope (Hospice Casa Sperantei) was established in Brasov, Transylvania, to help people of all ages with life-threatening illnesses such as cancer. In Romania, the terminally ill were just being sent home to die without any relief from their suffering.
From very small beginnings with just two nurses, the project grew steadily into one of the most successful charitable undertakings within the country over the last decade. The hospice now has 19-beds, of which six are for children. It provides day-care and home-care services as well as outpatient clinics. To date its all-Romanian team has cared for over 3500 patients, and through its education programmes has trained doctors and nurses from other parts of the country and beyond.
For more information please contact:
‘Hospices of Hope’ (registered charity 1088475) 28a High Street Otford Kent TN14 5PQ
(01959) 525110
www.hospicesofhope.co.uk
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