kitchen. In 2015, gas and fuel prices soared to nearly six times their normal amount. Olha’s pension of roughly $88 CDN plus her youngest son’s bread-winner loss pension of $38 CDN is not enough to cover basic needs, let alone heat their home.

At the onset of winter our MWB coordinators became concerned that they would really struggle as temperatures plummeted. As part of MWB’s Operation Winter Rescue campaign, the family was given sufficient firewood to heat their home through the long and dark winter months.

“We now have enough firewood for the whole winter!” Olha exclaims, getting emotional. “The cost of it is higher than my two monthly pensions, and now I don’t have to worry about how to keep our house and my children warm. Thank you so much to the sponsors who have opened their hearts to us!”

THROUGH SNOW AND ICE: NEW YEAR, NEW FAMILY, NEW HOPE

It’s snowy and icy in Tuzla (north eastern Bosnia-Herzegovina, site of

a massacre in 1995 during the Bosnian war where 71 were killed and 240 wounded, all civilians, by deliberate military shelling). The clear crisp winter nights are drawing in fast. Our coordinator wanted to visit a newly enrolled family before

dark who live in an area called Sepetari. In the city, the roads are

clear but here in the country, they are bumpy and dangerous with snow

drifts and black ice. Getting anywhere is

Winter in Eastern Europe hangs on. Many are burdened by freezing temperatures, heavy snowfall and the high cost of just surviving. In Ukraine, the war drags on, dispiriting a nation. In Bulgaria, they continue to struggle with the Syrian refugee crisis. Albania and Bosnia-Herzegovina are beset with racial and religious tensions. Moldova tries to find ways to support abandoned children, and Romania suffers from racism directed against the Roma people.

There are so many stories of people living out of garbage dumps, calling a cold one-room slum “home”, wondering where their next meal is coming from. These people need your help. A donation of just $50 would mean food, clothing, medicine and heating fuel for a family to see them through the rest of winter.

MISSION SUPPORTS FAMILY OF WOUNDED SON

There are some great stories of heroes, and those who love and support them. One such hero is Olha, and her 21 year old son Sasha, a soldier in the Ukraine army and stationed on the front lines of Eastern Ukraine. Fighting for his country against the Russian army and local separatists, he was severely wounded by shrapnel and is now recovering from his wounds.

Olha, a widowed mother of 13, spends her days worrying about him. She sends him food she can hardly spare, worried that he doesn’t get what he needs to help him recover. Olha prays for the war to

end and for her son to come home.

Nine years ago Olha lost her husband Petro after an almost five year battle with cancer. Since then, she has taken on all the burdens of widowhood with many mouths to feed.

“When my husband died,” she said, “it was a difficult time for me and my children. My Petro was a loving, caring husband and father. I had to be very strong to be able to cope with my grief and at the same time support my children. Of course, financially it was very hard too. Ten of our children were still at school. Without the Mission’s help during that time, I don’t know how we would have survived.”

Olha lives with six of her children now, the other seven are all married. They have a four-room house with an outside toilet, inside bathroom and a little

Mission Without Borders

Mission Without Borders

TOLL FREE 1-800-494-4454 PO Box 2007 Abbotsford, BC V2T 3T8

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slow progress, and our coordinator had to abandon the car to walk the last part of the way .

Sepetari is a diverse community constantly changing in its ethnic makeup. Today it is predominantly populated by Bosniak Muslims, but during the war in the 90’s there were many Orthodox Serbs living here. The family being visited are especially reflective of this community, as mother is a Muslim and father is Catholic.

The family home is old, cold, unsightly grey and in need of much renovation but the family inside is warm and welcoming. While her partner Siniša was at work, the mother Mediha and her 2 children are on hand. The family was just enrolled in November, so it is early days and we are still getting to know them.

We first learned about Mediha and her family through the Evangelical church Mission Without Borders partners with in Tuzla. In April of 2015, Mediha had a miscarriage four months into her pregnancy. In the aftermath, she struggled and is emotionally scarred by the experience. Mediha’s children are from her first relationship, and she is not married to Siniša. We are delighted to learn they want to get married this year.

“It is difficult at this time of year and with so much snow,” she says. “We have problems with insulation and one of the rooms in the home we cannot use because it is full of moisture. The house is falling apart.”

We invited Mediha and her family to church. The families here are very much used to Catholic and Orthodox services, so this was a change for them, and we

wondered if they would come. Not

only did the whole family come, but they walked the whole way!

“We were very happy to come,” Mediha says. “My children enjoyed the Sunday school a

lot and we will come again.”

We thank God for the time spent with

them and pray that more doors will open for

this family. To help them become self-sufficient, we plan to

help them set up a mini-farm, as they have shown a desire to grow their own garden, plus breed hens and sell eggs and meat. We also plan to provide some roofing materials, paint, furniture and shoes for the family through Gifts in Kind to help shore up their home and improve the quality of their lives.

PARTNERSHIP WITH THE LOCAL CHURCH

MWB and the Evangelical church in Tuzla have been working together for the past

six years. Our team on the ground works with the church to

distribute Christian literature and Bibles,

plus locally sourced Gifts in Kind to families in crisis. We also work together in response to natural disasters

such as floods and landslides, plus on

campaigns such as Operation Christmas Love,

Operation Winter Rescue campaigns, and self-sufficiency projects such as Seeds of Hope. One of our key aims is to reach out to minority communities such as Roma, and to support the disabled and those in prison.

In 2015 we began the Family to Family program in the region where we provide goods, Bibles and literature, and the church provides the human resources and transport. Together all our efforts aim to demonstrate and spread the glory

MEET THE MISSION

We are always available to do presentations about the work of the

Mission to church groups across Western Canada.

If you would like us to speak to your group, please call 604-855-9126 or

Toll Free 1-800-494-4454

PRAYER GUIDE

Your prayers are truly appreciated! Look for the “Prayer Team” page

on our website at ...

www.mwbca.org/get-involved

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED FOR MWB FAMILY THRIFT CENTER

Did you know we are opening a thrift store in Abbotsford? We are using volunteers to help run the store and keep costs down, so there is more to go to the needy. And the store will also let us help Abbotsford homeless and needy, by providing clothing at very minimal cost.

Revenue from the store will be used to help defray costs of shipping your donations to Eastern Europe. But we need your help … so please consider doing a 4 hour shift once or twice a week, more if you want.

Give us a call at 604-855-9126 or 604-776-1620.

of God, which is our common vision.

The need remains great but clearly there is hope. People just want a chance to succeed, they’ll do the hard work but we need to help them get started. So please, we would be so blessed and grateful if you can donate $50 for an individual or $150 for a family so we can continue to help these and many other families as they all struggle to get through to spring and the hope it brings.

Blessings,

David Inwood NATIONAL DIRECTOR MISSION WITHOUT BORDERS CANADA