Christmas Trip 2009

3rd February 2010

Update

After an early start, the team of 8 ROAD members arrived at Luton Airport in plenty of time for a light breakfast together.
The flight left Luton on time and arrived in Cluj a little earlier than expected. Passport control, luggage collection and minibus collection went extremely well, meaning we set off to Zalau well within schedule.
We arrived in Zalau, met with the host families and enjoyed our first Romanian meal together, before getting to bed early.
On Saturday, we drove just over 3 hours to Tinca. This is the base of a charity that ROAD support, called Romanian Relief. The group met the staff and children of the two ‘Safe Houses’ and visited a new Medical Centre that will serve a large gypsy village nearby. We arrived back to Zalau, just as light was fading; this was planned due to the poor road conditions, especially in the dark.
Sunday began with breakfast altogether, and then time spent in the warehouse sorting presents ready for the week ahead. We visited a local supermarket to buy fresh fruit to distribute to children and families we would visit. Then in the evening we went to ‘Grace’ Church and joined them for worship.
The next few mornings were spent visiting around 10 schools to distribute Christmas presents. We had received slightly less presents than in previous years, but were still able to provide joy and happiness to many children.
The afternoons were spent visiting poor families in local villages, visiting previous projects and spending some time with the residents of the new ‘Pasi spre Viitor’ centre (formerly the Filatura Project).
Each evening we enjoyed meals together with various Romanian friends.
Friday came round very quickly. We drove back to Cluj airport early, ready for the 6am flight. The journey to the airport can be difficult particularly in the dark due to road conditions and possible fog over the mountains. On this occasion we were blessed with dry conditions and no fog, making it a lot less stressful for driver and passengers.
The weather during the whole week was fantastic, being mainly dry and not too cold. This made it a little easier to get to the smaller villages, as they can become inaccessible in icy or muddy conditions.
The flight back to Luton was again on schedule, even in the thick fog that was hanging over Luton. Luggage collection and car park procedures went to plan and the group were soon on the M1 heading back to Lincoln.
The whole trip was a huge success, even though sometimes time was against us. The group members got on well and a lot of memories were made.
Thanks for all the prayers before, during and after the trip.
December 2010 will soon be here!