From the beginning of this year we had in our care 50 people (teenagers, single mothers, elderly). For this year we had a plan of work well made, which is our guide. We have planned all the activities and the way how the work should be done during the year. In this plan, evaluations of the work are included for every 3-4 month. From October we will publish it on our site. We are at the present, going along with the plan.

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December……end of year 2006.
Looking back to this year I can say from all my heart that is was a fruitful year.
Even from January we had the great opportunity to receive financial support from the Local Council -Cluj-Napoca, which added to our former budget the amount of 1.000 euro per month during 2006, out of 6000 euro (this is our monthly income budget). It was a consistent help and a great encouragent that the officials got involved in the social work we do. When officials went visiting the families we assist to check our work they were very appreciative and all the persons assisted by us told them that they were blessed by the work we do in their lives.That challenged us to work more professionally and proved us that we are doing a great job.
Another great thing that happened this year was that God provided material help:
in April we received a truck from Holland filled with things like: clothes, shoes, furniture, toys and so on. On this stuff we have paid customs and we managed to sell them at a very good price. The money helped us to accomplish our income budget.We praise the Lord for this and we thank to the Dutch people for De Hoeksteen donation. Also, we received Easter food parcels from the Local Council, very useful for our work.
we had been visited by a Scottish team from Lewis and they brought us a great present- a sum of money witch represented 80 % of the costs of the van we needed for the work we do at Herald.
In December God blessed us with some material help from Zisterne, Germany; it was, again, the right thing at the right time. From the Local Council we received parcels filled with sweets and from Blythswood, Scotland, shoe boxes which were really neccesary and a blessing for all the people helped by Herald.
During the year, we got donations from some charities in Cluj: Dorcas, Ecce Homo - a great help at that time for our assisted people
In September 2006 we managed to receive accreditation for our work according with European standards for the following three years.
Thank you very much to all of you who made these things a reality for us! We could not have done it without you!
The year 2006 was also blessed from a financial point of view, having great people with great hearts which are our faithful donators. They have given us monthly money for Herald Ministry. Without them we couldn't go forward and we could not do what we have done this year. These people are as follows: Jonathan, Jane and Harriet Ruffer, Christ Life Ministries, Great Britain, through their directors Graham and Joy Summner, Peter Becket, Lewis Clan (here are a lot of Stornoway and Lewis people, Muriel and David Ellis, Kim and Steven, Rita and Muriel's friends, John and Kristy MacInnes, Margaret and Donald Fraser, Phil Doye (Kelway Company), George Bingam and his minister and church , Ionel and Dina Oros, LeasingRom ( Nelu and Vali Lupoian), Panemar (Mr. and Mrs. Chiorean), Radu Negrean, Daniel Goiti and others which I can't remember right now.
I would like to add to this list those people I don't know who prayed for us or gave us "two coins" like the widow from the Scriptures. God will reward them, He said that He will reward even a glass of water given in His name. How much more will be those rewarded in His kingdom!
Thank you and may God's blessings be poured over you!
The monthly estimated income for 2006 was 6000 euros and it was great that we managed to accomplish it. In the same time the expenses' budget was 6000 euros per month. For 2007 the average estimated monthly income is 6625 euros and the average estimated monthly expenses is 6528 euros. We pray that God will be with us and help us in this need to be able to continue the work. We already have for 2007 the support from Cluj-Napoca Local Council which adds up the amount of 1200 euros monthly to our budget.
Regarding the daily activities done at Herald you can read the news on the site.
This year we helped around 80 people and there were nine staff working. We had organized week-end retreats and camps, offered material and financial support for those in need - a few houses were redecorated so the people have decent conditions for living. Counseling and discussion groups are, also, a priority for us. Regarding the teenagers we worked with, 95% of them had succeded passing the National Exam (apart two of them: both applyed for vocational schools and were accepted).We are very encouraged by the results - they were backward pupils- it is a great success for them to be able to continue their education.
Also, many mothers and ladies found a refuge at Herald charity. This year all the people we worked with, heard the Gospel and received strong and healthy teaching from the Scriptures linked with their daily needs, problems and behaviors.
In November 2006 Nicu Raicea and Palfi Elisabeta got baptized. Here, at Herald, and in Heaven there was a great party! Because "there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth..."
Maybe the last thing to be mentioned is that we have a new fundraiser which seems very capable. We hope it is so!
At the end of this letter we wish you a blessed Christmas, full with significance of Jesus' birth into our world and a successful year.
May God bless you all!
Rimona Goiti
A few things about me and my family:
In the beginning of the year, Daniel, was a few times in the hospital. After that, he felt a little bit better, but since the cool weather has come he feels unwell again (unwell means small or very big diabetic values), with head and body pains, depression symptoms. Because of that, he gave up the pleasure of this life: to play concerts with orchestras. It was hard for him to accept this reality, but he had no choice. In a way we gain him, for he has now, more time for us - his family.
He continues to be a professor-very appreciated one- in the Music Academy in Cluj. He got his Doctorate degree in Music, had two concerts in Germany and a Cd made, of which he is very pleased. For him it is important that we have a good family relationship for which we praise the Lord.
The children are very well. They are happy and full of energy. Asher goes to school, but because I was busy working, he stopped all the additional activities (tennis, swimming, music) hoping that the next year he will start them again. If Asher has a strong personality and a strong will, Phillip is more diligent and flexible even though he seems to be more like his father, an artist.
I hope I will be soon able to send you a family picture.
As far as I am concerned, my heart is full of joy for everything happening at Herald. I pray for wisdom and strenght to be equally efficient at work and at home.

News about the work

I would like to start by saying that Romania will probably become
part of UE starting with January 2007.

Looking to the Cluj urban society in the last two years, we can say
that there are quite big improvements in the people's lives. Having a
new mayor in Cluj, there are many things taking place in the town – new
facilities in the children parks, new roads, new supermarkets, more
involvement of the Local Council in helping charities do better social
assistance, new factories and businesses (putting forth new employment
opportunities) and many other things, maybe smaller, but significant.

Working with poor people in the city we can see a few improvements in
their lives, too.
Part of these improvements are of course because of our involvement
in their lives, which is quite significant many a times.

Till now, the poor class couldn't survive with the social security
services at all; in the first years after the revolution we got involved
in social assistance of the poor class, all alone, seeing this big
need. After a while, the Local Council got involved in offering finances to the charities doing social work.

Now we can predict a new stage once we are in the UE, when Romania
will be forced to assure the poor class with a certain level of decent
life. In this new stage, be it either near future or not, we expect
(without having any certainties) two possible scenarios:

1. The Local Council will take full control of the social assistance
of the poor and they will manage to assist and help poor people to get
on with their lives. In this case, our role, as a social service is
finished and therefore we won't be able to reach them with the Gospel
anymore in this way. We will have to redirect our work and try to do it in
another way.

2. The Local Council will evaluate all the social needs and will
auction them to the charities. In this case, we can be part of the auction
and see if we can gain some finances from them for the work we intend
to do. In the case we gain the finance we will do the same work until
now and in the meantime we will develop a new project in our work: a
counseling center for church people who face various spiritual problems
which demand professional spiritual counseling.

We predict this but we cannot know how long it will take for the
government to take over successfully the entire social assistance activity.
It could take longer than we think and in this case, our activity and
role as it is right now, could continue for another 3-4 years.

We trust and pray that the Lord will give us light to know which is
the direction we need to follow and seek the plan He has with us in our
society.

In any case, starting with January 2007, we will begin to work at
this new project and we will be preparing from September 2006 on the
infrastructure for it - leaflets, training program for the staff,
advertising in the churches, budget, praying, etc.

We intend to offer these kind of new services to three kinds of
people :

poor people – free of charge services or just 10% payment

people with medium income – they will pay 50% out of the cost

well off people – full payment

In the month to come we will have to get very well organized and we
expect for the next year to be a combination between what we have done
so far and the counseling project.

As a development of our work, the counseling project, will take time
and finances for it to work at full capacity and we expect that the
entire year to come will be experimental in this area.

Regarding the work I can say that we are in the middle of the year
and we are content with the work done until now.

In the project assisting the teenagers, most of them have undergone a
national exam. Out of all the adolescents who undertook this exam, 99%
passed it. This is a great success for us as workers and for them as well.

In the assistance of the mono parental families, the greatest success
are:

- better payed jobs for a few of them

- we are on the way of signing a protocol between us and Habitat for
Humanity ( as a result of this we will be able to see most of the
houses of our assisted persons renovated , which means a decent life)
- they grow in the knowledge of Christ

In the assistance of the elderly, we are very happy to see the joy on
their faces when we visit them and the confidence they have in God,
knowing that He sent us to look after their needs. From our point of view,
the greatest gain is that we know that they are safe from the stress of
the “day of tomorrow”. We say this because their income is 20 pounds
and they need around 60 pounds at least to survive. So through us, God is
taking care of them and providing for their needs.

Also in this project we are looking forward to see how we will be
able to co-operate with Habitat for Humanity to be able to improve the
conditions of their lives.

As a conclusion to the biggest benefits of the whole work is that
poor people hear the Gospel and are called to make peace with God through
Jesus Christ.
Another great benefit I see is that we as Herald staff, we are so happy to work together and we all consider we are a great team working together for the growth of God's Kingdom, together with our Lord, Jesus Christ.

Through this way we would like to give thanks to all those who are
the invisible part of our team – namely our sponsors – thank you for all
the help and prayers you provided us with throughout these years. May
God bless you and richly reward you.

We would also like to remind you that in August we take our holidays
and we will be away. At the end of the holiday and the beginning of the
work, in September, we intend to go (as Herald team) to the south for a
week of the country to give a hand to the work done in the rebuilding
of the houses flooded by the Danube as a consequence of the heavy rains.
Evangelical churches in Cluj, took a courageous initiative of helping these people, restoring their houses with a purpose to plant churches in
the villages where there are none.
There is a huge need of Gospel and in the meantime there is a terrible poverty over there.

Even if we start little by little to implement a new project, we
still need help from you and we appreciate your generosity, your care and
love for the poor and we want to assure you of our hard work for the
Lord regarding the mission He gave us to look after the poor.

Blessings and kind regards,
Rimona

April brought us two reasons to be joyful: on one hand, we were happy to welcome the visit of a sponsoring team from Scotland, on the other hand we celebrated Easter. Together with the scottish team, we visited the homes of 8 families assisted in our project. Every family welcomed us happily...

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