After the successful collections of the last three years, we will again be filling shoe boxes with Christmas gifts for children in Romania – see list below. Please use only shoe boxes – nothing bigger so that each child can get their own present. Please wrap the box and lid separately in Christmas paper, and secure them together with a rubber band. This is because there is a chance Romanian customs could open the boxes to inspect them. Please also indicate on the box lid whether the contents are for a boy or girl and the appropriate age in Romanian: Girl = Fata, Boy = Bajat; year = ani (so for example: Fata 6-8 ani or Bajat 8-12 ani). We will be sending our boxes together with our sister church in Frankfurt again this year.

Romania: Rev. Dorothee Hahn, a missionary for the Convocation of Episcopal Churches in Europe, is our contact to Romania. The former lawyer and Episcopal priest from Germany is committed to supporting struggling families in Huși. One of her current projects, which we also support, is called a “House for Cosmin.” Cosmin is a handicapped boy and Dorothee+ and her supporters are financing a house for him and his family so he can stay and be cared for at home.

We have provided boxes of winter clothing and shoes, new children’s books and new German text books (the latter for her teaching ministry). In December we collect shoeboxes with Christmas gifts for children that are donated by St. Augustine’s parishioners.

We sell handmade crafts and homemade food from Romania on her behalf to raise money and we donate to her projects directly.