Active Ballymena fundraiser, Joye Carson has raised £16,865 for the Smiles Foundation in Romania. The Smiles Foundation is supported by many in Northern Ireland. Lots of people have gone from here to Romania over the last number of years on mission trips to see first hand, and help with the work being done there.
Joye generated this fantastic final sum of money by undertaking a 60-mile sponsored walk from Larne to Portstewart to mark her 60th birthday in April.
Remarkably, the former childminder and grandmother of two completed her trek in just five days. She was accompanied by her husband, Robin, in addition to various friends from her ‘home’ Church – Kells Presbyterian.
She was also joined by other friends from Cloughmills and was blessed by various people who provided overnight lodgings and hospitality during the trip.
Having now raised the money for this project, Joye is planning to travel to Romania shortly to help the Smiles Foundation with the building work.
Originally, Joye had hoped to amass £5,000 to enable the construction of one house for a poor family in Romania.
She describes the final amount as ‘beyond her wildest dreams’, adding, “Thank-you so, so much to anyone who contributed in any way. I am just speechless for once. Could I ask you to pray for us as we plan to travel to Romania on Saturday 2nd July and help to build the house.” There are regular mission trips to the Smiles Foundation in Romania. On one of these trips you will see the amazing work going on there and have plenty of opportunities to get your hands dirty and help with some of the projects. If this is something that would interest you, click here for more details.
I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Philippians 4, verse 13
To find out much more about The Smiles Foundation and the various projects they are currently working on in Romania, go to their website here.
You can also get all the updates and news from Romania on their Facebook page.
