4200 miles in one week

What motivates a person to spend 3 days, 12 hours a day driving a vehicle full of food and clothes to Romania and Bulgaria?

This can only be a for the need of the 1400 children that Feed The hungry provide for in 23 different locations right across Romania, from Bread of Life orphanage in the Carpathian Mountains in the north to Giurgiu located on the Danube River on the Southern borders of Bulgaria.

Thanks to the heart response of every who donated clothing, food, catering equipment and toys for these children, this trip would not have been possible. This is a story about partnership and teamwork, a story that happens in many different ways and many times each month across every continent in 29 projects in 21 different countries, but a story worth telling.

Over the past year Feed The Hungry have been developing a program to allow a rapid expansion of resources in Romania, establishing a warehouse facility in partnership with Bread of Life, enabling the distribution of food on a regular basis to each feeding program location. This facility has enabled us to consider branching out into the Baltic countries, and prayers and research program to locate a suitable partner in Bulgaria was initiated. After careful consideration a suitable program was established in Plovdiv to assist families with children with disabilities.

Children with multiple disabilities, complex health needs and acquired brain injury pose a huge problem for their parents, as there are no facilities to help them, therefore needing constant care means that they have to stay at home, in the main these are usually single parent families, falling through the inadequate benefit system, they are left with out an income and very little state help, isolated by their circumstance they feel trapped and alone and in many cases suffering from malnutrition.

With the help of Feed The Hungry the Christian Centre at Plovdiv have opened their arms to the needs of these families. Initially we are starting to reach out to 100 families with the vision of helping 250 families in Plovdiv city alone. It is with such a cry of help from those in need that brings to life the plans and purposes of God to his children, providing these families with a weekly support visit and much needed supply of food.

Behind the scenes our logistics team in Southbend action a 40ft container of Food which this time is gifted through suppliers arranged by our Canadian office, and made available through your support from around the world to be sent by sea to Romania, a journey of 4 weeks. Whilst here in the UK your support enabled me to transport clothing, toys and food to join up with the food from America, in the process our German office had been gifted some medicine and medical equipment which I was able to pick up on route.

A journey of 1800 miles to Bucharest which took 3 days, arriving in 30C of heat exhausted but relieved to locate the warehouse, we secured the vehicle and fell into bed and comfortable slumber.

Day 4 having dropped over nearly a ton of supplies we then went to initiate a new feeding program for 70 kids in one of the poorest areas of Bucharest. The church here was desperate to provide a feeding program for its community, but without adequate resources as most of its congregation is out of work. Feed The Hungry was able to resource the kitchen, tables, chairs, and steel tableware. By resourcing 3 more tables and chairs sets we are now able to provide for 100 kids in this church, sometimes it’s the little things that need to be provided that opens avenues of hope.

Later that day we loaded up with the food that had arrived from Canada, only a few days earlier, ready for our onward journey to Plovdiv. We also used this opportunity to support our friend s in Romania by dropping monthly supplies in Giurgiu. And Ruse a partner church to Giurgiu based in Bulgaria, a further 250 miles later we arrived in the National Christian Centre Plovdiv and greeted ecstatically by Vessi and Svetlo Petrova.

For Vessi and Svetlo their family and the Church this is a big step of faith to break out into communities and families, breaking with old formats of providing group supports and having to engage with the families in their homes, families that are in need of not only physical help but relational support. Please pray that doors would remain open for them to build on these new found relationships and build bridges for these families to feel part of the community again.


For this Christ has died that we might have fullness of communion with the Father and in him be able to poor out His grace and love to those around us.

For Feed the Hungry this was a breakthrough moment, dealing with new cultural customs and linguistic challenges. Feed The Hungry will be working very closely with the Church family to provide them with supporting materials and workshops to develop the program, of family support that bring Hope and Life into dark places.

If you would like to know more about  feed the hungry please go to http://www.feedthehungry.org.uk/

Thank you for taking time to read this blog