Giving Tradition: Churches in Germany give to special projects

The Helping Hands Christmas project ministers to Nazarenes and
their communities in Romania. This year the Germany District
assembled 650 boxes of household items and 583 Christmas
boxes filled with food and treats for families. Photo courtesy Roberta Bustin.

By Gina Pottenger
Eurasia Region Communications
Where Worlds Meet, December 2011

Gelnhausen, Germany -- Several Nazarenes were chatting at prayer meeting on a Wednesday night in Romania. One man complimented the other’s sweater.

“Oh, this is from Gelnhausen.” “This is from Gelnhausen, too,” piped in another, proudly fingering a shirt.

“Well, I like this Gelnhausen fashion,” the first man joked.

The clothes they referred to came from the used clothes, linens and shoes collected each year by churches throughout the Germany District for the Helping Hands Christmas project to minister to Nazarenes and their communities in Romania.

The 650 banana boxes of household items collected this year is being shipped this week from the collection point in Gelnhausen to the Nazarene church in Bucharest, Romania, for unloading and distribution. The district also assembled 583 Christmas boxes, each filled with food and treats, including tea, coffee, pasta and rice, toiletries, chocolate and sweets. Several boxes of school
supplies were also included.

The delivery truck will arrive in Bucharest on 12 December.

The German churches increase the number of packages they give by involving their communities. For instance, the Gelnhausen church advertised the project in the local newspaper, and the Büsingen church invited attendees at its weekly English class to contribute.

“We actually got about 50 boxes that way this year,” said Dorli Gschwandtner, who is responsible for project management and public relations for Helping Hands. “Last year it was only six, so we’re quite excited about this development.”

The Bucharest church plans to divide up the care packages
among the Nazarene churches in Sighisoara, Tigmandru
and Viscri. Photo courtesy Boseff family, 2010.

The Bucharest church plans to divide up the packages among the Nazarene churches in Sighişoara, Ţigmandru and Viscri, said Rev. Tamara Hudson, district superintendent. The church members share them with people in their communities who inhabit difficult living conditions with little to no income, such as children in the child sponsorship program, elderly people in Saint Luke Hospital in Bucharest and the Elderly Club in Sighişoara. The packages are also distributed through the Veritas Family Centre, an NCM center in Sighişoara.

Those attending the Bucharest church’s Wednesday night prayer meeting have been praying for weeks over the shipment, and asking God to use them to touch others with the gifts.

“What a blessing this is to the people of Romania!” Hudson said. “Not only are people blessed materially, but the believers here have the opportunity to serve and share in ways that would not be possible without the help of the German brothers and sisters.”

This year some boxes will also go to the Nazarene church in Bulgaria for distribution in the Vidrare area, she added.

The people leading this project are Elke Tengler, office manager of Helping Hands, Germany, and Monica Boseff, local NCM coordinator in Bucharest.