On November 17 our completely-filled 40 foot sea container with over 22,000 lbs. of relief supplies and Christmas shoeboxes left the Haven of Rest Farm in Chambersburg, PA, for its journey to Romania. We were touched by the response of people, from California to Virginia and from Maine to Louisiana, wanting to help the Romanian children. For several weeks, Larry and Sue Hartman's living room became a depository for the Christmas boxes and for bags of new clothes and shoes.

We want to thank Larry and Sue for allowing us to interrupt their normal schedule and letting us use their huge storage barn to collect food and other materials for the container. Larry, Sue, their daughter Missy, and some of their friends and relatives (especially Sue's mother, Gladys, and her best friend, Dolly) sorted, packed and organized thousands of shoe boxes and plastic gift bags for the Romanian children.

Many thanks also to David and Kathy Walker, our Casa Shalom Vice President, for recruiting churches to make up the gift shoeboxes and help provide the shipping expenses for the container. One Christian school alone, from Littlestown, PA, sent over 300 shoeboxes!! (Thank you!) We also want to thank Bruce and Anne Chase who came from Morgantown, WV, to help pack the container. Joseph and I got in the last week and we helped finish the packing. We saw how much work was involved in sending a container and realized how much easier it is when there is an extra hand or two.

Now, pray that we will have all the papers needed for customs and that the container will arrive safely at Casa Shalom where it will be unpacked and prepared for distribution. We are hoping that we will be able to distribute some of the gifts on Christmas day. This will be such a surprise for many of the orphan children who would otherwise not receive any gifts. They will be so thrilled to know there is someone, 5000 miles away, who is thinking about them. This will give us a golden opportunity to share the Gospel with the children. We want to thank each church, organization and individual which has had a part in this project. We also want to ask you to keep praying that, through one way or another, the Lord will touch their lives. Lord willing, our January newsletter will have lots of pictures of children receiving the gifts you have sent.

Joseph and I were busy traveling and sharing in churches for several weeks this fall. We thank you all for your love and support for our ministry over here. We are grateful for the new doors God has opened and believe we will be able to accomplish even more in the new year.

In our last newsletter we shared the desire to build a storage place and a garage for our vehicles. The price quoted us by a Romanian contractor was $40,000. I decided to wait and talk with an American company in the U.S. We spent six hours sharing with the president of the company. He then said, "Tell me more" and we shared about the ten years of our ministry in Eastern Europe before the fall of the Iron Curtain, of the nine years of our ministry since, and about the house for babies and little children in Romania. He was so touched he began to weep and said: "I don't know how big is the building you want, but I'm donating it to you." We bought insulation and paid the shipping for the building. It will arrive here in Bucharest the middle of January.

At the present time we are working on getting all the needed permits to put up the building. We need to put in the concrete slab, which will cost us several thousand dollars, and then we need the crew that will help us erect the building. Once again we see the faithfulness of our God. Pray for us, as getting all the building permits can be a long, drawn-out process.

Our Casa Shalom children are doing fine. They are all growing up so much. I promised to let them be involved in giving out the Christmas gifts to children from other orphanages, and they are looking forward to doing so. This way, our children can learn that there is more joy to give than to receive. Sorin and all the girls were so happy to see us after five weeks of being on the road. I thank God for the staff that filled in and did a wonderful job while we were in the U.S.

Our big, happy family here in Bucharest sends Christmas joy and peace to you and your families this Christmas season. Thank you for loving Romania with us!

Becky Walsh, Director, Casa Shalom

For Financial Support:

Christian Faith Ministries
Attn: Casa Shalom
P.O. Box 50538
Denton, Texas. 76206

A note about sending packages: Please do not send packages to Casa Shalom. We cannot get your packages out of customs without great difficulty. Send any package directly to us:

Rebecca Dan-Walsh
str. Donitei 15, sector 6
Bucharest, Romania
E-Mail: becky@dial.kappa.ro