Week #54 of our 78-week humanitarian mission to Slovakia and Poland is in the books.

“And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.” - Hebrews 13:16.

Slovakia fact of the week . . . There are more than 1,600 officially registered springs, many of them used as a source of mineral drinking water and the others are thermal springs for relaxing spas. You can even buy bottled water from Slovak springs in every store and each type has different benefits for your body. Meanwhile, the biggest area for swimming is in Bešeňová, where 33 springs can be found. The world’s rarity is hot springs in Podhájska because the water is said to have more beneficial effects than the famous Dead Sea water.

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We have several project updates this week as well as a new project that has been approved.

Update - Roma Training Center in Bežovce: The objective of the project is to renovate a old building in disrepair into a workshop in which the Roma can obtain skills that meet the needs of the local community to obtain employment. Skills taught in the workshop will include how to correctly use, manipulate, repair, and maintain functional tools. Functional tools include more sophisticated tools such as commercial lawn mowers, brush cutters, hedge trimmers, cultivators, electric drills, grinders, etc. The workshop will also be used by members of the community who need their tools maintained and are not Roma with the goal of bringing the community together.

The renovation is on track to be completed by the end of August and the transformation looks amazing.

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New Project - Self Reliance Support for Ukraine Refugees: This project was approved this week and we will be partnering with two incredible organizations to implement this project, Faros Elpidas and Fundacja Kocham Debniki.

Fundacja Kocham is a refugee cultural center located in the Krakow neighborhood of Debniki. The neighborhood has welcomed refugees with open arms and the center has been focused on integrating refugees into the local community with great success.

Dębniki provides a variety of services including Polish and English classes, educational and skills activities for 150, a pantry that provides food for 700, cultural events attended by 200 designed to bring the Polish and Ukrainian communities together, daycare for 40 children of refugees who have found work but cannot afford traditional daycare, and psychosocial support for 50 people.

We will be funding the remodel of a commercial kitchen to support both the cultural center, to prepare 150 meals per day for refugees in need, and as a facility to train Ukrainian women how to operate and manage a catering and food business to generate income. The women will be taught how to cater an event, how to manage pop-up food events, how to establish a meal subscription service, etc. We will also fund language classes for 80 people who are currently on the center's waiting list.

We look forward to showing you the 'after' photos but in the meantime, here is the starting point.

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Update - Hospice Beds for Red Cross Humenne: We have funded several projects in which hospice care has been the focus of the initiative. We believe everyone, as they approach the end of their lives, deserves the best care and to be comfortable. Silvia Knapiková, the director of this Red Cross center, radiates a passion for supporting those in need. When we met with Silvia she was so gracious and kind and when we discussed the center's needs she was hoping we could provide one or two electric hospice beds, although they truly needed more. Based on the number of people in need of hospice in her area, we were able to provide seven beds.

The beds have arrived and will soon be in homes of hospice patients.

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We spent our P-day with our local missionaries climbing to Hrad (castle) Saris and then enjoying a picnic by a nearby lake.

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We pray you are well and that you will have a wonderful week.