Mission Without Borders Australia
4 December 2025
Thirteen-year-old Dumitru’s hands are calloused from chopping wood and farm labour – work no child should bear alone. But in rural Moldova, where 31.6% live in poverty and winter wages of just $310 monthly must stretch impossibly far, childhood often surrenders to survival.
His family’s story is unfolding across thousands of families in Eastern Europe. His father, trapped by alcohol abuse, has abandoned them. His bedridden grandfather exists on a meagre pension. His mother Iliana, just 37, battles debilitating heart problems in their damp, poorly lit home with no indoor toilet or running water.
“In winter it’s very quiet. There are very few opportunities to earn money,” Iliana explains. Across six Eastern European countries – Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Moldova, Romania and Ukraine – families like hers face impossible winters. Heating costs soar. Seasonal work vanishes. Children go hungry whilst parents choose between fuel and food. When Mission Without Borders Australia placed a Box of Hope in Iliana’s hands, she wept: “It’s like God is coming down from heaven to our home! We couldn’t have afforded to celebrate Christmas without you.”
Inside: rice, pasta, oil, flour, sugar, tea, canned meat, cereals, sweets for the children, and Christian literature sharing the hope of the gospel – enough to feed a family for more than a week, filled with hope and a reminder they’re not forgotten. This Christmas, will you put hope in their hands? Your $50 box is more than food – it’s a tangible expression of
This Christmas, will you put hope in their hands? Your $50 box is more than food – it’s a tangible expression of Christ’s love crossing borders.
See Youtube Video
For more faith news, follow The Melbourne Anglican on Facebook, Instagram, or subscribe to our weekly emails.
