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May 6, 2008 - Tuesday - Today we're sitting on a deck in the beautiful sunshine in Les Houches, France. We are surrounded by the vastness and beauty of the Alps, namely Mont Blanc. We left our home in Arad early Friday morning and set off driving across southern Hungary, Croatia, Slovenia and into Italy. Our first extended stop of our trip was in Trieste, Italy, which lies on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. We enjoyed a walk in the city and a delicious Italian dinner along one of the canals. More...

Saturday morning we set off across Italy with a stop in fair Verona. In school the last couple of years, Stephen and Lydia have read Romeo and Juliet, so we decided this stop would be fun. The city is so beautiful and interesting. While strolling through town, we visited the “House of Juliet.” People were clamoring to get into the courtyard and take pictures of Juliet’s balcony and to get a picture taken touching Juliet’s statue in rather private ways (for good-luck we’re told). The story of Romeo and Juliet was set in Verona but the “House of Juliet” is simply a tourist attraction…no real correlation with the story.

It is so interesting how dogs are treated in Western Europe. Madyson is on the trip with us, and she has been welcomed on the streets, in restaurants, and even in the hotel where we stayed. At the street café in Verona, they even served her with a bowl of water. We continued on our way across Italy and arrived in Chamonix, France to our missionary retreat setting. Our route included an 11 kilometer (6.8 miles) tunnel from Italy to France under the Alps. There is just no way to describe in words or even in pictures the beauty we saw in each of the countries. Total travel distance was 1550 kilometers (960 miles).

On Sunday, we gathered with our missionary colleagues for a time of worship in the morning and then in the afternoon we toured a local town, Chamonix. In the evening, we all attended the local protestant church. The church was built in 1860 and still functions today as the only protestant congregation in the surrounding community. Julie Allman and Jan Coleman led in worship and Pastor Mark VanValin, our speaker for the retreat, gave the sermon.

Monday the group visited another French town, Annecy, for a peaceful stroll around the old part of town. In the evening, I (Paula) was a judge in a chocolate tasting contest. All of the missionaries brought with them chocolate made in their own country of service…meaning we had chocolate from Greece, Belgium, France, Hungary, Romania, Spain, USA and others. The winners were Greece and USA (Herseys) in the milk chocolate category and ROMANIA in the dark chocolate category!

Today was a down day…relaxing. Our family, including Madyson, took a hike up the nearby mountain side to enjoy the view. We hung out around a mountain stream for a while so Madyson could play in the water. It is interesting how just two days ago we were at the Adriatic Sea and now we are at the foot of the highest mountain in Europe. But no matter where we go, we can see the beauty of God’s creation and enjoy His presence in it. Paula

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April 30, 2008 - Wednesday - Cristos a înviat! Adevǎrat c-a înviat! (Christ is risen! Truly He is risen!). For many of our readers Easter 2008 is probably a distant memory, but we just celebrated Easter this past Sunday. Protestants in Romania follow the Orthodox calendar for Easter, and this year it turned out to be very late in April. In fact I read somewhere that the Orthodox Easter will not be this late in the year for another 210 years. Who calculates these things?!

It was good to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus on Sunday. Our church here included some special music from the children. The following video will give you a sample. The children are really quite good singers.

The Dunn family also had the opportunity to share some special music. Recently the United Church of South Vienna raised funds to purchase a set of hand chimes for our church here. They arrived just a few days before Easter, so Easter Sunday was the perfect time to present this gift to the church. Our family learned to play a very simple gospel song in order to demonstrate the chimes. It wasn't a perfect performance, but I think we still made a beautiful sound. You take a listen for yourself with the following video.

Today we're trying to get many things done because tomorrow, May 1, is May Day and the beginning of a 4-day holiday weekend (similar to Labor Day in the USA). And Friday morning we leave for some much anticipated vacation time. More about that next week.  Scott

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April 18, 2008 - Friday - One of the ministries with which we are regularly involved here is Oaza (meaning Oasis). Oaza is a registered Romanian charity in its own right, primarily ministering to the needs of abandoned children by providing two family homes. But Oaza is also closely involved with our Free Methodist church here, Emmanuel Christian Centre. Many of the staff and all of the children call Emmanuel their home church. Paula also serves on the Oaza-Romania board.

Regular readers will know that fundraising is not normally a focus of our website. However, Oaza is facing a significant financial crisis at the moment that has the potential to significantly impact the lives of the children in its care. Therefore we have decided to share the need and allow God to direct your response. The following letter comes from the Oaza-UK board, a registered charity in the United Kingdom established to raise funding and awareness for Oaza-Romania. We encourage our readers to pray and respond as God leads. More...

Dear Friends & Sponsors,

We are writing to ask for your financial help in a time of urgent need. On the 20th of every month, the Oaza UK charity sends £5,000 of your money to Oaza Romania to pay for the daily running costs of the Oaza Children’s homes.

This £5,000 is made up of 2 parts - £2,500 comes in every month from regular standing orders, direct debits and child sponsorship, and the other £2,500 usually comes as one off cash and cheque gifts to the general fund.

Since Christmas we have received very few one off gifts and so the bank account has run dry. This month we only have £2,500 to send to Romania, therefore, they do not have enough money to feed the children, pay the bills and the staff etc. This is a serious situation because it jeopardises the welfare of the children immediately.

We know that many of you have given recently for the Casa Shalom building project, and are consistently generous in your regular support. However we must ask if you can help again now. Please also consider whether you are able to increase your regular giving.

If you would like to make a bank transfer online or deposit cash straight into the bank account, please email joy@oaza.com for bank account details.

If you would like to write a cheque, please make it payable to Oaza UK and send it to
Joy James at Ty Mawr, Clwt y Bont, Caernarfon, Gwynedd, N Wales LL55 3DH. If you are an account holder with Stewardship Services, then contact them in the usual way and ask them to transfer extra funds to the Oaza UK account. If you need any further information, please contact Joy James by email at joy@oaza.com or call her on 01286 873699 or 07717352857. All gifts will be acknowledged and receipted as usual, if you send your contact details.

Thank you for your help and may God richly bless your giving,

Oaza UK Board of Trustees

Susan Chalmers, Susan Davies, Joy James, Bob Makin, Sue Stokes, John Tonge

For our readers from the USA, donations should be payable and sent to: Free Methodist World Missions, PO Box 535002, Indianapolis, IN 46253-5002. Please mark the memo line clearly with "Romania Oaza Childrens Homes." For questions, or if you would like to become a regular sponsor of a child, please contact Paula by clicking on the "Send us a comment" link below. Thanks so much for your partnership in ministry!  Scott and Paula

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April 14, 2008 - Monday - We would like to share a missionary opportunity in Romania and ask that you keep us in mind and share with whoever you think appropriate. Our family has decided to seek a support missionary to help with our children’s high school, internet-based education. We are looking for someone able and willing to make a 1-2 year commitment. Raising or providing your own support would also be necessary. You can download a copy of the ministry description by clicking HERE. This will provide you with many more details. If you yourself are not interested or able, perhaps you know someone who might be. Please help us by sharing this opportunity with your church and other network of relationships. If you have any questions, just click on the following "Send us a comment" link. Thanks!  Scott & Paula

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April 8, 2008 - Tuesday - Lydia and I (Scott) returned home from England late last night. It was a very good and refreshing trip for both of us. For me, it was physically tiring (I was reminded of how hard farm work is...it's been 20 years since I left the farm) but mentally and emotionally very refreshing. So I thank God for the opportunity and for the hospitality of those who hosted us: Allan and Sue Ellershaw (Allan is Superintendent of the UK Conference of the Free Methodist Church) and John and Margaret Carter (owners of the farm and also active leaders at the Garstang Free Methodist Church)!

In my last post I promised pictures. With Lydia's help we were able to produce a short video as well. Disclaimer: some photos and the video footage show the birthing process in detail.

Oh, I almost forgot one amazing statistic. From Wednesday morning through Saturday night, we welcomed over 140 new lambs into the flock, a majority of which I personally delivered. No wonder I'm a bit tired :-)  Scott

England Sheep Farm_April2008

April 4, 2008 - Friday - Hello from northwest England (just south of Lancaster)! I (Scott) have been here since Tuesday. Lydia flew with me and has been visiting friends an hour south near Manchester. My hosts are Allan and Sue Ellershaw. Allan is superintendent of the UK Conference of the Free Methodist Church. Allan is a fellow sheep-lover, and when he learned of my love for sheep (I raised my own flock while I was in high school and early university in Ohio) he invited me to join him on his annual "vacation" week during the lambing season. We've been working on the farm of one of Allan's friends who has 400 ewes lambing during this 3-4-week period. Extra hands are very needed! More...

It is hard to describe my experiences over the last few days. It has been about 20 years since my last hands-on work with my own sheep, so I wasn't sure how much of my know-how would still be there. I had been on the farm less than one hour on Wednesday morning when I received my first test: a ewe needed assistance delivering her lambs, and I was asked to take care of it. I was amazed with how long-dormant knowledge and skills came back to mind. That first day I ended up delivering nine ewes, including one set of triplets (the rest were twins...you do the math). Yesterday was extremely busy...23 ewes delivered with over 40 live births in less than 24 hours. Total lamb count is over 200 now, and only half the ewes have delivered so far. We moved another 88 ewes into the barn today who are due beginning tomorrow.

Lydia and her (our) friends came up to visit the farm today. After lunch we went back to the farm hoping they could see at least one delivery. Two ewes were laboring when we arrived, so I got to show them three lambs delivered--a single and one set of twins--in about 15 minutes (they were easy births fortunately-not all have been so easy). Lydia has our camera and took several pictures. I will post them as soon as I receive them.

Some may wonder how much of a "vacation" this is considering the work I'm doing. The farm work is definitely hard work, and I have been exhausted each evening when returning back to Allan and Sue's vacation cottage (which is quite nice). But it is a different kind of tired, the kind that feels good. And it is such a change of pace from what I normally do, plus I do still love sheep. So it has turned out to be a very refreshing time away for me.

Tomorrow (Saturday) I will be spending the day and night on the farm. Then I will worship at our Garstang Free Methodist Church on Sunday morning before joining Lydia and our friends in Manchester Sunday afternoon and evening. We fly home to Romania on Monday. Scott

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March 31, 2008 - Monday - Spring has sprung here in Romania! With beautiful sunshine and temperatures well into the 60s (Fahrenheit), we couldn't resist getting outside for an adventure of some kind yesterday afternoon. We've always wanted to explore the old fortress that lies in the bend of the river here in Arad, so that's where we went. To our pleasant surprise, we found few restrictions on our exploration. The only place we couldn't go was the innermost area, which is still used (lightly) by the Romanian army. You can check out our pictures album by clicking on this picture:

Arad Fortress

The original fortress was built on this site by Turkish conquerors in 1551. This fortress remained (under various rulers) until the mid-1700's, when the Austrian Habsburg Empire determined that it was in their strategic interest to build a new, larger and more fortified (double-walled) fortress on the same location as the Turkish fortress. In fact, it marked the border between the Austrian and Ottoman empires.  This is the facility that primarily remains today. The modern Romanian army has used the fortress area as a military base, though today it is used only in a very minor way. It is also thought that under Communist rule, the infamous "Securitate" (Secret Police) used the facility for not-so-pleasant purposes of the dictatorship.

There is talk of the Romanian government removing the remaining military unit and restoring the fortress as a museum and tourist attraction. We hope this talk becomes reality for this fascinating piece of history.  Scott

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