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
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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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