|
|
|
|
|
|
Online Journal - March 2007 Archive
March 28, 2007 - Wednesday - I hope you had a great laugh at my breathalyzer test…I sure did! I wasn’t laughing when I was sitting in the hole, however. But praise the Lord that I wasn’t injured nor were any of the Oaza children in the vehicle with me yet. We are also thankful for Cipri and Patri who both stepped up to help us! We are making advances in taking care of the police and insurance company paperwork. Hopefully the car will be repaired in a couple of days…in time for our treat to the Carpathian Basin retreat this weekend.
My overnight train trip to Bucharest was long and tiring but the Lord made it so profitable. Laura has received approval for a visa to the US in order for her to attend General Conference in July. We also were able to visit the Romanian Ministry of Health offices to request the letter of permission needed for our family to renew our Romanian residence visas. We left yesterday with a promise of it being sent today. During lunch today, our family prayed for the lady in Bucharest and prayed for her to keep her promise. A few moments later we received the letter via fax! We praise the Lord for his safety (750 miles and 20 hours in a train roundtrip!) and His favor. We thank you for your prayers on our behalf.
Come Monday, we will begin the last step of the journey for our residence visas with the local police department. Your prayers for favor would be appreciated again!
We would also
continue to ask you to pray for our Carpathian Basin retreat
this weekend
(Friday evening through Sunday lunch). We've got a very "mixed"
group and a very short time to be together--children, adults,
teens; strong Christians,
young
Christians and non-believers; Romanians, Hungarians, North
Americans (all with unique languages and cultures). I have never
spoken in a setting like this before and do not feel very
adequate to do so. I am speaking on serving God in your
workplace. Scott will be sharing about “serving out of our
identity in Christ” as well as serving God with our finances.
Topics for other speakers will include serving in our families,
serving others around us, and how Jesus served/serves us. It
will be so much fun to relax, share and worship with our
Romanian and Hungarian friends! We look forward to sharing with
you how God worked throughout the weekend! Paula
March 26, 2007 - Monday
- Never a
dull moment here in Romania. Paula was driving today
in a part
of town where the streets are in very bad condition. As she
turned a corner, the right front wheel of our car dropped into a
storm-water drainage grate along the curb. Normally this would
be no problem, but this drainage grate was sunk 10-12 inches
below the pavement. The result? A big thud, a quick stop, a flat
tire (only two weeks old!), and a severely bent right front
suspension. The good news is that
Paula
was unharmed and our insurance will cover the cost of the
repair. The bad news is we are without a car now as we await the
paperwork shuffle between the insurance company, the repair
shop, and the police. Yes, in order to make an insurance claim,
Paula had to file a police report. We thought you might enjoy
this picture of her breathalyzer test! A friend who was
accompanying her for translation snapped it on her cell phone.
And we should also share a praise for the police officer who
took her report. Paula reports that she was VERY kind and even
apologized that the city streets are in such bad condition in
that area. Wow!
Please pray for a quick paperwork process, quick availability of repair parts, and provision during our time without a car. Thanks! Scott
By the way, Paula passed the breathalyzer test :-)
March 26, 2007 - Monday
-
Last
week
we
spent several days in Budapest where we participated in a
European Consultation. Leaders from all over Europe and beyond
(Brazil, Hong Kong, UK, Canada, USA - 13 countries represented
in all) gathered to brainstorm on ways to support, encourage and
resource the expanding work in Europe. Our colleague, Larry
Winckles, has posted a complete report of this consultation on
his blog at
www.winckles.typepad.com.
The
first two days, the European missionaries (that means us and
others) spent time with home office staff to discuss the new
funding policy for all FM missionaries. There are changes in the
works for all of us which will require much faith and prayer on
all fronts. You will hear more about this from us in weeks to
come.
Today, I (Paula) head off to Bucharest on a 10-hour train ride along with Laura Andres(director of Oaza) to visit the American Embassy. We are attempting to secure a visa to the US for Laura so she may attend our denomination's General Conference this summer. A church in the States has raised money so three European national leaders may attend the conference. Laura is one of these leaders. Please pray for our safety in travels but also for the Lord to give us favor with the officers at the embassy. (In recent years, it has been very difficult for Romanians to obtain a visa to the US.)
We would also ask you to pray about our residence visas to stay here in Romania. We applied mid-February to renew our visas (this is an annual process) which expired at the end of February. We were unable to apply sooner due to the death of my sister. We have hit several bumps in the road but now we are at a complete stand-still. All of our paperwork has been faxed to an office in Bucharest from whom we are to receive an “official” letter of permission which we are to take to the local police office for the actual processing to begin. For three weeks now we have heard nothing. (Does this sound like last year?) After repeated phone calls, we have learned that our paperwork seems to be lost. So, while I am in Bucharest with Laura, I will be making my way to this office to resubmit our paperwork. Again, I would ask for your prayers that I will be directed to the right person and that the Lord will grant me favor with this person. We are currently in Romania on our American passports (tourist status), but Scott had difficulty last Friday at the border on the train because his visa had expired. For a few minutes, he wasn’t sure if they were going to let him into the country. (The kids and I didn’t have any trouble when we drove across the border, but all of us are scrutinized more thoroughly since Romania has joined the EU.)
Scott
and I are also preparing, as are others in Hungary, for a
Carpathian Basin retreat this coming weekend in Hungary. The
theme is "Children Who Serve the Father." We are taking 13
people from Emmanuel Church with us to this retreat. Please pray
for us as we prepare (Scott and I are both speaking), hearts to
be open to God, safety in travels, and good relationship
building. We’ll have pictures for you next time we write!
Paula
March 18, 2007 - Sunday
-
This
past week I (Lydia) helped with a VBS put on by one of my
American friends and her family. (Some of my other friends
helped too). It was for kids that live in the slums of Arad. We
went to the neighborhood and picked up whatever kids came to the
vehicle and drove them to the building that we were using.
On
average w
e
had 4 kids each day. During the two hours, we played games, made
a craft, ate a snack and had devotions with them. It didn’t
matter that the living conditions where the kids came from are
really bad, they smiled and played games, because underneath it
all, they’re just kids. Lydia
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Some of the time it is difficult to know when to help and when not to help. This is a balance we must deal with every day. A young woman continues to come by our home, like she did today, seeking help of some kind. So, I spend time just talking to see how she and her family are doing, if they are working, have they eaten recently, and what they need at that moment. Another situation the past two weeks has been to help a mother who is dependent on sleeping aids and dependent on the help of foreigners. So, again we must evaluate what she cannot do on her own and balance that with what she must have the will to do herself. I spent an entire afternoon with her at the psychological clinic only to be given no help. That was an experience! Another day we went to a Christian clinic where we received wonderful assistance. I may be there again tomorrow with her. But the most difficult thing is to decide on “tough love”. Allowing people to remain co-dependent is not a healthy option…like the man at the pool of Bethesda. Pray for us to have the same balance as Jesus had of compassion and wisdom. Paula
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The March-April edition of our newsletter is now available. To download the pdf file, just click on "Newsletters" above. Scott
March 9, 2007 - Friday
- I am
currently managing the construction of a new home for the
children of Oaza
(ministry to orphaned/abandoned children related to our church
here). I snapped some pictures yesterday of our present progress
on the completed floor screed and wallboard installation. Skim
coat plastering should begin next week. If you're interested you
can take a look by clicking on the picture link below. Scott
New Shalom Mar8_07
March 8, 2007 -
Thursday -
I logged onto
Weather.com this morning to check our temperature and forecast
for the day (another day around 62F here). I happened to notice
that Columbus, Ohio, where we are from, was 15F at the time :-(
So
just to give some encouragement and hope to you American
mid-westerners reading this, I'm posting a couple of pictures I
took just after lunch today in our backyard. Yes, our first
fruit trees (yellow plums) are beginning to bloom today, and our
grass needs mowed already! That's what happens when you have a
few days in the low 60sF :-) If we were living in Ohio, I would
be concerned about the possibility of a late frost killing the
fruit-tree blooms (and resulting fruit). But the locals here say
that once the weather turns spring-like in this region, it is
here to stay. This definitely was true last year. An unusually
mild winter has given way to a very pleasant Spring...so far.
Today is also the last day of Marţişor (see March 1 entry below), a day that is similar to Mother's Day in the USA, only it is "Women's Day" in honor of all women. So we honor Paula and Lydia today as the resident females among us! Scott
March 5, 2007 - Monday - With the help of our home office in Indianapolis, we have been able to add an electronic donation feature to our website (see at left). We hope this will simplify and encourage your giving for the work God is doing here in Romania and beyond. You can use a credit/debit card, or you can authorize an electronic deduction from your bank account. All donations given through our website will be credited to our missionary support account, and you will receive a tax-deductible receipt from our home office. This is a new feature, so please let us know how it works for you. And as always, THANK YOU for your faithful support of our ministry! Scott
March 1, 2007 -
Thursday -
Today is
Marţişor
(say mar-tsee-shor), the traditional celebration of the
beginning of spring in Romania! The name literally means
something like "little March." You can
click here to read a short Wikipedia article about the
tradition. Paula and Lydia received talismans today as part of
the tradition. The downtown sidewalks have been filled with
vendors the last few days selling items for this celebration.
The weather definitely felt like spring today with sun and
temperatures in the mid-50sF. Next week they are calling for
highs in the mid-to-upper 60sF (17-19C). We have a couple of
trees in our yard with buds on them. Hopefully we won't get any
hard freezes to kill them! Scott