Happy Turkey Day 2004!

Got to go to a turkey farm to get a fresh, live turkey and see that whole process from start to finish. First experience! It was a 24 Kilo turkey which weighs in at about 48 pounds! The drumstick was the size of my forearm and the thigh fed 10 people!

Here are some shots from the farm on that day.






Got pretty grossed out about the actual process!

The Center is guaranteed!

The time is drawing near very quickly when I will be on US soil for a while. As usual, much has happened since I last wrote - the room for The Center for Early Detection of Hearing Loss in Children (yes, we now have a name!) has finally been guaranteed by the hospital administrator so that we can proceed! PTL! After the first feeling of paralysis, many creative design ideas came to me for the room and Winnie the Pooh still reigns supreme in my mind as the resident mascot. The goals are to make the place bright and cheerful for people to come with their kiddies. Believe it or not, that is a different concept here!

The Lord has blessed my contacts here. He put me in contact with a lovely woman (daughter of a hearing aid recipient) who works at city hall and has caught the vision of this center for the city of Cluj and for Transylvania. She has been advocating for me and has already gotten me a donation of a desk and some building supplies and possibly volunteers for the constructing and painting etc. She even arranged for me to meet the new mayor! I have also met the American consul already! You know me - hobnobbing with the rich and famous!

Health? Ho-hum?? Hello!! Health has been anything but ho-hum since arriving here! Contracted a dry cough from a teammate (we like to share things!) and was coughing so hard that I "popped a cork". Please ask me if you would like to know what I mean! Taking antibiotics now and am under a doctor's care. Please pray with me that my energy and strength would come back very soon. Needless to say it will be nice to be home to rest, relax and recuperate and eat shrimp!

My friend, Maureen, arrived here for a delightful 4 days from Strasbourg, France. She has been a missionary there for 12 years. Another wonderfully exciting arrival just happened TODAY - the 2 NEW pieces of equipment!!! What fun to have these new goodies!

Hope to see some of you this summer - Home from July 16th to Sept. 3rd, in AZ for sis' wedding July 22nd - Aug. 3rd.

Showers of Blessings - Miracles of Two's!

Gotta get this out before the next miracle happens!! First of all, since last writing, it seems that the Lord is directing me to work primarily with children where the needs seem to be the greatest. Hearing aids are more accessible than I previously thought for those who can afford them. I will continue helping those who cannot afford them with the donated hearing aids and looking for low-cost alternatives for the future.

I was put in contact with two pediatric ENT doctors who had just moved to a new site at a children’s hospital/clinic. They are all moved in and seeing patients and performing surgeries and need someone to DESIGN the available room for a pediatric hearing testing room! Have I ever done that before?? Nope! Thinking of Winnie-the-Pooh characters for the walls! More on that as I proceed!

Many miracles have been occurring! I got a surprise telephone call two weeks ago from Denmark from a manufacturer who accepted the monies that I got from MPF for TWO (yes, TWO!) pieces of NEW, portable testing equipment for the price of ONE!! They even said they wanted to make sure I had NEW equipment and not used or demo models! “Oh, OK, I stuttered!” Is anything too hard for the Lord? I should be getting them in the middle of this month. Then…last week I found out that Mike Webb in Arizona (who started the project 11 years ago) has somehow arranged to get the much-needed, state-of-the-art neurological testing equipment, called ABR/OAE, needed for testing the babies and children and valued at $25-$30,000! Although Cluj is one of Romania’s largest cities with one of the largest and best medical schools in the country, they do not have this much-needed equipment for children, or adults. They have to send people two hours away to have this test done and some patients have traveled 2 hours already just to get here. The doctors desperately need these higher diagnostic capabilities.

So, in less than two weeks I received promises of over $35,000 worth of equipment!! Incredible!! Praise the Lord with me.

Hope to see some of you this summer – Home from July 16th to Sept. 3rd, in AZ for sis’ wedding July 22nd – Aug. 3rd.

It has not been dull!

Well, much has been happening in the month since I last wrote from this Transylvanian land where it is still light until 9:30PM but we can’t seem to get out of the 50’s, the LOW 50’s, that is! As you can imagine, it has not been dull!

First of all, I may not have shared with you the great news of a $5196 donation from Mission Projects Fellowship for the Romanian Hearing Project. They accepted me as a project in the fall and raised the monies for equipment in record-breaking time. Thank You, Father! It will give me the opportunity to get some portable equipment so that I can test people in various locales.

I have been meeting with professionals and doctors in the area and it appears that the Lord is directing my steps to primarily work with children at a children’s clinic, as well as continuing to work with those who need hearing aids and cannot afford them. More places than I previously realized already sell hearing aids but at prices that not everyone can afford. This week I dispense my fourth hearing aid and I have already made my first business contract ordering an earmold from an earmold manufacturer in a city 1 hr. away from here. I will be meeting with the two pediatric ENT doctors this weekend for further plans for the future. I may have the opportunity to help them design their new testing area for kids. Exciting how the Lord has me doing so many things that I have never done before! Definitely stretches me and takes me outside of my comfort zone!

My team has been busy this past month – Tracey from New Zealand has been here since March for a 6 months’ term, 2 nursing students were here from England for a month, as well as a 2-week short-term team of 14 Canadians and a Frenchman. Whew! My apt. was full for a while with Tracey and the nursing students staying here. We all visited a special-needs kindergarten and “it just so happened” that one of the kids in the group I visited had a cochlear implant (a surgically-implanted hearing device for the deaf). She is in great need of further training and therapy for her speech development and I believe the Lord will be using me to empower the parents with greater skills to help their little 5 year old named Stefi. Further stretching outside of my comfort zone!

My friend, Rachel, was also here for 4 days and I had an opportunity to help her go across the Hungarian border to get her passport stamped for a longer stay. Sure, I “helped” her a lot by forgetting my own passport! It was an adventure to say the least and we did accomplish it, even though Rachel had to walk across the border by herself while I waited on this side.

Plans are already moving ahead for a 6 week trip home this summer. I will be arriving home in Philadelphia on July 16th and plan to travel to Arizona to attend my sister’s wedding from July 22nd to August 3rd, visiting Mike Webb in AZ as well, then visiting, meeting with folks and returning to Cluj on the 3rd of Sept. These travel plans were not put in my original budget, so if you have any frequent flyer miles which can be transferred and/or sense the Lord’s prompting to contribute for my travel while in the US and for my stay home, the costs will probably come to around $1000. Checks can be sent to International Teams. Thanks!

Re: never-dull health issues! Recently sustained a corneal scratch and I need patience in the healing process with the power of your continued prayers. Thank you!

Blessings to you all!

The Fun has Begun!

The fun has indeed begun!

Spent Easter in Suceava with my friend, Rachel, at the Mennonite farm/orphanage and dispensed my first hearing aid of the Romanian Hearing Project to the father of one of the workers at the orphanage (see pic). He is 85 years old and has waited for 4 years for a hearing aid from the national health insurance program. We went to his house in a village outside of Suceava and I knew I was in for an experience when I asked to wash my hands and I had to follow his daughter outside! It is common that the villages of Romania have no running water. I now have first-hand experience! I made his earmold in 10 minutes and was able to fit him with a hearing aid in a ½ hour or so (of course, explanations took a little longer through translation!) All in all, a very gratifying experience!

Had a lovely invitation for Easter to another village - very quaint. Feels like you go back in time due to the simplicity of how they live.

This was my week to start things moving ahead into the next stratosphere of this ministry! I started going into the hospital for a few hours each day to get used to things and to see what my role might be. I have also started visiting other businesses and ministries in the area to see what resources are available at present and how we might collaborate with one another. Contacts will also be made with the people who can benefit from the hearing aids that I have with me. I covet your prayers, especially for patience in learning more specialized language in the medical and audiological areas and for discernment in the Lord's guidance on how He wants this project to be run.

Health has been good. No problems with the infamous ear - PTL! I will check with a "buggy" doctor next month to make sure all is well there. Thanks for the prayers!

Here's hoping you are well and enjoying the season of Resurrection (Spring!)!

Alive and Well!

I can’t believe it! It’s been two months since you have heard from me! I wrote in Jan. that I thought I was “on the mend” regarding a health issue. Well, that “mending” took all of the last 2 months to get completely cleared up – two parasites! Took a bit to discover what was causing all the distress and symptoms. Those buggies were taking away my energy and my ability to think or study. PTL that this latest adventure appears over!






It’s been two months now in my new apartment. I’ve also enjoyed fixing it up and decorating it to make things bright and cheery.













The kitchen is decorated in a Granny Smith Apple green color all around and I bought a lovely corner table with wrap-around bench (thanks to Christmas monies!) that seats six comfortably. You will have to come for tea!










Last weekend took a 6 hr. train trip by myself to Suceava (sue-chah-vah), northeast from here, and visited my friend, Rachel – my first “mini-vacation” since coming to Cluj 6 months ago. Got to experience a bit of America there – a Mennonite-run orphanage for 60 orphans which produces all its own milk, ice cream, eggs, baked goods, meats and farm produce for themselves and for other orphanages in the area.

The language is coming along, slowly but surely. Regarding the start-up of the project in the hospital, after speaking with the ENT chief, it was decided to start things up in the hospital after Easter, probably around April 19th. I covet your prayers for the next stage of my life here.
Have a team retreat this week for three days outside of the city. Should be fun. Please note new mailing address on the front of this card. I had to change to a PO Box for practical reasons. Here’s hoping you are all well as well.

Apartment found!

Within a week of sending out the last e-mail asking for prayer for an apartment, I found the apartment for me which I like and has all the things I need - 2 bedrooms, nice furniture, cable TV (for language, silly, and only about $5/month!), telephone, nice quiet location close to the bus and other team members, good price, a second bathroom (alright - a luxury!) with a bidette (ask someone!), 2 balconies, a washing machine (a real blessing!) and a garage! I have already started moving things over there, as well as cleaning it to my satisfaction and have started purchasing the things that are needed. Just going to buy the needed things is a language and culture lesson in itself and I sure am glad for the wisdom of others not to have put me through this right after I arrived! Shopping for a sheet made me realize that not only did I not have the word for it, but I did not understand how to buy a sheet based on metric measurements for a single bed opposed to a double! Language lessons everywhere! I'm due to be all moved in and sleeping over there after the 1st of Feb. The new address and phone are at the bottom of this e-mail.

I've already started building good relations with my new neighbors. The first time I went over there by myself, I mistakenly mistook (yes, that is good English!) my downstairs' neighbors' door for my own door and tried to open his door with my key. All of a sudden the door opened and a rather irritated-looking big guy was saying rather angry things to me that I did not understand, I believe implying that I was trying to break into his apartment! The nerve of the man!! I just stood there speechless and open-mouthed and couldn't even squeak out "I'm sorry!". Nothing like trying to make a favorable first impression with the neighbors!!!

Another blessing - the World Vision shipment arrived on the 19th January! Continuing on with language and culture acquisition - in all ways that He sees fit to use - even got to visit another doctor in my short time over here - as the patient! What joy, what rapture!! Another story and adventure, of course, but suffice it to say at least that I am on the mend! PTL! Thanks for the prayers! Please let me know how I can pray for you!

With His Love,

Christmas greetings 2003

It has been a while since writing….Yes, the adventures continue! I wrote just before Thanksgiving, so I will catch you up on things. Succeeded having a Thanksgiving celebration with 11, making my first turkey with stuffing and pumpkin pies over here – seems so long ago already! Shortly afterward the beginning of December was filled with sleeplessness and night sweats (50 years old plus – I’ll let you guess!). Turned out to be caused by a switch in my thyroid medicine. I thought I had to change from my American version to a Romanian version but with such reactions, I am thankful to finally have a source for my American version. (Thank God things are back to normal and I am sleeping wonderfully again!)

Then winter came on rapidly with the combination of ice, and mud from the thawing snows. Since they do not clear off the sidewalks and I do a lot of walking, I have managed to fall down 5 times in the ice and mud! Not a pretty sight! I’ll wear brown from now on! A healthy reverence for ice is turning into a reverent fear of breaking something! So far only my pride has been damaged! Have purchased boots for every occasion to be ready (who says one doesn’t need 4 pairs??!!) Thank God for padding in the right places! I hope they do the trick! Am learning new ways of staying warm in this damp cold which goes right to your bones!

Had a nice Christmas here – spent 3 days in an orphanage with our team and a fabulous Canadian team of 6 who were here for their 5th time and brought 25 hockey bags full of stuff for about 80-100 kids to have a wonderful Christmas. We stayed in apartments which were quite comfortable and available for spending nights at the orphanage. Unfortunately, while there the whole team contracted a stomach virus on Christmas Day, of which I was also a recipient! Oh well, the thrills of sharing Christmas joys!

2004 was ushered in and I am now back to language study four times a week with my tutor, Alina, after a little holiday break. She makes it fun to learn and she is so extroverted and enthusiastic, like me, that she makes it so easy to have conversation with her! Slowly but surely the language is proceeding. I have decided to keep language as my primary thrust for another 3 months and will not attempt to start up anything in the hospital until after a full 6 months of language. Please continue to pray for continued improvement in the language.

I have thoroughly enjoyed living with the Madly family for the last 3 months. In my time here they have grown in size by the births of 3 guinea pigs and 4 collie pups. No, it has not been dull here and they have been very gracious in accepting me as part of the family. But now the time has come for the next step in my life here in Romania - I must start looking for my own apartment. Please join with me in prayer that the Lord will direct me to the apartment He has for me. There are countless things to consider – which section of town, proximity to bus lines and/or hospital, furnished/unfurnished, private or general heating and the list goes on.

A funny story – I went out the other night for a few things at the corner grocery story with Lisa, the family collie, and there was a gypsy selling a rug. Somehow, I allowed a conversation to start (my first mistake - but speaking the language is everything!!). “$50!” “No, thanks!” “$35!” “I don’t want it!” “$25!”, “I don’t need it!” “$20!” and, by then it seemed like a deal, so I bought my first purchase for my apartment. Once they found out I was from “AMERICA!” (why wouldn’t I tell them??!! – but, I’m learning!! I’m learning!!), it was as if others appeared out of nowhere wanting to sell me their wares! So, maybe no more sidewalk purchases! I’m sure they did not see “sucker” emblazoned on my forehead! I hope you agree.

The Lord’s blessings to you in the New Year!