Christmas Power to you!

Yes, folks, I am still right here in cold PA. Three projected dates of departure have come and gone – they have not been the Lord’s timing as yet. The bulk of my time in recent months has been spent in meeting with folks to raise the final support needed to sustain me in Romania. By remaining here, I have been able to be here not only for the home-going of a dear friend and supporter, but also for my Mom’s 80th birthday, for Thanksgiving and now for Christmas. I am thankful for all these opportunities. My health has also been getting better and better. It has also been a time of growth – learning new things about myself in this path the Lord has me on as a missionary – needed and necessary if I am to minister effectively in Romania.

Could you please stand with me in prayer that the next date assigned (hopefully in January) as my departure will be His will and timing for me? Some additional monthly support needs to come in before I leave. So, if you have been prayerfully considering supporting me, now would be the time to start. Thanks!

"No ocean can hold it back. No river can overtake it. No whirlwind can go faster. No army can defeat it. No law can stop it. No distance can slow it. No disease can cripple it. No force on earth is more powerful or effective than the power of PRAYER."

That power comes from the child born in a manger.

May you experience that power this Christmas season!

A quick health report!

A quick praise report - NO MORE PARASITES!!! Praise the Lord with me!! I found out this past Monday! The natural stuff worked after 3 months (1 TBSP/day). Going forward with further healing and power and stength.

And ... it seems like my return is imminent!! A friend has frequent flyer miles for me and October 30th is looking like the date to book. Please pray with me for His confirmation on this because it will be a whirlwind frenzy of getting everything done and the rest of the support in.

August update - Getting fit!!

What have I been doing since I last wrote??!!

I have been preparing to get back to Romania both financially and physically fit! To that end, I was able to attend a fund-raising seminar last month which gave me a lot of ideas, biblical foundations and practical how-to's. Right now, I am concentrating full-time on raising ministry partners who might catch the vision to invest in this ministry. News Flash!! I just received news of a wonderful gift from an anonymous donor to pay a good portion of my doctoral costs!! Thank you whoever you are!! As the Lord brings everything together, hopefully I will be heading back to Romania by October. I will keep you informed.

Health is also getting better. By June I knew I was still experiencing symptoms that the buggers were still present - even after all the treatments! So, last month it was an answer to prayer to be able to start on some natural products which seem to be working to rid this body of pathogens and to strengthen my immune system.

I also had an opportunity to attend a ladies' seminar with Kay Arthur last month. Here is the pic of some beautiful ladies! I have benefited greatly from her bible teaching through Precept Ministries and would not be doing what I am doing in Romania without the biblical principles I have learned to apply through their inductive Bible studies.

Vicki, Pam, Gail & I with Kay Arthur (sitting)

Hope you are having a fabulous summer.

Body Building Boot Camp!

Went to a great fund-raising seminar on July 17th-18th to help me with some practical how-to's on how to raise funds to sustain me long-term in Romania. It was liberating and enlightening! It is sponsored by The Body Builders and their website is www.thebodybuilders.net. I recommend it for anyone raising personal support for ministry.



All for now!

Puzzle coming together!

It has been a long time since I last wrote. Finally, some big puzzle pieces for future goals have been coming together – not only regarding health but for ministry plans in Romania as well. As I mentioned before, I was investigating possible partnerships with other ministries serving in Romania so that I could have more ministry support in the country since there are no fellow audiologists. I believe I have found that with Renee and Luke McDannel of Broken Heart Ministries. Their foundation has a partnership with World Vision Romania. She is doing similar ministry in child development projects as a occupational therapist and he is a lawyer. They are willing to partner with me so that I can have more ministry, legal and emotional support while doing this pioneer medical ministry. My sending organization remains International Teams and Broken Heart Ministries will provide some additional support in the country.

My Health? The parasites showed up again and I had to go on another course of medicine. I hope and pray the last one! Investigations with an infectious disease guy, my thyroid gal and my gastro guy for an endoscopy are helping me to get to the bottom of all these things (no pun intended!). So far results are all coming back negative. Praise the Lord!! I await some final results next week. I have been feeling better, a very good sign!

My Return? Plans are to return in September, Lord willing. Additional monthly support still needs to be raised to get me back over there. To accomplish that, will you consider how you might help get me back to the field by hosting a tea or dessert inviting some other folks who might be introduced in this ministry. Please pray with me as well for those 30 additional people who may be able to contribute monthly with $100, $50 or $25 or by special one-time gifts. All gifts are tax-deductible and can be sent directly to International Teams at 411 W. River Rd., Elgin, IL 60123. Credit card giving and electronic funds transfers are available.

My Doctoral program? I have an interview this week to determine the number of courses I will have to take – I hope it will be no more than 15. Then, in the fall I hope to start my first on-line course on the web when back in Romania. The on-line courses will each be $250. Would you like to sponsor me for a course?

A Day at the Shore!

Had an opportunity to spend a day at the shore with these lovely Precept bible study ladies on May 6th. Always nice to share fun, food and fellowship with friends! (Pam G was there taking the picture)

A blog is like a website!!

Some of you may not already know, but I will be staying a little longer in the States – I will not be returning in April to Romania and do not know exactly when I will be returning. I need to work on three things before I can return: first, my health – I need to be “fighting fit”; second, more organizational and ministry support for long-range plans – a partnership with World Vision is being investigated, and thirdly, the raising of more monthly support for me. It feels like the Lord has me in a holding pattern right now. Health? Praise the Lord with me – yesterday I found out that a preliminary test showed that the medicine was effective for the buggies! Stay tuned for the final test results in the next couple of weeks.

The trips to West Virginia and then to Chicago to visit my mission organization have helped me with these decisions. It was in West Virginia that we began to see the possibility of a partnership with World Vision – their philosophy of working on developmental projects for the well-being of children seemed to fit right in with what I am doing in Romania. We will see! Please continue to pray for His guidance and wisdom.

The family skiing vacation in Montreal last month was a lot of fun. Then we had missions’ week, called COSMOS, at my church, which was a wonderfully nurturing, mountain-top experience. This past weekend I returned from the annual audiology convention in Minneapolis which was also very beneficial and educational.

I will hope to be contacting some of you soon to see how you might participate with me by either contributing financially, or hosting a tea or a dinner where some other folks might be introduced to this ministry in Romania. Please pray with me for those 35 additional people who may be able to contribute $100, $50 or $25 monthly in order to get me back on the field. These gifts or one-time gifts for the special project of my doctoral studies are all tax-deductible and can be sent directly to International Teams at 411 W. River Rd., Elgin, IL 60123.

Have a wonderful season of His Resurrection! He is alive!

Blog set up - PICS OF THE CENTER!!

I am using this venue as a "website" for pictures and news of the Project the Lord and I embarked upon starting in October 2003.

Right now I am in the United States in Malvern, PA for furlough/home leave. Originally my furlough was scheduled for only 4 months but it is now extending longer for three reasons: Getting health up to par, establishing long-range goals to include partnerships, and, for raising more support.

While in Cluj for the past 2 1/2 years:

• 100+ hearing aids were dispensed to the hearing-impaired poor (avg. pension=$100/mo.)
• The Center for Early Detection of Hearing Loss was launched for testing infants and children.

Here are some pictures of the The Center for Early Detection of Hearing Loss at the Pediatric Hospital on Motilor Street:

On the Go!

Another month gone by….now travel is on the horizon. Here's my schedule for the next three weeks.

Feb. 25th-28th - Philippi, WV to visit Peoples' Chapel
Feb 28th- Vienna, VA to visit Mom
Mar. 1st- 2nd - fly to Chicago from DC, visit International Teams
Mar. 2nd - back to Vienna, VA
Mar. 3rd - return to Malvern, PA
Mar 4th-10th - family vacation to Montreal, Canada via Schenectady, NY
March 11th-19th - Missions week at my church in PA

How is my health for all this travel? I found out that I am still dealing with parasites and their problems, but I can still travel. The first course of treatment was not completely effective, and now I have to use an even stronger medicine. Please pray with me that this medicine will kill the bugs before it kills me!!

As I mentioned in my last email, this time home is a time to re-assess my finances and make more informed decisions. I have to tell you that I went out under-funded, which caused me to be in the red. The costs of going out as a professional were not factored in and I had to go on a bare-bones budget absorbing many of the professional expenses myself and deleting items such as retirement and savings. Please let me know how you might participate with me by either contributing financially or by informing me of any churches, foundations, friends or acquaintances who would like to hear of this ministry to Romania. I appreciate you and need your help.

You recall I mentioned that I will be starting on-line doctoral studies. A great benefit of these studies will be to update my skills and to network with other audiologists around the globe. The cost over the next two years will be $6000-$8000. One-time gifts to this special project can be sent directly to International Teams at 411 W. River Rd., Elgin, IL 60123, and are tax-deductible, as are all contributions.

Look forward to seeing how the Lord will provide!

Christmas Greetings Stateside!

Finally…Christmas and New Year greetings to all of you from Stateside! I pray that you all had an enjoyable Christmas with family and friends. I spent two weeks in VA with my mom, two sisters and a brother-in-law and it truly was a lovely time to be together, to have some fun and get plenty of rest.

I am now back in PA at Linda’s and have a car thanks to Andy Ford (it’s a Honda!). Unbelievably, a month has already passed. I realize now that this time here is to recupe, rest, re-charge and to re-assess, not to mention travel to meet with some of you folks.

First of all, please excuse my lag in communication – even though I felt well for travel home, I am recuping from some persistent, colitis-like symptoms from the massive antibiotics I took for the pneumonia in November. Please pray that the medicines work and that it clears up soon. Thanks!

To re-charge for the time ahead, continuing education is important since I am working in Romania as a professional. I am currently in the application process for my professional doctorate – done in 6-week courses on the web. After 2007, I would not be able to “grandfather” in, so I need to start the process now. I would have 2 years to finish it. A credentialing exam will let me know how many courses I would have to take – I pray only 10-12. Total cost would be around $6000. It would make for a busy schedule in Romania but it would also allow me to stay abreast in the field of audiology and be ready to teach and train others.

Now, with two years behind me, I need to re-assess my financial support that I went out with two years ago – prices have gone up from my first budget estimates and the professional costs, such as conferences were never accounted for. In April I will be attending the annual international convention and in September I hope to go to a European conference. Attending a European conference would let others know about this dynamic project the Lord has embarked upon and sent little ol’ me to do it! The World Health Organization is very interested in the status of pediatric hearing testing around the world and I am sure they would love to know about this pioneer project. Please let me know if you would like to partner with me in any of these needs.

Looking forward to meeting with many of you to tell you of what the Lord is doing in Romania.