Studies continue - received new audiometer!

Of course, always loads to share. This month I have not been seeing hearing aid patients since I do not have any more hearing aids! It is giving me an opportunity to seek out some other, new sources of hearing aids, to research starting a non-profit foundation and possibly to switch my model of dispensing donated hearing aids to purchasing low-cost, hearing aids and extending the price to the patients. We will see. I move forward only as the Lord shows me – ‘cos He knows I tread where I hath not gone before! Plus freeing up time has given me more time to study – less than 2 weeks left for this course! A little road trip with the new Baby will be in order immediately following! Suceava here I come!

A wonderful praise – the Missoula Rotary Club donated a wonderful, NEW audiometer to me and the project. Thanks Missoula Rotary! I am chomping at the bit to get it out of customs. After 2 weeks it is still there and I know we are almost over the bureaucratic hump! One day I will tell you how many papers I had to prepare in order to get it out of customs! I am sure I will be able to apply in the future what I am learning about Romanian paperwork. Just pray that there are no costs and I get it VERY SOON in the next day or two! Thanks!

Please be praying with me for my father’s comfort and care as he undergoes chemotherapy there in the Philippines for non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, that the uncomfortable reactions to the chemotherapy drugs will dissipate quickly and that he can get through the courses of chemotherapy with few side effects, as well as for the comfort of the hearts of all my sisters, his wife, Imelda, and myself during this time. I just found out he is not covered under Philippine health insurance.

IT IS DONE!! PASSED COMPS!!

Just heard that I PASSED the comprehensive exam and I just wanted you to
rejoice with me!!!

Now, on to celebrating!! Blessings and thanks for the prayers!

Dr. Tricia Towle
Doctor of Audiology

A New Arrival!

Greetings from the land of the two Easters separated by a month. Yes, this weekend is the Orthodox Easter. The evangelical churches celebrate it now as well. They relate Christ’s Resurrection to lights and next week is called the Week of Lights. I will try and get a video of the people in the neighborhood who go en masse around the Orthodox Church across the street at midnight on Saturday. A sight to behold! It looks like a conveyor belt of people. I always wondered where all the melted wax on the street came around Easter. Well, last year I stayed up long enough to find out.

Many things have occurred since last I wrote. I finished another course (I love these two week breaks!), returned from Dubrovnik on the Croatian coastline (a great trip where we were treated lavishly and royally – it was worth the 36 hours underway!), I got my new crown (on my tooth that is!), and, started meeting with the new doctor, Dr. Carmen Mocanu, in the hospital. I also have a new arrival (a 2004 Opel Agila)! It feels like I have sprouted wings and I am thoroughly enjoying tooting around town and the countryside. I know the taxi drivers will miss me.

Here’s a picture – it’s a microvan (small on the outside but roomy on the inside) and rides higher than most sedans and also uses diesel. Engine checked out great and I’m thrilled and having a blast with it.

This week I got some news regarding my dad’s health. He lives in the Philippines and has just been diagnosed with non-Hodgkins lymphoma. He is pleased with the care there and is pursuing his options. Please be in prayer for him and his wife, Imelda, as well as my sisters since he is so far away.

Christus a inviat! (He has Risen!)

First course of doctorate completed!

Here I am lying on a piece of new real estate I recently purchased – yes, you got it, a new mattress!! Much needed and delightful.

Just a short update to fill you in that after 5-6 weeks I feel that body, soul and spirit are more oriented and grounded here. Health is good! PTL! Our weather right now is in the 50’s. Currently seeing patients in the Petros clinic two days a week. Arrived home yesterday exhausted after speaking Romanian all day with patients. At least the language is coming along. At the pediatric hospital, I will be meeting the new doctor next week.

I finished my course and am still enjoying a few days of my two-week break before another course starts up this Monday. This weekend I will be renting a car and going to Lugoj, 5 hours away, to see the little boy, Silviu, in his familiar surroundings. If I can get a full audiogram from him, then his family will not have to come to Cluj for the special testing with sedation. Pray with me for success and safe travel. Thanks!

Then next week on March 5th, I leave for Dubrovnik, Croatia with two other missionary ladies to attend a FREE woman's conference/retreat for American missionary ladies. They pamper us, so it will definitely be worth the 24 hours by train (with no sleeper) and 4 ½ hours by bus to get there. Right?!?!? Of course, right!! Yes, it will be a fun adventure as long as we are traveling together. Our travel will take us through Budapest, then Zagreb, then Split on the Adriatic and then on to Dubrovnik and returning on March 10th. So, please pray for travel mercies for Kitty, Laura and I.

Those are all the delights for now. Hope this update is finding you all well.

Back in Cluj - purpose accomplished!

Just wanted to inform you quickly that I arrived intact in Cluj on January 14th. Praise the Lord with me – I did not have to pay anything for the overweight and extra luggage! And I had 4 bags! Getting used to things here slowly but surely – using my time to rest and get my apartment re-organized. Sleep is still a bit crazy!

The weekend before leaving I had the opportunity to visit Mike Webb and his family in Arizona, as well as the Shiloh Christian Center, his church family which supports me. It was a quick trip but a delightful one.

I have now returned with a healed ear and greater health than when I arrived in the States last October. The Lord has accomplished mighty things in the last three months. I was thrilled to be able to be there for the home-going of my dear friend, Pam May, who is now running and jumping with Jesus after being in a wheelchair for so long with MD. I was also truly blessed by being able to meet with many of you, sharing a meal or a cup of coffee or tea. I also had opportunity to spend lots of time with my family.

It won't be dull here – another doctoral course has already begun. But don't worry, I will take only one course at a time!!

Thank you for your love and care and support of me! It is because of you and your prayers that I am able to do this at all. Let's all make it great in 2008!