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Mon, 28 July 2008
To: My friends
Re: Mission trip
to Romania
I arrived home Friday night about
midnight after a brief 19-hour trip
from Bucharest to Winter Haven.
That is much better than my 31-hour trip last year. Plus, I
got bumped up to First Class on the 10-hour leg from Bucharest
to New
York. That made for a much better trip.
This was my 5th year to go to Romania,
and every year has been a
wonderful experience. This year, I extended my stay an
additional four and one-half days beyond the normal mission trip. Two
of those days I spent with two different families in the Bihor
region, where we work. The last two and one-half were with
friends in Bucharest. These three families treated my like
royalty and acted like I was doing them a favor by staying with
them. We had a wonderful time. They did all that
they could possibly do to make me feel welcome. The President
couldn't have been treated better. They fed me enough for two
people. They insisted on giving me gifts. Remember,
these are people of very modest means. In the villages, most
of the people still only have outhouses for bathrooms. Most
don't have cars. Many have horse and wagon or ox and
wagon. It is like going back 100 years in time.
There is no such thing as air conditioning. The people are
very intelligent and hard working. Mixed in with them are
Gypsies, some of whom are wonderful people, but many are scoundrels and
thieves. They fit the stereotype image of a Gypsy - in
costume and in deeds. All my host families want me to come
back and spend a week with them next year.
In my first extended day, I took a 15-KM (9-mile) hike with the younger
members of the Popa family. The next day, I spent the day with
the Glitia family, walking much of the day in the rain touring the
sites of Oradea with the twin daughters who just graduated from
college. The third day, we got up at 3:45 a.m. and I flew to
Bucharest where Lucian & Ligia met me at the airport. This is
the couple who rode non-air conditioned trains for 18 hours last year
just so that Lucian could introduce me to Ligia, his fiance at that
time. Then, the next morning at 6 a.m., they went
back. When they invited me to visit them in Bucharest, I
could not turn them down. Lucian took me all over Bucharest,
sightseeing. One of the things we toured was their Parliament
Building.
It is the second largest building in the world, after the Pentagon. It
was commissioned by Dictator Ceaucescu, but he was executed before it
was finished. He and his wife were executed on Christmas day
in 1989. He ruled as a brutal communist dictator from 1965
until then.
NOW BACK TO THE MISSION TRIP:
We had 31 people from the USA and 13 from Australia on our
team. We divided up into two teams, providing medical and
pharmaceutical services, kids clubs, and witnessing teams.
Everyone who came in for medical services was presented with the plan
of salvation. We had more than 500 people treated by the
doctors, and 99 of them made professions of faith.
There were about 200, more or less, in the kids clubs.
I spent my first three days in Batar, a Gypsy village. We
were there last year. The Gypsy pastor there is working hard
and seeing great success. Only a few of the Gypsies can read,
including many of their children, even though schools are available to
them. They were very polite and very receptive, but many of
them would steal from you if they had the opportunity. The
rest of my time was spent with another group in two other
villages.
Possibly
my most memorable experience of the trip was on my third day in
Batar. A 14-year-old Gypsy girl was brought to me for
counseling. She was a very sweet girl. As we
talked, I shared the plan of salvation with her. She eagerly
accepted Jesus as her savior. There was no doubt in my mind
about her sincerity. Later that afternoon, when I was walking
to a store to get something to drink, I saw her in the road.
I had my camera with me, and I asked if I could take her
photo. (She didn't speak any English, and I don't speak much
Romanian.) I took some photos of her. Later I
decided that I would get her address off her registration form, send
her the photos, and encourage her to live for the Lord via
mail. I forgot about getting the address until our last
day. We were getting ready to leave for church on Sunday
morning when I thought of it, and asked the translator beside me if she
could help me get it. At that time, one of the workers handed
her a few of the registration forms for the week. I looked
through them and found her address. When I asked the
translator to copy it for me, she looked surprised and asked, "Is that
the girl?" When I told her "yes", she said, "That is the same
girl that Dr. Alex just gave me this drawing for." I looked
at the drawing that was of her heart. The doctor had
determined that she had a hole in her heart and that she was in danger
of dying at any time. He said that surgery for her would not
be possible in Romania. Her only hope appears to be getting
her to the USA and having the surgery performed here. Please
pray for us as we attempt to get her the medical care she
needs. I will include a photo of her below. Her
name is Ioana Pascarus.
I had the opportunity to meet with Oana Baidoc, a young college student
who accepted Christ after I shared the Gospel with her two years ago in
the village of Baleni. She has just graduated from college
and is looking for a job. She is struggling in her Christian
growth. Please pray for her. Her father abandoned
the family when she was very small. Her mother then
remarried, and then she abandoned them. This has caused her
to struggle with her self worth, and it is difficult for her to relate
to a loving father. Also, pray that she will be able to find
a job. They are scarce in Romania, and many of the people are
leaving the country.
I also had my traditional Sunday afternoon dinner and dessert with the
Toma family. Unfortunately, this year it was only with Ioana
(a high school French & English teacher) and her
Mom. I received a call last October from Ioana telling me
that her father had died of a heart attack that morning. He
was building a large addition to their house. Now they are
having a difficult time completing the house due to lack of
money. Please pray for them. Mrs. Toma always
outdoes herself fixing me a very special dessert each year, and then
"forces" me to have seconds.
Our translators are among the finest young people you will ever
meet. The ones who were in high school when I first went
there are now in college, and the ones in college are now involved in
careers, and getting married. They face the same trials and
temptations that our teenagers and young adults face. Please
pray for them.
Below are some photos that I hope will help tell the story for you:
Street in Batar, a Gypsy
village.
Gypsy family.
Horse and wagon -
a common
scene.
Woman drawing water
from well.
Church build by PIMI in
Batar April 2008.
Best in
town.
Inside of the church.
Will hold about 150 people.
Ioana, the girl with the
hole in her
heart.
Kids
club.
Local Romania
ladies.
Part of medical team.
Yes, many still have to
work only with hand
tools.
Handmade
wooden rake.
Typical Romanian
garden.
Milk
cow coming home for the
night.
Beautiful
countryside.
Village of Gurani.
Baptist church under
construction in
Cabesti.
Haystacks
along the river.
Stone
streets.
Bridge in
need of repair.
Orthodox
church.
Wildflowers.
Yes, they do have
electricity.
Ioana Toma
and her Mother in
Beius
Popa Family in village of
Gurani.
The Glitia twins - Debra & Rebeca in Oradea.
Lucian & Ligia
Cristian in
Bucharest.
Bucharest
street scene.
Parliament building - 2nd
largest in the
world.
View from the
Parliament building.
Bucharest in the
evening.
Romanian homemade desserts
If
you can go - go!
If you can't go, help someone else to go.
Sincerely, Jim
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