|
|
|
|
October 2003 The Trip: Our trip back to Romania went very well until our arrival in Paris. We learned that we had missed our connecting fight on into Budapest and would not be able to get there in time to catch our bus to Cluj. From Paris I called the office in Cluj, and further learned that there would be no more buses until the next day. There seemed to be nothing else to do. Freddy and I had made up our minds to get a hotel in Budapest and make the trip on into Cluj the next day. However, God knows so much more than we! When we arrived in Budapest and walked out into the waiting area of the airport we saw a familiar sight. A man was there holding up a Cluj-Napoca sign. Freddy went over and tapped the man on the shoulder and I asked him in my broken Romanian if he had 2 seats available on his bus. He told us to wait just one moment and he would be right back. Sure enough in a little while he was back and there was space available. After settling up our fees for the trip, we were off to Cluj. Freddy and I just started laughing. We have been in Romania long enough that we act like the Romanians and just hitch a ride with whoever is available and going our way. Now that we are here we’re spending our days getting acclimated back into the Romanian culture. What joy it is to be back at work here at Calea Adevarului! Building the Walls: The very first week after we arrived we went straight to work getting things together for building the walls in the transition apartment. The walls are up but as always the actual costs of materials and labor were far more than the original estimates. We still have to install the heaters in the transition area and get the gas approval. Would you be in prayer that we will not be charged for another fire? Yes, here in Romania in order to put another gas stove in any other room we will have to pay for what they call another “fire”. The cost is 8 million ($238.00) for just an approval. That does not include any materials or the work itself. Now do you see why I need you all to pray! That is a lot of money that could be used for materials, or labor, or so many other things we still need to finish this project. With October right upon us we need to quickly get heat in the girls’ area; so pray that we will be able to get the heaters installed before this month is out. Update on the Roof Project: Before we left America, Lyn and Corina had met with the Mayor of Ileanda to begin the collaboration on repairing roofs for some of the needy families in that area of Salaj. Freddy and I went this month to view the progress of this project. Unfortunately, we found that indeed there were a lot more houses that were in need of these repairs. In fact, there were about 20 more houses that could use major roof repair. These are 20 houses over and above those that have already been given materials. It also does not include 2 other villages that we learned that are also in great need. We went to 3 sites but were unable to go on to another 2 sites because of distance and lack of time. The village names that are presently being helped are Rascol, Bizusa, Ileanda, Rogna and Negreni. The Mayor had only picked out the worse houses in each area. All the materials had been purchased but not all the roofs had been fixed. The Mayor said that many families were still harvesting their crops and the roofing would have to wait until all the crops were in. Of course the repairs that are being done to the roofs are beyond anything that the American mind could imagine. The people have to go the forest as they call it and cut their sticks to make their repairs. We watched as the families in 2 houses actually put on the sticks on top of the houses to hold the tar paper roofs. They first put on cardboard, tin, or wood (mostly cardboard) on top of the ceiling, and then put plastic sheeting on top of that. Then came the sticks, which provided the roof frame and to which tar paper was nailed as the final step. If you all just could see this work in progress! Words can never express this work in action. After seeing the roof repair being done we could not help but wonder how these people ever make it through winters here in Romania. Only by the help and strength of God to sustain them could they survive the heavy rain and blustering snow. As we walked the villages there were many of the children running around naked (not uncommon in gypsy villages). My heart began to break as I looked around at so much need. There were no large food pantries filled to the brim with staples for the winter and no clean drinking water. What we did see was a whole different way of life. Families live hand to mouth from day to day depending on what little work they can find or pickup whatever they run across on the streets. These families live in a one or two room mud hut made of stones and sticks that they have gathered or whatever else they have found to hold the mud in place. Their one or two beds accommodate whole families of 6 or 8 persons, and their mattresses have been made from straw and piled on homemade bed frames and then covered over with blankets. Something was different in my heart this year as I walked and looked at each home. I could barely keep from crying. could not help but think about how we Americans have so much and take it all for granted and these people have so little. My heart wants to do so much but with limited funds there is only so much we can do. I have had to leave the needs of the people in Ileanda in God’s hands. If HE chooses for me to help these people then HE will provide all that HE sees is needed. If I had my way I would be taking a truck loaded with mattresses, food, sheets, and blankets right now and begin handing them out according to the need. Instead, all I could do was to tell the people that I was just evaluating the needs of the village and seeing what might be done. I had nothing to give them then. Times like these are when I find that our work on the mission field is really hard. Yes, it is so hard to walk among the villagers and literally feel their need and sense that the very heart of God wants you to do something but all you can do is turn and walk away having done nothing. Their needs were and are much greater than what we can meet just now. Being back in the comfort of our home doesn’t make the memory of what we saw any less painful. The needs of the people of Ileanda keep flashing through my mind, and I am constantly seeing before me, night and day, the eyes of many of the elderly, the children, and the babies who are hopeful for anything, anything at all. For days I have lived with their needs continually before me. At times it seems as if my heart is going to burst. I wake early in the morning after restless nights remembering their needs and not knowing what we can do other than to seek God on their behalf, crying out and asking that God meet their needs. I ask God to just use US to be “a channel of HIS Blessings.” “Oh God, if you would but look at my heart and see that I would be willing to give what you desire if only YOU would bring it into my hands.” It is in times like these that you can do nothing but wait and trust the LORD. “Oh God speak to our hearts that we will become more compassionate to those who are in need and be willing to lend a helping hand.”
The adoption file is still at the Romanian Adoption Committee in Bucharest. No word yet, but we are confident that God is moving and victory is coming. Thank You So Much:We thank you so much for your monthly support! Always remember you are HIS hands holding the hands of all that are touched through this ministry. May you be blessed in Jesus’ Name is our prayer for you. Please continue to pray for all of us here at Calea!
Yours in Christ, Freddy and Rita
|
