Once again we wish to thank all those of you who have supported our ministry here in Bucharest, both through prayer and financial support these past few weeks. The Lord continues to provide for His work here.
Our last prayer letter asked for the Lord to bless our clinic with more patients, both Romanian and foreigners. Three weeks ago we received a call from a missionary asking if we could do the physical that now all foreigners need in order to renew their visas. That was the first we knew of the new law. A few days later the Embassy sent out a copy of the law as well as an official translation into English--32 pages each! Since then we have seen many missionary families--some of whom we had never met before. We're enjoying being able to provide a service at the same time as we get to know others doing the Lord's work here. The new law may enable people to get longer visas than the 6 months typical in the past, but that requires more bureaucratic steps.
We also continue to see more Romanians for care. The word is gradually getting around that we are available and good doctors.
Gabi Kibos, our first resident, will be taking her final exam of her residency soon--March 6 is the written test and the practical exam follows. She should do very well. She will continue working with us after her tests. A new group will be starting in April. There is no system to assign residents to a specific clinic or doctor. Each resident has to find his or her own preceptor. Most find a preceptor who agrees to stamp their booklet at the end of the year, never intending for the resident to come and actually see patients at his clinic. There is no system to reward the "preceptor" for teaching, there is no extra room for a resident and residents are usually seen as just "in the way," especially for receiving under the table gifts. Hopefully, prayerfully, we'll be able to give several enthusiastic, motivated residents real hands-on experience in patient care this next year.
We are told that most physicians don't really want to teach their residents. A friend of ours recently had some gynecologic surgery. It could have been done easily with a laparoscope, but her doctor, who has just finished her residency at the University Hospital, didn't know how to use the laparoscope. The only gynecologist at the University Hospital who knows how to do that kind of operation hasn't taught anyone else, presumably to avoid having competition. That doctor charges a large under the table "gift" to do the surgery with the laparoscope. Another doctor we know finished his residency with only once having helped put on a cast--never having done it himself. We hope to have some time this week for our doctors to practice putting on casts on each other. :>)
Most of our letters are about mainly what has happened, but there's a lot that's about to happen, for which we need a lot of prayer. A pediatrician will be spending a few days with us in mid-March on his way back from Moldova. Two pediatric residents, a husband and wife team from Arkansas, will also be with us the first 3 weeks in April. Four students from the Canadian Lutheran Bible Institute are coming on April 30, working with Children to Love, mainly in orphanages, until May 13, and then the next 12 days with us. Flori, the 10 year old boy with the feeding tube because of the scarred esophagus from drinking caustic soda as a 15 month old, whom we have cared for ever since we have been here, told his parents that he wants to have an operation to repair the damaged esophagus (a very major surgery!). They are thinking about having it done in June after school is out.
We are planning to go back to the States the entire month of August. Last October, 4 doctors came from America and Scotland to work in our clinic while we were gone for 3 weeks. The clinic will be a lot busier this August, if we can again find doctors to come and help. Otherwise, the clinic will have to close for the entire month, even though there are still the salaries and other expenses to pay.
August might also be when a team comes over from the States to help finish part of the basement. Dave Cox, our neighbor and EvFree Church missionary, has started a new church plant that is meeting in our waiting room every Sunday. He just returned from the U.S. where several men expressed interest in coming over to help finish a bigger area in the basement in which the church could meet. We would also like to move the dental rooms down into the basement and do some other finishing as well, if the funds become available.
Several months ago Linda asked for prayer for Florentina, a 34 year old woman who had gone from hospital to hospital having her obvious cancer misdiagnosed. She came back to the office this last week, doing better, having finished 6 courses of chemotherapy. She then was hospitalized this month for reevaluation and multiple areas of cancer were still found. So she has started a different set of chemo meds. She has a diagnosis of "undifferentiated" cancer, metastatic to liver and lymph nodes. This means the doctors weren't able to tell exactly where it started or what type she has. She asked Linda if she was going to live, and Linda couldn't give her a definite answer. She says that when she asks her cancer specialist questions he just yells at her. Florentina has 2 daughters. Please pray for her healing and that she will come to know Jesus.
We thank you again for your support and your prayers. We really need and appreciate them!