Since then there have been so many other times when the Lord has provided us with everything that we have needed, exactly when we have needed it. (Granted most people wouldn't consider a Nordic track a "need" but those who know me understand!) We remember finalizing our citizenship applications, December 13, 1999, totally unaware that the government was going to publish a new law the very next day that would have meant waiting another 2 years before even starting the long application process and waiting. Or just two months ago receiving the right to practice medicine in Romania at almost the same time that the clinic was finally approved and essentially ready to open.
Or being asked by a Christian family to go to the peds hospital to see their daughter with a perplexing heart problem and coming back to the clinic thinking "I really wish I could talk to an American pediatric cardiologist." Linda was giving a tour to 2 women visiting from Minnesota and I told her about the case. One of the women told us that a pediatric cardiologist, Dr. Moller from the U of M, was with their group, seeing children in an orphanage in another city. Dr. Moller was my professor in med school! We talked on the phone, and he reassured me that I wasn't missing anything. The girl is now doing better, having already had one surgery with another one scheduled for later this fall.
Or Dragos coming back from taking the ambulance to Sanepid for the inspection to have it approved for transporting sick patients. The other approvals from last winter had to do with customs and motor vehicle registration, pollution control, etc. On the way back from the inspection he had some mechanical problems and the service garage said it needed new shocks and springs-- $800 that the clinic definitely didn't have. I was seeing a young woman from out of town who had had a paralysis of her right leg ever since grade school after a shot too close to the nerve. The missionary who had brought her in had been a mechanic before becoming a missionary. He offered to take a look, and showed us 2 small parts that needed to be changed, no where close to the $800 quoted by the dealer's service.
It's good to look back and remember these and several other examples of the Lord's provision, especially now as we face new challenges, such as wondering how (not "if") the Lord is going to provide for the operating expenses of the clinic, especially the salaries of the staff and the utilities, etc. During the building phase of the clinic, if there weren't enough funds for the next step, it usually could wait. But now salaries need to be paid every month. So far, we're seeing primarily poor patients either for free or for very small fees and we're not seeing enough Western patients paying near Western fees to pay the overhead and support the charitable work of our clinic. We continue to receive donations through World Mission Prayer League and Open Door Medical Ministries, for which we are extremely grateful! But we know that the Lord will provide through these means or through ways that we can't even conceive of. Jehovah-jireh even means that the Lord is providing many like you who continue to pray for our ministry's needs.
Jehovah-jireh means having really good staff and volunteers. Joy Miller, a medical student from the University of Minnesota Duluth campus has spent the last 2 weeks at our clinic. Her father and I were classmates in medical school. She is a very compassionate young woman who also loves animals including our 3 cats. (Three?!) We got number 2, Mitsy, 2 months ago, and on July 4 (not a holiday here) we were leaving for work when our neighbor called us over to his car. We thought he needed a jump or something, but there under his hood was this tiny kitten. We thought our American neighbors who were out camping might take her when they came back. Emma, their 5 year old, has been praying for a cat for a long time. But when they came back the next day, another kitten was meowing under their balcony and so they took her in and named her "Tiny Treasure." Mitsy and Fluffy (our number 3) spend most of their time bothering each other and letting Sunflower be the more sedate and mature cat that she seems to have become.
Another volunteer is Eliota, a medical student from Albania who became a Christian while studying here in Romania. She is doing a 3 week summer rotation with us. Paula is our 3rd volunteer, a new graduate from the Baptist nursing school here in Bucharest. She will be helping out especially when other staff are on vacation. She wants to become a missionary nurse to Sudan. She is studying Arabic, as well as already knowing English and French!
So what else is happening here? Gabi Talabur Kibos is very helpful as a third year family practice resident, and Milt is mentoring Dragos in Family Practice. There's so much overlap between what emergency room doctors and family practice doctors know, but the overall objectives are so different. An emergency doctor's job is to take care of emergencies. An FP's goal is to provide long term continuous, comprehensive primary health care to patients, based on a trusting, caring relationship between the patient and the doctor, things they aren't taught here. Our schedules aren't full yet, but we've seen some interesting and challenging cases, like a 3 year old boy (the youngest of 11 children) with a fever of over 106 due to a kidney infection. The social problems are often more difficult than the medical problems. Linda saw a 65 year old lady who told her that she hadn't been to a doctor in 30 years because her schizophrenic son lives with her and doesn't let her leave the apartment. But now he's been in the hospital for the last 3 months after trying to throw her off the balcony. The lady's blood pressure was about 220/120, but her biggest worry was her son's coming home from the hospital next week. She states that he refuses to take his injections when he's not in the hospital.
We really enjoy seeing patients as well as teaching and mentoring. It's really hot here, and the upper floor is especially uncomfortable. Even the Romanians are opening the windows and using a fan! (Romanians, like many other people in this region of the world, are taught that if you stand in a draft you will get sick.)
We really want to thank all of you who pray for us and support us and the clinic project financially! We really appreciate your being part of our team!