This week we arrived back in Minnesota, starting a 4 month home assignment. We will be in Minnesota 8 of the 18 weeks, and the other 10 weeks travelling, speaking at churches, attending medical conferences, etc. Our speaking schedule is below. We haven't written for 8 weeks, mainly because we have been so busy with getting as much done as possible on the clinic before we left. We needed to get as much done as possible so that Ruxanda, the director of Fundatia Medicala "Usa Deschisa" (Open Door Medical Foundation), would have as few problems as possible to deal with while we are away.
We got a lot done! The clinic exam rooms on the main floor and waiting room are tiled, and the linoleum and carpet are laid in a few of the other rooms. The heating system is installed and the gas is connected. However, the heating system still isn't operating, since the subcontractor for connecting the electricity to the city power lines just started digging last week. It was gratifying to finally see work start on the electric connection, after a five month delay because we didn't pay any bribes to the director of the electric company. Another subcontractor has also started working on connecting the city phone lines to the building, although we still don't have enough funds for the phone system itself.
We found some really good buys on bookshelves for the library, cabinets for the exam rooms, and a couple desks at a furniture store that imports used furniture from Germany. We had stored a lot of books, journals and medical supplies in our apartment and we needed to move it all to the clinic before leaving. One room was essentially packed to the ceiling. Another missionary family with 3 young children will be staying in our apartment until we return, and we were able to move most of the supplies out of our own place just in time. Not only will they look after the apartment but also they get the privilege of taking care of our kitty "Sunflower".
Often when we tell Romanians about our clinic, their first question is "Will you have a dentist?!" A missionary dentist from Guatemala who has been working in another city in Romania contacted us a couple months ago. He wants to move to Bucharest and is interested in working with us. He would be a great addition to the clinic. He could use one of the spare upstairs exam rooms. He came to Romania 5 years ago to teach more modern, caring dentistry to young Romanian dentists and students, provide humanitarian care, and witness for Jesus Christ. We wondered about the level of dentistry in Guatemala, and he told us that he knew about the materials used by Romanian dentists only because of his "History of Dentistry" course. We still need to find a licensed dentist who is willing to make a contract with him, taking responsibility for the dental care he provides, since, like us, he can't get a license to practice dentistry without being a citizen.
We're still waiting to hear about our citizenship. Our lawyer told us that probably nothing will happen before we are back in Romania. Because of this we had to renew our visas again so that they wouldn't expire while we were back in the States, and that of course meant reregistering the car again, all during the last two weeks of trying to get ready for the trip home.
Medically, there was a fairly nasty flu that went through most of the missionary community as well as the rest of Romania, it seems. We took care of only urgent problems the last two weeks. When we went to the orphanage, there were 10 new children. There are so many children whose families can't or don't want to take care of them. It's so sad! If the world were truly Christian and people helped each other as the Bible says, this would never have to happen.
We gave temple talks at our home church, Vision of Glory Lutheran Church in
Plymouth, MN this morning. It was so good to be "back home." Here's a brief
outline of our schedule, starting with a vacation tomorrow and actually
getting to preach on Palm Sunday on our way back home. Then:
April 22-28 - medical conference in Kansas City
April 29 - Gustavus Adolphus Lutheran Church, North St. Paul, MN
May 4-6 - Camp WAPO, WI
May 13 - Mt. Calvary Lutheran Church, Excelsior, MN
May 20 - Advent Lutheran Church, Maple Grove, MN
May 27 - North Street Christian Church, Butler, PA
June 3 - N. Sewickley Presbyterian Church, Ellwood City, PA
June 3-8 - Hunky Dory Camp, WI
June 10 - Mt. Sinai Lutheran Church, North Bend, WA
June 17 - Zion Lutheran Church, Camas, WA
June 24 - St. Luke Lutheran Church, San Jose, CA
June 26-July 2 - visiting supporters and friends in the LA area
July 2-15 - Minneapolis
July 13 - Milt's Board exam
July 15 - leave for Romania
So far we only have a few mid-week activities scheduled for the time we are
in Minneapolis.
We really appreciate how so many of you have responded to the Lord's prompting to provide prayer and financial support for us and our clinic project! Please continue to hold us up in prayer, and that our travels will be safe and our work fruitful, both here and in Romania.