Tuesday, July 10, 2018

Romanian Spring Update

The Latest at PHFTC

 
Hello Everyone!


  This email update is a long time in coming your way and I am sorry! One truth is life was very busy with children upon returning and an update just kept sliding to the end of the list. However, there is another reason... A letter is always being written in my brain even as I board the plane to fly home, but it is a very emotional and raw letter. Leaving Romania for me is very difficult. It normally entails tears on my part and feelings that I could have done more. My heart is there and normally upon returning to the States I feel a great sense of loss, detachment and a certain amount of depression. This is not a short term missions trip for me with the euphoric feelings of having accomplished my goals and being taught something wonderful from the trip, though that sometimes does occur. This is a struggle to leave my work and co-workers, a loss of community and purpose, mingled with guilt that I am blessed to do as much as I do. So for me, sometimes it is better to wait a while until I have settled back into this life and I can digest the good and bad that I saw and compartmentalize my feelings a bit.

To start, I was so blessed to be able to return to the Oradea Hospital after last years issues! I love being in the place where this ministry began, to hold the babies, chat with the doctors on my old unit and find out what needs purchasing! I was able to do all that! We still have some very sad infant cases on our Premature ward and I was able to hold, feed and pray over these little lives in my short time there.          


Once again Alina and I drove to the tiny city of Sibiu, where our second hospital is located. I decided to stay a little longer there this time as they are eager to have us and grateful for the supplies and our new part time worker! We have many babies there and never enough hands to help. I wrote a letter officially requesting that PHFTC team be allowed to come to the hospital in November and after much translating and editing, we presented it to the Head Nurse to give to the Director of Hospitals. The morning we brought the finalized copy in, the Nurse sent us a message saying she had spoken to the Director and he had already approved the trip! This was such a huge praise! For years, people have asked to come over with me, but the strictness of the Oradea Hospital has restricted us! There are still many obstacles to overcome for this short trip, but if you are interested please shoot me an email! 

 
Alina and I ordered and shopped and ordered and shopped for the two hospitals! Every year, the Oradea Hospital places more demands on the foundations and what they need to supply apart from the basic baby supplies and it is quite an undertaking to make sure we are stocked for the entire year; not only for us, but for the other foundations in the hospital that sometimes fall on hard financial times.

             
 
I was able to visit almost all of the foundations we partner with and their Directors or Supervisors and it blessed my heart to see the how well our supplies are put to good use in the two after school programs, foster homes and co-op center! I was able to gather lists from these foundations and we shopped for each one and sent thousands of dollars worth of food, diapers, wipes, cleaning supplies and household and academic supplies to them!





But yet again, sitting with the women from the Joy Beadz project was one of my favorite thing! Many more younger women have been added to the group and it was a special time of praying, socializing and creating! Changing one woman's life can redirect the whole direction of her children's lives! Less abandonment is our goal and safer environments for children to grow up in! If you want to know more about these foundations, we have a new testimonial section that just went up on our website that tells a little more about how PHFTC reaches others.
 
                     

It was such a busy time there! Two weeks is getting difficult to fit in all the work, shopping, traveling, and administrative work that needs to be done, but I loved every minute of it! I wore myself out and became sick at the end, but am grateful for the  prayers and the overall smoothness of the whole trip! Please think about how you can support us further in all our endeavors with the Romanian people and pray for wisdom for the Board and I as we make plans for the future!


In Him,

Mona