Saturday, June 27, 2015

Cati

Cati is is on the left, a mentally challenged young man that helps Roza in the middle and Roza on the right. Cati and Roza are sisters and live next door to each other in Vinga. Roza is the oldest of 14.  I know Cati is younger but I am not sure how many siblings were in between.  Cati has some trouble processing information and can be quite difficult.  Cati as well as Roza are in the Widow's Mite program.  They are not close, in fact I am not sure Cati knows Roza was baptized.

Several weeks ago Cati fell in the fields while collecting flowers to sell at the Piata.  She was transported to the hospital in town with what I thought was a broken leg. Cati returned home in less than a week. She was afraid of surgery and would not let them operate. it was her hip that was broken not her leg. She was brought back by ambulance and placed on her "bed". She could not get up to go outside (there is no bathroom).  Lynsey and I visited with her to assess the needs...whoa, what a list.  Neighbors are helping to care for her so with adult diapers,baby wipes, antibiotic cream as she has open sores where she fell, a bed pan, a walker and diaper creams and a supply of sheets, she was settled. I gave her a couple of shifts of mine to use as nightgowns as she lays in a room open to the yard.   Christine let us have one of her twin mattresses as Cati really didn't have a bed. She had a rusted box spring with old filthy blankets and a quilt for padding. It also looked like there were several layers of clothes underneath her. It was pretty smelly to say the least - let alone a REALLY bad place to be laying with open wounds. Here is a picture before she was transferred to the new nylon covered mattress. That is just packed dirt beneath those crates - and that is all the furniture in that room.

Cati is actually (and surprisingly) doing quite well and is able to move her leg around now. God is good - because without Him having His hand on her - it would have been a much worse situation. Please pray for a rapid healing and that she be able to walk again!

Roza's Baptism

Roza was quite shaken by Mihai's passing. She was worried about being baptized.  We had a fairly long discussion about the requirements to be baptized and the meaning of it. I asked her to tell me what she believed. It was really amazing. As many years as I have known her she had never spoken about the Lord the way she did then. Her Christianity is a very private matter to her.  The village assumes she is not a believer because she refuses to attend church, we discussed that too - she is no longer strong enough (she has gangrene in both legs and has refuses amputation) but more importantly to her is that the churches are full of hypocrites in her opinion and she wouldn't bother even if she could make it that far..HMMM - not much I could say there!  With Spencer, Bogdan and Edith we had a baptism service in her mud house and then I served her her first Communion. There are no words to express how glorious it was. So often I think I am just banging my head against a stone wall...and then I see the flash of light, a quick trip to the mountain top..."It is well with my soul..."  Here are a few pictures, not really good but the lighting was really bad but I did want to share them:


Ministry doesn't get much better than this!!!!

Missing Mihai

In Early May Mihai Florea went home to be with the Lord. Mihai suffered from TB as well as heart issues for some time. He had just come out of 4 months of hospitalization. Mihai loved reading the Psalms in church, he loved the Lord...but he did not have an easy life - Mihai fought alcohol for many years. He hated himself when he would start drinking again but I would remind him he had stayed sober just a little longer this time than last - just keep on fighting. He no longer has to fight - he is at peace.