Romhelp

2007-03-02T14:44:00.000-08:00

Saturday and Sunday in Switzerland (speaking engagenments). Monday - a lady came by to inform me that she is interested in helping with organizational matters in the office. Showed her ware-house and explained procedures. Tuesday: The guys were in the ware-house as usual - a mission from near Frankfurt that handles our LATVIA transports came by for a discussion on how we could improve our co-operation. Wednesday and Thursday were office days, and nipped a little off of Maria's "honey-do" list.
Today we worked in the ware-house and did a pick-up run. Carlo (14) was a real help!

Lisa Leading Lady - for the 3rd year

2007-02-23T09:20:00.000-08:00

This evening Lisa will be part of the cast for the annual "Candle Light Dinner" produced and hosted by the Black Forest Academy here in Kandern.
It is a well designed and orchestrated evening emerging out of a play entitled: "Finding Everland" this year.

There will be a dinner, music by the staff and students of BFA as well as information sections.
The purpose is to expose BFA to the community and vice versa.

Will let you know how it went ....

Greek Orthodoxy In Romania

2007-02-21T06:57:00.000-08:00

Superstition is one of inate human characteristics the Gospel of the LORD Jesus Christ overcomes!
The following report from a British Newspaper is but an illustration how religious traditional approaches only demonstrate again what can happen, when procedures outlined in Scripture are replaced by agenda!

The only purpose for releasing this report is to encourage all to uphold those working in Romania with your prayers, that the light of the Gospel will make way for the sufficiency of Christ through the sufficiency of the Bible in all matters of life!

From THE DAILY TELEGRAPH (London)
Priest and nuns jailed for crucifying novice
By Michael Leidig in Vaslui
Last Updated: 2:13am GMT 20/02/2007

An orthodox priest and four nuns were yesterday convicted of killing a young nun who they gagged and strapped to a crucifix during a five-day exorcism ritual in Romania.

Father Petru Corogeanu, who has been excommunicated by the Romanian OrthodoxChurch since the killing in 2005, was sentenced to 15 years. The nuns, who helped "guard" the novice, received lesser sentences. They all have 10 days to appeal or will have to begin their sentences.

The five accused told the court in Vaslui, eastern Romania, that they had performed an exorcism to help 23-year-old Irina Cornici, and pleaded not guilty to charges of illegally detaining a person against their will and causing their death.

Miss Cornici died of dehydration, exhaustion and suffocation after being kept locked in a room for five days at the Tanacu Monastery hanging on a cross with no water or food and a towel stuck in her mouth.

The accused said at the time that she had been possessed by Satan and that they had been compelled to carry out an exorcism.

It emerged after her death that Miss Cornici had been diagnosed as mentally ill.

R 121

2007-02-17T09:49:00.000-08:00

Yesterday we filled yet another truck for Romania. I forgot to take my camera - which I regretted.
This was Romania sortie number 121 (since 1990).

Our "silver league" (men over 60) came to load - and did a swift and professional job. NEVER underestimate the drive of senior citicens!
Timo (16) was the only younger member of our team - except the truck driver.

Even though loading went swift, he became very impatient, and tried to manouver this truck around mine - totally uneccessary! He oversaw a bolder protecting a hydrant - and sprung a hole in his 200 gallon gas tank!
So - we wasted about as much time fixing this problem as we neeed to load the truck!
All the same, ever since Romania has joined the European Community, the request from churches and mission groups for aid has at least doubled, even tripled!
So - y'all keep up the prayers for a full time ware-house person to replace "uncle Mark" - as he cannot pull that off!

More about the fine folks on the receiving end later.

Doris in the US

2007-02-13T22:51:00.000-08:00

We took Doris (17) to Frankfurt (Germany) to catch her plane to Indianapolis via Dallas (TX). Fortunately we purchased the "special assitance" package, as this is Doris's first time alone.
Immediately at the passport counter - she needed it! The German officer was upset that Doris - a dual citizent - only had her US passport along. She threw it accross the counter and became very belligernt. At this, the special assistant from US Air "blew her top" - and so you had to women going at eachother! Anyway, US Air won, and Doris was on her way! In Dallas she was grounded, as due to a snow blizzard, flights to Indianapolis had to be cancelled - so it was US Air that put Doris up for the night. Of course they have a room for these purposes - but it is equipped for kids about 10 years younger than Doris.
All the same- we were at rest knowing that someone was there making shure Doris will get a breakfast on catch the right plane at the right place and the right time! Seldom were 60$ so well invested!!

when it rains - it pours

2007-02-11T13:46:00.000-08:00

We had our first collection drive for clothing, shoes, household items etc. on Saturday. We were overwhelmed by the response - and now I am hoping and praying, that enough help will come tomorrow (Monday) to help pack from 3.00 - 10.00 pm!!

As my name and telefone number were in the newspaper advertising this drive, I fielded 54 inquiries!

Today I was invited to Switzerland to preach.
My grand-daughter Jana (3) who is staying with us came down with a bladder or urinary track infection. So this Sunday was quite eventfull!

battery problems

2007-02-08T13:51:00.000-08:00

I tried to start our truck, when I heard a strange noise and smelled something funny. I got out of the cab and saw a bunch of smoke up out of the battery bay.
The truck has a 24 Volt system running 2x 12Volt 88 amp batteries.
The connector cable had come loose on one side - and simply melt the battery pole down! In fact - there is a hole now where the pole used to be!!
I swapped an identical battery from our fork-truck and drove to the shop. They told me that I was fortunate that the battery did not explode!

So - the LORD allows some things to happen, and prevents other things from happening!!

(might want to remember that when you are prompted to want to ask: "Why, LORD?""

the three "wise men"

2007-02-07T15:03:00.000-08:00

Today, Peter, Gerhard and myself finished the recommondation for the session of a church that had called on us to mediate and solve some serious problems in their leadership.
The problems came to surface last summer. Peter had a serious accident (tripped and then fell down a flight of stairs) - and still is recovering! All the same we interviewed all participants of the problem and then met a couple of times to pray and council.
We were able to isulate the origin of various problems leading to the strife, and we drew up conclusions as well as advised the session how they should proceed.
Now - we can only pray that our work will be used by the LORD to restore unity, credibilty and the good example anyone would expect from church leadership!

new era - Swiss joint venture

2007-02-05T13:51:00.000-08:00

Romania is in the EU (European Union). This happened 1. Jan - but it took up till last week for us to obtain all the permits we needed to transport humanitarian aid - without any restrictions or red tape.

So now our Swiss friends we joint-venture with, can send things through us to Romania, without the age-old frustrations or bothers.

One friend in this picture left for Romania last Sunday night loaded with 0ver 19 tons of goods for a Romanian mission group.

Here in Germany, trucks over 7,5 tons are not allowed to drive on Sundays!

So now I am really praying for a secretary to help with all this added paper work!
I now have to provide only 3 forms for a transport - down from up to 9 before EU days!

content - or only the cup??

2007-02-01T08:36:00.000-08:00

John Shoemaker, a dear brother and friend in Fayetteville, sent me this reminder - and I think, you should take it to heart, too!

A group of alumni, highly established in their careers, got together to visit their old university professor. Conversation soon turned into complaints about stress in work and life. Offering his guests coffee, the professor went to the kitchen and returned with a large pot of coffee and an assortment of cups - porcelain, plastic, glass, crystal, some plain looking, some expensive, some exquisite - telling them to help themselves to the coffee.

When all the students had a cup of coffee in hand, the professor said: "If you noticed, all the nice looking, expensive cups were taken up leaving behind the plain and cheap ones. While it is normal for you to want only the best for yourselves, that is the source of your problems and stress. Be assured that the cup itself adds no quality to the coffee. In most cases it is just more expensive and in some cases even hides what we drink. What all of you really wanted was coffee, not the cup; but you consciously went for the best cups...And then you began eyeing each other's cups. Now consider this: Life is the coffee; the jobs, money and position in society are the cups. They are just tools to hold and contain life, and the type of cup we have does not define, nor change the quality of life we live. Sometimes, by concentrating only on the cup, we fail to enjoy the coffee God has provided us."

God brews the coffee, not the cups......Enjoy the coffee! "The happiest people don't have the best of everything. They just make the best of everything."

Live simply.

Love generously.

Care deeply.

Speak kindly.

Leave the rest to God.

much - but not many!

2007-01-30T10:25:00.000-08:00

Today I want to introduce you to my ware-house team.
Fritz is 70, and was mayor in a nearby town. He and Gustav (68 from Switzerland) come every Tuesday and Friday to help in the ware-house.

Timo (16) is Fritz's grand-son. He comes whenever I ask him to.

Missing in the picture are Klaus (68) as well an Ulrich and Paul (66) who come once a week or as often as they can.

No great numbers - but good fellowship - and hard work!

Remember us when you pray for wisdom to understand what we need to do that day with the limited manpower we have. Also, we praise the LORD for minimal personal damage (accidents etc.).

soup eaten not nearly so hot as it was coocked!

2007-01-29T10:31:00.000-08:00

God answeres prayer!
I informed you of the struggles of my dear friends and fellow-missionaries in Romania: Robert & Jody Frye.

Their recent communication is a real encouragement as well as proof that the LORD is alive and well!

Read for yourself:

Dear Walkers,
First of all, thank you for all your prayers. It is evident that God is continuing to give us strength, resolve and peace about our mission here.

Tonight, we met with the priest and his wife in their home here in our village. We were a little surprised that they welcomed us in so nicely. Basically, the young priest, (25 years old) denied that he said anything agianst us, or that he told the children that they were not allowed to come to our house. He did say that they were not behaving in church so he threatened them to scare them, but he didn't say how. When we asked if he said he would have their grades changed at school if they continued to see us, he avoided the question, and never really admitted one way or the other. We know how gossip is and we aren't believing what everybody says, but are also realizing that he isn't telling us everything either. All the same, we had a very peaceful discussion. He wanted us to know that his bishop is concerned and really doesn't want him having much to do with us. He said that if we hand out material the people in the village will be upset, and that we shouldn't put on our programs, that the "children of Ighisu Vechi invite you", because it will make people mad. At the end, he said he really doesn't care what we do, as long as we don't encourage the children to do bad things (which he said he was sure we were not), and to not be respectful of others. Robert told him that our purpose is to show the children a Christ-centered life, not just tell them. The priest re iterated that religion really should be left for the church to take care of, ,and to only those people who choose to come to the church. We didn't argue about anything, but all the same, we know that this will not be the end.
As we read in the Bible, we are rejoicing at this opportunity for our faith to shine. We will continue to pray for the strength to live a life worthy of the calling that God has given us, so to silence all manner of ill that men may say about us. We are exremely grateful for the relationships that God has allowed with our neighbors, even though they claim they are devout orthodox, they didn't believe all the things that have been said about us, and for this we are thankful. Even so, we will not be surprised at the next battle, for God tells us that we must be ready for the storms to come in this manner as said in I Peter 3:14-15
"But even if you should suffer (which we don't feel we have yet) for the sake of righteousness, you are blessed. And do not fear their intimidation, and do not be troubled, but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence;"
Earlier today, Robert and William took the teenage boys on a hike through the hills to a nearby village in preparation for spring camp. They ended up at our friend's office, which happens to be a policeman. He is orthodox also. We have talked about him previously in some other newsletters. The Lord has allowed us to spend some time with him in the past, and we are on good terms with him. Robert took the boys inside to get warmed up. He asked Robert how things were going in Ighisu, and Robert explained some of the problems we have been having with the people and the priest. Nicu, the policeman, sat the boys down, and explained that they are free to choose whatever they want to believe. He reassured them it is not against the law to believe something other than orthodoxy. Robert was very surprised. He didn't really expect this response. He encouraged the boys to listen to Robert and follow his example, because he said that Robert does what is right. We praise the Lord for the support He provides for us, even through those that are not believers. The boys came back revived and feeling free from fear.
Please continue to pray as we continue to work with the kids, and try to live a life that shows the truth and light. May God bless each of you.

Continuing On,
Jody for us all

EU - and EU Opportunities

2007-01-27T06:05:00.000-08:00

Today marked a new event on my calender: Since Romania is in the EU, it is now possible to send boxes to Romania hassle-free.

We do business with a bus company (similar to Greyhound in the US) that embarks from our area to Romania every Wednesday and Saturday.
Up to now, we have utilized their services to transport folks. Today I sent 6 packages on a trial run.

Iris is a German nurse who has been serving in Romania since 1991 and has adopted two Romanian girls. Her brother sent her a gift.

A missionary in Scottland, Fred Stonehouse, sent a large box to the Romanian Bible School where he teaches itinerately. Fred and my folks have know each other. They were members of different mission societies, but both worked in Bavaria not very far from eachother.
So this cooperation has been carried over to the next generation.
Fred's daugther Laurilee is a teacher at the Black Forest Acadamey, a Christian Boarding School here in our town Kandern that was founded over 50 years ago to serve missionary children.

The son of a brother with whom Matthew and I worked closely with while starting the church in Weil am Rhein (1976 - ) was in Romania last summer with his youth group. He is a youth pastor about 20 miles from here. I understand that one of his vehicles broke down, and this family he has sent 4 packages of groceries to through me, took the whole group in for 3 days till the vehicle was road worthy again!

This trial run will be interesting for us, as if it works out well, it would offer the opportunity to send boxes between our truck loads, especially if smaller quantities have specific individuals as destinations.
They charge roughly 0.65$ per pound, and it goes into the companies depot in various cities along their route.
The recepient has to go to the depot to retrieve the shipment.

To send Iris's package by mail would have been 23$. I payed 6.75$ this morning!

It is our desire to serve and encourage our faithful brothers and sisters serving the LORD in Romania - and by being able to respond more rapidly, we can benefit their ministries when the situation calls for it!

So we are greatful to the LORD for providing more opportunities which in turn are providing more flexiblility - improving our usefulnes for HIM!

Do pray with us that these much desired goods will reach their eager recepients on Monday!

Mark

2007-01-26T01:24:00.000-08:00

Monday, Jan.22 - 4:30 pm - a truck needs a return load for Hungary, and was waiting in Basel, Switzerland (right acrossed the border from us).
We had just been informed that a Hungarian mission was in great need for clothing for their second hand store (they support various mission projects with the proceeds, like a Christian radio station in Cluj, Romania) - so we told him to come.
Now - on such short notice, finding engough personell can be a real challenge.
In the picture you see Timo (16) and Gusti (68) - they shouldered the brunt of loading 1800 boxes = 15 metric tons into that truck.
I was able to help to about 1 PM when I had to leave to take care of the paper work. I returned at 3:30 PM with Remy (19) and Fritz - Timo grandfather (70) came along at 4 PM.
The truck was ready to roll at 5:30 PM.
At about 1:00 AM on Wednesday, winter literally fell on us. Temperatures just dropped below freezing and loads of snow fell out of the skies.
But our truck was already out of the snow front - and pretty much able to stay ahead of it!
So the LORD is good in providing such perfect timing, as now we cannot use the fork truck, and would have had the freezing inclement weather to suffer, would the truck shown up today, as orginially planned!
As all the goods have been carefully presorted and packed, the folks on the receiving end should be pretty happy with what they are getting!

freedom of religion - in Romania ????

2007-01-24T01:38:00.000-08:00

Dear friends,
I am most fortunate to enjoy the fellowship of very fine co-workers.
Robert and Jody come from Crawfordsville, Indiana and have been in Romania now for a number of years.
They moved out into a small village near Sibiu - Ighiseu de Vecci - where they bought a house with plenty of acerage around it to start a Christian conference and retreat.
The LORD opened many doors into their community to fellowship and share the Gospel.
Now the Orthodox priest is offering stiff opposition, and using all his influence to stave off the well developed interest in the Gospel and contact to Robert and Jody.
Today I need to share their latest prayer request and ask you to take this matter with you before the Throne of Grace!

Here are Robert and Jody Frye:
Just wanted to keep you abreast of the situation and some interesting happenings today. Thank you for continuing to pray for the kids in our village and the work here. Just today, the children came to tell us that they have been prohibited by the priest to come to our house anymore. The three boys that came to tell us said they were going to come anyway, but the other children can't come because the teacher also told them that if they came, she would give them bad grades in school. Needless to say, the children are afraid. So we went to talk to the preist, after praying quite a bit, but he won't be back in town until Saturday. Then we went to talk to the teachers. After a good discussion for about 1 1/2 hours, we think they understand us a little better. Some people, including the priest, were upset because we handed calendars out, with Bible verses on them. We apologized for upsetting them, and explained that the verses are from the exact same Bible that they have.
After alot of discussion about Orthodox being the religion of Romania, we agreed to "work together" to help educate the children of the village, which is what our purpose was to begin with. We reminded them that the director of the schools invited us to work with the children, and also the children had a great desire to continue meeting once a week. I guess one of the boys, on Sunday was making fun of the priest, and they said that he must have learned it from us, so this prompted a little more discussion. We explained that we encouraged the children to show respect to everyone, but we can't be responsible for what the children do when they aren't with us. We will talk more with the children tomorrow, if they come, and explain once again that they need to be respectful. Then we visited with the councilman of the village. He told us what the priest said on Sunday also. He said he argued with the priest afterwards, because Romania is a free country and the people have a right to go where they want and do what they want, and there is no law against them coming to our house. He didn't say how the priest responded. He said we can continue to use the village building anytime we would like. Then we went to our cell group in Cisnadie. We were late quite a bit, after speaking so long with our neighbors. It was such an encouragement to hear the prayers our fellow laborers said on our behalf and the encouraging scripture they gave us. Our pastor read in Acts chapter 5, the last part, where the disciples were brought before the high preist. Our church was very supportive and wants to come out and be more a part of what is happening here.
It was just like Acts 6, when the false witnesses came forth to tell lies about what the disciples said. The teachers were saying we were teaching the children bad things and saying bad things about what we are doing, so we invited them to come anytime and be a part of it. I asked them if memorizing scripture is offensive to them, and they said no. I told them that is all that we have done, except playing some board games and card games. They agreed that this was good. They said they will work together, but we will see how long that will last.
Please continue to pray as the battle rages on. Also, please continue to pray for the priest. Saturday will be a testing day for us all. We pray that God will keep us calm and assured of the call and our purpose.

Keeping you all in our prayers.
Robert and Jody

P.S. - Come back tomorrow for news on the truck we loaded yesterday!

revival of the blog

2007-01-22T02:33:00.000-08:00

after a long absense - I decided that this blog might be a real help to y'all who might be wondering: "What is he up to"??

The next items on my itinerary:

1. Preparing a truck for Hungary
2. Preparing a truck for Romania
3. Trip to Romania in March
4. "Home assignemt" vom 27. March - middle May

You might find it worth your time to look in at his blog, as I intend to keep it current - so can can keep up with us here - and how our lives are developing!

Romhelp

2007-01-22T02:22:00.000-08:00

Romhelp

back from a wonderful week

2006-01-30T13:27:00.000-08:00

My friend Thomas Jettel and I spent all of last week training 50 Hungarian speaking Romanians.
Thomas did a careful and challeging exegetical verse-by-verse of Daniel.
I did a synopsis of Galatians.
It was a very full week, and the men noticed why it is important to avoid interruptions when trying to study something indepth!

We were able to fly down to Sibiu, Romania. The camp and conference centre is Swiss owned, Swiss built and Swiss run. Even the electrical outlets are Swiss!

The city allowed us to use their gym in the afternoon which was a real help to beef up attention spans in the afternoon!

In the evenings we had general discussion times that were very challenging. I was asked to do an impromptu speech on two evenings of the most common reasons men quit their responsibilities serving the LORD in a church or mission setting!

I also spent a lot of time counselling.
So the days were very full, the nights very short.

My friend Thomas is a "late to bed and early to rise, makes a man healty, tired and wise".
The good old boy is up anywhere from 4 - 5 AM.
But it was a good experience as it provides ample time to spend in the WORD an in prayer!

Thank-your for your prayers!

Mark

fighting hard to stay afloat - a childrens home stays!

2006-01-16T06:29:00.000-08:00

A telefone call changed my priority list.

A childrens home that we have been a part of for the past 13 years informed us, that their Swiss constituents had to pull out due to financial problems.

Since January of this year, the childrens home has to operate on half their budget.

Smaller children, so I understand, where placed in foster homes.

Kids 16 and up are working hard with the personell of the the home to keep it going.

They also have a second-hand shop, and we were aked to deliver clothing a.s.a.p.

As we have just completed three transports in December, we have to pack.
There are large quantities that have come in, but they all have to be sorted and packed.

It is very cold winter weather , making it very hard to heat appropiately in our packing room!

All the same . for the first half on Februaray we can set up in the youth centre of our church here in Kandern.

Now I am hoping to find enough help to pack by Feb. 15th, when I have ordered the next truck to come.

So much for today!

Mark

Looking back

2006-01-08T14:10:00.000-08:00

Preparing for a board meeting on Monday evening, I was asked to ready the main numbers of 2005:

6 transports
2 trips for training
1 trip to Hungary ended in Switzerland when I had an automobile accident (see this blog - September)

2 months in the US - home assignemt

5 mission conferences in Germany and one week as guest lecturer in Austria

Yesterday I was able to put a team together for a mission trip to ROMANIA in March. Now I have to work on an itinerary - as I have more people to see than time to see them (the old challenge!).

Thus far for the new year:
January:
20 - annual mission meeting of Regio Rumaenienhilfe
21 - 28: annual training seminar with friend Thomas Jettel in Romania

February:
1 transport to Romania for two Christan book stores kind of tailored like "Barnes & Noble" = books & café
1 transport for various groups in Romania - we hope this transport will be in the country before we are.

March
2 - 17 : mission trip to Romania

April
one transport to Latvia

May
mission trip to Romania with an evangelism team

June - October
definite plans not in place yet.
Will have my niece Hannah Kaiser as intern as well as young Phillip Thornton (North Carolina) as helper.
We have a lot of cleaning up, fixin and (as the LORD provides funds) - transportation.

We are praying about the option of sending both to fellow missionary Robert & Jody Frye to Romania to help with youth camp work for four weeks.

September
annual German Mission Conference in Bad Salzuflen

October
annual Bible Conference near Nuernberg

November
annual Novembertrip: training seminar in Hungary; training seminar for gypsies and annual German Bible Conference in Sibiu

December
2 transports (Latvia & Romania)

All this: "If still live and the LORD tarries ... "

new year - new moves

2006-01-02T14:02:00.000-08:00

I hope you started your year off well!
We did!
My eldest daugther Susi has been home for a couple of days now.
At present I am getting ready for IRS USA and Germany, our annual "open house" on January 20th, my annual lecture trip to Romania from Jan. 21 - 28 and then we hope to have the next transport for Romania last week of January or the beginning of Februarary.
A book store in Basel Switzerland donated a bunch of furniture for a Christian book store in Romania. Really nice stuff - very much worth the effort to pack, retrieve and forward to Romania.
I am presently looking for folks willing to help with all the packing as well as someone on the receiving end comptent with customs authorities and the paper work that goes with it.

We also have lots of stuff in the ware-house waiting to be packed. That alone would fill one 18-wheeler!

I preached on January 1st in our church here in Kandern, and have one more speaking engagement before leaving to Romania.

Well - so much for today!

Greetings in HIS name!

Mark

from "draught" to "flood"

2005-12-28T13:56:00.000-08:00

Snow and early dusk plus low temperatures was part of the challenge in loading this truck yesterday (Dez. 27).
We only had 24 hours to gear up to loading this truck. Fortunately I had most of the permits on hand. But we "lost" 2 computers trying to get the paper work done! This truck was loaded on Dec. 24th.
How often have I mentioned our prayer need for transportation of aid?
Our ware-house was getting pretty much to maximum capacity - with a high volume of donations coming in. But here it was stuck due to a critical shortage of trucks.

In Romania, the average monthly wage is anywhere from 200 - 300 US Dollars. Therefore many west European countries are investing in factories and "sweat shops" in Romania. They send the raw materials or parts to Romania where they are assembled or manufactured and then returned to Germany for quality control and marketing.
This has led to a shortage in transportation, as these companies guaranty loads going and coming. Also, there is little problems with customs, as the weekly loads in both directions are rather similar.

But at Christmas, this otherwise well greased pendula got out of synch, so a good number of Romanian trucks were grounded as there was no return load to Romania.

SO we ordered the first truck which arrived on December 24th (!!).
As the 24th is the day of church services and pagents, most folks told me they would not be able to come and help load. All the same, the LORD burdened 13 men to show, one even came directly from night shift to be the main loading man!!

We did run into a serious snag, though! Our ware-house computer (notebook) decided to die. Fortunately the battery held long enough to secure the data-base. I took the machine to the shop today, but the bad news is: the thing is beyond repair (unless I am willing to fork over 900$).

I have a back-up computer we use for various ministries - and it "died" as well. Again we were able to save the data-base a second time, before the "lights went out". Fortunately the computer itself is ok, I had to buy a replacement for the power supply.
To get the truck packed and proper paper work accomplished, I drove home and fetched my private computer - and we were able to send the truck off at 5 PM.
As this company was not able to obtain an Austrian permit, the driver has to return via Poland - Ukraine - Romania!

A half hour after faxing the contract to the first company, the company we usually work with informed me that they had 2 trucks "grounded". I could only load one.
It came on Tuesday at about 2 PM. Again the LORD provided us with 10 helpers, but also allowed a snow storm.
All the same, the truck was loaded at 6 PM - and by the time the paper work finally came through the printer, the truck could leave at 9 PM.

I was kind of amazed at the fact, that the LORD allowed us to sit on all that stuff for three months! The way things turned out, both loads will be delivered right in the middle of two flood devastated areas.
Both churches have planned an outreach to the most needy in the community.
Last week, our German partner mission, Evangeliumsmission, donated about one ton of Romanian childrens bibles and evangelistic calenders.

So, we are a little worn out - but deeply satisfied that these trucks will be in the country before the Romanian Christmas, which is in the first week of January.

Again - thank-you for your prayers!

Mark

pray for a dear friend

2005-12-18T09:32:00.000-08:00

Today a longtime friend informed us that his 17 year old son had tried to commit suicide.
The fellow had an accident involving a industrial tree shredder losing an arm.
We all thought had was doing fine, and was trying too hard to act "normal" often wearing out his artificial arm.

For no apprent reason he shot himself in the lungs - but could be hospitalized before bleeding to death.
This was Friday. He is in a special hospital in Basel, Switzerland at this time.
His immediate condition is stabilized, but nobody is giving an prognosis what effect the self inflicted dammage will have on him.

So we ask you uphold our dear friends Klaus and Verena as they grieve over this totally unexpected shock groping with the issue: "What now?"

Pray with us that the LORD will give us the love and wisdom to be available to the LORD's working in Micha's life, as all of us are pondering what avenue of ministry we can avail ourselves for to Mica's benefit!

gearing up to new transports

2005-12-17T03:26:00.000-08:00

The last two weeks were slave weeks! The two collection points netted close to 20'000 pounds, and I have quite a bit of furniture that needs packing.

A friend from Romania asked me to help a church near Linz, Austria, that was putting a truck together. They were shy of 10'000 poinds.
I told them I would deliver. What often happens in these cases is that on final notice someone will come through with high volume. THis is what happened here near Linz. Now they have about 8000 pounds they are hoping I could come and pick up. But we are talking 1200 miles round trip - and our ware-house is bursting at the seams now!

After a number of emails back and forth we decided the most efficient solution is that we order a truck for their mission/local church in Harghita, Romania. This church is ministering to flood victims. The needs are staggering!

As of today I have the following request:
1 x 18-wheeler (we call them 40 ton trucks) for Onesti (flood victims)
1 x 18 wheeler for a transport of everything you need to start a book store for Targoviste, where a Christian books store and meeting point is to be errected. Available left over space will be filled with house-hold items, clothing etc.
1x 18 wheeler for Harghita (flood victims)
1x 18 wheller for Sibiu area also loaded for a Bible school in northern Romania (furniture, matresses)

Then Onesti and Harghita would each appreciate 2 more 19 wheeler!

My problem?
Money? We have enough to send three trucks at this time.
Material? - We have enough to send the three trucks we can pay for at this time.
Machine - YES: I am having a real problem finding transportation!

All I can ask for is PRAYER as we are scanning the market for transportation.

I am not the only person with transportation problems!
A friend of mine found a orange grove in southern Italy that wholesells large quantities of "natural oranges" at cut rate prices.
Every year he ships them up to Austria, Switzerland and Germany where they are mostly sold through local churches on a "order and buy" basis.
The profit goes to a Christian radio station and mission that is effecitvely reaching many in mafia infested areas with the Gospel of Christ!
Now - even he is having the time of his life scrounging around for transportation of his oranges.

All the same, I want to stay away of buying my own trucks, as we would need an extra 20'000 $ annually to keep a "big one" on the road!

This way - we squeeze in the ware-house, comfort those waiting on the receiving end, and jump as soon as we can get our hands on a rig!

collection point Kandern

2005-12-10T20:49:00.000-08:00

Yesterday we had a collection point here in Kandern.
It was very well received, and a good dozen of the members of the local church here pitched in to help with packing the boxes. We packed about 160. There is still more to pack, and I am hoping that enough will show on Monday to finish the work.
I was again impressed with Lukas (12) who did most of the loading into the truck!
Also, Andrea, the pastor's wife provided calenders and other literature which Klaus distributed among the donors. They were very well received!

Today I preach in a church about 10 miles from where I live. They intend to open a collection point in their facility next year.

A collection point offers an outreach to the community. People bring their clothes, shoes, house-hold items etc. and meet Christians. Many have questions and even some come to help with packing - offering us much time to communicate.
As you might remember, last week I was able to share the Gospel with 9 people.
Yesterday I was responsible for the entire operation, but did spend some time with about 6 people.

Now I am praying for enough help to finish all the packing on Monday as well as turn the rooms back into their original condition.

long time no hear!!

2005-12-08T13:55:00.000-08:00

Dear friends,
this is just to let you know that I remember that I have a blog!
November saw me in Romania - and I have many pictures to prove it! The LORD greatly blessed us there, and I return back with great vision and perspectives for the at least next five years!
Then I was in Singen, a city on lake Constance (Bodensee) where we had an aid collection drive with enormous turnout. I was able to share the gospel with 9 people during the day. I spent Sunday there as well and attended two services - spoke in one of them.
Two days ago we sent another truck to Latvia!
There will be a collection drive in Kandern on Saturday - and next week we are hoping for the truck we ordered four weeks ago to deliver much needed aid to flood victims in Romania.

So - I will try very hard as often as I can to share the marvelous interventions of our LORD in the last 35 days - as well as keep you up to date with current developments.

For today our most pressing prayer need is for a truck to haul a load to Romania a.s.a.p.!

In His grip!

Mark

Asphalt miracles

2005-10-29T04:40:00.000-07:00

I guess that dealing with constant set-backs is the heart of our commission. It is the sick that need the doctor, the weak that need someone to lean on, those caught in peril in need of some form of rescue.

Today my Romanian transport company informed me, that the will not be able to have a truck here on Monday to load on Tuesday.
There was a holiday in Tschechoslovakia on Friday, so the truck had to stand. It could have taken the route via Austria. Even that would not have solved the problem, for it turned out, that the company that is waiting for the delivery from Romania will be taking off from Friday afternoon till Wednesday. Monday is a holiday in northern Germany and Tuesday is a Catholic holiday in our and four other states.
So transportation sensitive operations end up on the back burnern.

Now, if I were not leaving on Wednesday for our annual tour of Romania (2 teaching seminars, 1 Bible conference and about 6 meetings) - we could have the truck in on Thursday or Friday.

This means, that we will have to postpone everything till the end of November or even December when I return from Romania.
By then the sunny warm weather will be over, making everything more difficult - but so be it!

Sometimes we just have to learn to rest in the LORD's timing and planing!
But we never are allowed to doubt HIS wisdom!

HE has ways and means to allow things to grow and bloom, even in adverse circumstance.
Just like in the picture of the flowers that are growing right in our street.
If you would try to immitate - you would never achieve such glory - because flowers are not meant to grow in asphalt - especially a road regularly travelled by all sorts of motor vehicles!

So learn to leave things to HIM, who is never amiss of how to make things happen - even if it has to grow through the asphalt of adversion, difficulty, setback!

one down - another to go

2005-10-23T22:57:00.000-07:00

On the left you see the truck fully loaded after a record 6 hours. On the right you see our flexible truck bed. It takes four of them to load one big one.

I have not heard anything from the receiving end yet, which usually means: No news is good news!

All the same we are gearing up for November 1st, when we expect this truck (or a another similar truck from this company) to resurface for the next load.

I was asked to send the next load soon, as these loads are going to flood victims.

The pastor of the church is quite anxious to cause as little dissapointment as possible by providing everyone he is targeting to receive assistance with at least a small quanity as a sign of shared concern.

I was invited to attend the 20th aniversary of a church I preach in regularly. I shared the pulpit with four other bretheren. I greatly enjoyed how each worked out an asepect of the 3rd epistle of John - without any prior coordination effort!

I also greatly enjoyed meeting new folks that I had heard about for some time now personally!

Pray for Mihai Chidesa

2005-10-20T00:01:00.000-07:00

Mihai Chidesa is a Baptist pastor in Targoviste, Romania. As he has been consistent in developing daughter churches instead of "going big" - he is in much demand.
He also has developed an outreach ministry to flood victims - that is why a truck we loaded on Monday is due to arrive today (Thursday) and needs the tedious processing through Romanian customs.
He also has an exam this week-end for a seminar he attended.
And - as if all this were not enough - his baby son will undergo an operation.
Either all of the above will either take his mind off of his son's operation (in Annapolis, MD, USA) - he had to stay in Romania - or the burdens will be horrendous!!
Do pray for him!

Here the report from pastor Dick Skinner, from the Evangelical Baptist Church in Annapolis, hosting Felicita, Mihai's wife and their son Stephen:

Mihai - I am writing this e-mail for Felicia so that you will know the schedule for Stefan's surgery tomorrow 20 October - the surgery is scheduled for 1:00 pm tomorrow here in Annapolis - Felicia is due to be at the hospital at 11:00 am two hours prior to the surgery - I will go with her to the hospital and will stay ther with her - Doina and her husband Mircea are planning to come to the hospital as well - we do not know how long the surgery will last - we also do not know if Stefan will stay in the hospital overnight - either Felicia or I will call you tomorrow and give you all of the news about the surgery - please ask the Church to pray for Stefan's protect, for wisdom for the doctors, for peace for Felicia and her family and for good results from the surgery - Felicia wants all to know that she is resting in the Lord and is looking to Him for her hope and confidence - more to follow when we call - our greetings to thr Church - God Bless - Dick

loaded truck on Monday

2005-10-19T06:47:00.000-07:00

Finally I get around to sharing the great news that we loaded the truck which came on Monday. There was enough volunter help. The truck driver did the main loading himself. It only took 6 hours to finish the job, but about another 2 to get the paper work done. We are now praying, that the Romanian customs will be benevolent and allow the vehicle to pass. Most everything on board is for flood victims. Will include picture as soon as processed.

truck coming Monday

2005-10-13T13:43:00.000-07:00

I received a call this afternoon. I was informed, that the truck will be coming on Monday - LORD willing!

But - a neighbour had to build a scaffold in order to repair considerable hail dammage to his roof. His insurance finally came through with the permission to hire a company to replace his roof.

Now we are praying that this company will get it's work done before Monday!

Tomorrow, I am scheduled to leave to a town about 1 hour north of Nuernberg. I have a short week-end Bible challenge: "Understanding the epistle of Galatians as a handbook for counselling".

I was able to coax a friend to join me for the ride. He has his best friend there, and I thought beside being able to spend ample time with him in the car - and having a second driver along, the fact that his best friend attends the church I will be speaking at - all might contribute to help him over a slump that he is bogged down with now.

My accident car is being repaired. These fine people are doing it for half of what the regular auto body shops have asked for ...

slow procedures

2005-10-12T13:10:00.000-07:00

I drove down past Thun, Switzerland, to a window factory nestled right under a mountain about 2200 metres. Just one huge rock. I regretted forgetting my cammera! I picked up a load of windows for a Swiss mission in right on the border to Bulgaria, due south of Bucuresti.
They have a working crew there remodelling one of their homes for the upcoming winter.

The truck company informed me today, that they will inform me soon, when they will be coming.

At least something - or?

Still waiting for truck

2005-10-09T14:23:00.000-07:00

Was silent the last couple of days as there is still no news of the next transportation date. It seems that many carriers are warry of the Romanian customs, as Romanian entry ports can mess up your transportation schedule up to a week or more!

We had another collection drive and the cummunity here in Kandern responded very favorably! We packed 100 banana boxes, but there is more than enough to pack at least that many more!
On Monday (tomorrow) we are hoping that enough people will come to help us finish up.

Our church rented part of a factory building that went out of business around 15 years ago for our youth programm and to provide more rooms for our senior saints ministry. This is also the new collection point every other month for donations for our mission outreaches every other month.
It is much more readily accessible, and we do not have to pick up right away, as the facilitiy usually is not needed till Wednesdays (where we collect and pack).

So this is a real benefit as it avoids time crunches on Saturdays, when everything had to be picked up and cleaned for Sunday services.

still no truck / car accident

2005-10-03T01:03:00.000-07:00

We are still waiting for a 40 ton truck to show up to pick up a load for flood victims in Romania. I hope this week to obtain some definite information when they will come.

I was scheduled to hold a seminar & conference in Hungary. In Switzerland - on my way to Austria/Hugary I ended up in the guard rail while passing a truck. I am not shure what the real cause was - but I am greatful to the LORD that nobody was hurt, and that damage to the vehicle was such, that I was able to at least turn around to my auto dealer. It will cost about 4000$ to repair all damages.

The seminar had to be cancelled. I was able to visit the wedding of my niece instead. It was a very beautiful and meaningful occasion!

week-end in Amberg

2005-09-19T04:53:00.000-07:00

I received an invitation to come to Amberg to a church that was planted by my parents 1978. They had bought a building and did a great job renovating it.
I spoke on Isaiah 63, 1-8 in both sermons (Saturday evening and Sunday morning). I was also greatful for the very friendly acceptance and spent much time in counselling with various members and visitors before and after the meetings.
I was able to take the train on Saturday arriving well in time before the meetings began, and left Sunday after lunch.
The church is mainly composed now of folks that originally lived in the USSR before emigrating to Germany. They are of German desendency.
All the same, they have many divergent customs and expentencies from their "home-grown" German counterparts. So, sadly, quite a number of "home-grown" folks have left the church.
Will pray and see what the future holds, as the discussions with the church leadership were very intense and prosperous. They certainly want to understand and learn!

2005-09-13T02:25:00.000-07:00

Dear friends,
just received a phone call that our dear friend Rudolf Geshe peacfully slipped into eternity this morning. He was well into his seventies, and had a history of assorted heart problems.

Rudolf was our fatherly mentor, father confessor, navigator on demand.

As young upstarts he counselled us personally, navigated us through sticky church and mission problems and incomprehensible counselling difficulties.
He was regularly invited to minister to us in the WORD. We were never envious, that his sermon tapes were in a great demand - we listen to them over and over again ourselves!

He took a keen interest in our personal well-being: the quality of our marriages, how we were handling family matters - if we even understood what a family is! How we failed or succeded in keeping some resemblance of balance between ministry, marriage, family.

This was obvious as we know now how many of his "Timothies" were on his prayer list over the decades!!

This is a double reminder:
In the Kingdom of God "old" never means "useless"!
Keep close contact and treasure the relationship to God's OWLS (Older Wiser Loving Saints)- they have a tendency to fade away ...

Great Help !

2005-09-12T11:52:00.000-07:00

On Saturday we had hoped to welcome the Romanian truck for a load to flood victims.
A group from a church in Singen on Lake Constance (Bodensee) came to help. So we got much packed and packaged and cleaned up!
These fine folks travelled around 150 miles to do this!
Hope, that this catches on!

Cologne, Mission Conference, Transport delayed

2005-09-07T01:00:00.000-07:00

Left last Friday for COLOGNE. Carsten Meissner, a brother who has helped us much with our Romania missions, began his move to Cologne to ge part of a church planting team. Carsten is helping Ina in a colletion drive in Kandern in this picture.

I had a 4000 lbs trailor to return - and so Carsten had plenty of room for the most necessary items. He has found an appartement in the mean time. Now we are looking for an adequate time window for the rest of his move.

Was part of the annual missions conference of our German partner mission near Hannover, northern Germany, to help them with their 25th aniversary celebration!
They had a large youth choir there that blessed us with their wonderful music and sincere commitment! My brother Matthew was there, too!
I stayed on a day longer for many briefings and consultations concerning details of cooperation. The founder of the mission is in his 70ies and is slowly looking for a "Joshua" to gradually replace him. I only have an advisory function in this matter! The founder is a close friend of my parents. So I have known him since 1961!!

Greatly enjoyed the fellowship, saw many long time friends, and received deep spiritual challenges from the messages and reports of the other missionaries.

On Monday I returned to Cologne to pick up the trailor, and was invited to attend the founding meeting of the Cologne church planting team. I was asked for input, and was glad to encourage and give a couple of pointers. It is a young team, and I am not aware of any far reaching church planting experience. But I detected great zeal and it is obvious that the team leader has put a lot of thought into this goal.

I returned the trailor we used for Carsten's move to relatives of my wife near Marburg on my way home. It was not much of a detour.
They donated a tomb stone for Maria's parents grave. The only hitch: Nobody was there to help me load it! Strong back - feeble mind? Got it loaded anyway!

Just received a phone call that the Romanian truck company will not be able to come on Saturday. He did not receive a load to Germany, France or Switzerland, and I do not have to money to pay for him to come and pick up my load!
But only this company gives me great conditions, so it will be worth the wait till they can make it here.

windows for Romania

2005-09-01T02:25:00.000-07:00

I received news yesteray from a Swiss missionary in Romania.
They are expecting a building crew from September 25th on and was wondering if I could provide a couple of dozen windows etc. donated by a Swiss company not far from where I live.
As you know, we are expecting a truck for next week - and it, too, is for flood victims.

So, I have to see if I can find enough volunteers for another transport in this month! Also, we have to see about finances for the transportation.

What we need now most of all is wisdom, if we have the energies to pull off a second transport in such short order.

forward and backward

2005-08-29T11:50:00.000-07:00

Wednesday, August 25
Clark and three other men worked in the ware-house packing furniture etc. Got a lot done, but realized that it will take one person a full working week to get the most necessary prepared for the next transport.
We praise the LORD, that a group of about four people intend to come and help in the ware-house on Saturday, Sept. 3rd!

Thursday - Saturday - August 26-28
Helped our new pastor move from Karlsruhe to our town. Had my truck and trailor along. Needed it, as not everything would have fit into the movers truck.
As the truck driver did not show up on Saturday, a clerk drove the rig down to the new address, and I ended up manouvering the trailor into the narrow drive way! The last time I moved a truck trailor in such a squalid road conditions was way back in 1984! But the old horse did not forget all the old tricks ;-)

Sunday, August 29
Preached in Weil am Rhein. I was on the founding team in 1979 - and left after we moved to Kandern. It was good to see the "old faces" - and I rejoiced seeing a lot of new people I had never met before!

Got Word that Romania is intending to close down most of the non-government orphanages. Have to find out why.
Christian Jach, who is responsible for the four orphanages of TOAR had already an emergency plan in place to outsource the kids under 16 into foster homes.
We rejoice that so many Romanian christian families were willing to accept a child into their midst!

All the same we are perturbed by another government regulation destroying many investments, man hours and sacrifice to offer homeless children a wholesome place to stay!!

You might know that Romania has sufferd 4 floods since spring of this year! Here, too, the government is prooving it's great ineptness!
The greates dissapointment is their unwillingness to loosen up their stingent import rules for humanitarian aid! For instance I am not allowed to bring used shoes, underwear, baby clothing or toys. House-hold items and tools have to be itimized including their indiviudal weight and actual worth!

At the borders, the border guards are insisting on "motivational help" = bribes, that keep increasing in value!

So, corruption and ineptness are prooving to be worse problems than inclement weather conditions as floods and hail storms!

I can appreciate what David says in 1. Chronicles 21, 13b: "but let me not fall into the hands of men" ...

the over all view

2005-08-19T22:44:00.000-07:00

Wednesday saw me in the truck with Clark, a young fellow from Evansville, Ind - willing to sweat it out at Uncle Mark's Fitness Club (ware-house).
We also spent most of Thursday togehter in packing and wrapping up what we had gathered on out pick-up run on Wednesday.

I am still waiting for the trucking company to give me a positive reply if they want the September 9th load.

A bunch of furniture was delivered to the ware-house today during my absence. Now I have to find enough help to wrap it up, weigh & register and then store in a container.

The upcoming trip will be "R 103".
R 104 to a church in Targoviste I hope to get on the road in the first half of October.
R 105 is a trip to Romania myself for study purposes plus one Bible conference.

Latvia 08 should happen in December. This trip is important to us the deliver all the toys, used shoes, underwear and baby clothing that we have gathered since the last transport to Latvia, which was 19th February of this year.

If I can find enough help for all the work necessary, we might be able to squeeze in another truck for Romanina in December.

So do pray with us - and should you live in the nearer vacinity of Kandern - welcome!

moving forward

2005-08-15T01:32:00.000-07:00

Finally things are starting to move!
1. I was informed to work the papers for the customs in Cluj.
2. I know now, that I can load a truck on September 9th.

Cluj vama (customs) are a more difficult folk - but at least I have other friends that understand how to work the Cluj customs.
All the same, I can now work on finding a truck.

You all can pray now that I will be able to keep on the time in packing everything that needs to go on the truck!

Also - the next truck load for Targoviste is "on the books".
I have to figure out a good time for the truck to come for that load.
I already sent in the papers to our state government to apply for a subsidy to help offset the transportation costs.

So much for today.

Mark

lots of help and good news!

2005-08-13T08:58:00.000-07:00

We had a collection drive that the community of Kandern responded to very well. One elderly lady was very interested in many details of how our aid is distributed. I was able to share to Gospel with her for over 30 minutes. It turned out, that she had trusted in Christ as her Saviour years ago - but wanted to make shure that she and I were "talking the same language"!. Was good to "practise" all the same ...
We had enough help to pack everything that came in today - which does not happen very often. Usually some very late comers bring in large quantities - which did not happen today. One man drove down from Freiburg twice, as he wanted his stuff to go to flood victims. We managed to pack 110 banana boxes. If I would have been able to provide TV crates, there would have been enought to fill 5 of them, too!

I received word today, that we can plan for loading a truck on September 9th!

Our Romanian friends feel they can have their home work done in order to tackle the difficult Romanian customs office.

Right now I am waiting for a decision which customs office they will opt for. The customs office in Cluj is over 100 miles from where the aid is going to. But the customs office closer to where we will be unloading would make all the prepatory work more involved for Nellu, as he expects having to go there a couple of times before this thing is completely terminated.

So, do pray for Nellu for wisdom, as only the LORD knows the hearts of the people we will be working with - and their willingnes to cooperate with us!!!

Mark

hard pressed for drivers

2005-08-12T23:56:00.000-07:00

Sometimes you revert to unusual measures if your need is great enough.

Found a really cute girl to help us with our truck needs:

more help at the ware-house

2005-08-12T13:22:00.000-07:00

A friend in Switzerland checked out his retired friends and neighbours to generate more help at the ware-house.
This week we had four groups come in to help pack and get the next transport ready.

In Romania our friends on the receiving end are inundated with challenging feats.
Pretty much every building that surved the flood is now occumpied by folks who lost their housing.
This poses the question: Where do we unload?

The ware-house in discussion at present is over 100 miles away from where the goods are meant to be distrubted!
Also, our friends drew our attention to the fact, that the Evangelical community ist not receiving equal compensation or attention as other townspeople!
All the same, they have the goal of using this delivery as an outreach agent to share not only tangible material help but simultaniously sharing Christ, who alone can meet our core needs!

I am aiming at September 9th as the date to load the truck - but communication is very sluggish.
I am glad that I can also work through Katharina Schmutz, a Swiss missionary who got all this goining in the first place.
I can ask her to keep on a case till we have workable results!

So do pray for Nellu, who is mainly responsible for developing the logistics on the receiving end. For Katharina, that she can be encouraging and helpfull even though her "job" is to keep people on the move!

For me, that I can put together a team for preparing and loading this next delivery!

Mark

goal for this week

2005-08-07T09:36:00.000-07:00

Last week I was pretty involved with post hail clean- up and repair work.

Also, I was glad to welcome new help at the ware-house as well as help our partners ministering to the Ukraine!

Also, our missions vehicle, an off-road Mitsubishi had to be taken to the shop.
Next to regular check-up and maintenance work, the car was having problems with starting.
It turned out that a faulty fuel line had to be replaced!
Wonder what that bill will look like !!!

This week the goal will be to make contact with the fine folks willing to partner with us for a truck load of aid to flood victims in Romania.

friendly visit

2005-08-04T13:58:00.000-07:00

You might want to remember us regularly in prayer for more volunteer help in the ware-house.
Today two women representing a womens group came by to see what the work was all about.
They stayed for 3 hours and packed.
When they left, they promised to come on a regular basis!
A real answer to prayer!

Problems with blog

2005-08-04T13:50:00.000-07:00

Dear friends & family,

I purposely did not add anything new the last 2 days, as I received feed-back, that trying to access www.gupfnews.blogpot.com took you to somebody's homepage - with no reference how to get to this blog!

So - if you should experience the same problem - please let me know, for I do not want to be used as a ploy to force people to information they were not looking for!

Yesterday we helped a mission about 20 miles from where I live with 4,5 tons of clothing, shoes etc. for their upcoming transport to the Ukraine.

Today I had to carry 550 banan boxes from the adjacent ware-house we use from the 2nd floor about 200 feet acrossed a parking space and then into our truck. It took me about 5 hours. I drove those to another mission group that just sent an 18-wheeler to the Ukraine and an overseas container to Ruanda.

We are glad to help our friends - especially when we have such large quantities of surplus!

Again - should you encounter any difficulties with this blog - especially if you should be rerouted to a web page you were not intending to visit - please let me know!

Greetings

Mark

How God uses tragedies for triumpf!

2005-07-31T13:47:00.000-07:00

As reported yesterday, we had damage due to hail.

The real loosers are the farmers around here: The corn crops are stripped down to the first 10 to 20 inches over the ground! A lost harvest. Those, who did not get their wheat in can go and work their fields witht the plows. The hail was a large as tennis balls!

I was able to get ahold of an insurance agent, and it looks like that they will replace all three windows.
Two of those three windows were built in 1969 and were in a pretty worn out condition! I was already informed that their time had come - but postponed the exchange due to time and financial investments. So this hail insidence is taking a problem off of my hands - and even providing the funding for the replacements!

A friend of mine does roofs and is a carpenter. He came by on Saturday to fix my roof - so that is finished!
The windows are covered with plastic, which ought to hold till the insurance gives a go-ahead for the repairs!

The most striking insidence of God's protection was this: Today my two year old granddaughter was playing outside. When I went to check up on her, she had found pieces of the broken windows and was collecting them into a neat pile! I stopped cold in my tracks when I realized what harm could have been caused by carriying the broken glass imporperly or tripping on something and falling on the glas pieces!
But Jana was totally unharmed, and had a problem understanding why I threw her work away!

Also, a sister in gave a testimony in church how her neighbor took a beating on his roof. He was cursing violently. Here they typically curse: "God damn me!" She yelled to him, that he should not curse in such an awful way, but should rather say: "God bless me". Well, he got off of his house roof and on to his garage roof, when it caved in - it was shot full of hail holes! On his way down (he was not hurt) he yelled: "God .... (short pause) BLESS ME! So we all learn: Let us always be testimonies for our faith - in and out of season! Blessings to you all!

Hail

2005-07-30T22:47:00.000-07:00

Dear friends,
did not get to much yesterday except pick up and wrap most of a bedroom donated to the flood victims in Romania.
At about 4:30 PM we had a historic hail "attac".
It destroyed three windows, the worst being Lisa`s room. Friends that were helping in the ware-house came along to help. The worst was all the glass laying all over the place.
All the same, we were able to cover the windows with plastic.
Needless to say, Maria's garden took an awful beating.
The hail here was up to five centimetres in diameter.

My worst fear was my grand-daugther, wo was taking a late nap upstairs. Her cot is right under the roof window. But that window held. So did the window in the computer room!

So - although we will be busy cleaning up and fixing for quite a while, and hoping that our insurance will cover most of the damage - we are greatful that our plight is manageble. Many of my neighbours lost much more than the three windows and about 15 roof tiles I had - or still have - to replace!

Romania in plight - weather & government

2005-07-28T13:28:00.000-07:00

I received a posting from a missionary in Cluj (I ommited his name due to his open remarks over the source of the real problems!):

"Greetings from a warm Transylvania.
Please pray for the nation of Romania.
35 people have died, thousands of homes were flooded, and nearly a thousand bridges and road sections were destroyed here in the last few weeks.

We need a time of good weather and please pray that Romania`s government will start enforcing the building regulations it has ignored since the revolutin (Dec. 1989!).
Many were flooded out because they bilt in unauthorized areas and/or did not use proper materials.

We need God's grace and mercy manifest in this nation. ROmania needs not only financial help; but, good leadership to utilize the help it receives: It is time for leaders to stop making themselves richt!

German Vice Consular writes me about flood victims

2005-07-27T11:58:00.000-07:00

In November last year Martin Fingerle and I visited Hilmar Münch, vice consular at the German Consulate in Sibiu, Romania. Since then we have been staying in touch.
I had written Hilmar about wanting to deliver aid to flood victims - here his reply:

Hallo Herr Walker,
ich habe Sie nicht vergessen. Ich bin am Ball und hoffe, daß es morgen eine Antwort gibt (positiv)! Ich war am Samstag im Überschwemmungsgebiet mit einem privaten Hilfskonvoi den wir hier in Hermannstadt (Wirtschaft, Ev. Kirche und Mitarbeiter des GK) zusammengestellt haben. Mir sind die Tränen gekommen. Besonders die alten Menschen die alles verloren haben. So was von Hilflosigkeit dem Schicksal gegenüber, so was von Traurigkeit in den alten Leuten. Ich bin da ganz ehrlich, daß muß ich mir nicht so oft antun !! Da leide ich selbst drunter.
Mit freundlichen Grüßen
Hilmar Münch

Hello Mr. Walker
I have not forgotten you.
I am keeping at it and hope to have an answer for you tomorrow (positive).
I was in the flooded region on Saturday with a private relief convoi, that was put together here in Hermannstadt (German name for Sibiu) (by businesses, protestant church and members of the consulate general.
Tears came to my eyes. Especially elderly people who have lost everything. Such helplesness in the face of such a fate, what a despair in those elderly people!
I will be up front with you: I cannot go through this too often! It greatly affected me!
Greetings
Hilmar Münch

Provisions promised

2005-07-25T23:18:00.000-07:00

We live in Germany in the state of Baden-Wuerttemberg (BW). The state government of BW wrote that they would assist financially with the next truck load. To be more precise: The office handling these foreign aid issues informed us that a formal recommondation had been issued to the state treasurer to transfer some funds to our account to help cover transportation costs.
Well - after 14 years - the last three including ample amounts of correspondence - we are surprised to see government taking notice of us!
All the same, we realize that we can only rely on the LORD, as we have been the last 14 years to supply our needs. Only HE knows when the best time is for these transports, what the people really need etc. HE has often directed our plans simply by the way and timing of directing our funds.
A couple of years ago our ware-house was at fullest capacity. On the other hand we had urgency requests from Romania and Croatia - the war still in progress. What was really unique: We had received various "odd" things that were then specifically requested!
But - our treasurer had to wave the red flag - not enough there to pay for transportation.

I called our men together, pointed out how desperately the things we had collected were in demand, but our inability to deliver. I concluded: "The problem is us"!

Well, two of the fellows admitted that they had come to quit the mission, as they were not getting along with eachother. They realized, that their attitudes were sinful, and in front of our eyes asked eachother for forgiveness and embraced!
In the very next week we received a large check from the US easily covering the next couple of loads ...

So we learned what Hudson Taylor insisted on: "Moving men alone by God through prayer" ...

Sybille sent me a true occurence during WWII, that underlines God's at times hard to understand ways to reveal HIS will, HIS resources:

God and the spiderDuring World War II, a US marine was separated from his unit on aPacific island. The fighting had been intense, and in the smokeand the crossfire he had lost touch with his comrades.Alone in the jungle, he could hear enemy soldiers coming in hisdirection. Scrambling for cover, he found his way up a high ridge toseveral small caves in the rock. Quickly he crawled inside one of thecaves. Although safe for the moment, he realized that once theenemy soldiers looking for him swept up the ridge, they would quicklysearch all the caves and he would be killed.As he waited, he prayed, "Lord, if it be your will, please protect me.Whatever your will though, I love you and trust you. Amen."After praying, he lay quietly listening to the enemy begin to drawclose. He thought, "Well, I guess the Lord isn't going to help meout of this one." Then he saw a spider begin to build a web over thefront of his cave.As he watched, listening to the enemy searching for him all the while,the spider layered strand after strand of web across the openingof the cave."Hah, he thought. "What I need is a brick wall and what the Lordhas sent me is a spider web. God does have a sense of humor."As the enemy drew closer he watched from the darkness of his hideoutand could see them searching one cave after another. As they came tohis, he got ready to make his last stand. To his amazement, however,after glancing in the direction of his cave, they moved on. Suddenly, herealized that with the spider web over the entrance, his cave looked asif no one had entered for quite a while. "Lord, forgive me," prayed theyoung man. "I had forgotten that in you a spider's web is strongerthan a brick wall."We all face times of great trouble. When we do, it is so easy to forgetthe victories that God would work in our lives, sometimes in the mostsurprising ways. As the great leader, Nehemiah, reminded the people ofIsrael when they faced the task of rebuilding Jerusalem, "In God we willhave success!" [Nehemiah 2:20]And remember: Whatever is happening in your life, in God, a merespider's web becomes a brick wall of protection.

so many owe so much to so few!

2005-07-25T11:40:00.000-07:00

On Saturday a young couple brought their 2 children (3 and 7 years old) to the ware-house. Another lady from their church joined them. They drove about 85 miles to get here, which was 10:00 am. They helped pack till 6:00 PM. As the brother is an electrician, he was able to do some repairs. This saved me 2 hours of having to hire an electrician to come out - and here in Germany that means I saved around 250 US $ !!.

Inspite of being such a small group, they packed 225 boxes. 25 of those boxes are house-hold items. This means: Every iten (spoons, forks, plates, etc. ) have to be counted, weighed individually, written up individually, and then the box has to be weiged and that figure needs to be recorded as well!

Never underestimate what small numbers can do if their hearts are in it!!!

I am now in the process of building up communication with the fellow responsible for navigating this load through customs. Up to now, everything is worked through Kathrin, wo got this ball rolling, and is coordinating the various steps - obviously serving as translator simultaniously.

board meeting - green light

2005-07-21T20:31:00.000-07:00

Our board meeting yesterday led us directly into a core problem: Most folks will be on vacation in August, making it difficult to put a team together to load the truck!
But that is common staple, even when vacation time is not an issue!
All the same, we know we can trust the LORD in all this move people's hearts to come an be a part of this.

Our ware-house is bursting at the seams, and that is another reason not to pass up this opportunity to get some of our stuff "on the move".
We are greatfull, too, that the state of Baden-Württemberg renewed their pledge to subsidize the cost of transportation - something they have been promising the last three years! I was invited to the govenor's office in 2002 (along with similar relief groups) and after an interview and having handed in all kinds of verifying paperword, we were assured we qualified for financial assistance to offset transportation expenditures.
I did find out last week, though, that the brother responsible in making shure that proper documentation was sent to Stuttgart in order to apply for the grant was not tended to according to stipulations, which caused serious delay.
On the other hand, the LORD put it in the heart of a former mayor and town clerk to join our voluntary work force. He is very proficient in handling government issues, and now we are seeing things happening!
So: Better late than never ....

The Swiss truck driver had to take his offer back. His schedule has been redefined for August. Well, at least this way it did not hurt him so much when I had to break the news to him, that he was just about twice as expensive as his nearest competitor!

Now the goal is building up communications with Cluj, Romania, in order to prepare the many transportation details.

Swiss Truck

2005-07-20T23:19:00.000-07:00

Received a telefone call today from a brother in Switzerland who owns a truck.
He offered his service - but es is asking 3000 Euro for the run.
The truck is available after August 15th.

I have a Romanian truck company that does these kind of runs for 1800 Euro. So now I have to see, if they can run for us, and if there is any change in price when they deliver into desaster areas.
There is always a certain risk when you drive into desaster areas: will the bridges hold? As many buildings are destroyed or seriously damaged - what do we unload into? This at times has led to delays up to one week.
At times there are security issues, as looting is often a problem in these areas.
Once we nearly lost a truck, because a groop of people went bezerk fearing they would receive any of the load! All that we said was, that we had to first UNLOAD before we could distribute. Fortunately a garrison was nearby and a bunch of soldiers pushed the crowd back to guard the truck.

We are praying that the Romanian government will relax it's stipulations: That it will be possible to deliver used (but very good) shoes, baby clothing, underwear and maybe even some toys.

We will have a board meeting today to decide how and when to proceed.

Flood Victims - today's development

2005-07-20T02:19:00.000-07:00

Our friends in Switzerland informed us, that they have access to a large truck. The general idea: As of now, we organize the delivery and contribute most of the aid to be loaded. They provide the truck and driver. We share the expenses.

Our Swiss friends in Romania reported, that a Baptist church in Cluj has volunteered to give leave to one of their deacons appartently working in the church full time to manage and deliver this load to a Baptist church in Comanesti (no idea at present where that ist). But you have to go out of your way via Brasov to get there.

Anyway, four of the church's families live in the church building now, as their houses literally "went down the river".

So much for today.

flood victims in Romania

2005-07-19T04:47:00.000-07:00

Today (July 19th) I was approached by Swiss friends in Romania, if we could not help with a truck load of aid for flood victims in Comanesti.
I have to find out, where that is - anyway, you have to go through Brasov to get there - as most bridges on the direct route have been washed out!

I asked the German embassy in Romania, if the Romanian government might be willing to drop some of their stringent stipulations, in order to deliver shoes, baby clothing, underwear etc.

I contacted friends in Switerzland to hear if we might team up for this delivery.
Our ware-house is very full - and we have enough for at least two large trucks. But some of the stuff is waiting for someone to come by and help pack!

Our ware-house is full - we could load two 18 wheelers if necessary!

We will have a meeting on Thursday to decide officially, if or when we will "get the wheels rolling".

Romhelp

telegram

Lisa Leading Lady - for the 3rd year

Greek Orthodoxy In Romania

R 121

Doris in the US

when it rains - it pours

battery problems

the three "wise men"

new era - Swiss joint venture

content - or only the cup??

much - but not many!

soup eaten not nearly so hot as it was coocked!

EU - and EU Opportunities

freedom of religion - in Romania ????

revival of the blog

Romhelp

back from a wonderful week

fighting hard to stay afloat - a childrens home stays!

Looking back

new year - new moves

from "draught" to "flood"

pray for a dear friend

gearing up to new transports

collection point Kandern

long time no hear!!

Asphalt miracles

one down - another to go

Pray for Mihai Chidesa

loaded truck on Monday

truck coming Monday

slow procedures

Still waiting for truck

still no truck / car accident

week-end in Amberg

Great Help !

Cologne, Mission Conference, Transport delayed

windows for Romania

forward and backward

the over all view

moving forward

lots of help and good news!

hard pressed for drivers

more help at the ware-house

goal for this week

friendly visit

Problems with blog

How God uses tragedies for triumpf!

Hail

Romania in plight - weather & government

German Vice Consular writes me about flood victims

Provisions promised

so many owe so much to so few!

board meeting - green light

Swiss Truck

Flood Victims - today's development

flood victims in Romania