I forgot to write about Fedi’s talk with the political group. It went well. About 20 people were there and they listened attentively to the gospel. Afterwards, Leventa commented on how disillusioned they were with the Catholic priest in Certa. They had questions & positive comments for Fedi. He told them mostly he wanted them to read the Bible for themselves to check out what he was saying. Fedi has started to read a book about the Catholic church to have better answers for people.

Yesterday Fedi was taken in to the police for questioning concerning an armed robbery that took place. (Hey - and you all thought our rent income was supporting us!) It was a case of us being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Jozsef was taken in too. With Fedi though, the questions got a little personal - Who was taking care of our affairs in the U.S.? Fedi’s answer - “none of your business”. Jamaica was stamped in the passport. They asked how could he afford to go to Jamaica. He said he was earning plenty of money. Fedi said the minute he stepped in the door they started yelling at him. First to close the door - how could he be so rude as to leave it open - etc, etc. They also found a couple of more things to yell about later.

I think it unnerved Fedi a little. I grew up securely in America where most of the laws make sense and good people never get in trouble with the law. Fedi grew up here - when it was communistic and the police didn’t have to make sense. He told me if anything would happen - get out of the country before I try to help. I am certain though there is nothing to worry about living here. For one thing, Romania is trying very hard to be accepted in the European Union. The past unfairness of the police is one thing that is keeping them out. Present day unfairness by the police to Americans? It’s not going to happen!

The funny thing is this morning Fedi went to the prison for ministry. I told him it’s all a conspiracy and some how my Dad’s involved!

Rebekah started repenting. She had so many questions, comments & hints that I finally said “Rebekah do you want to go ahead and commit your life to God?” We were eating with the other 3 kids, they all had their own opinions & comments to offer, some which made no sense. We had a prayer time in which Rebekah very sweetly thanked Jesus for dying for her. She will be 12 in 2 days. I liked one comment she gave a day later - “being a Christian makes me feel so safe”. She can’t wait to tell Sarah Sceggel & Sarah Reinhard. I guess the thing for us to do is to give Chuck a call. Fedi was happy to hear Rebekah’s news and had a nice talk with her when he got home. We had the church pray for her.

Attila (the horse owner) came yesterday to deliver the 2nd load of wood we paid for. Fedi is a little disappointed because he promised us hard wood and gave us pine. He also showed up at noon to work for the day, but he did say he would come to church on Sunday. Believe me, this time I’m not going to stay home to make room in the car!

Attila (the cow owner) on the other hand seems to be coming closer to opening his heart up to God. We are still using his jeep to get up the mountain. Plus we get the milk from his house every other day so we see him a lot. He thought he found an employee to milk so he could come to church on Sunday, but he didn’t show up the second day of the job.

Friday we took the day off school. Since our car was still broken it was a good time to treat the kids to their first train ride. We rode 30 minutes to a beautiful mountain village, walked around & had lunch before heading back. This village is also a spa with warm water springs so there were a lot of older people there for cures. We got back in time for Fedi to go to the village evangelizing.

Saturday we went to the kids program and then to Heidi & Eda’s for lunch. We went with Csilla & her girls to a ski slope. It was Csilla & her girls first time on a rope tow. The slope was great for beginners and the kids had a great time. The sun was bright & the view was terrific. After the sun went down though the temperature dropped fast. It was another -20 F. night. Last week the temperature went down to -27F (-33C). When it’s that cold, we come home shivering, gather around the stove for a little while before snuggling way down in our covers. Fedi always makes the fire first thing but it still takes the house a while to be tolerable. Since then though it’s warmed way up. Spring must be on the way, it’s almost March.

Rebekah’s converting is bringing up the necessity to think about future plans. I guess she can talk to Chuck on the phone. I also gave her a deke to wear for church. As far as our moving back home it is so far out of our control that we would need God to not only lead us but to also do things to make it happen. I do want Rebekah to be baptized in Peoria.

Erika is here again. This morning she handed the Hungarian Bible, we gave her, to me to ask me to show her where to read. She also had a good talk with Fedi last night.

The kids & I stayed home from church so there would be room for Attila (the horse owner) and his family in the car. It was boring & lonely. I hit a low point with being discouraged when Fedi called to tell me they went to pick them up and Attila was passed out on the couch - drunk. There was no time to go up the mountain and pick us up by then.

God is really wonderful though. Rebekah & I had a nice talk. I was for some reason telling her how at one point in my life I questioned God’s existence and how I worked through that. The next day she told me how relieved she was to hear that. She said she had been having thoughts like that for awhile and somehow what I said was just what she needed to hear. She also asked me what does repenting mean. Maybe if we hadn’t stayed home the talk would not have happened.

Fedi also came home with some encouraging news. Attila (the cow owner) told Fedi that he has started to pray like Fedi & his words were “things are happening”. He asked if he could pray anytime like when he milks the cows. He said he prayed for one cow’s udder that looked pretty bad and it got better.

Meanwhile, his girlfriend Erika came back from Hungary and has cleaned for me again. She is also showing an interest in the Bible. She always stays the night. In the morning when Fedi & I read the Bible she joined in.

There’s more - Attila’s (the cow owner) brother Robbie, invited Fedi to come to present the gospel to a political group he is in. He will do that tonight. Leventa said he will go with him.

When Fedi showed the tape of Jesus life about 6 of the young kids came. They commented on how little the tape had in it about Mary.

Tuesday English class was fun. I pulled Rebekah & Fedi down with the skis & back up again. I took the beginner class of about 25 kids, Fedi took the more advanced kids and the later the adult class started with 4 teachers from the school attending. I had a lot of fun with my class, Rebekah was a big help again.

There have been some interesting developments in the orphanage I visited in Dec. It is now closed down because of lack of funding. The babies are all going to the employees as foster kids and the American sponsors are trying to get money to pay them a monthly care fee.

This place was never intended to be an orphanage. An American who was arranging adoptions for other Americans set it up as a halfway house for babies no more than 9 months old until they could be adopted out. Now the Romanian Government has stopped all foreign adoptions. Some of the babies are now close to 3 years old and considered not adoptable to Romanians. Meanwhile, the Americans were running out of money to keep the place going. The Romanian workers automatically assume Americans never run low on money so they thought the manager was mishandling it.

I see no place for Fedi & I to do anything yet. The babies are all being well cared for now. I also don’t see where we would have time to get involved with something so big.

There is a beautiful soft snow falling. This place seemed especially nice when we saw a big fox trot by our house this morning. We still are getting plenty of charge from the water generator even though it has cooled back down.

We had a hard time making it to English class. There were some big drifts to plow through and we had to shovel through a two foot drift for about 40 minutes. We were then about 40 minutes late for the English class. There the kids all sat though waiting. There were probably about 30 kids. We found another classroom we could use so we didn’t have to shout over each other. I really feel the need though for material. We will look in Csilla’s city.

Fedi went down on Monday to talk to the youth in Certa. He said there were about 12 kids from about 16 years old to early twenties. He told them his purpose here was not to entertain them. He said, though, if they were interested in hearing his message and coming to some Bible studies, maybe somewhere down the road some of the sports teams (hockey or soccer) could be sponsored. (This would not involve much money - maybe $50 - $100). For this he will see if he can rent something for occasional use. Renting is very cheap here. This is not the same as renting a place full-time. That would, of course, involve more money and commitment.

Lots to write about, where to start. I guess the most meaningful event was that Attila, the horse guy, plus Lehel and his girlfriend came to church. Leventa delivered a good message and the atmosphere was warm and friendly. Attila’s biggest comment was that he will be back next week. I hope he brings his wife. It was also Lehel’s girlfriends first time. She has to return to Hungary to work probably on Friday. Fedi said he could connect her with a church there.

Otherwise we have had about five beautiful warm days. Lots of the snow has melted and we have had plenty of electricity. Also, Leventa, Edith, three kids and Heuni came up for the weekend. It really went well. They skied and enjoyed the snow and beautiful weather. I cooked hash browns and eggs for breakfast, spaghetti for lunch, and just cold cuts otherwise.

I missed the kids program, because of it though. Heidi said it went well again with about 35 kids. Some of the teenagers have started to go to the Saturday evening church youth group meetings. Wow - what great possibilities! Yesterday I gave Heidi some of the donation money for the kids program. I meant to give her just $50.00 now and $50.00 later. I have trouble with converting the money though and accidentally gave her $125.00. My head was thinking 3 million = $30.00 instead of what is really is $100.00. It was a funny mistake and Csilla loaned us money until we have a chance to get back to the bank.

I’ve been thinking lately how God has every detail of our lives worked out. Fedi and I marveled at something when our car broke down. We had just been to the gas station. The attendant told us he needed a receipt for diesel in a certain amount and would we please gas up for that amount. We couldn’t squeeze it in our tank so he loaned us a container for extra diesel. When Fedi borrowed Attila’s Jeep - that container of diesel was necessary just two hours later.

Today a man is here and installing clothes cupboards with Fedi. They have been working all day. It will cost about $90.00.

Donation money - $70.00 to Leventa, $30.00 to John from the prison, $125.00 to Heidi for the kids program, and we loaned a man in church $150.00 to get his driver’s license. He has a better job possibility if he has his license. We thought instead of having him return the money he could use it for youth group activities in the church. He has two sons in the youth group.

The kids have been outside all afternoon. When I glanced out I saw they had a fire made. Steven just poked his head in and said they wanted to borrow a pot, 2 bouillon cubes and a spoon. I think they are planning to melt snow.

This brings up one thought of why we are way up on this mountain instead of in the city or village. If we lived in the city or village I could never feel safe enough to let the kids outside to play. They would probably be watching T.V. half the day and bored. Leventa said it is tough for his kids, they have no outlet for their energy and are sometimes pretty wild at church. They really seemed to enjoy the outdoors when they came to our house, so do Csilla’s girls.

There is another reason. We are very dependant on God for when we go home. If we were renting a place we could pack up anytime. Now we would have to find a buyer or renter for this place. It feels right though to give God the control and not worry about it. I do get homesick, but I can choose to wallow in it or simply accept where I am. God is so great. It seems that things are brewing spiritually and I hope to see people come to trust in the Lord.

As far as renting a place, not yet. For now Fedi said we would just take trips back and forth to get everyone to church. Sunday he went five times from Certa to Csilezeneda (Csilla’s city) and back for a total of ten times cruising the same road. It’s not exactly a highway either. I guess we could chalk up the gas at $3.00 a gallon to donation money. It makes sense this way. We will first see if they get used to coming and seem committed.

Borrowing Attila’s Jeep has given Fedi plenty of projects. He fixed the driver’s window so it rolls up and down normal. He spent about three days on the electrical stuff. It was rigged up strangely and only about ½ of it worked. We still have to wipe the inside wind shield with a squeegee constantly, but he did get the heater to work.

Anni had a nice birthday and we had a nice time in English class. We stared with about 10 kids. Then a lady poked her head in with about 10 little kids. They are beginners. She asked when is the adult class going to be. Since the skill level is different, Fedi and I divided the class in half. He took the beginners. It was kind of noisy as my side did their thing and Fedi’s did theirs. It was also crowded. The kids though participated enthusiastically and we all had fun. Rebekah was a big help. She decided that she wants to be a missionary English teacher in a foreign country when she grows up. As far as an adult class, Fedi told them next week right after the kids class. We want to find some material and get some kind of a progression going. It’s another open door to make friends and witness. It’s also nice for Rebekah and I to be able to participate instead of staying home. The other kids just played there.

Fedi is running around to find parts for our Jeep again. He has some leads on having the parts made. The choices we had were to buy a Romanian Jeep - an Aro or Lada - which are really cheaply made and break down a lot, but have parts available or to buy a foreign made Jeep - much better made, but if it does break, it is very hard to come up with the parts. We are still borrowing Attila’s Jeep to get up the mountain and Csilla’s car in the city. Attila’s Jeep is not registered for the road.

Friday, our car broke down. When we were coming home from the village evangelism. I was with Fedi simply to get out of the house. We had Kinga - Reki and Heuni, Rebekah and Anni also in the car. The boys were at Csilla’s for a big spend-the-night party. Fedi had been hearing a sound and had the car at the mechanics that morning. He heard the noise, but couldn’t figure it out. Right before the car broke, that noise got real loud and then clunk. The car wouldn’t go anywhere when put in gear. So there we sat for awhile. Yes, I prayed and trusted and yes, Fedi stayed calm and thought things through. Problem Number 1, there are no towing companies to call, so we called Csilla who arranged for two cars - one to pick us up (the kids and me) and the other to tow our car to a mechanic. Problem Number 2 was that it was necessary for at least one of us to go home and not many vehicles could make it up the mountain. We had the dog, cat and pigs to feed and the fire to make so the pipes don’t freeze. The kids and I stayed at Csillas. Fedi and Heuni had quite a time making it up the mountain in the neighbors Jeep. The water line kept freezing up so they had to keep stopping to let the car cool down and sometimes to get water from the creek. They made it home at 2:30 a.m. freezing cold.

Saturday the kids and I went to the kids program. They had a total of about 40 kids again. There were quite a few teenagers. They divided the group into smaller and larger kids for the games, which went well. For the Bible story of Jesus calming the storm, Heidi had the older kids do a skit. It went great. Heidi is trying to have the teenagers not from church go to the youth group activities that they have on Saturday night sometimes. It would be a great next step for these kids. Again though, I don’t really feel like much help.

Saturday evening, since we were at Csillas still for the night, Joan, Mom and Dad and Irma all took advantage of the clear phone line. The kids and I all got to visit. It meant a lot to me. We also learned that the family all chipped in to donate money to us. It felt so bad. I know how hard the American’s work. All we can do is again commit our lives to God to do His will.

Sunday we went for church in Fedi’s hometown of Vhalhitas and to Heuni’s family for lunch afterwards. They had been inviting us for awhile, but we hated to not go to our church as we had new people coming with us. Attila has to milk cows and Erika is in Hungary for two weeks. Lehel didn’t come the last two weeks because we didn’t go. (Last week we were snowed in.) But, I am praying and we will keep inviting them and others.

Yesterday as we were piling into Attila’s Jeep, the other Attila’s wife and two kids rode by in their horse wagon. That gave Fedi an opportunity to ask her if they would be out of a house now that the old lady died. She said no, that the house had been willed over to them. I think they said that next week they would come to church with us.

Tuesday
Anni’s birthday. Rabekah made her breakfast in bed and she gets the day off school. We are going to town for the English class and then to Csillas. She has made a double decker cake for everyone of our birthdays. We will go case the market for some presents.

Fedi said the Catholic Priest went to the Kindergarten teachers and told them since we weren’t Catholic we had no business handing out presents for Christmas. (Lehel’s mom is a Kindergarten teacher) Wow, what an arrogant attitude. I guess he thinks he owns the town. Anyway he has me a little ticked off. He better watch it or we might start praying for him. (

Fedi will be officially allowed in the prison on February 12th. It took about four months. It’s an open door that could be fruitful. We still have Dad’s money just sitting there for the prison. My hope is Fedi will get to know the needs of the prisoners and their families so this money is used in the best way.