Serving Romania

Some photos we took Saturday, about 5 miles up the hill from where we live.  It snowed some more last night and we thought we’d take the kids on a Saturday morning sled trip.

The view from up there is pretty amazing…especially in the spring.

Sebastian, showing his stuff.

If you got it……………………….FLEX IT!

Had to post this.  Anyone under 40 should appreciate it.

My Prayer
P.P. Bliss

More holiness give me, more striving within.
More patience in suffering, more sorrow for sin.
More faith in my Savior, more sense of His care.
More joy in His service, More purpose in prayer.

More gratitude give me, more trust in the Lord.
More pride in His glory, more trust in His Word.
More tears for His sorrows, more pain for His grief.
More meekness in trial, more praise for relief.

More purity give me, more strength to overcome.
More freedom from earth-stains, more longings for home.
More fit for the kingdom, more used I would be,
More blessed and holy, more, Savior, like thee.
——————————————————————

Now, at first glance this seems very ME centered. And, if you’ve read any of my other Hymn postings, then you know that is one of the things I’ve complained about lot, referring that is to the seemingly overwhelming ME orientation of many of our modern worship songs.  But, look deeper at this one, and you will see a difference.  It’s clear the author (no comment on his strange name…PP Bliss.  Pee Pee Bliss.  Sounds like the relief you get when you have to go pee pee really, really bad and you finally find a toilet - I digress) - seems like the author thought long and hard about each “item” of prayer in this hymn.  Look at each one individually, and ask about it concerning your life.

The prayer is for the character of Christ, and it includes a willingness to suffer.  This part was particularly important for me, because I tend to avoid suffering at all costs, and I even plan around it.  By suffering we have to include the obvious and the not so obvious.  Can sitting in traffic be suffering?  Yes, especially if it evokes certain emotions in you, similar to those evoked by someone in a prison cell.  I’m not justifying the emotion you and I have while sitting in traffic, but I am saying, if we respond to it as to suffering, we can take a different attitude.  Anyway, that’s not the point.  The point is I like this hymn enough to put it up here.  Hope you like it too.

Yes, it’s true.  Romania has had devastating earthquakes in the past, and another one is expected quite soon.  Just last week the General Consul from the U.S. Embassy in Bucuresti came up to Cluj and I was invited to join him for Breakfast.  Yeah, I’m big news around here; pretty, pretty, pretty important, that’s what I am!  No, I’m not that important or connected.  I was invited because I agreed to be a contact person for U.S. citizens living in this area of Cluj incase there is an emergency.

Anyway, the point is that the Embassy rep confirmed that an earthquake is expected soon.  They are making plans to ensure that American citizens have either a way out of the country, or a place to go to should their living space be uninhabitable.  That was last week.  Then this week, the article below shows up in the paper.  And, this winter when I was in the U.S. I met with a new friend who is a consultant to the Romanian government, helping them prepared unsuitable buildings to better withstand an earthquake.  All this earthquake talk seems pretty serious.

The good news is that a potential quake is not expected to affect the area where we live too much.  On the map above, we live near the green and pink area; towards the middle.  The bad news is that it is expected to hit the capital where 10% of the population lives and where the buildings are tall, heavy, crowded, and poorly built.  As you can see in the article below, the major of the city has decided it would be best just to start preparing graves!  I guess tax payers in Bucuresti should look on the bright side and view this a pre-paid burial sites!

———————Edited Article Starts Here——————-
The three powerful earthquakes that recently rocked Haiti, Japan and Chile brought back into the spotlight a sensitive topic, the imminence of a powerful quake in Romania, which is expected to be stronger than the one in 1977 and might make up to half a million victims. Although it might seem absurd, authorities seem to be out of their league on the matter, a fact they fully acknowledge. Moreover, it seems it’s a lot easier to prepare future burial spots for possible victims than to reinforce weak buildings in Bucharest and other cities.

“In Chile, they were prepared because they listened to a smart guy who warned them. For two years, I have been trying to take all measures I can, from a medical point of view, from the point of view of relief operations, and let me tell you, but don’t think I’m being cynical, I even prepared burial spots,” Bucharest General Mayor Sorin Oprescu said on Antena 3 on Sunday evening, when asked whether he still believed a major quake would make about 500,000 victims.

“I am not sparing any efforts and I am not playing with this. I knew it, from the official talks I had; several professors I consulted and consult all the time, who work with the City Hall, back this idea, that we should be prepared because the imminence of a major quake in Bucharest is very real,” the general mayor said.

He complained of the fact that in the last 18 years in Bucharest, only two blocks of flats were reinforced, given that professor Gheorghe Marmureanu warned two years ago, “Finalizing works on seismic risk buildings should be done at the beginning of 2010, when a devastating quake is expected in Romania, similar to the one in 1977.”

(C) Bucharest Herald
Some photos of the earthquake from 1977

“Hard work spotlights the character of people: some turn up their sleeves, some turn up their noses, and some don’t turn up at all” - Sam Ewing

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Anyone who has experienced different cultures with a level of depth knows first hand that the philosophy upon which a nation and people are developed will often determine which sort of people it tends to nurture.  In general, some political and ideological frameworks encourage people to do their best, while other encourage people to do something, but never more than anyone else, and some encourage people to avoid doing anything they are not forced to do (and even that can be escaped at times).

The Fight Is On
C.H. Morris

The fight is on, the trumpet sound is ringing
The cry to arms is heard afar and near.
The Lord of hosts is marching on to victory
The triumph of the Christ shall soon appear.

The fight is on, arouse ye soldiers brave and true.
Jehovah leads and victory will assure;
Go, buckle on the armor God has given you,
And in His strength unto the end endure.

The Lord is leading on to certain victory,
The bow of promise spans the eastern sky;
His glorious name in every land shall honored be;
The morn will break, the dawn of peace is nigh

The fight is on, O Christian soldier, and face to face in stern array,
With armor gleaming, and colors streaming, the right and wrong engage today!
——————————————————

That last line (the chorus) is reeeeeeal nice.  Sounds more like the theme song to the Ultimate Fighting Channel than the songs we sing in church today.  How dare we mention right and wrong anymore, nevertheless sing about it in a song with the words “fight”, “armor”, and “cry to arms”.   Don’t get me wrong.  I am NOT advocating any sort of Christian jihad.  That’s crazy.  Neither am I talking about barricading ourselves in, ala “Waco Style” with uzi’s and grenades.  I’m talking about fighting for people, and fighting for character, and fighting for doctrine, and fighting for morality, transparency, justice, and at times, when necessary, freedom.  But its much easier to sit and sing songs in church that sound more like Stuart Smalley’s Daily Affirmations (I deserve good things. I am entitled to my share of happiness. I refuse to beat myself up. I am attractive person. I am fun to be with…because Jesus is always with me).  I added that last part, but the rest is from Stuart.

I know I am a whiner.  I just like these songs.  If you’ve read, or heard about, many of the popular books (I won’t list any names) written for Christian men in the past decade, you know that while some are a bit over the top (at least for me) the central message is true.  Men need a fight in life to be happy.  And they will search for it, even if it means finding a battle with the weeds in the garden.  That’s why we are attracted in general to sports, war movies, and people beating the crap out of each other on TV.  So, maybe the feminized Jesus in so many of our churches is one reason why guys are reluctant to show up, and women (single and married sometimes dragging kids with them alone) outnumber men in church.  And, I hate to admit it…but 10,000 years of history back me up on this…to keep a society moving and functioning, you need…….drum roll please…………women.   You thought I was going to say men.  Nope.   You need men to win battles, and start revolutions, and protect the women and children.  You need women to keep things sane.  You need men to keep things safe.  You need women to keep things right.  You need men to make things right.  If the church does not attract strong men, it will die.  Why, because women are weak.  Come on, we all know that’s not true.  It’s because what is needed to keep the church alive is fighting.  Not maintenance.  The gospel is bloody work, and it’s not suited to women…at least not on any sort of long-term, historical basis.  The church needs women desperately; let me restate that so that I stay out of trouble.  But, at this point in history, the church needs men more “desperatelyer”, ie, really bad.

Maybe if we gave any inclination that church life, and the Christian life, was a war, more men would start snooping around.  It would be nice to invite a guy friend to church by saying, “hey, wanna go talk about fighting, war strategy, and defending our familys, nation, and soul with the truth?”  Yeah, that would be nice.  But, only so long as when he gets to church it’s not a mix of Oprah, Stuart Smalley, and Queer Eye for Straight Guy.  I guess that’s a show…never seen it.

Here’s an article from the Romanian online newspaper today (see short article below).   Amazing.  Here we have two socialized Medical Systems that are completely unsustainable.  So, what happens?  Those from the poorer nation transfer to the richer country because no one there wants to do medicine anymore.  Basically, it’s a huge shift of medical personnel.  How will Romania deal with their own deficit?  You guessed it…find an even poorer nation with even lower medical standards, and import their doctors.  In the end, the Romanian and French citizens both loose out.

It’s a vicious cycle, and the US is dangerously close to pushing the “GO” button on ourselves.  The article seems benign, but you have to read between the lines, imagine the driving factors, AND project out 10, 20, 25 years to get the scary picture of what could happen.  I am not trying to say that doctors from any nation are any better or worse.  It is simply a statement of what policy will beget.  If we want US citizens trained in US medical schools to work in the US and treat US patients, than we have to make it worth their while, and give them freedom to practice.  Granted, keeping things as they are is not a solution either.  Health Insurance needs to be overhauled (i.e. - mostly scrapped, tort and malpractice law needs to be reformed, and most malpractice lawyers forced to give their winning back to healthcare providers.

It seems counter intuitive, but moving towards a cash system for medical care (with exception to extreme illnesses) will actually put more money in the pockets of doctors, leave more money in the pockets of patients, and increase the quality of care as competition takes it’s natural forces on the market.  Right now, there are two middle men cashing in…over inflated insurance houses, and lawyers.  They end up being some of the biggest winners in the health care industry.  I have left the pharma companies out for now, because that mafia is a whole messy ball of wax all on it’s own.  Anyway…check out the article.  It’s only 1 paragraph.

French Press: Romanian Doctors are the safety net of the French Medical System

de A.C. HotNews.ro

Luni, 22 februarie 2010, 14:58 English | Regional Europe

More and more Romanian doctors choose to work in France, as the French medical system is on the verge of collapse due to lack of specialists.  We receive 10 doctors in the region, per year, Bethune declared. Romanian specialists benefit from better conditions then those coming from outside the EU because they can reside in France without any problems.   Foreign specialists, however, are seen as solution to the lack of medical personnel in the French system. Bethune declared that foreigners are well received in the system. In January Ouest France published an interview with a Romanian doctor who accepted an offer to become a doctor in the Ereac commune. Eastern European doctors are seen as tre safety net for French rural areas where French doctors flee from.   Migration of Romanian doctors to France became a widely known phenomenon for the French and they specialized in sending them wherever is needed. Earlier this year le Monde read about two French companies who recruits Romanian doctors for rural French areas.

In my last post, I talked about the joke that Handicap parking spots usually are here in Romania.  Well, I don’t want to belabor the issue, but someone in the email group that originated that discussion, just sent these, and I just have to toss them up here.  Enjoy!

Good luck…this one was built for the combo pogo-unicycle-wheelchair, I guess!

This one was built for the Samson like wheelchair user, because once you arrive at the top of the ramp, you have to push the pillars over to access the building.  But, wait, don’t forget, you need 4-5 other Samson like men just to help push the wheelchair up that Everest-like incline.

Not much to say here, except “impossible”.  The only thing this is good for is for kids to slide down on icy days.

“If I get it just right, I think I can make it…I just hope the door opens in when I get to the top.”   This one is wild.  The person who is already physically challenged has to risk life and more limbs to attempt this one.

Since Romania was admitted into the EU, there were a handful of obvious changes fairly quickly.  Whether or not there is a direct connection, I noticed that Handicapped parking spots began appearing in most large parking lots…shopping centers mostly.  Just the other day an unknown person sent a request to an email group of people living in Romania.  We are on that list.  They inquired about the handicap accessibility here, because they are hoping to bring someone with a physical challenge for a visit.  Myself, along with many others who responded, told them it’s possible but very difficult to maneuver Romania with a fully functioning body, and a physical handicap would make the task even more difficult.

I made a comment to the group responding that people who own fancy cars think that handicap parking spaces were installed just for them.  At least giving them their own parking spot keeps them from parking right in front of the doors to the store (which is their usual preference).  After my comment, someone responded by posting these 2 photos, and I thought I would share them here.  They demonstrate the often found attitude here…”handicap smandicap; first come, first serve…a double portion at that!”

 The sign in front of the car says “2 places”…yep, he took them both!

In case you think the towns these cars are parked in are some backwoods town equivalent to Rawlins, Wyoming, guess again.  The above picture is from Sighisoara…home to some of the most well preserved midevil cultural sites in Eastern Eurpoe, and the photo below is from the capital, Bucuresti…the place where these handy-dandy laws are passed.