Serving Romania

“The Methodists must take heed of their doctrine, their experience, their practice, and their disciplines.  If they attend to their doctrines only, they will make people Antinomians (believing that salvation by grace caries no moral obligation to then obey God’s law); if to experimental part of religion only, they will make them enthusiasts; if to practical part only, they will make them Pharisees; and if they do not attend to their discipline, they will be like persons who bestow much pains in cultivating their gardens, and put no fence round it to save it from the wild boars of the forest.” - John Wesley.

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Ouch. What a captivating statement. Forget what it means, look how it is written! It’s amazing. I wish I could write sentences like that. The kicker is that it DOES mean something, quite alot actually. “What is MY bend?”, is the question I find comes naturally. Where do I tend to focus and therefore error to the exclusion of the others? I am afraid I may tend to error on the practical side. What about you?

Just thought I would pass this along…came to Hotnews.ro today.

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 de A.C. HotNews.ro

Marţi, 26 ianuarie 2010, 17:27 English | Top News
The World Health Organization was the target of severe critics during hearings at the Council of Europe where it was force to take a defensive attitude facing accusations that it gave up to pressures from pharmaceutic companies to declare pandemic state of emergency for H1N1 virus, AFP informs.

WHO was summoned to answer some questions to the organizations as many Parliamentarians were convinced that it was a false pandemic. The agency rejected all accusations. German expert Wolfgang Wodarg accused WHO for exaggerating the situation and said that all people were vaccinated for nothing.

I did not take this photo…a Romanian photographer did (name known).  But, this is exactly what the woods near us look like every time it snows, and then gets sunny for a day or two.  Keep clicking on it, to open it again, and then again if you want to see it full size.

An article on HOTNEWS.ro today tells this story…

de A.C. HotNews.ro

Marţi, 26 ianuarie 2010, 14:15 English | Top News

Over 100 non governmental organizations, unions and labor organizations send a public letter addressed to the PM in which they warn that Romania risks to lose about 30 billion euro from EU funds because the government is inefficient and public authorities who manage the funds lack personnel and confront bureaucracy issues. Three employees to 1,400 projects, 10 months on the waiting lists to sign contracts - these are just some problems signaled by businessmen in the letter.

The main problems marked:

• it takes too long for authorities to manage the project - it took 10 months to receive an answer after a request made by some citizens
• the contracting procedures take too long - if requests are approved, some wait another 6-7 months to sign contracts
• spent money come in late - in some cases it took more than 4 months
• inability to recover the VAT (sales tax) even though the law stipulates this
• management authorities and intermediary authorities fail to communicate and have a unitary position

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This small article does not do it justice, but the bureaucracy in Romania can often be a cause for giving up.  It sounds silly, but especially for a foreigner, even completing a simple task can be cause for celebration.  I remember that after finally getting our car registered in our name (a time-consuming process that involved driving a non-registered vehicle about 100 miles back and forth across town for all the inspections and approvals) I was so happy that I wanted to take the family out to celebrate, like I had won the lottery, or got a new job, or graduated from college or something.  It was a major family event!  I know that sounds sad, but it’s true.  The bureaucracy can be so deep that when you finish a task you don’t know whether to celebrate or bang you head against the wall…..because you know that next year you likely have do to the process over again.

I am passing on this short news article because it is interesting.
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Christian believers around the world are marking Epiphany today, the last day of the winter holidays’ cycle and dedicated to purifying the environment and especially to the blessing of the water.

In Orthodox belief, the event celebrates the baptism of Jesus Christ in the Jordan when he was 30, before stepping into the public life. According to tradition, it is on Epiphany that the holy religious service to bless waters called the “Great Holy Water” is held, as a symbol of cosmic regeneration.

In some areas of Romania, church leaders throw a cross into a river or into the sea and several men defy the cold icy waters and dive in to recover the cross. Whoever brings it back will have more resistance to diseases, as tradition says.

Besides being an essential Christian holiday, Epiphany is also marked in various traditional ways by the people. On this day, most believers run purification practices, splashing holy water on them and in their household, and also various rites to chase away evil spirits.

Popular tradition also says that young people who wish to get married must put a twig of basil under their pillow the night before Epiphany in order to dream their future spouse.

Another popular belief says that domestic animals speak in human voice at midnight and reveal the places where secret treasures are buried.

(C) Bucharest Herald

We were in San Diego for Christmas with my (Jon’s) family.  Here are some shots from the last couple of days.  Click on them to enlarge them and see any descriptions.

Took this photo up in the hills behind the city about 5 weeks back as Fall was hitting.  That’s our dirty red VW station-wagon in the foreground.  If you click on the photo it will open in a new window.  Click on that new photo again to see it in large view.

I have not posted anything in a month.  Why?  Because we have been enjoying time with family back home in the U.S.  Our first Christmas season home in 4 years.  And, because we have mostly been spending quality time with them, there’s not much to report.  Of course we are working silently behind the scenes, but I’m sure you don’t want to hear about the books I am reading in preparation for an Internal Capital Fundraising Campaign, do you?  Then again, why not?  These are the books in my briefcase right now.

The Fundraising Habits of Supremely Successful Boards - by Jerry Panas
Boardroom Verities - by Jerry Panas
Fund Raising Realities Every Board Member Must Face - by David Lansdowne
To Give or Not to Give: Rethinking Dependency, Restoring Generosity, and Redefining Sustainability - by John Rowell
The Ask - by Laura Fredricks
Writing Fundraising Materials - by Tom Ahern
The Bible - by God
The Enemy Within - by Michael Savage

I hope to finish all of these before we head back to Romania in 3 weeks, with exception to the Bible.

I am so uptight, that I actually create book reports for almost every book I read (including the books of the Bible). I thought this was normal until one of my sister-in-laws pointed out that, indeed, it is not. I write the book report because we rarely can retain everything the first time, so instead of having to read the whole 223 page book again, I simply open my book report file on my desktop and open the 11 page book report I wrote when I read it the first time.

Romania ranks first in EU for road accidents with wounded and deaths
Date: 13-11-2009

Romania ranks first in EU for the rate of road accidents with deaths and serious injuries. Since 1900 to the present, over 62,000 Romanians died in road accidents. The data were sent by nonprofit associations preoccupied by the safety of road traffic in the country and were gathered by the Road Police, the Health Ministry and the Ministry of Transports, according to the Romanian Federation Assisting Accident Victims.Since the beginning of the year, 2000 Romanians have become victims of accidents. Of them about 400 who died this year are teenagers and children who have not reached the age of 18, according to a press release of the Association of Road Accident Victims, International Safety Academy Association and the Romanian Federation Assisting Accident Victims.

In EU countries where road safety has become a state policy, there were drops of 30-50% of the number of read accidents registering wounded and deaths (Portugal, France, Great Britain, Luxembourg and Holland). Following its accession to the EU Romania engaged to reduce the number of deaths in road accidents by 50% until 2010. By not reaching this target and continuing the rising trend could lead to the adoption of measure by EU, the associations warn.

Road accidents are the first cause of death rate for young people aged between 16 and 24. Economic damages are estimated at 1.5-2% of GDP, each dead person costing the state budget about 150,000 euros.
Copyright Actmedia News Agency

Here’s an article a friend passed on to me today.  It’s  a bit long, but very informative.

Corruption Mars Romania’s Post-Communist Progress
by ERIC WESTERVELT

Communist rule in Romania ended in 1989 when a bloody revolt removed Nicolae Ceausescu (shown here delivering a speech in Bucharest in 1967) from power.

The uprisings that marked the end of communism in Eastern Europe two decades ago were largely peaceful in every country except the last regime to fall: Romania. Communist dictator Nicolae Ceausescu’s iron-fisted rule ended in a bloody revolt that left more than 1,000 Romanians dead.

Today, the country is a member of the European Union, with a solid economy and a passionate, if hectic, democratic life. But Romania continues to be dogged by rampant corruption that some believe is threatening the country’s future.  Corruption and bribes are part of nearly every aspect of Romanian life: medical care, justice, education, even religion.

In one recent, high-profile case, Razvan Chiruta, a reporter with Romania Libera newspaper, and a colleague went undercover as prospective priests. They videotaped Archbishop Theodosius of Constanta, one of the highest officials in the Romanian Orthodox Church, allegedly agreeing to sell them positions in the priesthood.  Chiruta says they were told to pay $4,500, but it can go up to nearly $75,000 depending on where you are.  “It depends where you become a priest. If you become a priest in the countryside, it’s cheaper,” he says.

Romanians dismantle a statue in Bucharest of Russian Communist leader Vladimir Ilyich Lenin in March 1990.

Despite the video evidence, the archbishop remains in his post. He denies the charges. Romanian prosecutors and church officials say they are investigating.

Old Mentality Fuels Corruption

In another case, nothing has happened so far to the former Romanian minister of agriculture, Decebal Traian Remes. Prosecutors caught him on tape allegedly using his ministry to steer lucrative contracts to a friend in exchange for about $20,000, a new car, 200 pounds of pork sausage and about 50 gallons of plum brandy. Read the rest of this entry »