How God uses tragedies for triumpf!

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

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

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

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

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!

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

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

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

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

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".