Romania 2001

We went back to Romania to bring equipment, medicine, clothing and personal items to the contacts we had met there. We were asked to speak and pray for on several occasions and we were blessed to be able to take may people with us. The best way to understand this trip is to read the following journal.

JOURNAL OF ROMANIA BY Douglas Wall

December 20, 2001
This letter summarizes some of the events that occurred leading up to and during our trip to the beautiful country of Romania. We are incredibly grateful to the Lord for blessing us with so many wonderful memories. We are also so grateful for the generous support, prayers and kindness we received from hundreds of people. We give thanks to God for His love and mercy revealed to each of us during this trip. The tragic events that occurred in New York and Washington just prior to our leaving left many of us feeling unsure, and fearful. We now look back on this trip and give thanks to the Lord for his incredible guidance and protection. Any successes that we share were possible only through the grace of Go Any boasting that we do, we boast in the power of Jesus Christ our Lord. We are excited that through the generosity and prayers of many people, we can share these stories with you. As we continue to hear other stories, we realize that this is the tip of the iceberg of all that occurred during our trip. We pray that whoever reads this journal would be encouraged and blessed and we hope that our experience blesses you as much as it blessed us.

First let us share with you some events that occurred prior to us leaving.

The first miracle occurred in how our team came together. In a matter of a few weeks, we had a diverse team of nineteen people. Let me share with you the team that went to Romania:

Ken Blue and Kallee Blue: Ken Blue is a world-renowned speaker, author and pastor. Ken has written several best selling books on healing including Authority to Heal, Healing the Wounded and Healing Spiritual Abuse. Kallee Blue is Ken's twelve-year-old daughter and she was very excited to go on her first missionary trip.

John Spieker and Michael Spieker: John went with Ken and Doug to Romania in 1992 and had made several friends during his trip. Michael, 18 years old brought a gift of worship, an open heart and ministry to the many young people.

Doug Wall and Melissa Wall: Doug's daughter Melissa, 15 came similar to Kallee to learn and gain a fresh perspective

Aubrey Huskey. Aubrey runs a non-profit organization called Mission Air Service that distributes food and supplies to third world countries. Aubrey was the leader who coordinated the logistics of the shipping, and trucking of the container of food and supplies. Aubrey also handled the distribution of the supplies to the needy families, old folk's homes and orphanages.

Cornell Lucaci runs a Romanian church in the Los Angeles area and was instrumental working with Aubrey in the distribution of the container that we shipped. His contacts and relationships were extremely helpful in coordinating the shipment.

Galdlino Don Juan is a pastor at Solana Beach Presbyterian Church and worked with Aubrey coordinating the shipment and preaching and teaching.

John Martin. John is a professional psychologist and university professor skilled in counseling, praying and assisting families. John was an incredible blessing during some intense prayer times.

Elizabeth Piffard. Elizabeth is a widow and grandmother with a number of skills that proved to be extremely valuable during our trip including: intercessory prayer, wisdom, compassion and counsel for the numerous children, widows and poor families.

Natalie Stockaplper. Natalie, 17 years old has a sweet spirit and has a beautiful voice that proved to be powerful during our ministry and worship. Natalie also has a gift of praying for the sick and healing.

Jason Winters, 20 years old. Even at a very young age, Jason is incredibly gifted in leading worship and stirring the hearts of those around him. The Holy Spirit is all over his ministry through his leadership, his singing and his worship to the King.

Mark Edwards, 49 years old. Mark is an entrepreneur and prayer warrior but his biggest talent is his sense of humor and his ability to make everyone laugh. Even at 49, Mark has a child like faith that kept all of us in stitches the entire trip.

Steve Johnston, 47 years old. Steve is a widower and father of a teenager with a heart of gold. In addition to being a powerful prayer warrior, Steve has a tremendous amount of wisdom with respect to finances and micro-enterprise. This proved very helpful during our business meetings.

Dave and Katie Rose Thorpe. Dave is a businessman with a tremendous amount of enthusiasm and energy for helping entrepreneurs start businesses. Dave's skills were very diverse and proved extremely helpful in fund-raising for the trip well as during the micro-enterprise meetings. Katie was a joy to have on the team. She was full of life and fun. Katie ha wonderful heart for the children and she always had a baby in her arms or several children gathered around her.

Neil Drake and his fiancee Stephanie. Neil and Steph are from the London area in their early twenties full of life and enthusiasm and wanted to go on a missionary trip before they get married. Both of them have a sincere faith in God and trust in his grace and power and were a delight to have as part of our team.

Four weeks before we are scheduled to leave, the team gets together to pray for the coordination of a container (40,000 pounds of food and supplies). Our good friend, Aubrey Huskey tells us it will take a miracle for us to be able to accomplish the shipment of the container as logistics of the financing, shipping, trucking and permits normally takes months to coordinate. We pray for a miracle and the Lord answers are prayer thanks to the hard work and generosity of many people. Several non-profit organizations co-sponsor the $50,000 container cost including: Mission Air Service, Children's International, Foothills Church and Morningstar Foundation (our supporters).

September 11th I was awaken by my wife saying that a plane had hit the World Trade Center. As I watched the second plane hit the second-World Trade Tower along with a third plane that hit the Pentagon, we were absolutely stunned. We were scheduled to leave the next day, September 12th and our trip did not seem important at all in comparison to the grieving for our country. We held an emergency prayer meeting that evening and prayed for our country. Although most of us were encouraged not to go, the team was unanimous that we should continue.

September 17th
The first international flights did not leave San Diego airport until September 16th. The next day September 17th, we wen very fortunate to be able to get on the second British Airways flight from San Diego to London. We were originally scheduled to be in Romania for twelve days. We are scheduled to be in Romania for 15 days. (We plan to arrive in Romania on September 19th and leave on October 4th).

Each team member was instructed to pack his or her personal clothes in their carry-on luggage. This allows us to pack 11 maximum sized boxes allowed with food and supplies for the orphanages. Due to the increased security, we were very concerned whether British Airways would allow us to bring any excess baggage. The fourteen that were on this particular flight had 55 pieces, which represented 27 extra pieces.

With a lot of prayer and explaining that our bags are bound for orphanages in Romania, British Air finally allows all the extra pieces even though several were over the 70-pound maximum. We were all very excited to get through security and baggage-another miracle.

September 18th
Our flight arrives in London without incident around noon. Unfortunately we are unable to take the only flight to Bucharest on the same day so we make the most of our one-day layover. We check into our hotel and we all go on a sight seeing trip to see the Tower of London, Big Ben, Buckingham Palace and downtown London. We finally get back to our hotel room in the evening. Our flight leaves first thing in the morning to Bucharest. I don't sleep much; I am very excite

September 19th
Our wake up call does not occur. Fortunately, I am wide-awake by 6:00am and call each of our team members. All of our bags have been checked all the way to Bucharest so our check-in at the airport is relatively easy and everything is on schedule. We are now on our way to Romania. This is it! I can hardly believe I am going back. Over nine years later, we are returning to the place that the Lord showed me his healing and forgiveness. I am truly blessed. I ask the Lord to change me, to change my heart. Help me to be humble, gentle, sweet, and patient without selfish motives.

We arrive in Bucharest at 4pm. The weather is balmy almost tropical. All but three of our bags arrive safely. The airport is much nicer than it was in 1992 but counting all the bags becomes quite an ordeal. We finally get the claims in for the missing three bags and get out of customs happy to pay only $100 fine for our failure to have a permit for all of the medical supplies we are bringing in. Outside of the airport waiting for our bus to arrive, we meet Claudiu and Dana Nitisor, a pastor and his wife that have been referred to us by a mutual friend. Claudiu and Dana have a small church in Rimnicu Valcea, a village that we will not be traveling to. The team gathers around Claudiu and Dana and prays for them. Afterwards, we give them a gift of$700 to encourage and bless them in their ministry to a city of 120,000 people with very few churches. For more information, you can go to their web site at: http://penticostal.vl.ro

We load all our boxes and bags and climb in the bus heading for our host city, Ploiesti that is approximately one hour north of Bucharest. We arrive at the host church in Ploiesti at about 7pm and unload all of the medical and orphanage supplies in the church storage room. Everyone gathers around in the church sanctuary and we begin to pray and worship. We give thanks to the Lord as John Martin who arrived in Ploiesti one day before us has led his entire Romania host family to the Lord the evening before. I give thanks to Jesus for the trip and for the wonderful itinerary and for the opportunity to serve the Lord here in Romania. There are now 18 members of our team, plus three others that will be helping Aubrey in the coordination of the shipment. The team disperses to each of our eight respective host families for our first night in Romania.

September 20th
I get up at 6am to go for a run. I have no idea where I will run or if I will get lost in this city that I am not familiar with but I decide to go anyway. As I head out, it is still dark and I notice that there are many people out walking the streets. I also notice that there are no other joggers and that everyone has their head down as they walk. I say good morning to several people and get no response. I come back and our hosts, Maria and Valeriu make us breakfast: olives, salami, bread, cabbage rolls, and yogurt.

We head over to our host church to meet with the rest of the team. We all load up a bus that we have chartered to go to an old person's home. The home has 110 men and women and it takes about 45 minutes to get there. The director tells us that we will not be able to take any pictures or videos.

As we enter the building, we are taken to a room at the end of the hallway. The room is filled with about a dozen women. We prayed for each to receive the love of Jesus. We continue on to the second room filled with women. Looking into the eyes of one of the women, I am impressed with the love that is returned and during this moment of gazing into her eyes I see the Lord's love shining back at me. Tears fill my eyes, as I am overwhelmed with joy to be right here at this place right now at this time. The impression I have is that this is where I am supposed to be. We continue on to the rest of the rooms praying for the women and men. We sing worship songs and pray over each one. John Spieker leads a woman to receive Christ. We notice that all the nurses are very sweet and each of the men and women are all very sweet spirited and willing to receive everything that we give. Before we leave we give the director a box of medical supplies and $240.00. They are overjoyed with thankfulness.

We load up on the bus to back to Ploiesti for lunch and to celebrate pastor George's birthday. George is the pastor of the church that our Romanian hosts attend. After the party, we head to the church for a service of worship and ministry. Ken Blue spoke on God's grace and that there is no condemnation in Jesus. After the teaching, people were invited to come forward for prayer. A little gypsy boy with aids came forward. I asked the little boy if he had received Jesus in his heart. He said: "Yes, just now!"
We prayed for the Lord to heal him not just spiritually but physically as well.
We prayed for several people (mostly women) with heart problems, paralysis, bone problems, headaches, Parkinson's, crippled joints and kidney and liver problems. We did not see any dramatic healings, but everyone received our prayers and we could clearly see that all were deeply touched and indicated that they were feeling better. I came home that night exhausted, ate dinner and passed out on the floor.

September 21st
I wake up at 1: 15am and began writing this journal. I am reminded of Psalm 23. The Lord restores my soul.

I try to remember some of the Romanian phrases:
Isus Te ubeschte Jesus loves you
Slava Dom noi Praise the Lord
Buna dema nasta Good Morning
MuItsumesk Thank You
Buna Zeewa Good Afternoon
La Revedere Good Bye
Salut Hi
Te Ubeschte I love you

I go back to sleep and wake up at 6:00am. Today we are going to a salt mine in a village called Slanic. We arrive at the salt mine via bus and I am steered to restrooms. The Romanian restrooms can only be described as a hole in the ground, extremely primitive. The elevator leading down into the Salt Mine was also primitive, very old and spooky and rusty. When we get down into the mine, the first thing we notice is how clean the air is and how far down we are. The ceiling is one hundred or more stories high. Many people come to the salt mine to get relief from their asthma, bronchitis, respiratory ailments and health problems. Down in the mine, we meet a young Romanian man named Daniel who speaks very good English. Daniel tells us that he brings his mother down into the mine for her asthma every few months. Several members of our team gather around Daniel's mom to pray for her asthma. Afterwards, she is filled with joy and tells us she feels significantly better. After we come back up from the mine, Daniel gives us his email address and offers his translation services. We promise to keep in touch.

We head back to Ploiesti to visit a gypsy church. The church is small and meets on the second floor of an old building. I meet the pastor and give him $200.00 before the service. He is extremely thankful. The service begins and I am reminded of how beautiful the music of Romania is. Several songs were sung in a gypsy language that filled the church with a sad but tender love. There are approximately 75 people in the church tonight. I am told that many of the men are not attending church right now as it is the time to harvest grapes. Ken Blue speaks about the prodigal son and the love of the Father. Afterwards, we invite people up to pray for the sick.

A little boy named Stephan comes forward that has a leg that was crushed from a fall. His legs are crooked and he cannot walk very well. The boy's eyes are foggy, dark and filled with despair. I ask the boy if he believes that this accident was God's judgment on him. He says da which means (yes). I am reminded that many people believe that God has cursed Romania. We pray for the boy to receive God's love and forgiveness. We pray for Jesus to take away judgment and condemnation and for the boy to be set free. While we are praying for the boy, I hear that a woman with a crippled back is completely healed. I look into Stephan's eyes and they are now filled with hope, love and joy. The eyes are clear, sparkling and bright. We ask him how he is feeling and he is overjoyed with the love of Jesus and he says his legs feel better. Three days later Stephan hands me this note:

Dear Brother
Thank you for interest my situation. I am Stefan, 18 years old and my family is five children. Two sisters are married and they are living now with two brothers and my parents too. My family is very poor and for us is very hard to find a job because we don't have school so that's why nobody hires us. I get my usual bread begging, is very hard for me but I haven't something else to do. When I was 12 years, I was playing and I had an accident and because of it, I suffered a surgery. The doctor that operates could have done something for my leg, but because I hadn't any money, he tried a new experiment on my leg which did not work. In December, I reached the nice age of 18 years and I want another surgery to lengthen my leg because now one is shorter, but I need some money so that the doctors won't make mistake again. So if you think you could help me, I'll be grateful to you. Anyway, even if you cannot help me, I am grateful to you for your prayers. God Bless you!

I give Maria the money to make sure Stephan gets the operation he needs. We finally get home at 11 pm and go to sleep at midnight.

September 22nd
I am up at 6am and we go to the church to meet Allan Taylor and Gary Phillips. Allan and Gary are missionaries work in the western part of Romania and have been referred to me through mutual friends. We give them a box of medical supplies and $1,000 for their ministry. We pray for them and send them on their way. The following email I received from Allan's family:

The medical supplies were received at the little village clinic with much Gratefulness. The baby supplies went to the young girl at the rescue center and I know they were a great blessing and surprise to her. Thank you so very much for your efforts, you are a real blessing to Romania. I was able to pay for the trip down the river to the medical clinic for both me and my whole family, which is something that very rarely happens that my family can come with me anywhere. As we have so little time as a family here with all the opportunities for ministry it was a real blessing for us to do something for the Lord and take some time together to relax.

We also used the money towards the heating system in our home here, something that is not optional here in Romania as you can imagine. Thank you for that money, it came at a time when we were both looking towards God for some help in that area.

Please remember our family in prayer as we need to see our monthly support increase. The majority of our support comes from our personal friends. Again we really appreciate what you are doing for Romania and especially for us personally. Keep following your heart brother it really is making a difference in people's lives.
Love Allan, Linda, Hannah, Sarah, Rebekah and Timothy

After praying for Alan and Gary, we head back to our house to get supplies for our trip up to the mountains. As we are leaving, we notice a woman is having either a heart attack or a seizure. Her face is losing color and I see nothing but fear in her eyes. I jump out of the car along with Maria and we begin to pray for her on the sidewalk. She looks at me with complete eyes filled with sadness and fear as she collapses into Maria's arms. I pray for Jesus to take away her fear and her depression. As we are praying for her, she tells Valeriu where she lives and for him to go get her daughter. She also tells us that her husband had just recently died and she was going to the Orthodox Church to pray. We continued to pray for Jesus to remove judgment, condemnation, despair and fear and she improves dramatically right before our eyes. He daughter shows up with some medicine and she takes a couple of pills and within five minutes she is insisting she is ok and can now continue to walk to her church.

We now head off to our Ploiesti church to meet with the team. Today we are traveling up to the mountains in Sinai to s a castle and do some touring. As we get up to the mountains, the air is fresh and they are very beautiful. There is much beauty in Romania if you look. We are given a tour of a castle that was home to the previous king. We have lunch at a little cottage and then head to a little mountain church. We begin to worship the Lord singing songs and praise. Pastor George came up to me to ask me if I would pray for a woman. I went to the back of the church and an older woman is there who has severe headaches. The woman believed that the headaches were God's judgment on her. We ask Jesus to remove judgment, condemnation and fear and to break the power of any curses that have been inflicted on her including self curses. Within ten minutes of prayer, her headaches are completely gone. She tells us that she was in such agony from the headaches that she prayed to God to send someone that would pray for her today. Pastor George was very excited about the woman's healing when we came back on the bus to go home. He told everyone on the team the entire story al we praised God for another miracle.

We came back to Ploiesti and I went to the home of Maria and Valeiru's aunt and uncle. When we were in Romania in 1992, we had prayed for Mircea and Dorina to receive Jesus. Maria has been praying for them for many many years. Dorina did become a Christian right after we left in 1992. Mircea asks if we would pray for him to receive Christ in his heart. Dave and I pray for him and he receives. We then pray for Dorina who is suffering from kidney and liver problem She notices a dramatic improvement in how she feels. Everyone is very happy.

The Lord has truly blessed all of us with a love for these babies. As we held the children, each of us received much more than we gave. Each of the children had beautiful little faces. We laughed and cried and played with these kids for a long time. We came with stuffed animals, medical supplies, clothes and gifts. We also gave the orphanage $300.00. This was a very special time for the entire team. We were all blessed. We prayed for the staff and for the director and felt the love of God powerfully as we prayed.

Next we went into town for lunch. After lunch, we shared Jesus with a man on the street. He received our prayers. We gave him some money and told him where our host church was. Later that evening, the man showed up to church. I was scheduled to go to speak on the Christian Radio. I started to get a terrible fever and infection in my lungs. We went home and called the doctor. My fever continued to rise and I was having trouble breathing and I was having severe asthma symptoms. I remember believing that I could die in Romania tonight so I began praying to Jesus: "I give you my life tonight" As I was praying this, the Lord hears my prayer and Neil Drake shows up. He begins to pray for me.

As Neil starts to pray, I tell him to speak with the authority of Jesus and tell illness and whatever else to leave. Each time he prayed I coughed up something new including: Condemnation, death, hate, criticism, judgment, shame, prostitution, promiscuity, fear of rejection, fear of abandonment, anxiety; worry, death, self condemnation, suffering, pain, paralysis, despair, depression, hate for babies, disdain for new life, abortion, cynicism, sarcasm, hateful teasing, deception, disunity, religion, traditions, legalism, unforgiveness, lack of compassion, darkness, blindness, unbelief, lack of trust, lack of faith, terror, terrorism, fear, witchcraft, black magic, superstition, child abuse, child prostitution, child slavery, child terror, baby and child torture, fear of not having enough, stealing, gypsy occult practices, crime rings, idol worship, icon worship, over ambition, control, Dracula, Frankenstein and death fascination, murder, smothering, crushing, apathy, ignorance, stupidity, confusion, foolishness, craziness, mental instability, paranoia, deception, evil, perfectionism, independence, fear of anger, false accusation, infection, disease, cancer, poison, toxins, torment, heart disease, alcoholism, and black evil smoke.

The vision of Romania continued and I saw the baby who was thrown down into the well. The baby represented new life, the next generation, and the new church. The people in the well with me were terrified. You could not see any light unless you looked straight up. No one was looking up. The shame was so intense, people could only look down. The churches of Romania were apathetic, filled with hate and fighting, back stabbing and accusing each of other falsely. The churches were unable to help or pray for the dead child. They were filled with unbelief and lacked any compassion or care. The Holy Spirit told me the churches need to reconcile and ask God for forgiveness. I prayed for church unity and reconciliation and as I prayed I saw the well open up and the light of Christ shine down into the well. The tears of Christ came down and brought cleansing to the church and to the water and to the baby. Then I saw the blood of Christ come down and the sides of the well and begin to pour over the church. I saw the church (orthodox, Pentecostal, Catholic, Baptist and every denomination) begin to pray and sing together and ask God for forgiveness. I saw them gathered around the dead baby and ask the Lord to resurrect the child. The love of the Lord filled the place and I saw the child's eyes change if from death to life. The church gathered around the baby and sang and worshipped the Lord together and the baby was resurrected. There was a new joy in the hearts of Romania.

I thank God for this vision and for resurrecting the child. The baby represents the new church, the new life and the well was cleansed and new joy, singing and laughter filled Romania. A revival in Romania was happening for all seasons; salt, water, light and blood. Not just for one season. The cleansing of the toxins and poison and the cleansing of unforgiveness. Jesus was setting the captives free. Two doctors came during the prayer time with Neil. They were amazed at how my health and color changed during the 45 minutes that Neil prayed for me. They gave me a shot the size of a samurai sword. I still do not know what the shot was but it felt like it was adrenaline, as I couldn't sleep the whole night.

September 25th
Today is my spiritual birthday. September 25th 1982 was the day I was saved. All night I interceded for Romania reading Psalms 23 and 91. I could barely breathe my chest felt like I had one of those toxic busses on top of me. Last night the Lord walked me through the valley of death. I am now on the other side of that valley.
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not be in want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures; he leads me beside quiet waters.
He restores my soul.
He guides me in paths of righteousness for his names sake.
Even though I walk through the shadow of death, I will fear no evil,
For you are with me, your rod and your staff they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
Psalm 23

He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, "He is my refuge and my fortress, my God in whom I trust. " Surely he will save you from the fowler's snare and from the deadly pestilence. He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you find refuge; His faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.
You will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day,
Nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the plague that destroys at midday. A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you. You will only observe with your eyes and see the punishment of the wicked.
If you make the Most High your dwelling-even the Lord, who is my refuge-then no harm will befall you, no disaster will come near your tent.
For He will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways; they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone. You will tread upon the lion and the cobra; you will trample the great lion and the serpent.
"Because he loves me", says the Lord "I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name. He will call upon me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him with long life will I satisfy him and show him my salvation. "
Psalm 91

Ken Blue and Pastor George came over first thing in the morning and prayed for me. Ken and Kallee are leaving for London today. John, Michael, Natalie, Elizabeth and Jason also came over before they went to the radio station to preach. I slept all day, breaking fever several times.

September 26th
I woke lop feeling much better with only a slight fever. My wife called and woke us up around 7:30am. She sounded great! Praise God! Today, we are on our way to meet with Kathleen Andrews who lives in a small village called Gaesti. Kathleen works with a small church that does ministry to street children rescuing young girls from being kidnapped into slavery and forced prostitution. It is a long drive, but we arrive in a little more than two hours. We give Kathleen several boxes of soap, shampoo, toothpaste, tooth brushes, makeup, feminine napkins and medical supplies. We also give them six sewing machines along with thread and sewing supplies to help Kathleen get the girls started in a sewing business of their O\rn and rent money for six months. They are so happy and blessed that Kathleen and many of the girls cry with tears off joy. Kathleen now has 32 girls that she has rescued from the orphanage and from the street. Even though the girls are teenagers, they are still children. They are beautiful, very childlike, filled with awe and wonder and we could tell that Kathleen has already had a significant impact on them in the short time that she has taken them in. Kathleen loves each of them life they are her very own we were able to meet and pray for each of the girls and it was our greatest blessing to pray for these special daughters - God's children. Many of the girls are shy but each one has a very sweet spirit and we ask the Lord to continue to reveal his amazing grace and healing to them. As I pray for many of these girls, my heart is filled with both sadness and joy. The sadness is for their past and the joy is for their future. I ask Jesus to bring comfort from the pain and hurt of not having a loving mother and a loving father and I ask God to fill their hearts with joy because Jesus has come to them to be their parents and to give them a new future. I cry as I pray for many that have been particularly hurt and wounded and Jesus touches each of them. I am now very moved by the love of the God for these children.

We come back to Kathleen's home to begin a church service to give thanks to our wonderful Lord and praise him for everything. They have built a small church at the back of the property. The room is smaller than a living room and begins to completely fill with families and many of Kathleen’s little girls. I sit right in the middle and as we sing songs both in English and Romanian, the love of Jesus fills the room and it is awesome. A very sweet little boy comes up and sings this beautiful love song to the Lord and I start to cry again. The words are Romanian but the song is so moving and filled with the Holy Spirit we could understand. After worship, we invite people to come forward that need prayer. Our team prays for many people, and we witness many miracles and Jesus touches and heals. We are amazed at our Lord's generous love and grace as we pray for each one to be healed. One woman had severe heart problems that began when her husband died a few years ago. We pray for her and as we do the sorrow and grief of her husband's death lift off of her and her face changes, color comes back to her face and her eyes are clearer. We thank Jesus as she is filled with joy.

A little boy probably about 8 years old comes forward that has severe headaches that don't ever go away. The boy does not speak any English so we use a translator. We ask him when the headaches began and he tells us that they started when he was very little and there was an accident and he fell. As we begin to pray for him, the Lord tells us that it wasn't an accident. We ask him what happened and the boy tells us that his Father threw him down when he was in his crib. I begin to cry for the boy as I picture his father throwing the boy down in his crib. The boy also starts to weep. We both sob as Jesus reveals his sorrow. We also sob for the intense pain of having a Father that would intentionally hurt his child. We ask Jesus to give the boy forgiveness for his Father and the boy receives it. I continue to weep with the boy for a long time and suddenly our sadness turns to joy. The boy's headaches leave and he is healed. We both are filled with wonder and amazement. Jesus truly loves his children and that is the greatest joy.

A young woman comes forward that has recently lost her daughter. The young mother has beautiful but very sad eyes and does not speak English. The pastor translates for me. I find out her daughter's name is Emma and she was only four years old. A speeding car killed her little girl, Emma right outside this very church just a short time ago. I see the sorrow and pain of losing a child and I begin to cry for her. I see that it is Jesus crying for her. As I start to pray for her, the Lord reminds me when my daughter Courtney died in 1988. She was three months old and she died in the middle of the night of sudden infant death syndrome. Therese and I were out of town for a two day trip to Palm Springs. I remember how guilty I felt for being away when my daughter died. I felt like it was my fault for leaving that weekend. I falsely blamed myself for Courtney's death and I remember how I condemned myself because I deserved this punishment and suffering because I was not a good enough father.
Jesus now speaks to me and says: "Tell her that it's not her fault". I begin to cry and I tell the young woman that Emma's death is, not her fault. She begins to sob uncontrollably as Jesus takes away her blame. I tell her that Jesus takes her sorrows and pain. I tell her that, he takes the blame from you and he takes the blame for you. We cry together for a long time and then I ask Jesus to take away her self-condemnation and self-criticism and that this accident is not God's judgment or punishment on her. I tell her how much Jesus loves her and that he trusts her and wants to give her more of his love. I now see her face change. I ask for Jesus to fill her with his peace and comfort. A wonderful peace comes over the church and the woman's eyes are now very clear and filled with love. Jesus has given us a wonderful gift today. I thank him over and over.

I am now reminded of the awesome song, What a friend we have in Jesus. Here are the words:
What a friend we have in Jesus! All our sins and grieves to hear. What a privilege to carry, everything to God in prayer.
Oh, what peace we often forfeit. Oh, what needless pain we hear. All because we do not carry, everything to God in prayer.
Have we trials and temptations? Is there trouble anywhere? We should never he discouraged. Take it to the Lord in prayer.
Can we find a friend so faithful? Who will all our sorrows share? Jesus knows our every weeping, take it to the Lord in prayer.
What a friend we have in Jesus! Take it to the Lord in prayer.

We came back to Ploieti and spent the night at Papa Stanciu’s home. Papa Stanciu is the sweetest kindest man that hosted four of our team members. I slept very well this night.

September 27th
Came ba9k to Maria and Valeriu's home. Rested all day. We went to the church at 6pm. I spoke about death and Jesus victory over death. We prayed for those who came forward for prayer. After the prayer meeting, we went to a pastor's home by the name of Catalin. Catalin runs a church for families that have children with AIDS. Previously, we gave Catalin $1,000 for the ministry and he wanted to meet with me. I talked with Catalin for over an hour and prayed with him. I prayed for Catalin to receive forgiveness, healing, reconciliation and unity. Catalin was definitely moved. I came home at midnight and went to sleep at 1am.
September 28th
Today I am 44 years old. I was woken at 6am by my partner, Mike Harris who tells me that they are going to shut down Alitum the company we founded in 1985. I am saddened until my wife and kids call singing me happy birthday. We had breakfast and then met at the church at l0am to head over to another orphanage. This orphanage was for children 6 years to 18 years who have mental and physical disabilities. As soon as I walked into this orphanage, all I could think about was that it was an awesome birthday present. We saw 60 children all sitting down very quietly. We began to move down each of the aisles and we started to high five and hug each of the kids. I started praying for several. Many had burns, scars, deformities, crippled hands, crippled legs, mental illness, and sicknesses. We asked Jesus to bring healing and blessing on each of the children. We sang songs, worshipped the Lord and blessed every one of these beautiful kids. We prayed and layed hands on each of the professional staff and saw how touched and blessed they were. We gave the director $300 and prayed for the administrative staff. It was wonderful to see the administrative staff emotionally touched by our prayers. Papa Stanciu, one of our host families was very moved by this orphanage and their need for sheets, pillow cases and bed covers. Papa asked our team that if we paid for the cost of material, he would have his daughters sew all the necessary sheets, pillow cases and bed covers the orphanage needed. We told Papa that we would buy the material. The director was very excited and so was Papa Stanciu. We prayed and blessed the director one last time before we left. Every time we blessed someone, we saw the power of our prayers being answered.

We come back to Ploiesti to get ready for the meeting with Opportunity International. We meet at Maria and Valeiru's home with Csaba Kalman who runs Opportunity International for Romania along with two of his employees. OI is a Christian-based micro finance organization that provides small loans to entrepreneurs in third world countries. The loan size is typically less than $2,000. In some cases it may be as small as $100. The average loan size in Romania is approximately $1,500 and they currently have over $1 million of loans outstanding. They are careful to give loans to very poor and deserving families in a community. Each loan recipient must guarantee each other which create a very cooperative partnership between entrepreneurs. This bolsters each other and encourages unity among the community. The impact .on the community has been overwhelming. Opportunity International is currently operating mostly in northern Romania, although they would like to establish an office in southern Romania. I introduce them to our host family Maria and Valeriu who are incredibly gifted at administrative details as well as being well connected in the Ploiesti area. I boast about Maria's skills and that she currently runs the human resources department for a large manufacturing company of over 300 employees. We discuss the needs and the opportunities in Ploiesti and Gaesti (the village where Kathleen Andrews is). We hope to establish an Opportunity International presence in the Ploiesti and Gaesti areas since these are the places that we spent the most time. Csaba and his colleagues are very interested in establishing an office in the south and communicating directly with Maria and Valeriu. We promise to go back to the States and see what kind of funds we can help to generate for this wonderful cause. We exchange cards and email addresses. We are all very excited to work together and we feel that Opportunity International would be an outstanding organization to partner with.

After the OI people leave, the entire team and their host families arrive for a birthday party for me. We sing old songs, new songs, tickled each other, laughed, told stories and partied until after 11 pm. This was exactly what the doctor ordered. My favorite was a song that Mark Edwards makes up titled "The Bucharest Blues" What a great time!

September 29th
Today, we went with several people to the countryside. The countryside was beautiful with rolling hills and sheep grazing. We picked and ate walnuts and wild berries. It was a very restful and peaceful day and I got a chance to spend some quiet time with Cati, one of our Romanian hosts. Cati was very interested in learning more about becoming a Christian. Cati is a single mom, divorced, with two children, Andre, 17 and Raluca, 13. Raluca a very energetic teenage girl had just recently become a Christian. Cati, a banker/economist is very intelligent with a somewhat cynical and skeptical view of things. It is amazing to see how Cati's heart softened during the course of our trip. She began asking questions about God and church and love. Her openness was nothing short of miraculous as each day we saw more and more personality and life in her eyes and her thoughts. I was particularly impressed with some of her questions and insight.

September 30th
I did not sleep very well last night. I woke up again as my bed is right next to the telephone. On the phone was Aubrey Huskey who is coordinating the container of food and supplies. Aubrey is on his way to Ploiesti from Northern Romanian. The supplies were delivered as planned to the church yesterday. Valeriu looks exhausted as he did most of the unloading yesterday. Today we are off to Busteni to the mountains to ride the tram. We are now riding in several cars. We arrive in the mountains and the air is very fresh and clean. As we ride up the tram, I am blessed to see the beauty of Romania from a different vantage point. We spend the day at the top of the mountain and then come down for dinner in the village. We come back to Cati's house for worship and prayer time. I am very happy that so many things have happened on this trip.

October 1st
I slept in until 1am. Aubrey is running late. Today we are supposed to meet with World Vision in Bucharest. Kathleen called and she was very excited. The little boy we prayed for with the brain damage and headaches was completely healed and he ran to her and wrapped himself around her and wouldn't let go. The mother who lost her little girl Emma to the car accident was filled with the Holy Spirit and has told Kathleen that she just wants to be a servant of Jesus. At last night's bible study, 22 wanted to be preachers, evangelists and/or servants of God. Both of the girls who had severe toothaches are much better and will be going to the dentist again for another treatment. The pastor used some of the cash we gave him to fix the roof for a family that had severe roof leaks. Kathleen said they were able to buy two water heaters for the two apartments that did not have water heaters. The girls were very happy and their spirits were uplifted thanks to our prayers and the gifts. Kathleen also thanked us for the prayers that were spoken to her as she received peace and freedom from our prayers. Doubt and fear had impacted her and our prayers blessed her significantly. I tell Kathleen that she will be receiving several boxes of food from the container shipment. She is very excited.

We leave for Bucharest to meet with Chris Pitt of World Vision. The team arrives and they escort us to their conference room. We receive refreshments and a talk from Chris about the work that World Vision does in Romania. World Vision is a worldwide Christian organization focused on helping the poor. We gather into the World Vision vans and receive a tour of some of the World Vision projects in Bucharest. A school, an orphanage and a day care rehab center. Each of the projects seems to well organized and well run.

We head back to Ploiesti to baptize Cati. She has indicated a desire to be baptized. Everyone is very excited for her. Several people spend the night at Cati's house on the floor of her living room.

October 2nd
We go pack to the orphanage with the older children with mental and physical handicaps today. We deliver boxes of gift packs for the children and the pillow cases, sheets and bed covers. Papa Stanciu is amazing!

The director is blessed and very happy to see us again. Many of the children come running out to greet us. We leave and come back to Ploiesti to go shopping for Cati's birthday. She will be 44 tomorrow. We buy her some gifts. Aubrey goes to the Christian radio to speak and preach. He comes back and he was very excited.

October 3rd
We went to a pray for a very poor family with ten children and we find out that the mom is now one month pregnant. We blessed the father and mother and prayed for the entire family. We gave them $300. We then went to Papa Stanciu's house for lunch. After lunch we went to Cati's birthday party. Cati was blessed by the gifts. I find out that Andre has received Jesus in his heart. We pray for Andre and bless him. We went to a friend of Mihai's (A close friend of Valeriu's) home to pray for his family and three friends. We deliver several boxes of food. We speak prayers of blessing for Mihai' s wife, her friend and the two doctor friends. We teach each of the doctors how to pray for the sick, to speak with the authority of Jesus and to speak against evil. We bless them with healing and we are all amazed at how everyone receives healing. We
could see that their eyes and hearts were touched by the power of prayer. We could also see that they believed in the power of prayer. Praise God. I went home to go to sleep. I am very tired and ready to go home.

October 4th
Woke up at 7am along with Aubrey and team. We headed over to the church to meet and worship. Worship was awesome. This is our last day in Romania. One of our host families mother came forward to get prayer. Her name was Valle and she was doubled over in pain in her back. Valle had been in miserable pain for days. I saw that she was carrying a backpack of burden ion her back. Inside the backpack were rocks:
· Perfection-she was trying to be perfect instead of trusting in Jesus perfection
· Judgment-she felt this crippling back pain was God's judgment on her.
· Fear of Paralysis and being crippled-she was afraid that no one would take care of her children
· Condemnation and self condemnation-she condemned her and felt that God condemned her.
· Anxiety, worry and stress
We asked Jesus to take the backpack from her. Valle saw a vision of Jesus taking the backpack away from her and she also say her stepping out of a prison cell. She was set free.

Next we prayed for a woman with the fear of cancer. She also had a spirit of judgment and condemnation. There is no condemnation in Jesus. Jesus takes all of your judgment off of you. After praying for her, her face was filled with joy and hope.

As we went outside the church, I see the woman that we had prayed for with back pain (Valle) running toward me from across the street. She was jumping up and down and screaming and praising God which was very exciting! She ran up to me and jumped in my arms. What a joy she felt and no back pain! Her back was completely healed. I have never seen anyone happier than Valle at that moment! Her enthusiasm and joy was amazing! It was also very contagious! Thank you Jesus for Valle, she told us that everything we prayed for was true and that she was set free!

We left Ploiesti to go the airport. At the airport, saying goodbye was difficult for us and several of our friends especially Maria, Valeriu, Valle, Cati, Andre, Raluca, Danny, Joanna, and Joanna but we are so thankful for the many blessings we received and the new friendships gained.

I get on the airplane and suddenly I feel much lighter. The air is clean in the airplane and I begin to reflect on all the amazing miracles that we witnessed. Thank you Lord for this wonderful trip! We all pray for the Lord's continued blessing for the beautiful children and people of Romania. We will miss them.

This Romania trip would not have been possible without the generosity and support of many individuals and the following organizations:
Arms of Love
Children's International
Foothills Church
Jesus Film Project
Mission Air Service
Morningstar Foundation
National Heritage Foundation
Project Compassion
San Diego Rescue Mission
Sys
The Townsend Agency