Seven Days and Counting

I wish I had the luxury of simply counting the days until I can be home with my family and friends. Instead I am counting off the hours before my window of opportunity closes. Here in the last two weeks a lot of the apparent progress on business matters appears to have unraveled. Please pray:

Speedy completion of our legal entity in Romania. The judge gave his approval, but several time-consuming steps remain before we can legally transact any business in Romania--INCLUDING...

Establishing a bank account...

Acquiring a facility to accommodate the planned summer children's program...

Permanently registering the (awesome) new NGO car...

Fully functioning in the Protection and Placement Center Ion Creanga

This stuff is extremely time-sensitive, and I have a sick feeling in my stomach as I begin washing my clothes and packing my bags for home.  I was with a big table full of seasoned missionaries for lunch today.

The table was ringed with bitter chuckles and "I told-you-so" tongue clucking. At the end of lunch, one veteran expressed surprise we made so much progress, and he told me he will try to hire our lawyer. He was serious.

Please pray!  Thanks!

These are God's Kids -- Three Generations

These are the 15 kids (more or less) that we will serve in the planned Summer 2013 program. is histYou will see this boy, Valentin Anusca (a-NOOSH-ka) in the video. He is golden! He was a friend of Nadia, and she said, "Joe, you need to meet this boy...". The rest is history in the making.

The 15 kids are one of the 4 to 12 year old clusters in the Ion Creanga children's center, and we have been visiting with them for a year now. We will take this entire group intact, and if God is willing, we will stay with them until they are grown. First in the summer program, and as God provides, we will continue in the Fall as an after-school program (like NGO's Oasis Center in Vicente-Guerrero, MX.)

But there's more...

Between these two generations (the 20-somethings and the kiddies) is another group, the ones everybody says are too bad to invest in: The teen girls in the Ion Creanga center. We will hand-pick a few, probably three or four, to work as Summer Program Assistants. Two are very nice kids who are recent arrivals at the center. One is Minadora, a hardened "lifer" who has taken a surprising affection for Nadia. In the second video you will see her in a green coat, singing. PRAY for Minadora, that she will find her true place in the grace of God. You don't really believe He has forgotten her, do you?!

The Jesus Way

This is our model for how we announce the kingdom of God. It is not designed for speed, and it is not designed for concentrating people. It is not a verbal formulation of facts, or a statement people sign their name to. Read it carefully and notice the things Jesus did NOT say.

Jesus called the twelve together (Luke 9:1-6), and gave them power and authority over all the demons and to heal diseases. And He sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to perform healing. And He said to them, “Take nothing for your journey, neither a staff, nor a bag, nor bread, nor money; and do not even have two tunics apiece. Whatever house you enter, stay there until you leave that city. And as for those who do not receive you, as you go out from that city, shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them.” Departing, they began going throughout the villages, preaching the gospel and healing everywhere.  Now after this (Luke 10:1-12) the Lord appointed seventy others, and sent them in pairs ahead of Him to every city and place where He Himself was going to come. And He was saying to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest. Go; behold, I send you out as lambs in the midst of wolves. Carry no money belt, no bag, no shoes; and greet no one on the way. Whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace be to this house.’ If a man of peace is there, your peace will rest on him; but if not, it will return to you. Stay in that house, eating and drinking ^[e]what they give you; for the laborer is worthy of his wages. Do not keep moving from house to house. Whatever city you enter and they receive you, eat what is set before you; and heal those in it who are sick, and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’ But whatever city you enter and they do not receive you, go out into its streets and say, ‘Even the dust of your city which clings to our feet we wipe off in protest against you; yet be sure of this, that the kingdom of God has come near.’ I say to you, it will be more tolerable in that day for Sodom than for that city.

Big fat question: Does Jesus way differ from the regular way Christians proclaim the gospel? Or is this basically how we do it today?

Meet Teodora...

Over and over we experience fascinating meetings with fascinating people. Meet Teodora, a fascinating new friend. We met Teo on a train from Bucharest to Iasi, when she asked me what city our train was passing through. She was beautiful and flamboyant and affectionate and full of faith. We all traded phone numbers, and a few days later we were sipping coffee together.

In this video we see Nadia and Vali and Teodora earnestly planning our summer children's program in Piatra-Neamt.

The short story is that she spent a lot of her childhood homeless, sleeping in public restrooms with a mentally ill mother. A brilliant kid, she was educated by Catholic Charities, and now she is a successful young salesman with a degree in theology and whose hobby is Biblical Archaeology.

She was really enthusiastic about our mission, so we invited her with us to Piatra-Neamt for 2 days this week. She  helped us to find a facility for our 2013 summer children's program. It was just amazing how she melted into the team.

We believe that who God sends us is the number one indicator of what He wants to do through us. What will God do next? PRAY with us.

I Miss Them

I miss them a lot. Pray for me. Enough said.

Pray: This is Almost Impossible!

We are kind of cavalier when we talk about our plans for the summer program. It is the nature of faith: We expect to succeed, and we don't much fear failure.

That doesn't change the fact that a lot of what we are doing is extraordinarily difficult to do without lots of money and some very experienced people. We have neither. We dangle on a shoestring, and our executives are green 22 year-olds.

This is what we need, and today we strike out to find it: We need to rent a house within walking distance of the Ion Creanga children's center. It must be big enough to sleep and bathe 4 ladies and 2 men, segregated. It must be big enough by day to accommodate learning activities with 15 children, 3 teens, and 8 adult leaders. 

And here's the real kicker: We only want it from June through September!

PRAY with us, people. God knows what we need, pray that we will recognize his answer!

Scorecard Revision: SCOOOOOOORRRRRRE!!

In earlier posts, and most recently in the post "God's Scorecard", I asked for prayer that Alex and Nadia would find unity and peace, and that the funny tension would be replaced with rich, warm love. Well, score a big ol' three-pointer for Jesus! 

It was actually on the day that I posted the "Scorecard" that heaven and earth began to move. For the last few weeks the girls are trotting perfectly in the harness together. This is a necessity for the success of our summer work

Stop praying now? Hardly! 

PRAYER: Pray that the love of God manifested in them will overflow and stain and saturate everybody who witnesses it. Pray that their fellowship will grow, and that it will be open and will enfold others in the love of God.

COMMENTARY:  Generally in church life we only think about love and unity when there is a conflict that messes up the church program. The truth is, love and unity are, in and of themselves, the Life Force that makes the Body of Christ. Without all the parentheticals and run-on sentences, Ephesians 41-17 says this: 

Therefore, walk worthy of our calling, in total humility, gentleness, patience, and tolerance. Diligently preserve the unity of the Spirit, bound by peace. That's how we all grow into unity of faith, and into the knowledge of the Son of God, and measure up to Christ Jesus who is the head of this body. And as we let Jesus be our Head, each part does its proper work and the love-connections between us cause the body to grow and strengthen itself. So, I command you: do not walk in the dark futility of the Gentiles.

Love and unity are not just nice things to have in the Body of Christ. They actually constitute the life of the Body. We are no greater than the love that binds us together. In a situation as fragile and nascent as our situation in Romania, this is evident in every minute of every day. It can't be papered over with good music or smooth presentation.

Pray for Ana. She has been with us for about a year now. She first came to Jesus last January, and she was baptized in October when she spent 2 weeks with Pam and Kendra. She is a single mom with a beautiful daughter, Diana. 

PRAY that Ana will be firm in her faith and strong in her will to never settle for a man who is not truly good to her and Diana. Pray that she will grow in wisdom and power as she walks every day with Jesus into the future he has prepared for her. Pray that she will have patience to grow where God planted her until that future becomes clear!

Merry Christmas from the Village

These are four of the 160+ foster kids who live
in the village of Pastraveni. This is a key
ministry target for NGO Romania

Merry Christmas from the village of Pastraveni, Romania, the home of two of our key people, Nadia Argesanu and Vali Anusca.

It was a treat to be so deeply embedded in the village culture for so long. It was also a serious culture shock!

I had a front row seat for everything: The ritual pig slaughter; the sausage-making; to visit of the priest; the blessing of the mayor; the visit of the drunken Santa; the heel-kicking Christmas dance; the funeral of the lady who froze to death next door.

I never felt so insinuated into Romanian life -- and I never felt more marooned and separated from my family and my friends and all the things that make a home. I never before felt so keenly how much it costs to bring the light and hope of Jesus to a little forgotten corner. Let me tell you why this corner is worth it...

Our main ministry target for children and teens is the Ion Creanga Orphan Center in Piatra-Neamt, in the county of Neamt. Out of 380 kids in the system, 160+ are in foster homes in this one village. The foster kids actually outnumber the natural born kids in the schools. It is a major industry here, and while many of the kids have a happy situation, most do not. For example, 90% of the foster kids are sent back to the Center when they reach high school age -- what does that tell you?

Our strategy is three-tiered: Build a team of faithful 20-somethings -- mentor the teens -- nurture the kids.

In the village I witnessed the best and the worst of the foster system. In fact, the core of our team is made up of exactly that: Nadia grew up in the worst place, and Vali was a natural son in the best foster home. The children you see in the photo (above) live in those exact two homes. Vali's family was Nadia's lifeline growing up-- they were childhood playmates, and now they are on an adult mission for God.

Pray that the glory of the Lord will fill this village, according to Mary's prophetic song...

...and Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour. For he hath regarded the low estate of his handmaiden: for, behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed. For he that is mighty hath done to me great things; and holy is his name. And his mercy is on them that fear him from generation to generation. He hath shewed strength with his arm; he hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts. He hath put down the mighty from their seats, and exalted them of low degree. He hath filled the hungry with good things; and the rich he hath sent empty away. He hath helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy; As he spake to our fathers, to Abraham, and to his seed for ever!

Christmas Love Stocking: THANKS!!

Thank you God for the Christmas Love! And thanks, all you incredible friends who provided this wonderful little car with only one weeks notice, you decided to make do with less so that Nadia and Alexandra and Vali can serve the orphan teens in Piatra-Neamt in 2013.

• The money is all in hand
• The owner Jeremy will sign the car over after the Christmas holiday (nothing happens here in December...NOTHING!)
• Alex and Vali have a driver's license, and Nadia is enrolled in the very challenging driving school
• Nadia will take ownership of the car until we receive our Romania tax ID number, and she has already stamped a deed of donation giving rights to the car to Asociatie Next Generation of Romania.
• The car will be used when NGO board members visit Romania in January, and then by the program staff Vali and Nadia while they prepare to launch in June 2013
• When the program begins, the car will be used for transporting the American volunteer staff girls and for provisioning groceries etc for the 20 kids and staff.
• Remember, the end-game of this summer program is the establishment of a permanent after-school program similar to the Oasis Center established by NGO, Inc in Vicente Guerrero, Mexico. 

St. Nicolas at Ion Creanga Center

Haunting every child in the Ion Creanga center is a tragic past. There is also a brilliant future awaiting them...if they can find it. How will Georgica un-learn her past and discover immortality in Jesus?

Today we arrived at the Ion Creanga Center for Protection and Placement of Childres (yes, that is an orphanage) to celebrate St, Nicholas Day. In American terms, that's when you get stuff in your stocking. Sfantu Nicolae is a patron saint of children, particularly the poor and helpless.

Sorry, we don't snap a lot of pictures when we're with the kids. I'm disturbed by shoving cameras in kids' faces -- we want to be mentors, not gawkers.

PRAY that the Holy Spirit will move the stars and the souls and the hands of time. Time is too scarce to rush things. We do not want to be the people who come occasionally with a bag of stuff. We want to be the people kids turn to when they dream their dreams and face their demons. We want to be the people who demonstrate that God's Kingdom is come, and that those who plunge into it actually join the King in immortality. 

God's Scorecard

Jesus said, "Truly, truly, I say to you, if you ask the Father for anything in My name, He will give it to you. Until now you have asked for nothing in My name; ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be made full." 

It bothers me not one bit to publish a scorecard on what we pray for. I don't do it to judge God, He has nothing to prove. If anything the "score" indicates how fully we love, how much we bring those we love to God to be blessed by his touch. 

If I didn't get what I prayed for, I'm not embarrassed. I'm not on a game show for entertainment; I'm are on a mission from God. 

Here is a review of my posts to follow how things are unfolding.......

Love and Unity: This is a prayer that never ends, and it is very critical at this moment. Remember this little movement is comprised of single young people. They hook up, they break up, and the clique up. At this moment we are very fragmented by a rearrangement of who's dating whom. There is a lot of "ex-factor" in play. Also need a big breakout with Nadia and Alexandra--this relationship is a key to a dozen things, and they really don't get along well. Pray that God will move the stars to make things right.

Vali: My Wing-Man: God supplied the $$ Vali needed for his surgery. In fact, he got more than he needed and he donated a month's pay toward purchasing the car. He also got his passport. On the down side, Vali is inside one of the cliques since hooking up with one girl and rejecting another. He is a passive agent, and he hates the cliquishness, but he's not breaking out of it either. He is the key man, as always, bu he is too passive. Pray God will embolden him to cowboy-up into his natural role as tribal chief. He won't do it until he lays claim to the salvation Jesus bought him. 

Joe's Language Acquisition: I said before I left for Romania "I will either accomplish a lot of business, or I will lay around and learn the language. I can't do both." They say that if you always expect failure, you'll always be right. Okay, so I was right. But I'm sick of being right. I want a miracle. On the day of pentecost all those gathered we touched by the fire, and all began to speak in other languages. All in the crowd heard the wonders of God in their own tongue. God, I pray for your de-Babel-izing gift. Fill me and rewire my brain. 

Wandering Soul: Gary from Florida went back to America. He left no wiser than he came. He is a classic example of someone God gave over to a reprobate mind. His sexual obsession has totally corrupted his programming. Nadia asked me, "How can God save somebody who has destroyed their own aboility to think and choose and decide and act?" Her question reminded me of what Gary made me forget: "God's ear is not too dull to hear, and his arm is not too short to save." Thank you Jesus for your unspeakable gift. Save him, and restore his soul.

Raluca: Inocent4You: No change. Raluca has "gone silent" and I haven't talked to her. It's happened before...she will be back. That is why we pray "thy will be done on earth." 

Our Church: Fellowship: We cooked for our church potluck at Biserica Cer Deschis/Open Heaven Church last week, and it was delightful to finally meet some people. Still there is a clear need, because an observer would have thought that we are the church's core leaders, not infrequent visitors. We were introducing people to each other, and introducing ourselves, and writing down phone numbers. PRAY they will grasp the significance of fellowship as "speaking truth in love, we grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ, From Him the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every connection supplies, by the working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love."  And folks, I don't care if you are in Romania or America, that  is the hokey-pokey of it all.

Vertigo: My Health: I hate to say it but even though the critical "crawling on all fours in the mall" incident passed, I still have some intermittent dizziness that keeps me home. Or if I am out, it forces me to find a cafe and sit for an hour. The room is spinning a little as I write this. PRAY for me...I'm just not 100% yet.

Alex: New Job: She has her new job, and it is better than most. But it is hard. She works 10:00am to 10:00pm, and she has worked every day for 2 weeks. She sits in one spot in one room, so she feels a bit like a caged animal after the freedom she once had. PRAY that Alex will find things to constructively occupy her mind, and ways to build a happy community with her coworkers!

Travel Visa for Vali: The process is underway. He Got his passport issues worked out. As soon as it is "eliberated" we will submit the visa application and make his embassy appointment. Everything looks good. PRAY that he can be ready to fly by January 17 so he can travel with Mark Collins. (EVERYbody needs to travel with Mark Collins at least once, it is a rare treat!)

Spiritual: Bible College in Cluj: This is part of building a network of spiritual and pastoral partners all over the country. The visit was cool. PRAY that God will give us working partners and true friends from this great meeting!

Ana B Goode: I still have not met Ana B in person, only Kendra and Pam have. I have one problem: She is a girl. Constanta is far away, and I don't really have a girl and a boy who can take off a couple of days to visit with me. I adopted a "no traveling alone to meet a chick" policy, and in practice it is much more complex than it is in theory. PRAY that God will provide a solution to these chinese puzzles of "who can be where with whom". Its almost 6 weeks since I arrived, and she is still waiting for me to come talk gospel with her.  Well, I invented the policy myself so I have nobody to blame. LOL, it's kind of ironic that I can sleep in a hotel room with a gay dude who actually wants something from me, but I can't sleep in the same city with a single girl who thinks I am old and gross and she even has a cute boyfriend!

Dreams I  Nothing to score...just read and pray
Dreams II  Nothing to score...just read and pray
Dreams III  Nothing to scote...just read and pray

Surgery: Vali S: Surgery complete, recovery in progress. PRAY that his recovery period will afford me time to bond with him, and to bond with his ever-present girlfriend, Alexandra. She is very very sweet and bursting with potential...and pride.

Dreams Pt. III

This is the third of 3 dreams one of our girls had last week:

This is the setting of the dream: Nadia was in the garden (barnyard) of her foster home in the village of Pastraveni. This place was a place of great suffering, but it has become a place of great vindication since she came to Jesus this year. It is also the place where Nadia believes Jesus talked to her while as a little girl she worked in the garden, her "happy place."

In the dream, Nadia was standing in the front garden/barnyard of the village house that was her foster home. A "heavenly man" talked to her and said "Do you want to see some great things? Here, I will show you." She looked across the road from her house to see a scene very much like the photo. She walked across the lane and down into the field, where the white swirling cloud took her up into heaven. In the heavens she saw people worshiping God, singing, dancing, playing instruments, and laughing. Colorful fish were swimming about it mid-air.  She saw a variety of people there, all from her high school days. Her "wicked foster-mother" was among the people, and her face was full of peace. In the cloud she came back down to earth, and again she was taken up. She saw exactly the same scenes, then she awoke.

Dreams Pt. II

This is the second of 3 dreams one of our girls had last week:

Nadia and Joe were in a Romanian cottage type house with two men and two children. The children were miserable and sad. The men became sinister and mocking, and then evil and murderous, trying to kill Joe and Nadia. The children were involved, too. They showed Joe and Nadia a route of  "escape", a garden gate that Nadia recognized was rigged with explosives. Joe went back and killed the men one by one, one inside the house, and the other outside in the garden. He decapitated them, seemingly with bare hands. It was brutal and bloody. After the evil men were dead, the the children were free from the evil, and they were also no longer sad. They played with Nadia happily in the garden, laughing and dancing and singing. Everybody left the place together (well, the live people

Dreams Pt I

Maybe you will find this interesting. This is the first of 3 dreams one of our girls had last week:

This was Nadia's dream. It had an intense magical quality about it, and the dream was pretty long. She actually awoke in the middle, and the dream resumed when she slept again. But this is all she remembered of the dream, and it seemed like the whole dream:

Joe and Pam Cullison (she was ministering with Kendra here in Romania in October) were climbing a tree. At first it was a normal tree, but then it just became bigger and bigger, up into the clouds. When they reached a certain height, they climbed aboard an airplane -- a military airplane that was very very long --where Alex and Paula and Ryan and Vali A and Vali S and Florin and Ana and other familiar faces were riding. Kendra and Nadia were tending to their safety and comfort...

The dream felt very special, but Nadia didn't see any particular meaning or message in it. Do youuu??    :-)

Ana B Goode

My heart is really heavy for Ana B today. 

Her story is so typical of so many: Her parents left her in Romania 8 years ago, at age 12, and she has not really talked to them since. 

She is very bright, but very dark, and her life is dominated by the deep sense that she is alone in the world. Loneliness is now her friend, and pessimism is her hobby.

I plan to visit her this week. I have a deep sense that God put us together.

• PRAY that the light of Jesus will fill Ana with hope. 
• PRAY that the conviction of the Holy Spirit will breathe life on the flickering embers of her soul. 
• PRAY she rise to new life, to the glory of God AMEN!
• PRAY she will accept the hand of friendship and join the NGO crew

"Spiritual" is a Lame Understatement

This week I took a little pilgrimage to visit the Cristos Pentru Romania "bible school" in Cluj-Napoca. The object was to make some new friends and to connect our young people with a fascinating and unique gathering of young Jesus people I had heard of.  I had hoped to take Alex and Nadia both, but Alex had job interviews and so she was left behind. I simply called and said we would like to visit, and they opened the door and gave us beds with the "students". I am glad we went.

To say these kids are "spiritual" is kind of a lame understatement. When their daily 6:00 pm worship began, at first they seemed to be a tardy and typically unruly group of 20-somethings. But gradually the kids began to worship. A spontaneous song with no words sprang up among them, here and there. Soon they were a fascinating, unscripted, vocal-but-not-verbal orchestra of sounds. THEN the music started. A funny little guy was leading everybody, but whether or not he was a "leader" I couldn't tell. It was like he could see a huge invisible musical score in heaven, and he was conductor. It was beautiful! Wow.

The 100+ kids appeared to be ages 20-24. About a third were typical european-looking kids, about a third were clean-scrubbed church-kids, and about a third were Bohemians with tattoos or dredlocked hair (more Bohemians than you will find in a typical sample of Euro-kids.)

I put the words "bible college" in quotes because the place seems more like a commune than a college. Yes, they have classes and teachers. But it is foremost a community of people with a shared mission and a shared commitment to Jesus and his kingdom.

Travel Visa for "The Wolf"

Vail is in effect the "operations manager" in Romania -- he gets things done. (I call him Lupul, "The Wolf", after the shadowy character in Pulp Fiction with a special knack for "making problems go away.")  More about him here.

Today I will travel with Vali to apply for a passport in the county seat of his home town (Judetal Nasterie.)  After a week he must travel there again to receive it. Welcome to Romania! Two days pay and two days work just to travel to get the passport, plus passport issue fees that will equal two weeks of his meager salary!

Vali and Nadia pose with five small children from
Centru de Protectie Copii Ion Creanga, our adopted
government orphanage. The big girl with a checked
scarf is Anreea, a 15 year old resident we may
employ in the summer kids' program.

That's the bad news. The good news is that he is applying for a visa to travel to the USA on behalf of NGO for a time of mentoring and preparation, some 6 -7 weeks. Most of all I am excited that he will experience the fellowship of the people who love and support the mission of NGO.

Mark Collins will host his stay until I return to the USA in February. 

• PRAY that his visa will be granted with the same ease as Nadia and Alex
• PRAY that God will prepare Vali's heart and life and circumstances to receive the blessing God has prepared for him. 
• PRAY that the peace of God will enter his heart and convict him of God's undying love. 
• PRAY for his recent girlfriend Alexandra to grow from the time of separation, and to be drawn into the circle of God's grace. 
• PRAY for the opportunities that Vali's presence will create for me to put our work in front of an ever-increasing circle of friends.

Alex's New JOB!!!!

Alex Leaving for her first day on the new job!!

Praise God for answered prayers! Thank you, you legion of prayer warriors. Our Alex returned from the USA facing a big crisis. She needed a job, badly and urgently. Now, there is a certain kind of job that is easy to get, and it pays about $500/month for minimal work. Or there are other jobs that pay under $200 that demand 6 days of hard work, and you have to compete for them. She decided to compete. 

Alex's prayer was granted today! She will work as a cashier in a gaming parlor full time, for $290 a month. And the work place is right across the street from home, in a fine, safe neighborhood! 

I want to applaud Alex's act of faith, beating the bushes for a month to find a hard job that pays much less than she can earn in a different kind of work, one that does not glorify God or edify her soul. I also want to ask how many of you have ever faced such a severe challenge? 

Have you ever been required to yield 60% of a subsistence wage in faith that you will have food and shelter? Would you submit to live on the US equivalent of $550 for Jesus?

Vertigoooooooooo...!

Pray for my health. I had a strange event that I can only describe as vertigo. I was actually walking through a mall, and I was stricken with dizziness that drove me to the ground. I didn't improve, but when I could cope, I made my way outside. I realized that I was almost okay as long as I did not move my head, and so began the 30 minute, 500 meter grope, crawl, and stagger to Dormitory T1, where Nadia lives. She ran to the pharmacy and got me Meclizine and calcium (the pharmacist threw that in for the "probable meningitis ;-))

Of course we missed the train, so Nadia helped me over to Hotel T23, another 150 yards. I was feeling a bit better by this time, maybe 3 hours later. In the morning we caught the next train, and I was almost myself again. But the train was not nice.

I don't know what the problem was, but I know I don't want it again. I literally could not stand for about an hour. I missed meeting three people, had to buy a hotel room, and lost a day at the next stop, Cluj-Napoca. (See post Dec 1)

PRAY ... you know what! I don't like the dizziness! And it rendered me totally helpless for many hours...that could be bad. If Nadia had not been there to help me, I am pretty sure the police would have collected my carcass and stuck me in the drunk tank.