Respiratory Infections, Trust Sequences & Traveling Plans

It started with a mild sore throat about a week ago. The next morning it was a slight runny nose. By day 3 I was hacking up radioactive ooze and having prolonged coughing spells when everyone else in the city was fast asleep.

I always want to err on the side of a viral condition- that is, a regular run of the mill cold that neither requires nor benefits from the effects of antibiotics. When the snot turned green though, I figured it might be time to give in.

But then I discovered in the vast world of Internet Medical Consultation that it's not a good idea to take expired antibiotics...so I put off taking them a few more days. Finally- after a really miserable Saturday night and a loooooonnnnnngggg Sunday I was chatting online with a friend back home whose sister is a nurse and together they convinced me to take the medicine. My friend said her sister takes expired Meds overseas on Medical Mission Trips all the time. So...beginning Sunday night I started a 10 day regimen of Cipro. I was feeling better as early as yesterday. Still some coughing and a little congestion, but not as much toxic sludge coming from the lungs.

I spent Saturday afternoon with a couple of friends-an Australian- Hamilton and two Romanians - Adi and Tibi. We went to a Fotbal Game. Soccer to the rest of us. The local team won 1-0. I can see where it would be a lot of fun with a full stadium. The weather was beautiful- reminded me of a nice warm day watching Baseball at Dudy Noble in Starkville. Unfortunately, the Soccer Game itself wasn't much more exciting than a baseball game. Baseball in Starkville was always more about atmosphere and the social aspect than just being exciting from start to finish. But I digress.

This past Sunday was also Orthodox Easter. There are a lot of nice traditions associated with it that don't include bunnies and eggs (mostly). The meals in particular are meaningful. I went to a Midnight Mass with Adi and his parents and fiancee and then we had a breakfast afterwards (at like 1 in the morning). I woke up pretty early with him Sunday morning for another breakfast and then went to Socodor- a small town about an hour from the city. We attended the Bethesda Pentecostal Church where Adi works with the children and youth. I ate lunch with him and his extended family in the village and then I got to spend about 2 hours with most of the teenagers (pictured below).

I gave them some training and encouragement. I was able to go through some Trust Sequence activities with them- one of my favorite "youth group" things to do. They were great! They are the Leadership Team for a community Children's Outreach that takes place about twice a month. They were a fun bunch of teenagers. Most of them are from 2 particularly large families in the village! I had a lot of fun with them. It was like being a youth minister again for a little while.


I was pretty wiped out from the weekend, and like I said, didn't start taking any real medicine until Sunday night. I've been laying pretty low for several days now just trying to recuperate.

I'm leaving Thursday to spend a few days with the International Teams Staff and some other friends for their annual Spiritual Retreat. It's in the mountains I think. That will be a great place for me to start my next leg.

I plan to go to Brasov- that's near the home of Dracula's Castle...Mhua ha ha. I'd like to spend a couple nights in the area and maybe do some hiking. Maybe even camp one night.

I'll leave from there and go to Chisinau, Moldova where I'll meet yet another missionary. I think he'll have a team from the States with him next week working on a church project. I'll only be with him a few days.

I'm flying from Chisinau to Sarajevo on May 9. I'll probably spend at least one night there before going on to Montenegro. I'll fly from Sarajevo back to Kiev, Ukraine on May 15 and then go to the Passion Conference on May 16. On May 17th I'll fly to Venice, Italy and enjoy a day and half there. I'll also get about 12 hours in Rome before getting to Athens for my flight home on May 20th.