Romania has been so good in so many ways. This has by far been my favorite month so far on The Race. We have been blessed by so many of our ministry contacts in ways we never expected. Many of you all know my occupation prior to The World Race was a pediatric hematology/oncology and stem cell transplant nurse. I knew that having a nursing background would be an asset while on The Race because we don’t have any medical personnel who travel with us; however, I didn’t know what my role would look like.
Obviously when there are about 40 people traveling to 11 countries for almost a year, there are going to be many weird, challenging, and random health issues that arise. Well let me tell you, that has been incredibly true so far on The Race. Pretty much all of the squad has had parasites numerous times in Central America. Many of us have had debilitating colds and flus. Others have struggled with persistent fevers. And others have had skin wounds and random other weirdness.
Amanda sick in bed with a fever
Amy sick in bed
This month, I had some help taking care of my squadmates though! Our two teams were blessed with two nurses/mother-figures to help us with various needs. The following recognizes their service to us and gives you just a taste of their compassion-driven hearts.
Gianina (aka: Mama G) is a Romanian single mother of two who attends Fundatia Living Hope, the church our two teams are serving this month. She is a powerhouse woman who commands authority just by her presence. She speaks her mind and isn’t afraid to step on toes when she is advocating for her friends, family, and others she cares about. When we first met her, she was immediately worried about our parasite issues from Central America and bought some natural remedies to supplement the medication we were on. Additionally, there were numerous people on our two teams who had debilitating colds and flus this month. Mama G offered her home, awesome masseuse skills, and her extensive knowledge of natural remedies, to name a few, to care for us. She continually checks up on all of us throughout the time we have been here. Mama G serves selflessly and is an amazing model of a servant of God.
Rose Huber and Mama G (Rose was a patient of Mama G's!)
The other nurse is Carolyn. She is originally from Virginia but was called by God to live in Romania and work in their medical clinics and run a foundation to teach English classes. She has been here almost 20 years and has developed many relationships within the medical community of Pitesti. She is not directly involved with the ministry we are serving here, but Cristi (the Living Hope pastor) contacted her about a week ago to provide some input about Amy's illness. Carolyn knows what doctors to use and where to get the best procedures done. She helped my squadmate immensely by coordinating lab testing and doctor appointments. She also assisted me in getting my second Hepatitis A vaccine, getting repeat stool cultures to check for any residual parasites, getting discounted meds from the pharmacy, and helping me get x-rays of my tibias (I played soccer a bit too hard the first week and was worried about a fracture). Carolyn spent so much time and energy helping all of us get our medical needs taken care of.
Carolyn driving me to get x-rays of my tibias
The Lord blessed us immensely with these two women. They cared for us like we were their own children. Thank you Mama G and Carolyn!
P.S. Our stool culture results … no more parasites according to Doctor Luca!
