Dear Family and Friends,
As I type this email, two kinds of tears stream down my face. First, are tears of sorrow. I received two emails this afternoon. The first informed me that my friend and former colleague, Michelle Fonte James, MSW was killed in a car accident in Columbia, SC yesterday. The shock and sadness that I feel from reading those words has rendered me numb. Michelle was and will always be one of the most alive people I know. Michelle was a Christian as well as being a Master Social Worker. We had many talks about our personal beliefs as they relate to doing social work. The world has lost an incredibly gifted social worker and a wonderful person. Please be in prayer for her husband, William. Michelle was in her late twenties and had been married less than a year. It is so difficult to receive such news this far from home.
The second email that I received today brought tears of joy. My friend, Dr. Tom Williams, who is the state-side part of Romanian Evangelical Medical Missions, wrote me and gave me wonderful news. The little burned girl, Crizentina, is going to get the much needed medical help that we have prayed for!! Tom is the chief of surgery at a hospital in the Chicago area. He wrote me to tell me that the costs of surgery and treatment for this child will be taken care of AND he has a Romanian family to house her when she is not in the hospital. Praise God!!! He is hearing and answering the prayers that many of you are praying. But, please, don’t stop!!! We still need to get legal approval and a medical method of transportation as she is too fragile for commercial airlines. I know that God will also provide this in His time but I ask for your continued prayer.
The team from Columbia, SC radio will be leaving tomorrow at noon. It has been an awesome three days with them. They have worked in unbelievable heat (100+) without air conditioning. Many boxes of coats and boots have been delivered to the orphanages. Two of then gave money to allow me to hire two of the older orphans for the next six months!! Again, I give the glory to God for sending these people to me! They were able to visit the hospital and hold some of the babies this afternoon. We also did a feeding for some street children tonight…a ministry in which I am becoming more involved. It was such a heartbreaking sight to see the deplorable physical condition of these children. I am looking forward to doing more with the man that runs this ministry.
I ask that you pray specifically for my emotional state. To deal with such emotions from Michelle’s death as well as continuing to organize, plan, and network here will be impossible without the power of Christ. I am claiming Philippians 4:13 today and for many to come.
Basking in the Son,
Michelle
