Dr. Onstot is a pediatrician in Oxnard and since 1998 she and her ten year old daughter, Gianna, have participated in mission trips to Ensenada, Mexico, with our CMDA Chapter and, since 2002, have been to Romania on mission trips sponsored by The Smiles Foundation. The following are excerpts from a letter she wrote about her most recent mission trip to Romania in the summer of 2003.

Hi everyone!  We just arrived home yesterday after 18 hours of travel from Budapest to LAX.

Attached is a picture that has a story with it.  The boy with the dark hair, Florin, was brought to me at the hotel (in Romania) by a member of our group because he had pus draining from his ear.  I examined him and got a brief history through an interpreter.  He had the drainage for months.  He lived on the streets.  Both ears were infected.  I had some ear drops, but wanted to give him an oral medication.  I put the drops in the ear and told him to come back the next day for medication.  We didn't see him regularly, so it was difficult to treat his ear infection. 

His mom sends Florin and his siblings out to beg every day and bring the money home.  They didn't want to bring the money to their mom, so they lived on the streets.  Mircea, a house father at Caminul Felix, had met with their mom to see if they could come to Caminul Felix.  Caminul Felix is a wonderful, private orphanage.  It consists of a group of homes with up to 16 children per home with 2 Christian house parents in each home.  His mom refused to sign the papers for her children to go to the orphanage.  Having the children provide her with income from begging was more important than the children's well being.

Florin would come back to the hotel sporadically for his medication.  The hotel staff didn't want Florin near the hotel, which made it difficult to care for him.  He started bringing his friend, Lucian (the boy with blond hair), with him.  We would bathe the boys, give them clean clothes, and feed them when we had the opportunity.  One night after their bath and clean clothes, several of us talked to them about Jesus, through Ludvic, one of our interpreters.  They had seen the Jesus video before and knew about Jesus, but they didn't know how to trust anyone.  How can you teach children about a loving God who can be trusted, when they have never experienced love or trust?  We took them out for ice cream.  We showered them with love and affection.  We clothed and fed them.  I bought macaroni for them and 8-10 others who needed food.  I gave them drinks.  It was hard to leave them.  I'm not sure if they trust us, but hopefully seeds were planted.

If you would like to help the people of Romania, you can contact The Smiles Foundation at www.smilesclub.org/ about sponsoring a family for $30 per month or supporting the school and medical clinic they are building.

Dr. Onstot will be returning to Romania in the summer of 2005. If you would like to support her work in Romania, you can write a check to Westminster Presbyterian Church and put "Smiles" in the memo section. The address is: Westminster Presbyterian Church, 755 Bard Road, Port Hueneme, CA 93041.