The Promised Pictures

Here are a few pictures more pictures of the last week or so...

These are some Moldovans doing some sort of agriculture work - I always thought they were working with corn stock, but I am not 100% sure that is what they are doing.

This is one of the rooms at the orphanage we were working with. Missions without Borders came in and built these rooms. This is an example of what missions can do - I explain this a little more in my last blog posting.

This is a child at the orphanage

This is Alex. He is the youngest son of the family we stayed with. He could play the flute with his nose - who would of known? We had fun at there house.

This is plachenta. I spelled it the way it is pronounced not the Romanian way. It is a pastry like crust stuffed with whatever you want. It is usually cheese, potatoes or apples. It is very good.

The last couple of days we have worked in Orhie at a church mudding and taping walls. This is a picture of what will one day be a sanctuary.

This is me - proof that I am working =). I am sanding down the mud on the wall.

This is Mikellah and I

A Wrap up of the Week in Straseni

It is not quite the tomorrow that I promised the updated blog, but it is fairly close to tomorrow. After all tomorrow is just a day away. I suppose with this schedule I keep that I should not promise to have blogs posted on certain days. On the other hand it is good to have goals and plans as long as their is room to change when necessary... It is often necessary because you never know when life is going to throw you a curve ball. All I can say is hang on to God, pack your bags and be ready. =).

As you may have picked up on each day has been very full. I have a few moments now to fill everyone in on the ministry and adventure of Moldova. The last village we were in was called Straseni. We stayed in the homes of the local church members. Glori Ann, Karen and I stayed in the same home. This home was such a blessing and I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know Angela and Brother Oligert (this is most likely not the way you spell his name =) ). Angela kept us well fed. Every night and morning we broke out the Romanian/English dictionary to help us communicate. The last night we were there they asked us to pray with them as a family before we went to bed. This was just a special time because they asked us what they could pray for and we asked them what we could pray for and prayed to the same God in different languages. It also solidified the time we had spent together. It was good.

The ministry we did in Straseni had many different faces. There was construction on a wall, home visits, cutting wood, helping in the kitchen, working at an orphanage, a service to the blind, a youth service and a couple services at the church. God works in so many different ways and all these different types of ministry reflect this part of him. I went on two home visits. One was a visit to the apartment of a woman named Mary. She lived alone. Her husband had passed away. Mary told us a little about her life. She grew up in the Ukraine, her father died when she was young, so her mother raised her and her siblings. She moved to Moldova later in life. I enjoyed talking to her and hearing her life story. We prayed for her before we left.

The other home visit I went to was to a family whose oldest child has cerebral palesy. The mother was telling us how hard it was sometimes. She spent all her time taking care of her child. It sounded like that at times it was a lonely and frustrating task. She was lucky enough to have a special chair for him, but the chair is getting to be too small. The child was four years old and they received the chair when he was two. She also had a younger child. In Moldova they do not have all the resources and support groups that they have in the states. We just took the time to give attention to the two children and talk to the mother. We also prayed for that family before we left.

The orphanage is the ministry that we did every afternoon. This was so much fun. Glori Ann focused on a different theme every day. The themes were love, joy strength, and faith. The rest of us helped support her by hanging out with children in the crowd, being interactive with the message and assisting in games and demonstrations. This orphanage was different in that it was for children with functional mental disabilities. It was also different in that only two of the children were actually orphans. The rest of the parents either did not want to or could not take care of their child. The director told us that many of the children did not want to go home on weekends, but would prefer to stay there - so that tells us a little about the home situations.

I have attached* a few of the pictures of the dormitory because it shows what giving to missions can do. These dorms were built by Missions without Borders. The money given to help improve these dorms has made life better for these children whose families can not or will not take care of them. I just want to encourage those of you that support missions that the money you give does make a big difference.

The time at the orphanage was awesome. It was fun to love on the children, play games with them and see them interact with the theme for the day. There is so much more I can add about the teams time in Straseni, but then I would be writing for a little longer yet. We are back in the main city now and will travel to Armenia on Saturday. We have had three accidents in our time in Moldova. We will be driving to Odessa to fly to Armenia. Pray for traveling mercies for the team. Pray that God will continue to cultivate the seeds planted in Moldova and that he will be the local church here. Pray for the upcoming time in Armenia.

* The pictures are not uploading - I will upload the pictures in the next few days, so you can view the promised pictures =).

Thank you for your prayers. May God be with You! Peace!

Cancelled Flights and Checking In

Hello My Friends and Supporters! I hope all is well with you. Our flight to Armenia was cancelled, so the team will be in Moldova a little longer than expected. An extended Moldovan adventure, so to speak. We spent the last week in a village called Straseni. It was a good time, a good village, and a good church. I am pretty tired right now and should of been in bed a hour ago. I am going to post some pictures and then tomorrow when I am a little more refreshed write up about the teams time in Straseni. Today we spent some time at an old monastery. I will put some of those pictures on the blog as well.

"Do you see what this means - all these pioneers who blazed the way, all these veterans cheering us on? It means we'd better get on with it. Strip down, start running - and never quit! No extra spiritual fat, no parasitic sins. Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we're in. Study how he did it. Because he never lost sight of where he was headed - that exhilarating finish in and with God - he could put up with anything along the way: cross, shame, whatever. And now he's there, in the place of honor, right alongside God. When you find yourselves flagging in your faith, go over that story again, item by item, that long litany of hostility he plowed through. That will shoot adrenaline into your souls." Hebrews 12



Two girls from the Orphange

Blowing Bubbles - This was an activity at the orphange. Glori Ann is in charge of all our children activities and she does a great job!

This is another pictures of a girl from the orphange

This is the team at the Monastery - I wasn't sure if I had posted a team pictures yet. Pray for us!

This is me looking over a valley in Moldova

Here I am again - This cross overlooks a valley - thought this picture was kind of fun =)

A Whirl Wind Week and Day of Rest

* This is a long one - there was alot of information and happenings in the last week - even I was posting this I could think of so much more to say - for those of you short of time and attention there are pictures at the bottom. =)

Life here in Moldova has been full. We spent about five days in a village called Sarata Galbena. The girls stayed in the house of a Moldovan couple and the guys stayed at the church. We had no internet access for those days we spent in Sarata Galbena, which is the main reason it has been awhile since my last post. In Sarata Galbena our main ministry was helping out with a Convoy of Hope Moldovan style outreach and connecting with the youth at the local church. The first day there we bagged groceries. Then the second day was the outreach. The church had a program prepared and then afterwards there was food to eat, balloons, an oral hygiene area, a physician was present, face paint and groceries as they left. In the following days we were there we had a couple church services, home visits and a children’s program.

My favorite part of Sarata Galbena was working with the youth. On Saturday night we joined them in their youth service. We worshipped and fellowshipped together despite the fact we are from two different cultures and languages. The following two nights Sunday and Monday night we ate, fellowshipped, and worshipped together. It really was just a special time. We played Moldovan games and played music to connect instead of talking. It is amazing how Christ can work through the language differences and how he blessed us with the ability to connect.

After leaving Sarata we were able to have a half a day rest in Chisanou. The next day we headed up north to help flood victims. Moldova has some of its worst flooding this last summer season. We drove about four to five hours up to north to one of the villages affected by the flooding. Along the way we got into an accident. No one was hurt and our van was fine. The car that hit us from behind however was totaled. Despite all that we did finally make it up north. We bagged groceries until ten or so that night. Everybody broke up into groups of two or three and we spent the night at people’s homes in the village. So everyone in the group the next morning had a story to share of a Moldovan feast at eleven o’clock at night and a Moldovan breakfast the next morning. It is very important to Moldovans that their guest are well fed and do not go away saying they are hungry. In honor of the family we were staying with the Zama (soup) and bread was very good and breakfast was even better. I definitely did not go away hungry. =). The next day we distributed the groceries we had bagged the night before to 250 families or so that were in the most need. The names were given to the local pastor we were working with by the government. Before the groceries were distributed a Moldovan evangelist spoke to the crowd and one of the interns Chris explained Convoy of Hope, introduced the team and shared a little about why were there in Moldova. The pastor after the event was over told the team that other teams had come with more money and supplies, but that our team brought something special/different with us that was great blessing.

Today was a day of rest for our team. I did nothing much, but still feel pretty tired. It is about that three week mark where culture shock, homesickness and tiredness begins to sneak up on us. Pray for the team that we will endeavor through it well and will remember that we are here to honor Christ by serving his people. Pray for protection, safe travels and strength.

May God’s Love and Blessing Be With You!


This was one of the nights we hung out with the youth - they made us sausage and hot dogs.

This is Glori Ann - she is in charge of our Children Ministry - this is a village we did some home visits in and a short children's program

This lady told me I was like a daughter to her because I reminded her of her daughter - needless to say I think she was pretty cool - she took us to the homes in the villages. As a side note there are many elderly people who live alone with no source of income because there children have left Moldova or have moved to the city for work. This is creating a need for elderly care in the villages.

This is one home that was destroyed in the flooding.

This is Karen helping organize groceries for distribution

A day in Chisinau and a Story from Mihailenii

* I added some of the intern team members blogs links to this site - they're on the right side of the screen if you're interested in reading them.

10/01/2008

We left Belts yesterday. It took a while to actually leave the city. The van refused to start and the battery refused to charge. So we went to eat lunch, while the van went to the car shop. And then when we sat outside the church and read, slept and played guitars. Finally around five o’clock we left Belts.

Our last day in Mihailenii (we were spending the night in Belts and days in Mihailenii) I sanded in the morning and visited a house in the village in the afternoon. Some of the other members of the intern team and of the church had visited this home earlier in the week and that day. The father of the household had left a long time ago and the mother had left this summer to find work in another country. She left 5,000 lei (their currency - which is about 500 dollars). The money is now all gone. She left six children. The oldest three are seldom at the home. That leaves a thirteen year old, eight year old and a three year old at the home for the majority of the day. The neighbor keeps an eye on them. We brought them a ball, socks, toy cars and food from the church. We cleaned up the youngest two children, cleaned some of their dishes and shook off their blankets. The thirteen year old was sullen, but the three year old and eight year old had such joy. Apparently earlier in the morning the kids were not so smiley and giggly. The church told us that they we would continue to visit these children. They were unaware that this type of poverty existed in their village. The church is a good church, so I know they will follow through on their word. I am glad that their eyes are now a little more open to their community. As a challenge to all of us we should look around our communities and see and take action about the need in our own backyards. There is a video of this house visit at the following link: http://www.mattwilkie.com/2008/09/more-from-dani-and-lenas.html

This morning we had pancakes for breakfast. They were good. We got a tour of Chisinau. The team visited the Artesian Market, had quiche at a café, and visited the Orthodox Church. I have always loved the artwork of both the Catholic and the Orthodox Church. I enjoyed walking around the church and looking at the paintings and architecture. However the power and control of the Orthodox Church is not always as beautiful. The missionaries we are working with told us today that their housekeeper’s brother in-law, who is a pastor in another village, received a knock on his door yesterday. The man at the door told the pastor that the Orthodox Priest had sent him there to kill him. He proceeded to beat the pastor. The pastor was able to run down the stairs to a neighbor who protected him. The threat of the Orthodox Church to other church denominations is still present in Moldova. Please remember to pray for the Protestant and Pentecostal churches in Moldova. Please pray for this pastor and his family.

Tomorrow we leave for the next village and unless there is a surprise there will be no internet access. I will post my next blog when we get back into Chisinau. Please continue to pray for me and the team. Pray for freedom from persecution. Pray for health. Pray for protection. Pray for the people in the next village we are going visiting. Finally, pray for the Convoy of Hope outreach we will be doing in this upcoming week in Moldova.

“May Jesus himself and God our Father, who reached out in love and surprised you with gifts of unending help and confidence, put a fresh heart in you, invigorate your work, enliven your speech.”
2 Thessalonians 2:16


The bell tower in front of the Orthodox Church


A cool fence in Moldova

I was pretty much covered in dust from sanding

A building in Moldova - I think it is a church