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