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!