Women's Day

      On Tuesday,March 8th, we celebrated International Woman's Day, which is a none working holiday in Moldova. . In Moldova, it is a day where women are honored with flowers,compliments, dinner etc....  Yeah, not to shabby :)  For Women's Day at the home, we went to a pizza shop to celebrate and eat.  It was a blessed time. Most of the women and the staff came to celebrate. People dressed up.  One of my friends said, it is a day on which you should beautiful,which I translated as you should look beautiful and be kind, after she made a gesture to not hit your husband.  After the pizza, we headed over to the home to have ice cream and cookies.  All the women were smiling and enjoying themselves, it was wonderful to be a part of.  After the home, we were invited to an Accordion concert at Organ Hall which was packed out.  The hall is beautiful and the concert was excellent:.  I never new Accordions could be used for different styles of music even Jazz, amazing.

me and Anna at the Pizza restaurant

Organ Hall

I could get used to actually celebrating Women's Day!!!

Visiting the Village

     On Saturday, we went to the village of Beltz and visited with our friend Igor's family.  This is one of the few times I have been to the village, since I have been back in Moldova, and I was really looking forward to it.  The villages in Moldova tend to be rural.  It is common to see horse and buggy on the roads, farm animals everywhere, rolling hills, and all kind of fruits and vegetable plants.  Right now, the village we went to is covered in snow so we didn't get to see most of that.  We took a Rutiera ( big public transportation van) from Chisinau to Beltz. It took about 2 1/2 hours to get there and are van driver was not wasting any time :)  We got there late morning, and I was taken back by how beautiful the village of Recea is.  When we got to his house, his family was waiting for us, and we were able to spend a little time talking before we were served with a feast.  Igor's family has ducks, chickens, pigs, and a really cute dog.  I was able to meet all of them when I went to the bathroom in the outhouse.  I loved it!!!  So Igor's mom prepared us a wonderful meal with about six different dishes.  When it first came out, I was almost in tears at the hospitality.  Everything was amazing, and I think we ate and talked around the table for about four hours.  During lunch we talked about where were from, our parents, weddings, and America.  I also got to meet Igor's niece who is two years old and adorable.  She loves to play and would randomly yell about things.  She is beautiful.  It was so nice to meet his awesome family and spend time in the village.  I am always blessed by the sincerity and hospitality of the people in the village.

 Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another; 

not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer; 

distributing to the needs of the saints, given to hospitality. 

Roman 12:10-12

Celebrating Beauty

     We recently celebrated one of the girls birthday's at the home.  Sometimes when I am at the home, I just sit back and stand in awe of what God has done in their lives.  This was one of those times.  On birthdays, we usually have a lot of food, we sing a birthday song in Romanian, and then we usually sing Happy Birthday in English.  One of my favorite times is when we put the girl in a kitchen chair and lift her a number of times.  They usually end up screaming or taken over by laughter; I love it.  For this particular girls, birthdays bring up a lot of sadness from the past.  Earlier in the week she was really nervous about being celebrated.   When her day came though, she let  us celebrate her and what God has done in her life.
     She came to our home fearing for her life.  In the beginning, she would not talk very much, and she was terrified of going outside.  Today she is full of joy!!!  She often greets us at the door ready for a hug and an opportunity to feed us.  On the way to the home Wednesday, we saw her outside.  She was going to get some bread for her party.  She is no longer afraid to go outside.  She is no longer afraid to show her feelings.  God is moving in her life and I am so moved.  She is perhaps one of the most courages people I have ever met.

Joel 2:25,26

So I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, 

      The crawling locust, 

      The consuming locust, 

      And the chewing locust.

      My great army which I sent among you. 

        You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied, 

      And praise the name of the LORD your God, 

      Who has dealt wondrously with you; 

      And My people shall never be put to shame. 

Thoughts on teaching

     I woke up this morning wanting to know how I was going to present the topic of smoking to the ladies.  I had been praying for a couple of weeks about the delivery, the subject matter, my attitude, and for understanding  for the women.  Working in a place where I don't know the culture, how things will be taken, what can trigger a trauma, and how much they no about the subject matter can be extremely challenging. I constantly find myself asking the Lord for wisdom and love, and that my words would be full of grace. He has been so faithful.
     This afternoon I spoke about smoking and addiction at the home.  I was reluctant to tell the girls ahead of time what we were talking about, because I knew several of them would not come( I did anyways).  Although all the girls did not attend, the majority did and I was grateful for their willingness to confront this difficult topic.
      Sometimes I look at these women and I know that people around them find their lives hopeless, often they find their lives hopeless.  It is easy to believe that they can never change, but it is simply not true.  I see everyday that with God in their lives, they are changing. They are also seeing it.  He is not put off by their struggles or addiction. This morning I was reminded of how God freed Israel from slavery to the Egyptians.  He showed me that  He is not interested in partial healing or deliverance for these women, but He wants to completely heal them.  There was nothing partial about it for Israel.  It was complete!  I ended up presenting the topic from that viewpoint that nothing is to hard for God, and His love does not change because we struggle. He can and wants to deliver them.  The atmosphere when we ended the class was sober but good.  I am so thankful for His faithfulness.

Chinese Lantern Festival

     Tonight the kids at our school celebrated the Chinese Lantern Festival, and Jessie and I were invited to join the festivities.  They are currently studying China.   Our apartment was transformed into the festival complete with lanterns, a skit, Asian cuisine, and lantern lighting. Everyone had a server who would serve them their drinks.  I was served by one of the girls at the school. She was adorable in her Chinese dress.  I actually new nothing about the Chinese Lantern Festival until tonight.    
What we learned:

• The Chinese Lantern Festival is a ancient tradition
• It marks the end of the New Year holiday
• Solving riddles are often a part the tradition (We all had to solve a riddle in order to get a hand made lantern)

   When we went to light lanterns outside, it was snowing and the first lantern would not fly.  We tried another lantern that was heart shaped, and it actually flew.  It was a lot of fun!!! These kids are such a blessing from God.  Everyday they bring so much joy to our apartment.

 But Jesus said, “Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 15:19

Homemade Lanterns

This was a dragon the kids made for the skit.  It was impressive.

Different flavored rice flour balls.  The garlic and soy sauce one had a nice kick.

Market Madness

  Monday Donna and I took off to shop for groceries.  Shopping for groceries in Moldova is no small feat and is really quite enjoyable.  One of my favorite places to go is the Central Market or any market.  Central Market is located in downtown Chisinau and is filled with different vendors. The market is huge, outdoors, and has multiple sections with different specialties (i.e. vegetables, clothes, bread, dairy etc...)  When we arrived at the market, we got lost in the exciting atmosphere.  People were everywhere, the sellers were calling out from their stands, the pace was fast, and multiple languages were being spoken.  We met several lovely people. Elena, the kiwi lady, and the man selling the lemons were just a few.  What I love is that at all of these stands we got into wonderful conversations with them about family, friends, and where everyone is from.  Elena was a woman selling farm cheese.   Some of her family lives in the States, and she finds it very challenging and expensive to live in Chisinau,  By the end of our conversation with her, we were encouraging her in the Lord and we hope to visit her again soon.  She was so grateful we stopped to talk to her.  I was so grateful she gave us her time and was willing to open up to us.     

      One of the most comical aspects of our conversations and shopping is that we were all speaking different languages.  Donna is learning Romanian.  I am learning Russian, and all conversations tended to include a little bit of English.  It is comical because our language is progressing, but we are no where near where native speakers are. So each person we met had to have quite a bit of patience with us, and thankfully they did.  We laughed a lot because of the language challenge, and we got to know some pretty kind people.  We ended up spending a little over an hour in the market and successfully purchased all our fruits and vegetables.

Tollhouse Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

     This afternoon Jessie, Donna, and I thought we would go to the home and try to do something fun with the girls.  Our plan was to make chocolate chip cookies. They do not sell chocolate chips in Moldova, but I have heard multiple people at the home say they really like this American cookie.  So I had some chocolate chips, and figured we could enjoy them together. [ It has been really cool lately, God has been opening up more opportunities to spend quality time with the ladies.]  When we arrived, the house was like a wasteland.  So we began to collect the stuff we needed hoping girls would join. One of the staff members quickly told us we would need to double the recipe because everyone would want these cookies.  It was no problem to double the recipe, but I think something or somethings got missed :)  It was most likely the baking soda.  We ended up with about five people making the cookies including one of the kids, and it was hard to keep track of what went in and what did not.  All that to say, that the first tray of cookies took about 25 minutes to cook.  Yeah, they are a 12 minute cookie max. After we added more flour baking soda and increased the temperature on the stove, the second tray took the right amount of time, but they were the chewiest chocolate chip cookies I have ever had.  By the end, all the girls were downstairs.  By the time we left, all the cookies had been eaten.  I guess they weren't that bad.  Oh the joys of baking.
     It is so amazing to see what God is doing in these womens lives.  At the end off cookie making, the house was filled with chomping, singing, and laughter.  So good!!!
   I am really looking forward to this coming week.  I am going to be teaching on some difficult topics, so I could use some prayer.
Also, if anyone know why the cookies were so chewy and also hallow, I would love to know:)

Malldova

    Malldova is a gigantic mall here in Chisinau, that is probably as big and as nice as Tyson's Two in Fairfax.    In Moldova, extra care is spent on how you look and the mall supports this core value. Today we all (the women and staff from the home) went there to have some quality time.When we first arrived, we all devoured 10 pizzas. Yeah, it was that post-church hunger.  We then split up and went to the stores the woman wanted to go to.  My group consisted of Jessie and the younger girls.  We spent a lot of time imitating the manicans and looking at clothes.  It was wonderful to get to know the different styles of the girls. They were really relaxed and excited to show us what they liked.  This was one of the first times we have done something as a group out of the home.  I loved it!!!

This is the link to the mall: http://www.shoppingmalldova.md/ro/index.php

 If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast,but do not have love, I gain nothing. 1 Corinthinas 13:3

Tajikistan

       Today I learned all about Tajikistan.  In the morning, I left the home and headed to our house to help make a dish called Plov for the school kids. They are currently learning about Central Asia and Tanya was their special speaker. Tanya is one of my friends here who is originally from Tajikistan.  One of the dishes that is common in Tajikistan is Plov.  The first time I had this dish we were at the home and Tanya made it for a Christmas party.  It is so delicious and I had to refrain from eating all of it!!!!  The really cool thing about learning how to make the Plov with Tanya was that she taught me all about her culture and where she comes from.  Plov is a common food in Tajikistan.  All of the ingredients are prepared by the women or wife, and then the actual cooking is done by the man. Often times it is sold by small street vendors as well. It consists of meat (beef, lamb, or chicken), rice, carrots, a lot of oil, whole garlic, and onions.   It took about 4 hours to make!  While it was cooking she showed me pictures of her country and some of her traditions.  One of the interesting things I learned is that weddings are celebrated for an entire week. I also learned that New Years is a very big holiday for them and filled with a lot of festivities.This is similar to Moldova.  After it was finished, we all sat on blankets on the floor, and ate the goodness with our hands as is traditionally done in Tajikistan.  By the time it was done, we had about 25 people in our apartment eating Plov, so fun.   It was a great day!

Below are some pictures of what Plov looks like and what it is made in.

http://www.arbuz.com

Getting Messy

     Yesterday,  I taught the women at the  Home for the first time and all of them chose to attend (praise God).  The agenda was germs and hand washing.  I was a little nervous, because I would be explaining things through an interpreter  (Elena did an amazing job).  I also do not know everyones learning style and wanted the material to be palpable for them.  My main goal was to keep it interactive, and try to cover all the learning styles!  My lesson was 30 minutes maximum, and it started out with the question of where do you think diseases come from.  The last time I was in Moldova teaching and asked this question, I got all kinds of interesting answers. For instance, if a women is sitting on the floor, she will become infertile, eating grapefruit will give you breast cancer,  or most things are caused by the "Current", which seems to mean the outside air or wind.  Yesterday the responses were much different although the wind was still attributed to causing a lot of diseases.  In order to help them understand the nature of germs, I had two of them poor Sprite on their hands and let it dry.  Then I asked the other women, if they had not seen me pour the Sprite on their hands would they think anything is on their hands?  They all answered with an emphatic, No.  You could see the light bulb clicking for several, now understanding that just because you cannot see something doesn't mean it does not exist.  In addition, although the "Current" might carry the germs, it is not responsible for the disease.  One of the girls then said.  if we could see all the germs on people, we would probably want to live in bubbles.  The whole room erupted in laughter, and everyone was looking at each other as if they were covered with germs.   It was pretty hilarious. At the end of the lesson, we all crowded into the bathroom and practiced washing our hands, while singing happy birthday to make sure we scrubbed long enough.

     One of the things that is said in this culture, when someone does not like something, is that it is not beautiful,  you are not being beautiful. I have rarely heard the phrases you are being bad or that is gross or ugly.   Pouring sprite on your hands would be considered a non-beautiful thing.  It was so fun to watch them be messy even though they thought it was not beautiful.  We had a blast!!!!

Lessons from Manicotti

   Tonight we spent the evening at Nancy's house making Manicotti for dinner.  I have never made Manicotti before so this was a new sort of adventure and one I enjoyed very much.  I know you might not think cooking would be that good but it was.  As we were making the pasta shell that you have to roll the cheese into, we notice that many of the shells were broken, some with very obvious chunks out of the shell.  Other shells had more subtle breaks that you couldn't see unless you were really staring at it.  As we were rolling and deciding whether to salvage the broken shells, I was reminded of  how many of the people around me are broken.  It was funny because neither of us felt like the shells were not worth it, were better in the trash. We felt we could work with it. Likewise God never thought I was a waste, never thinks the women I am working with would be better in the trash.  I was almost in tears rolling Mannicotti (I know pretty funny) and remembering how each person is special to God. He does not give up on any of us.  I know, lessons from God while making Manicotti I never expected it.

The Manicotti was delicious and the fellowship was wonderful!!!

I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; 

   your works are wonderful, 

   I know that full well. Psalm. 139:14

Pedestrian Struck

    This week was crazy, but yet, so good.  God was all over it.  At the beginning of the week, we saw a kid laying in the middle of the road, after just getting hit by car.  He was about ten and did not look like he was able to get up.  After doing a quick assessment of the area (mainly, was it safe to get out of the car) Jessie and I jumped out of the car.  Unfortunately car accidents are pretty common here, since people drive pretty crazy, and pedestrians don't seem to pay attention to on-coming traffic.  Yeah, I am not exactly sure what caused this accident, but my heart stopped when I saw that it was a kid, and he was not moving. When we got to him,  I asked him a lot of questions and quickly moved him out of the street.  He allowed me to take care of him.  Praise the Lord, he had only a small cut on his wrist, road rash on his face, and a large bruise on the back of his head.  I love how God orders are footsteps.  At the exact moment that kid was hit, God had nurse there to help him, with an interpreter (Jessie :).  He is good!!!  We left him to the care of the medics, which were arriving when we were leaving.
     My week ended a lot better.  Friday we all headed over to the restoration home to celebrate Christmas again, and one of the girl's graduations(woo, hoo).  The staff made all sorts of traditional Moldovan/ Tajik food, and it was delicious.The house was complete chaos, but it was full of a lot of joy and laughter.  I got choked up quite a few times watching the kids and women open their presents.
     I am feeling extremely blessed and in awe that I am able to be a part of this work here.  I start teaching more in the home this coming Friday.  I am super excited but would appreciate pray.

Caroling on Christmas

     Yesterday we celebrated Orthodox Christmas.  In Moldova Christmas is celebrated in the 25th of December and the 7th of January.  It has been really nice to celebrate Christmas for an entire month and then some.  We started the day off attending a packed service at a local charismatic church.  The service consisted of preaching and beautiful choir and instrumental music.  The orchestra consisted of violins, cello, piano, accordions, and mandolins. We sat in the balcony and, for close to 3.5 hours, enjoyed the Christmas service in Russian and Romanian.  It was so good. 

     After service our team headed over to Seasons in Malldova and had a delicious meal. From their we headed to the North Bus Station where we had no clue how to get to, but thankfully our friend Curtis did. We were going to one of the towns to go Christmas caroling, which would start around 8:00 pm.  When we arrived, we met up with a youth group at one of the churches and then began to go to different house singing Christmas carols in Romanian.  I have not had much practice in Romanian so the words that I sang were all wrong, but by the end I had a pretty good handle on some of the songs.  We ended up getting multiple food gifts from the families we visited which we ended up eating later at the church around 11:30.  Everyone was very kind and welcoming. Jessie and I ended up staying overnight with a family from the church who were extremely sweet.  I had a wonderful time!

I am looking forward to being back at the home this coming week.  I can't wait to see the ladies