Meeting Moldova

Women's Day

2011-03-09T03:01:00.000-08:00

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

2011-03-05T14:41:00.000-08:00

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

2011-02-24T22:49:00.000-08:00

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

2011-02-20T15:02:00.000-08:00

   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

2011-02-17T22:00:00.000-08:00

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

2011-02-09T11:29:00.000-08:00

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

2011-02-05T21:00:00.000-08:00

   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

2011-01-30T10:19:00.000-08:00

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

2011-01-27T21:00:00.000-08:00

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

2011-01-22T05:31:00.000-08:00

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

2011-01-21T11:12:00.000-08:00

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

2011-01-15T03:46:00.000-08:00

    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

2011-01-07T05:25:00.000-08:00

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

Count Your Blessings

2010-12-31T16:19:00.000-08:00

Christmas has been amazing with the family. As I was reflecting on the way back , I felt so blessed that I have been able to work at the home in Moldova. I have learned so many things about myself and the Lord. It is amazing how He writes our stories.
I spent Christmas in Ney York with my family. We ended up getting snowed in for several days which gave me lots of time to talk to my grandparents. It was so good just to be here and to be with them. I return to Moldova on Tuesday, and I am so excited to see the women, my team, and all my friends again. Have an amazing New Year.

A Fun Recital

2010-12-17T21:00:00.000-08:00

Tonight we had the Christmas recital for the school kids who share our apartment. Donna (the teacher and our close friend) asked us to sing in the recital. I get really nervous singing in front of people, but here, I have never had the option not to sing in front of people:) It has been really good for me (We are also part of the worship team at the international church). We ended up singing "Down to the River to Pray" and "Sweet Little Jesus Boy" acapella. I had to have some major self control to keep from shedding tears during "Sweet Little Jesus Boy", it is such a great song. "Down to the River to Pray" was a song that all of us sung one night when we were washing dishes at Donna's and thats how it became part of the Christmas recital. The kids did vocal and instrumental solos as well as a dance routine. They were super cute and very excited. My life would not be the same here without there little faces and high energy. The whole recital was a success and a blessing to see. After the recital, we walked outside into a winter wonderland. It was a great night!

I will praise the LORD according to His righteousness,
And will sing praise to the name of the LORD Most High.-Psalm 7:17

Nancy

2010-12-16T13:59:00.000-08:00

Today is Nancy’s birthday and most of you don't really know who she is. You ever meet those people who change your life by how they live theirs. Nancy is one of those people as are several other people I have met here. Nancy is the president of the home I am working at. She is officially my boss, but also a great friend and mentor. If you just met Nancy, you would think wow what a cool, strong women who is not afraid to trust God. She is all those things but she is also a kind, caring, compassionate woman who spends every day of her life pouring into others lives. Two weeks ago, I got to sit next to her in a staff meeting and watched as she cried over one of the woman. She is beautiful! I was thinking the other day that the Lord knew what He was doing when He chose Nancy. He must have known He would be able to love through her, create through her, and cry through her. She reflects our Lord! How very blessed am I to serve with someone who walks in obedience to Christ!!! I am so glad you were born Nancy.

Night with the Girls

2010-12-15T00:00:00.000-08:00

Tonight we spent the night at the home. When we arrived, everyone was in a bit of a frenzy because tomorrow we celebrate Nancy's (the president) birthday. I was pretty excited to be able to be a part of the chaos. Our night was amazing. It has been a while since I was able to really spend time talking to several of the women and I was concerned about that. I always pray on the way and last night was the same. I ended up having some of the best conversations with several of the woman that I have had since being here. When we got there the director gave me the keys to the craft cabinets and said later help the girls make cards. Most of the girls wanted to make cards for Nancy to show their appreciation for her love and great care. You would think card making would be a great activity to do with the ladies, but I was thinking I don't speak Russian, no not me, don't ask me :) Yeah had some super insecure moments, and then I got really excited. We had so much fun. Most of the women in the home made cards, and we had a table full of craft stuff. The cards were beautiful and they were proud of their creations. I am always amazed at how creative this bunch is. By the end of the card session, there were stamps on people rather then the paper, periods of random singing, and a lot of laughter. I think Nancy is going to lover her surprise birthday party tomorrow.

By the way, we have heat!!!!!

Chatting with Artists

2010-12-11T14:32:00.000-08:00

Today was full of fun events. In the morning, we headed over to the Pentecostal Union for the dress rehearsal for Christmas in Egypt. Jessie and I are part of the set crew for the children's Christmas play at the International Church. It was complete chaos at points, but the play is delightful. During one song, we were singing a Christmas carol, and I definitely had tears in the eyes. I am so grateful that Christ was born!! After three hours of kids, costumes, and singing, we headed over to one of our favorite places to eat, Robert's Coffee. It is one of the restaurants in Chisinau where you can get amazing salad, which I often crave here. It was nice to have quality time with Jessie as well. Our goal for after Robert's was to visit the art market and do some serious Christmas shopping.

The art market is one of those places where you could simply walk through and buy stuff with minimal interruptions, or you can look at stuff and get to know the sellers and the artist. Even though we were focused, we went with the ladder. One of the artist named Victor (he is in his 60's) is a musician. As soon as we came to his stand, he remembered us and we each received a kiss on the cheek :) He then told us about how he was doing and gave us two apples and free hats and scarves. Yeah, he thought the scarf would look nice on me so I had to keep it (really sweet). He also played all his instruments for us! Another stand owner asked if I spoke Spanish and when I said, yes, a little, he started telling us all about the art he was selling and how he learned Spanish. Evidently he had lived in Cuba for several years. I never got why he lived there but maybe next time. Near the end of the market, we stopped by one of my favorite artist's stands whose son was selling his art. One of the pictures was interesting and I asked what it meant. In Russian he explained it to us. I caught some of it and Jessie was able to tell me more, but the story behind the picture is still missing pieces. We ended the conversation with him telling me that his father is doing well, and he was thankful that we asked. Everyday the artists are outside selling their goods, whether it is sunny or snowing. I admire this because it was freezing today. I was so grateful to be able to get to know the people we met today. I am praying that I will be able to continue to get to know those who run and work in the art market.

We ended our day at Jack's (a team member's son) 4th birthday party at a Pizza place with 20 kids and lots of pizza. He had a blast. By the end of today, I was feeling extremely blessed.

Town Hall Meeting

2010-12-09T11:11:00.001-08:00

   A couple of nights ago we went to the US ambassadors home for a town hall meeting. I had taught earlier that day and wasn't really wanting to go to the meeting. But I ended up there, and it was awesome. The American ambassador spoke about his time in Moldova, and his hopes for the country. We were also given safety precautions from the security officer and a general idea of the country's crime. The meeting was held in a beautiful house and about 30 people attended from the US government and other ngos. At the end, we were served delicious food and were able to mingle with the other people. I ended up speaking with two women working with behavioral kids at a local orphanage who want me to come and teach on health issues. I would love to do this!
   One of the topics the safety and security officer talked about was the low rates of crime in Moldova. Praise the Lord, I have experienced the kindness of the people here and for the most part believe the crime rates to be low against random strangers. However I was a little leery of the statement, due to the seemingly high levels of corruption in Moldova, lack of infrastructure, and widely known inconsistency of the police department. I will not expound on all these points, but I tend to think that the under reporting of crime is happening particularly in issues of familial crime such as domestic violence. I would have liked to have known where they get these statistics.
   Sorry, I will get off my soap box :) The town hall meeting was excellent, and I am so glad I went.

Isa. 40:11 He tends his flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young.

Cooking Moldovan Style

2010-12-03T13:01:00.000-08:00

Today was a great day!!!

Started the day at the Freedom Home cooking lunch with the cook and some of the women. What a blessing! I am learning how to cook Moldovan traditional food in order to be able to teach applicable lessons on nutrition in the Spring. The goal is teach the women healthy eating habits and also ways to cook the food they like so much in a healthy manner. I am also grateful to have this time to spend with the ladies and get to know Maria the cook better. Even though she speaks no English and I speak very little Russian, she was able to teach me how to make beef cutlets. Yeah, never made a cutlet before, but they are pretty tasty. She also taught me all the Russian words for the ingredients. So in addition to food lessons, I also had a Russian lesson. God is good! Maria is very kind and already has a good relationship with many of the woman even though she has only been there a short time. She is truly an answer to prayer.
Tonight we had some friends over to our apartment to eat dinner and watch a movie. Elena, Elena, Elyssa, Jessie, and I had a lot of fun spending time together. It was nice to be able to have friends over to our house and bless them. Sweet fellowship!!!

Sashka Continued

2010-12-02T09:08:00.000-08:00

Yesterday we had our first real snow, and it was beautiful!

We were able to see the snow falling while we walked to the Freedom Home to spend the night. Last night I was able to use my nursing skills. I gave shots, did an assessment and taught about upper respiratory infections. It was wonderful ! This week I also began teaching the staff, and I think it went really well. Everyone participated and I believe people were learning. I feel very blessed to teach these woman.
Today we had a pretty relaxed day. In the morning, we hung out at the home. This afternoon I had Russian and my teacher spent the majority of the time teaching me medical vocabulary in Russian. I don't think I have laughed that hard in a while. You can only imagine :) I now know how to do a mini assessment in Russian.

Our kitten Sasha is doing very well. She has successfully been de flead thanks to Jessie's and Curtis's (a friend working in the Ukraine orphanages) help. She is loved by all the school children who are in our apartment during the daytime. Every morning they pray for her to get completely healthy, and ask me how she is doing. She is gaining weight and recently started playing. I am extremely grateful to have her, and appreciate all the people who are showing her love.

Day 1, before bath time.

falling in love

I'm clean. This was after her second set of baths. We successfully de-flead her after four hours of surgery :)

Today, sitting on Uncle Don's lap

I will both lie down in peace, and sleep; for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety. Psalms 4:8

Sasha the Cuteness

2010-11-29T02:22:00.000-08:00

Two days ago at around 10:00p I was approached in the entrance to our apartment building by the cutest stray kitten, and she followed me up the stairs to my apartment . Actually she looked really mangy, she was infested with fleas, she was dragging a leg, anorexic, and her tail look like it was run over by a car. I was moved with compassion. Sasha just received her flea medicine and is eating like a champ. She is no longer limping, but her tail is still struggling. She is super sweet and is called sweet by Jessie in Russian at times. She is beautiful. I am not sure what the plan is for her past tomorrow but I am glad she found me. I am praying to get her healthy.

One of the many things I like about Moldova is you never really know what a day will bring or how it will go :) Sasha is evidence of this.

Thanksgiving Fun

2010-11-26T12:26:00.001-08:00

So I realized that I have never spent a Thanksgiving without my family. This was my first, and it was great. Don't get me wrong I missed my family terribly and had intermittent moments of nostalgia and sadness, but Thanksgiving was a blast with my team. For two days prior, we were all in some way preparing for the ridiculous delicious feast we were going to have on Thursday. We ended spending about eight hours together playing games, eating, and laughing on Thanksgiving.

On Wednesday I went grocery shopping with the ladies from the the restoration home at a store similar to Costco called Metro. We bought an absorbatant amount of food and it was entertaining to see people's reaction to the two overflowing carts. One of the children joined us from the home and we had her sitting in the front of the cart. Yeah I know, not that odd- right, wrong, people just stared at her in the cart. Unlike the states, the grocery carts are not kid friendly. People hold their kids or they walk through the store. It was pretty funny to see the reactions. On a more serious note, this little girl brings much joy to the home. You can often hear her learning people's names, calling the dog, or repeating phrases. She is deeply loved by her mom and their relationship is a blessing to see and be a part of. I love this kid.
Today was rainy and extremely cold outside. It is starting to feel like winter, woo hoo. We had Russian lessons in the afternoon and ended up going to our tutors house for the lesson. This was the first time we have been to her house. She showed us all the rooms and her plate collection. Then we had coffee and jam (homemade jam) and talked. It was wonderful !!!

We are supposed to get snow tomorrow :)

Odessa

2010-11-21T14:22:00.000-08:00

This past weekend we were supposed to go to a anti-trafficking conference in Odessa with the staff. However the conference was canceled, and we went to Odessa for a retreat instead. We had a blast!! Odessa, Ukraine is a beautiful sea port city with a lot of history and astounding architecture. We stayed in a hostile in the middle of the city and we were able to walk everywhere. We traveled by train for five hours from Chisinau, Moldova on Thursday and stayed until Saturday. It was so nice to be able to spend quality time getting to know the staff more outside of work.

The people we met in Odessa were extremely friendly. The afternoon we went to the Black Sea there was a older man picking up smooth rocks and collecting them. I was sitting there watching him, and he kindly came over to us and gave us each a rock that he had picked. He was so sweet :) I kept the rock.

In the three days we were there I had a lot of chances to get to know the staff better and was able to see a new beautiful place. God is good!!!

Some photos from Odessa:

Friends

There was a time when Odessa had a large Jewish population. We saw the Star of David over a random door frame

The first night walking through the city, we were able to see the beauty of the city.

On the train, heading home

Presents from Odessa

So this is Love

2010-11-12T03:15:00.000-08:00

This past week was so good!!! After a really stressful weekend, we were able to find a place of peace at both the home and our own homes. On Wednesday, I spent the night at the home and was feeling a little nervous about going. In spite of my nervousness, I knew God was with us! When we arrived you could immediately feel the peace that for several weeks had not really been in the house. Throughout the night we all hung around together, talked, and laughed. It was nice to see that the fear had subside and everyone was feeling safe again. I hated that they were feeling afraid at all.
One thing I consistently find myself asking God is to show me how show and give love to these woman. He has been faithful, really faithful, in answering this prayer. Wednesday morning started with me checking heads for lice, and then I asked one of the woman if I could do her hair. When she thought she would have to do it, she was shying away from the hair time. She did not have the energy to do it herself. Through a translator, I told her that in fact I wanted to do it, and she wouldn't have do anything accept sit there and trust me with her hair :) She immediately lit up and ran to the bathroom where she wanted me to do it. While this was happening, I was thinking about how much I need my mom or other woman to love on me like this, and I was so grateful to be able to love her in this way. By the time we left the home, she walked (and at times skipped) us out to where we were to pick up public transportation. Please pray that our relationship will continue to grow.

God is showing me that even though I cannot always express my love in words (I like to communicate) I can in action. He fills my love cup!

"Typical" Week

2010-11-09T02:00:00.000-08:00

Every morning I usually have a basic plan of what I am supposed to do for the day. However what usually starts out as a plan quickly changes. So let me give you a typical week in Chisinau, Moldova for Sarah. (I know people like details)

Monday- We work on the grant proposal, and do everything and anything else we can possibly get done. I usually study Russian on this day as well, it includes watching cartoons, written exercises, and speaking out loud.

Tuesdays- I head over to the rehabilitation home and spend time with the residents. We also have staff meetings. I love this day!!! I end the day with Russian lessons and some quality chat time with Jessie and Donna.

Wednesday- Continued work on written projects during the day time then we head over to the home to assist the night workers for the night.

Thursday- We spend the morning with the women and then head to Russian lessons.

Friday- We go to the home and do what they need and also spend quality time with the children

On weekends we usually have some free time on Saturdays and then Sunday is church.

*I am finding that this schedule is tentative based off the needs of the home, our team, and deadlines for projects. It has been good for me to see the importance of relying on the Lord for peace and not my circumstances.

So friends and family, honestly, this past week was insane which is why I did not post on Saturday, sorry. However God has been faithful and we (meaning the team and woman) have surfaced thus far unscathed. Please continue to pray for the home and the woman.

Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”-Matthew 11:28-30

a Casa

2010-10-31T10:27:00.000-07:00

Wow, this past week was crazy but good. I spent a lot of time at the home and was asked by the staff to move up the date for when I begin health teaching. So instead of next month as originally planned, I will be starting in two weeks. For all the nurses out there, I plan to teach about hand hygiene first. Yeah I know it probably sounds boring, but it will be a lot of fun. In addition to the women, I think a lot of the staff will also be joining the sessions. Speaking of the staff, we are becoming very close. Some of Jessie and I's closest friends here are from the staff at the home. It has been a joy to get to know and work with this staff.

Me and friends (also staff)

One challenging aspect of this work or ministry is that sometimes you feel absolutely helpless. Some of the issues are very hard to have answers for and often times you don't have answers. What has been so beautiful is to see God help our staff to find answers. We are not perfect but there is a realization that sometimes we have no clue what we are doing and that is ok.

Some of the projects Jessie and I are currently working on include: a grant proposal, home survey, health curriculum, and newsletter. Please pray for all of these projects.

But those who wait on the LORD

Shall renew their strength;

They shall mount up with wings like eagles,

They shall run and not be weary,

They shall walk and not faint.

Moldova is beautiful in the fall!

Working in a Warm Culture

2010-10-24T12:24:00.000-07:00

One of the books I am reading while here in Moldova is called From Foreign to Familiar. In this book, the author outlines some of the differences between "cold cultures" such as the USA and Germany, which value efficiency, production, etc.. and "warm cultures" like Moldova and Mexico. According to the author warm cultures tend to focus more on relationship building than on productivity. Although the average person on the street of Moldova is not initially smiling at you, once you talk to somebody, they are extremely kind and open. For instance, on the days I have had Russian lessons, Olga (my teacher) and I have spent a large portion of the time finding out about the others family. By our third lesson, it was like meeting up with an old friend. Although I am there to learn Russian, it is secondary to our relationship. It has been nice living in a warm culture where cultivating the relationship is extremely important. On the other hand, working in a" warm culture" when you come from a "cold culture" can be extremely challenging and at points frustrating. This past month God has been working with me on not having to always be doing something, or contributing, or being productive, or even trying to make things happen. He is showing me that I can work with the flow of the people as opposed to overruling situations or living in irritation. It has been very good !!! I mean that.
This past week we spent a lot of time getting to know more about the Home and the women we are working with. We attended our first staff meeting. I am moved to be working with such a loving group of people. It made me think about what a blessing it is to work with others who truly want the best for those they are taking care of even if it is taxing on them. It is God's work. I feel like my relationships are growing, and soon I will start teaching lessons on health in the home. This past month has given me the background information I have needed to understand more of the women's specific health needs and concerns. Please pray for the work here as this past week had a lot of challenges that are far from over. We need wisdom.
Oh yeah, Jessie and I got a refridgerator yesterday!!!

Disclaimer: This does not mean Americans do not value relationships :)

City Day

2010-10-15T14:04:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we attended Chisinau's City Day. City Day is held across Moldova in ever village on various days. After taking a long detour on the public transportation van, Jessie and I were about an hour late meeting Elena (a co-worker at the home) and her friends who had invited us to got to City Day with them. After getting over our embarrassment because we were so late, we got to enjoy City Day.

[You ever have those days where you are in a funk and you know the Lord is going to have to help your attitude if you are going to have a good day? Well, I was having one of those days.] When we met up with Elena and her friends, I was worn out and the day was far from over. What started off as a rough day, due to a lice scare, no electricity, and getting lost, ended up being one of the most memorable days I have had so far. All down the main street of the city were different street vendors selling clothes, food, art, jewelry etc... The streets were packed and people from all over Chisinau had come to celebrate their city. In between booths, there were different music performances ranging from American pop to Moldovan traditional dance. I had an amazing time, and I was so grateful to get to spend time with Elena her wonderful friends (Ana, Irena, and Sergio). We ended the festivities with authentic Moldovan food. It was such a blessing to see and get to experience the people of Moldova celebrating and enjoying themselves.

Village Scenes

Consider it pure joy, my brother, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. -James 1:2-4

Becoming Staff

2010-10-10T03:15:00.000-07:00

Last week I was oriented to the home I will be working at for the months we are here. The director of the home asked us to become comfortable enough to be able to work overnight with the women once a week. Up until this point, most of my time at the home was spent getting to know the residence. With my limited language skills, this has been a bit of a challenge, but I feel like we have developed relationships. On Wednesday we spent our first night there and worked alongside one of the staff to learned the ropes. The night went extremely well and everyone seemed to know the routine. The next night Jessie and I were on our own. I was a bit nervous but trusting God for every minute of the night. Aside from an electrical fire, the night went very well. We played games, read the bible, ate, and just got to know each other better. I had a wonderful time and was sad to leave the next day:)

Smiling

2010-10-05T13:52:00.000-07:00

Sunday we went to the break away Republic of Transnistria to attend church. It is amazing how a place of so much political unrest appeared very safe. We were able to enter the area without any difficulty, due to the good relationship of the director of Teen Challenge with the officials. We were meeting with a team who came from the US who came to work on the teen challenge center. After church we were invited back to the directors and his family's home for lunch. He has eight children and a mother-in-law who lives with him and his wife. We all packed into a cozy dining room and ate chicken, potatoes, and bread. One of the ways Moldovan's show love and hospitality is through the gift of food.
After our time in Transnistria, we headed back to Chisinau to have dinner with people who attended the Human Trafficking conference. This was such an amazing dinner. I learned more about the initiatives that different Christians are taking all over the world to help confront this growing problem. I sat next to a woman who is running a home in Seattle and another girl who is reaching out to women in Amsterdam. It was amazing !!!
On a personal note: I am really enjoying Moldova and the work I am doing here. Just about everyday God does a miracle in my life and I am so grateful to be a part of His work. One of the cultural traits that has been hard for me to adjust to is the lack of smiling. Rarely will you see people smiling at a stranger or even at loved ones. This may sound like a relatively minor issue, but it is strange for me and can be harsh. I really want to smile at people and show them love in that way but I do not want to offend. So as I prayed about it, I have been reading Jeremiah. In the first chapter, Jeremiah is being called to follow God's call. Jeremiah is young and fearful. God reassures Jeremiah and tells him to not be afraid because He is with him. I am not sure how friendly people were in Jeremiah's time but in verse 8 God says,

Do not be afraid of their faces, For I am with you to deliver you, says the Lord.

He knows our smallest doubts and fears and knows what we need. I was so glad to get this verse and I am now smiling at people.

2010-10-01T15:00:00.000-07:00

This is our room. We love it!

Those curtains are mustard yellow but they are amazing.

Our view from the window.

Learning Russian

2010-09-30T13:25:00.000-07:00

Hello Friends!!! Every day I have been in Moldova I have learned so many new things. Today we spent the day planning for a jewelry sale we are doing at a trafficking conference on Friday. We inventoried the jewelry yesterday and discussed how we would display it. Tomorrow we head over to the Home to finish up the jewelry display and come up with the game plan. Please pray for this process. This afternoon I had my first Russian lesson and it was great. My tutor's name is Olga, and she is extremely kind and funny . Today was her birthday so we got her tea and chocolate. She was pretty excited. My first Russian session was pretty intense, and I am going to have to study a lot to become fluent. I am trusting the Lord for the Russian language !!!

I will post pictures of my apartment tomorrow :) We got cabinets to today!

Quality time in the hospital

2010-09-28T13:43:00.000-07:00

Sorry I was not able to write yesterday the website wasn't working. However the last two days have been fun filled and full of challenging times. Yesterday was the beginning of the Visa process which included a visit to the hospital clinic with Jessie (my roomate), Emily, Igor (our interpreter and guide), and myself. We walked into this ancient gray building which had hallways lined with doors. Through each white door you would find different specialties such as dermatology, Psychiatry, etc... In order to live in the country you have to be checked off by physicians of the different specialties and undergoe a series of blood tests. Most of the specialties consisted of a doctor asking us if we had a problem related to the specialty, no physical exam was done. I was kind of amazed from a nursing persepctive but also very appreciative that they did not have to examine me. This total process took about two days at the clinic. Praise God I am healthy and Moldova should be safe with me living in the country. After hospital time today, we headed to a restaurant with all kinds of stuffed crepes. It was delicious. We ended back at our apartment after Jessie and I did our first ride on the public transportation van (the Rutiera) alone. I was praying a throughout the ride that we would know where to tell the van driver to stop since there are no street signs. God is good; we arrived home!!!

The Lord says I will guide you along the best pathway for your life. I will advise you and watch over you. Psalms 32:8

All about the apartment

2010-09-26T13:55:00.000-07:00

Today we went to a store called Metro (similar to Costco) to outfit our cute apartment. Jessie and I are sharing an apartment with a school. I thought we were going to have our room in the classroom, but we actually have our own space. Each day we have been with a different couple from our team and they have shown us different aspects of the city. Today we were with Don and Beth. They are an awesome couple from Wisconsin, who drove us around to help us get what we needed for the apartment. The Lord definitely helped us get a lot of good stuff for excellent prices. One of our best purchases was mustard, yellow velvet curtains which are going to keep all the heat in our room. Don jerry rigged a rod and put wire around it to hang the curtains. Right now we don't have any heat, hot water, refrigerator, or working stove, but I could not have asked for a more beautiful apartment. The team has been taking excellent care of us.

His Grace is Sufficient!

Please continue to pray for us!!!

Whirlwind

2010-09-24T14:09:00.000-07:00

Today was an amazing day. Jessie and I spent the majority of the day touring around the city and learning about Moldovan culture. This included parks, government buildings, the art market, and restaurants. In addition we had our first introduction to Moldovan transportation which is 80% walking and 20% riding vans (completely packed with people) or buses. I am looking forward to the public transportation :)

Moldova's history is so rich. Elena, our new best friend and lovely blessing, tried to explain how Moldova became what it is now, but she even had a hard time explaining Moldova's complex history. One of the coolest places we went was a park near the center. When I came last year, I called it the internet park because it had free wifi. However we actually walked through the park this time, and throughout the park their were busts of famous people who Moldovan's view as heroes including: soldiers, poets, novelist, etc... I really enjoyed this. I felt that is gave me incite into what is important to people in Moldova.

Kishinev.info

We ended the day going to the local vegetable market (similar to a gigantic farmer's market) and then cooking at the Raatz's, our host family's house. The team I am working with here is amazing,!!! I will share more on them later. God is so good!!!

We arrived !

2010-09-23T06:03:00.000-07:00

Yey, we just arrived in Moldova. I forgot how beautiful this country is-vineyards, rolling hills, etc...I am so excited to be back! Tonight we have dinner with the boss and her family and then hopefully much needed sleep. I am walking around in a bit of a fog.

Meeting Jessie, my roomate in Moldova

2010-09-22T06:30:00.000-07:00

So I am headed for the small country of Moldova per God's calling. I am so excited to see what He is going to do. Yesterday I met my roommate, Jessie and we ate a HUGE breakfast. I was able to learn a lot about her passion for both God and the issue of human trafficking. We have a lot in common :)
I leave Wednesday, woo hoo.I feel so privileged to go to Moldova and be a part of such an awesome team. I am nervous but I know it is going to be amazing!

Please pray for Jessie and I's first week in Moldova.