Finally Here
Our team arrived in Cornesti last Monday afternoon. The ministry site we are working at doubles as a very outreach-oriented church and an orphanage. The church hosts a Kids Time every weekday, sewing classes, and lessons on substance abuse and how to overcome it.
While the majority of our team is staying at the orphanage, a few of us have split off into the homes of some of the locals. Me and the rest of the girls on my team are staying with our contact, Pastor Vitali, and his family. It’s been really eye-opening to see how the people of Cornesti live on a daily basis, and help out in as many ways as possible. Here are a few projects currently underway:
The Green House
Just behind the church there is a large plot of land with a few gardens, chickens, and “beavers” that look an awful lot like muskrats to me. The idea is to build a greenhouse in this area to make the orphanage self-sustainable through daily food consumption and selling the produce at the local market. This past week we have been hoeing the land, picking vegetables, and butchering chickens. Thankfully I did not have to partake in the latter part of that listing!
Kids Time
Our afternoons’ are spent with the kids. This typically encompasses playing games, telling Bible stories, singing songs, and often ends up at the lake so the kids can cool off. This is such a great time for us just to show some love to children who come from some pretty tough living situations – some of them are even left to fend for themselves because the parents are no longer in the picture.
Since they’re not used to the attention, it was challenging at first to get some of the young ones to open up. Each day brings progress however, and they are really starting to warm up to us. What about the language barrier? Great question. Two of the local girls working with us (Veronica and Ana) have been our translators during these sessions, and you would be amazed at how much you can do with hand gestures and a big smile!
Spreadin’ the Word
Church is a lot different here. In America, the church looks for ways to get involved in the community, build and sustain members, and show people how to live out their faith actively in an environment where Christianity is viewed skeptically.
Here in the third world, they are begging for prayer just to keep peace in the community. Just within the last few days, one of the priests tried to drunkenly attack Pastor Vitali (our contact) in the alley, the mayor had to be talked down because he was so unhappy with us “stirring the water” by our presence, and the owners of the marketplace located on the same street as the church have taken Vitali to court, insisting that they should not be legally allowed to stay in this building due to “interference” with the market that runs every Wednesday and Sunday morning.
After the priest incident which involved all of our guys being taken back to the Orthodox Church in the middle of the night for a “meeting” my team went over and cleaned the church as a gesture of friendship. Since that time, we have seen Priest Gregory out and about, and he smiles and says “Hello!” in English which I think means he is trying. Baby steps!
Fun Facts of Cornesti:
-bike pumps are used on vehicles
-crosswinds are said to kill you
-sitting on cold cement makes you unfertile
-playing cards are highly frowned upon
-Well water is hand drawn for everything, and very limited
-It is so hilly you may find yourself in a van for 10 minutes before they even turn it on….(!!)
-“goodbye” in Romanian is “Peca” which has an alarmingly similar sound to my name, making introductions come across less friendly than I would like
-horse drawn wagons and Mercedes are the two most popular forms of transportation
**Internet is short and sweet here, so I apologize for the minimal communication on my end this month. We also can't do pictures for now since its too many mgs! I'll throw them up as soon as possible!**
