Wednesday, April 6
Today was our first day of ministry, which seems to consist of two things – seeds and kids. We will be helping the church pastor plant a vegetable that apparently grows in one month. We are also working with a group of kids and teens that comes to the church everyday for lunch. We will play games, sing songs, and tell Bible stories with them each day. Finally, we’ll be teaching English classes to the village kids and teens who want to come.
There are miscellaneous church programs for different groups on Thursday and Saturday nights and Sunday mornings that we will be helping with as well.
So here’s how our first day went.
We had breakfast around 8:30 to be ready for work around 9. We received a call and learned that the pastor’s wife had to be taken to the hospital in the middle of the night and that he would not be joining us for the work. Instead, two field workers arrived and we bundled for the cold and went outside. There wasn’t much for us to do at first, because there were not enough tools. Eventually, though, we began planting the vegetable seeds, one by one by one by one. I have a new appreciation for people who spend their entire lives planting. I have a new appreciation for the people we passed in India who were knee-deep in the rice fields, day after day. After a few hours, my hands were numb with cold and my knees were aching from squatting down for even a short time.
We successfully planted two full rows of seeds. Apparently, we have eight to plant altogether. It was time to stop for lunch, so we went inside to the heat. We still had a few minutes before lunch, and we needed a few supplies, so Vicky and I went to the store. We walked through the mud to the corner shop and bought supplies for English class, some dish soap, and a piece of plastic to put our muddy shoes on, so we don’t have to keep scrubbing the floor by the door all month. The shop didn’t have any big chart paper that I needed for English, but the store owner told us where to go to get some. So we left and crossed to another store. When we entered, there were three or four elderly ladies hanging around the store, and Vicky explained that we needed paper because we were starting English classes at the church in the center of the village. One of the ladies, dressed as Moldavians are with her overcoat and head scarf, started questioning Vicky about this “church in the center of town.” She told her, “We have a church in this village. Why should our children go to another church for English classes?” She proceeded to question Vicky as to why members of this church do not cross themselves, or why they wash clothes on Sunday. After we left the store and had to return to the first store, she actually followed us and continued questioning us about the church we were working with.
We had lunch when we returned, and then it was time for the kids’ program. There were about seven kids, ranging in age from seven to probably fourteen. Vicky, in her amazing ways, led three games with them. I taught the creation story, and we sang a song with them.
Afterward, we had a little time to rest before English class at 5:00. At 5:10, we had 4 kids. We waited, and started class at 5:20. At 5:30, about 5 more kids trickled in. At 5:37, the last 3 showed up. Oh, Moldova time. Much like India.
Class was fine, as was the rest of the evening. We enjoyed a pasta dinner, team worship, and bed.
Here’s a video about working in the fields planting seeds, which I have updated since writing this blog. Enjoy!!
after a long day of planting
