The first Sunday we were in Moldova at our ministry site, a group of visitors came from a village about two hours from Firladeni, the name of which I cannot remember, much less spell. Their preacher preached, and 4 men came and sang and played guitar. It was some of the most beautiful singing I’ve ever heard. I put a short clip of them in my Moldova video! Anyway, my team sang some songs, and I played the harp that Sunday (and every Sunday after that. . . and every Thursday night. . . and other times, too. . . ). Our visitors were enthralled by the harp, and we stayed after the service (well, that’s because we lived at the church) and I played a few more pieces for them. Before leaving, they invited us to come visit their church to preach, sing, and of course, play the harp. We wanted to accept their invitation, but we weren’t really sure if we could, since we might not have the time or means of getting there. We told them we would consider it and let them know.
By the middle of that week, we had decided that we wouldn’t go, because we would have to miss the service at our own church, and getting there would be difficult as well. Long story short, there was a miscommunication, and the other village church was under the assumption that we were coming. Someone called from the village and said, “We were told that someone was coming here to play the harp.” Okay, so it went from being about all 6 of us to being about me. And my harp.
We felt bad about the miscommunication and were able to make plans to visit the church later in the month. Here in Moldova, the three days that follow Easter are a holiday for everyone. There is no school and no work for the most part. We made plans to visit the church on Monday evening following Easter, visit their church service, and stay the night.
We rehearsed a few of our group songs, and Scott prepared a sermon. When we arrived at the church, the men from the singing group were there getting ready and were there to greet us. The arrangements for the service basically went like this. He said, “The group can sing a song or two, and the we want the harp to play 5 or 6 songs.” Okay. . .
So my performance that evening was probably the first time most of them had seen or heard a harp. After a few pieces I began playing “As the Deer,” and the whole choir behind me started singing the song in Romanian! I can’t say that’s ever happened before!
And, by the way, Scott preached a fabulous sermon on God’s unconditional grace and love, assisted by Vicky, our wonderful translator.
After the service, we were taken “sight-seeing,” where we visited a war memorial and had a beautiful view of a river. Someone brought a guitar and we sang a few songs by the river (also demonstrated in my Moldova video).
Afterward, we were taken to where we would stay for the night. The church has a facility that is part hospital, part medical training facility, and part youth facility. The room where we stayed was actually a hospital room. Quite a few people from the church came with us, and we were served dinner and continued with the worship music.
The next morning, some of the staff and patients gathered, and we gave them a little mini-concert.
That afternoon, we attended a youth fellowship in a beautiful wooded area beside a river. We played volleyball and had a picnic, complete with homemade fruit juices, homemade breads, and sausage. It was an overall wonderful two days, and the improvement of the weather was an added bonus, considering our first two weeks in the rain!
