I've heard recently from fellow racers how difficult it is travel to different countries, establish relationshpis, and then leave one month later. Initially it was hard for me to leave my newfound friends and the communities we had become a part of, but I knew it was going to happen. I knew I would miss them, but I hoped to keep in touch. I still reminisced about all of the laughs we shared and the new places I've been. I look back and appreciate the growth I've seen take place in myself and in my teammates, but at the end of the day, I'm always pretty excited for the next country. You can imagine my surpise when it hit me; Moldova changed everything.
The first week of Moldova wasn't the best for our team. For some reason we all came into the month a little irritated with each other. None of us were full of patience nor were we grace-giving. We weren't able to communicate with our contacts so we had no idea what our schedule would be. That being the case, we didn't use our time very wisely. We had internet in the church we were staying at which we were very glad about! At the end of the first week in Chisinau, we decided that something was going to have to change or this would not be a very good month. After that night there was a 180 degree difference in us individually and as a team. Instead of spending all of our time goofing off on the internet we began to find creative ways that each of us connects with God. One person took up playing the piano, I read more academic articles, one person researched fasting, and another started her day earlier to have alone time with God.
Once we began filling up on God we were able to extend grace to one another. We also started having more fun with each other and laughing with one another again. After this, the situation with our contacts drastically improved. We didn't settle for non-communication anymore. We realized some hand signals and sounds are universal. So, we have gotten very good at sign language over the last month. This is basically how we communicated, through sign language and pointing.
It's also very helpful for communication if one has a translator! About two days after we decided to change our month and our perspective, six new people arrived at the church. One of the persons was a guy named Vadim. Vadim and I are BEST friends! He is Pastor Nikolai's son and is going to university in Canada; he came home for one month to visit. During Vadim's time in Canada he learned English. Now he speaks English SO well! Through Vadim we were able to communicate with many of our Moldovan friends who don't speak English. We laughed so much together and he went out of his way to make our stay in Chisinau great!
Me and Vadim!
Also, the day after we decided to change our month, a group of men from Germany arrived. They stayed at the church as well. Since we ate all our meals together we got to know them very well. They were all so open to us and wanted to share their stories with us. The Germans like to worship before breakfast and continued to want us to lead them in some songs (even though we tried to convince them we are not musically gifted). These guys also were not fluent in English, but you would be amazed at what one can find out through broken languages and hand signals! It's crazy how invested and close you can feel to someone without even speaking the same language! Some of the best, funniest times we had were learning and teaching each other our own language. The day they left I was so terribly sad; It was a rainy day, how ironic!?
The German guys building a playground from scratch!
Moldova made me realize how difficult it really is to establish relationships and then have to leave them. It's so sad because most of the time we will probably never see each other again, and not at all for lack of care. But it is crucial to remember that we are the body of Christ and we will be reunited again! We are so blessed to be united with believers all over the world, and we need not speak the same language to become great friends!
One of the greatest things I am learning on this trip is how much love extends to all peoples. I don't need to speak the same language or have the same background as someone to truly connect with someone. This month we have lost a lot of our English because we spent so much time signing and learning so many new words in different languages. This month I learned some German, Russian, and Romanian. So I would like to leave you all with some new words in my vocabulary: Gutten Morgan (Good morning), Buna Ziwa (Good Afternoon), and Somnique Dulche (Sweet Dreams)!
From Left to Right: Dasha, Philipp, Luida, Mihala, and Valeria.
