Well, November has arrived and with it came fall and month 11 of our journey. It is bitter sweet to see November arrive. Our minds have started to fill with thoughts of home but our hearts are still here, connected to the race and the people we have met in Moldova. We are working and serving in a small village, Gura Bicului that has about 5,000 people.
Just like every month on the race we have been blessed beyond measure, and we are amazed at how well God is taking care of us in even the poorest of countries. Moldova is the poorest country in Europe and has spent the last 20 years being fought over by its neighbors. Most Moldovan people, especially those with education, try to leave Moldova as soon as they can, which leaves the country in a perpetual state of poverty.
Most people here live without running water in their homes and no heat. (It gets down to -40 degrees in the winter months!) Alcoholism runs rampant throughout the whole country and it tears many families apart. Children are not being fed, homes are falling apart around families, and pride, hypocrisy, and corruption are commonplace.
Our contacts this month, unlike most Moldovan’s, have decided to stay in Moldova and try and reach out to their community. Their community is resistant to their help and resents them for being “well off.” What the community doesn’t realize is that this family is not only pouring their own money into this community by building a center, but is getting aid from sponsors in England to help single mothers and orphans. The community doesn’t understand that this families end goal is to help this village and the people in it by giving back what they have been blessed with.
John and Diana are young couple with big plans. They are in their late 20’s and have two young children of their own. They started building a community center back in 2009 and it is planned to be completed in spring of 2012. They want to create a safe place where families and children can come to have parties, to be taught English, to have a hot meal to eat, and to be loved.
As if these two don’t have enough on their plate we added our team to the mix. They were asked and agreed to have us come just 2 days before we arrived in Moldova. They have been working hard to find ways in which we can serve their community and the community of believers they are a part of. While spending time with this couple we have been able to hear their desires for Moldova and their ministry. They pour themselves into everything they do 100%. With the help of the supporters in the UK they put on christian camps in the summer, run soup kitchens in different villages, help single mothers with their rent and food money, take care of orphans in many different ways, run a family farm, and are now developing the center/ cafe. Needless to say, they are crazy busy. And they have so many more dreams and visions for this place. We have been honored to share in some of those dreams with them.
More to come soon…
