I am ending the race in the saddest country in the world.
Honestly, I had never even heard of Moldova before I signed
up for the World Race. I remember
reading through the list of countries (sitting in the Rathskellar at
UW-Madison) and getting to the end of the list and thinking “where the heck is
Moldova?�. It hasn’t been a country that I have been too
excited for and with that my expectations have been pretty low.
We have spent the last two days in the capital of Moldova,
Chisinau, enjoying the company of the whole squad and resting up a bit before
heading to our final ministry sites. It
was a much-needed time of fellowship and just plain fun. This morning we had a cultural orientation preparing
us for what to expect this next month. They talked a lot about the history of
Moldova, how it is a country that has been tossed back and forth between
Romania and Russia and how sex trafficking is a huge problem here. They said that Moldova is the “engine� for
sex trafficking in Eastern Europe. Many
women are lured out of the country by the promise of work and a better
life. Imagine the movie “Taken�, but
replace the man that the girls shared a taxi with, with your aunt, boyfriend or
best friend. In Moldova, money often
means more than family or relationships.
The orphanages are often paid to let the traffickers know when a group
of girls reach the age of 16 and are released into society, so that they can trap
them into this vicious industry. It’s
just so sad. The orientation ended with
the reading of part of an article that was written by a man who has traveled the
world and studied the levels of happiness within the countries. He deemed Moldova the unhappiest country in
the entire world. He said that Moldova
was higher than other countries because of the feelings of brokenness and
hopelessness without the influence of warfare or natural disasters.
Needless to say, this was an intense way to head into our
ministry sites.
Imagine my surprise when we get to Anenii Noi (our town for
the month) and we are greeted by the sweetest couple and about ten children
running around fighting to carry our bags for us. We are staying in a church this month and
usually when I see this on our contact info sheet, I think “okay, sleeping bags
in the sanctuary, we can do this�. But,
we were escorted to our own spacious room where they have set up five comfy
beds, along with a bathroom with a shower.
AND this is our first month (and last month haha) with a dryer! There was a loud cheer that was heard when we
discovered this. Our contact, Igor and
his wife Mariana are truly the sweetest.
As soon as I met them I felt their love and even-temperedness flowing
out of them. I am really thankful to be
with them and I can’t wait to get to know them better.
In the Lord, we will have joy and happiness that passes all
understanding. Even in the saddest
country in the world, the Lord is working and infecting people with His love. I see it in Mariana and Igor. We are here this month to bring His light
into this sad, dark place and I am so excited to do it. This last month is going to be a great one
and I cannot wait to see the freedom that the Lord is going to grant to His
people here. Please pray that we would
end this trip strong, our hearts focused on the Lord and fighting to love people
with everything we have. Lovelove.
