Well, people, it’s real. I know I was writing for months about preparation and it seemed like I was never going to get out there but it’s true, Month 1 is in full swing. You won’t hear from me much because we have very limited internet access here and we have to pay for it. Here’s a bit about life so far.
Where exactly are you?
My team and 2 other teams are in Cornesti, Moldova until mid-August working at a church to help spread the Word throughout the community. In Moldova, 98% of the people are Russian Orthodox believers and are bound by traditions and religion but don’t really follow a Biblically based lifestyle at all. It’s sad because the people in Moldova live in hopelessness and despair because the economy is horrible here. The population is continually dropping as people leave to find work in Russia, Romania, or anywhere else.
What’s life like?
-Living with 3 other girls on my team, Becca Diederich, Val Youmans, and Emily Lane, with the pastor’s family in their house. Everyone else is staying at the church or with other families. We’re blessed to have beds and electricity. And pillows. I didn’t bring one knowing I’m fine just improvising but it’s nice that I’ve been supplied with one every place we’ve been. Ah, the small things J
-No running water. We haul buckets of water from the well outside to be able to wash.
-Handwashing clothes. Becca and I sat balancing on the edge of our bathtub, that has no running water, with buckets of water sitting in it washing our clothes and jamming to Skillet. Fun times J.
-Learning the Romanian language a little more everyday.
-Beautiful country. Rolling hills, lush greenery, fertile soil, and cooler weather. The weather has been amazing. There’s a nice breeze that blows through sometimes. In the mornings, it reminds of fall in NC. I’ll enjoy that while it’s here J. It still feels like summer but we’re not pouring sweat like we were during the few days in Romania.
-The people at the church cook for us everyday so we’ve been eating well. It’s delicious and not anything unusual. Breakfasts are usually some type of grain, like oatmeal, or cream of wheat looking stuff. Lunch is usually Borsh (sp?), which is soup with potatoes, and pasta, and cucumber, tomatoes, cabbage. Dinner is usually pasta or beans and more fresh veggies.
-Market days on Sundays and Wednesdays. People from surrounding villages and towns bring anything they have to sell. This varies from food from their gardens, to chickens, to clothes. One person had a car with the trunk open filled with tomatoes they were selling.
What are you doing?
Ministry looks a little different everyday.
The mornings we usually do some kind of physical labor since that’s the coolest part of the day. The church owns a garden so we’ve been working there some. This week we’re going to start building a greenhouse.
The afternoons we usually work with the kids program that the church holds weekdays from 3-5. We work with limited resources but the kids still love it. We play games, act out Bible stories, and just love on them.
Other ministry we have done include: Cleaning houses, cleaning up at an orthodox church as a way to reach out to the priest there, visting the sick.
washing windows!
