Month 10 has arrived. My team and one other team are stationed in Transnistria, an area of land beside Moldova. Moldova claims it as part of their country and that is how it is recognized by the rest of the world. But within the country they see themselves as an independent nation. (Confused yet? So am I). Transnistria was formed in 1990 after the USSR fell. They did not like the fall do communism and so this place is like stepping back into communist Russia. Let me give you a preview to the last few days. We had to cross another border to enter the country. Once we entered the country we had to register with KGB. Yes, you read that correctly. This may be the weirdest experience on the race. Despite being very overwhelmed without an English speaker to help us around all the time , not being able to use our credit cards or debit cards to withdraw money, no phones working other than Transnistrian ones, and having to walk in big groups, this may turn out to be one of my favorite months of ministry.
Moldova has always held a special place to me because my church Corinth has been coming here for the last several years. We are enjoying our time here, even if they don’t consider where we are Moldova.
Our host Julia is absolutely fabulous and hilarious. She is spunky, sassy, and loves people so well. Her English is great. She serves as our host but this week she has been really busy. I’m excited to get to know her better in the weeks to come. When we sat down on Saturday night when we arrived she said, “Welcome to Narnia. The country that doesn’t exist but exists.” And that’s what this feels like- stepping into another world.
In the mornings, I am in a group of 5 who go teach English club, where we sit and talk to adults wanting to learn English. We have learned several thing in the last two days about Transnistria. Everyone here has a law degree because you can pay the teacher to pass you on the exam. But no one actually practices law. Most people have a minimum of two passports, because you have to have on for Transnistria but no other country in the world recognizes it as a country. So most people have a Moldovan or Russian passport as well. One of our students, V, has four passports. While five of us are teaching English, the other 8 are doing manual labor at an orphanage outside the city. They swept and weeded for 6 hours yesterday. We will trade off throughout the month. The orphanage is in the final construction stages and our teams are helping clean up and finish odd jobs.
I’m hoping I get to help tutor children from a family in town. I’ve grown to love teaching English. Check out my next blog for more on what the Lord has been doing as how he has revealed more of my calling to me. I’m excited about the next 25 days and all God has in store. God is working in this community and I am excited to be a part of it.
