This past month has been filled with “more interesting” ways of doing things. Our contact Andre and his wife Larissa have been amazing. They are so hospitable and sweet. They have invited us into their home…all 12 girls (13 girls including Caitlin, our squad leader) and Tre and Ralph are staying Larissa’s grandparents home. Andre and Larissa have a three year old son, Eric, who has become a good friend of mine, only after we had a bilingual conversation about how to treat the cat. Team Beautiful Feet and Team Benkadi has teamed up this month to minister to Octnita, Moldova. We have had the opportunity to plan VBS, run several church services, and have a ton of time to play with the kids. We have also had a great opportunity to just minister to each other. We have also been on an internet fast to encourage the building of community.
Probably the most exciting thing that we have done here in Moldova happened last Friday. At 1pm we left out on a 9 mile hike to the rehab center that our contact, Andre, had started a while back. Once we got there, we dropped our stuff, and headed out to the river. Well, the river actually turned into the border of Ukraine. We hiked for about 3 miles and then stopped to go swimming in the river. When we started back to go home Andre asked us if we wanted to go the “more interesting” way home. Of course we all said yes. Little did we know that the more interesting way was straight up a rock wall. It was so much fun and awesome to conquer. Not mention that insane view that we caught a glimpse of from the top. Then we went home walking 3 more miles on railroad tracks. It was an awesome time to just get to talk to each other and get to know one another on a deeper level. That night Amanda and I slept in a tent caught a glimpse at the AMAZING Moldovan stars. I unfortunately was not feeling very well, as well as some other teammates, so we opted to stay inside and get some rest. We took a train home Saturday at noon after we cut down a field of corn. After we got home everyone passed out.
We have also had the opportunity to celebrate several birthdays this month. Madeline, Tres, and Hollis all are September babies. We had a big lunch to celebrate all the birthdays at a local restaurant. We have tried all kinds of different foods and drinks.
I have also gotten the chance to get to know Andre’s pets. Their dog and cat are both very special to me now, especially the cat. We aren’t really sure what the kittens’ name is but she is the sweetest gray and white fur ball. She actually died and came back to life. Some of us went to run errands and several others stayed at the house. Bambi saw Eric drop the cat into the outhouse hole. But when we all returned back to the house the kitten was not only out of the hole but unharmed. She wasn’t dirty or stinky. We are pretty sure this cat only has 8 lives left.
