Surprise! I’m not actually in Moldova this month. My team and team Unity 31 are actually in a pseudo country called Transnistria. To most of the world, Transnistria is simply a division of Moldova and therefore unrecognized as its own country. However, Transnistria has a separate history, currency, border control, and government. In Moldova, they speak a Moldovan version of Romanian; whereas in Transnistria, they speak Russian.
On our first day in Transnistria, September 2, they were celebrating their 24th Independence Day. The streets of Tiraspol were filled with food vendors, people dancing, and sounds of festive music. The city was alive in celebration. It was such fun to experience!
While in Transnistria, our dual teams have the pleasure of serving the local church. We get to move bricks and do yard work in order to aid in the construction of a new community center. Throughout our work, God provided me with several lessons and revelations.
1. Moving the Mountain (aka the large stack of bricks)
When we first got started moving bricks, 11 women and 2 men, the colossal stack of bricks towered over us all. It was daunting to imagine carrying all the bricks from the pile to the work sight, even with the addition of 2 wheelbarrows. However, each day of construction work, as our muscles became more tender, we depended on God and each other more. Depending on our assembly line conversations and spontaneous dance parties to soothe our aching limbs and tired hearts, our bricks quickly went from person to person. Before long, the brick stack was tiny and I learned that together with God, we could move mountains.
2. Ants, Spiders, and Bees
The importance of our assembly line can not be stressed enough. Working as ants to quickly and efficiently move those bricks was essential to doing our task well. But just as vital was our compassion for one another as we worked. For instance, when Victoria discovered a horde of spiders inside the brick stacks, I offered to take the first spot in the line because I like spiders. Then when I found a nest of bees Amy stepped in and took my spot. We did not let our own weaknesses get the group down, rather when someone needed support we were there compassionately for one another.
3. A Fine Pair of Gloves
The first week of work we moved bricks, pushed wheelbarrows, pulled weeds, and pick axed cement off stones using our bare hands. But scrapes, cuts, bruises, and even one severely damaged finger nail (check out the blog about that here: http://danielapivadealbuquerque.theworldrace.org) later we were given a lovely gift: work gloves. These gloves were such a gift and they provided a much needed lift in spirits as we headed into our second week of work. By getting those gloves just when we needed them, it felt like a hug from God. God is just waiting to give His precious children unexpected gifts at unexpected times to encourage them along the way.
4. The Root of the Issue.
As any gardener knows, in order to properly get rid of a weed you must pull out the root. After days of yanking and tugging at weeds that were taller than my pack, I can attest that pulling out a root is not always the easiest thing. That being said, it was always satisfying to hear that squelching noise that meant the entire root had been thoroughly removed. It made me think about those challenging situations life has given me. Often times I’m afraid to go into the hard things, I’m afraid to struggle, but in the end the struggle produces so much freedom like the sound of weeds coming out of the dirt.
God just keeps showing up in Tiraspol, Transnistria and it has been so great to experience!! I can hardly wait to share more stories about this month with you all!
Lots of love from Transnistria,
Leslie
