Day 2, July 20, 2011
PIATZA day!! It’s Wednesday and that means it’s MARKET DAY here in Cornesti. Every Wednesday and Saturday they have a village market and it’s their biggest source of income.
So today we walked around and handed out “invitazi’s” aka flyers inviting people to a revival conference for adults and teens that will be in a near town. A professional wrestler will be sharing his story and Vitali wants to take a bus full of unbelievers. We ended up taking 3 bus loads of people. That was such a answer to prayer!
Can I just say, I love babushka’s! I saw some of the cutest lil grannie’s on the block- and even got a few kisses.
I wanted to know their stories and what they’ve been through. It’s so hard not being able to speak their language and have a normal conversation. There were a few frustrating moments and so much can get lost in translation.
But today I was reminded about the power of a smile. I finally learned how to say hello, how are you and I love you… and that’s about all I got. I try to mix in my few Russian and Ukrainian words I know and usually get laughed at.
But a smile is contagious and can show and bring JOY.
I don’t know if this town has ever experienced true Joy. Me and my teammates have been praying for a renewed joy in our lives and the people around us. I truly believe it will be the joy of the Lord that breaks all of the walls, softens the hardened hearts and renews lost hope.
I’m praying Psalm 126 for Moldova.
When the Lord brought back the captives to Zion, we were like men who dreamed.
Our mouths were filled with laughter, our tongues with songs of Joy.
Then it was said among the nations,
“The Lord has done great things for them.”
The Lord has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy.
Restore our fortunes, O Lord, like streams in the Negev.
Those who sow in tears will reap with songs of joy.
He who goes out weeping, carrying seed to sow, will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with him.
So God answered my prayer today and I couldn’t stop laughing. I’m sure my teammates were sick of me but I just couldn’t stop.
Joke of the day: The past couple weeks- (wait, it hasn’t even been 2 weeks yet) my teammates would ask me what we need to bring today and my response has been- “all you need is your bathing suit.” Well today my joke became a reality.
It went a lil something like this.
Jessica: “hey michelle what do we need for today.” Me: “mmm.. just you’re your bathing suite.” All: laughing.
Michelle: but seriously…your bathing suites.
I thought it would be a fun idea to see if I could convince my whole team to get into the lake. Why? I have no clue. But 30 minutes later I somehow convinced my whole team to swim in the lake with the kids today- even 2 girls that absolutely hate water.
It was definitely a proud moment and had a blast in the lake with kids. And now parasite jokes aren’t that funny- and still crossing our fingers. But it was worth playing with those kids in the water!
I’m in love with the kids. I have a few favorites already. Diana is one of them. Her mom and dad left her and she has 4 ohter siblingings under the age of 11. The first day she was kinda shy with me and now we can't stop holding hands and laughing.
We had the kids write a prayer to Jesus. I stole this one outta the bucket so I could keep it.
I got it translated- Jesus ,please bring my father back home from jail.
On a lighter note- I had a taste of home today. We had borzch!! With sour cream. It tasted so good….just like how my momma and baba would make it..miss u.
but thankful that I got a quick sec on the internet to catch my dad playing the accordion on skype. God knows what I need when I need it.
