where do i begin?

dear friends and family-it really is hard to know where to begin here with this blog. So much has happened here in moldova, and I wish I could tell it all. I will try to do my best.
The weather here has strangely(to me)turned Spring overnight. Yesterday was so beautiful! the snow and ice are almost completely gone from the roadways and walks, and already you can see green starting to poke through the ground in the fields, and flowers sticking their heads out of the dirt at some homes. It is odd, since back home in America, I hear that there is a fresh fall of snow.
This past week was my first full week of joining the ministry here in Rezina. It was a very full week, and also included my birthday. It is hard to put into words the various things I have been assigned to be a part of. Here are a few:

• Purchasing and packing food parcels, and delivering to elderly shut-ins
• playing volleyball with some young people to build relationships
• children's programs in villages, and in the local church
• visiting and encouraging the elderly
• participating in local and area church services, through songs and the ministry of the word

All of these things have so many stories and details that go with them, as well as so many prayer needs. Last week I was part of a group that visited a couple homes in a village called Ciniseuti.
One was the home of the mother of a former teammate on this team, who has moved on to another place of ministry in Asia. Her mother is blind, and yet lives almost alone, and still does her own cooking, cleaning, etc. She loves the Lord, and yet is very lonely.
Another home we visited was a very pitiful sight. It was hard to see someone in such a condition. The couple was in their bed in the middle of the day. The home looked like it could collapse at any moment, because the roof had been leaking, creating a disaster al over the one room of the house. There were filthy clothes, and dishes, and old remains of food all over the place. The smell was incredible. We brought them a food packet, and the place we stored their food didn't look like anything good should be put there. I heard the story later, that the couple receives a pension, but the man uses it all on alcohol. He doesn't care for his wife, and any help that has been offered to repair the home has been rejected, because he doesn't care. Alcohol is such a huge bondage here in moldova. I have seen the effects of it in several different places. Another story comes from another village. A woman has been kicked out of her home by her husband, and has no place to go. She is elderly, and is not very healthy. She is a strong believer, and reaches out to those in her village, in spite of her own trials. She use to be an athiest, and taught children that there is no God. Now that she is a believer, she is searching out those children, to tell them the real truth, and if possible, to turn their hearts to the One true God.

I have been able to finally connect over the phone with my family, and it was a blessing to hear
their voices! You never realize how much you appreciate your native language until you are surrounded by a foreign one. The girls I live with speak English with me, but 3 also speak German, and Romanian. Their help has been amazing, and I love them all like sisters. I am studying Romanian, but it doesn't seem to be fast enough! But, I know that the language of God's love knows no barriers, and that is what I am seeking to distribute here...God's love in abundance. Please pray for me that I have the vision of the Lord to be able to reach these people, and even my own teammates. They are people with needs as well, and i want to be used here to the fullest.

Thank you to all who have faithfully checked my blog for news. I am sorry I have not been faithful to update. i hope this will answer some questions. Please ask away if you have more questions! I will try to be better about keeping things fresh on here.

Thank you for praying and standing behind me.

moldova reality

Hello Everyone! My news has been a little delayed in coming, but here is the first report from Moldova.
I made it very safely to my destination here in Moldova, with no trouble in the airports or on the planes. I met and talked to a missionary from S.Africa en route to Washington DC. It was a very encouraging conversation. I am always blessed tremendously when that sort of thing happens on a plane. I think God put me right next to him!
I have already been to the town of Rezina and have helped with some children's ministry. It is COLD here, but mostly because there is a lot of walking required. we walk to our place of ministry, and the buildings are not always heated. We also use a form of transportation called "ruteria", or mini buses. they transport you to wherever you want to go, and you pay 3 lei per ride. I think that is equivalent to a few cents. i am learning how to ride them easily and quickly.
Today I went shopping for my own food with a couple other girls. It was not very easy to decide what to buy in another language, and with another form of currency. It was quite frustrating actually! This, among other things, constantly reminds me of the need to learn the language here, and hopefully to learn it quickly! It is hard to not be able to communicate, and to have to lean on someone else to translate, when i am the only one who does not speak the language here in the group. But, I know over time it will grow easier. Now is just the hard time.
I have been able to help with a couple ministries already this past week. Friday, after taking a couple hour bus ride alone to Rezina, I arrived at the town where I will call home for a few months, or "3 luni", as they say here. That day I helped out with a ministry in a Day Center, or after school care. It is a ministry of the local Baptist Church, and we go and help out with a kids program. The center feeds the children a hot meal, and helps them with homework. this meal is the only meal of the day for many of these kids.
I also helped with a sunday school on sunday in a town called Saharna that has no church, but a few christians meet together for worship.
Tomorrow is our day of prayer and fasting, and the whole team comes together from the north and south, and we pray.
Thank you for praying and thinking of me. When you get cold, think of moldova where there is not much heat.
Please pray that I can learn the language very quickly, and that I can be effective in the ways that God would have me to, and not think about myself so often. it's easy to do here, being the only american. But, I want to remain unseen, and just be a vessel...

God bless you!

melanie

i made it!

made it to moldova at 4 pm-about 8am CST. all is well. more to come!