sometimes you just have to laugh :)

The days continue to be beautiful here in Rezina. I am just amazed at how God has blessed me here. At night when we walk home from church, the stars and the moon are just breathtaking. I could just spend all night outside.

There are so many funny stories to tell about life in general here. I will try to share a few with you.

Our team has the use of an old land Rover from England, which means that driving is on the right side of the car, which is not the way cars are in Moldova. So, we get the strangest looks whenever we travel anywhere in the car. It gives us lots of time for laughter! This past Thursday we had a couple ocurrances with the Land Rover that were somewhat funny. On our way to the village of Pripiceni, there were lights going on on the dash that we were unsure if we should pay attention to them. When we were ready to go home, we found a flat tire! The guys worked on it, and eventually got a spare put on. I tried to give my help where I could, but things are a little different here, and you have to improvise where certain tools are lacking.
When we returned to Rezina, we were parking the car, and the window on the driver's side decided it didn't want to serve it's purpose anymore, and dropped out of sight in the door! :) Another girl and I tried to extract the window, but to so avail. We ended up leaving it open all night, and next day, one of our guys was able to pull out the window.
Another incident, was that all day yesterday we had no water in our apt. I guess it has happened before, and has eventually come back. It turned out that a visitor we had must have turned off the water in the bathroom in the wrong place. So the water for the whole place was shut off, instead of just the toilet water. We were convinced that there was a problem in Rezina with the water, but it ended up just being a simple mistake. I realized how grateful I am for water, after not having it!
I have started jogging very early in the morning- it's a blessing to be out so early and see the sun rising, and a fresh morning every day. God has spoken so many things to me on these runs.

Please remember my team this week as we present an Easter program to about 7 villages. We have a short time to practice and prepare for what we are going to share. Pray for us that the true message of the work of Christ is presented, and it's not just 'another program'.

This week I will also find out more details about long term missions in moldova. Please keep me in prayer as I make more decisions, and step out further into what God has prepared for me.

Thank you for remembering me in prayer!

what are GIANTS? where are the MOUNTAINS? My GOD is Bigger!

Spring has finally come to Moldova! Flowers are blooming in the forest, baby animals are running around everywhere, and the streets are full of children and people of all ages, enjoying the warm weather.
The past few days we have had temperatures reaching to the mid 70's, and it has been wonderful to go about without a coat!
What is new? I am excited about what God has been speaking to me. I have been waiting on Him for the next step in my missins experience, and in His plan for my life, and I believe He has given me a clear answer. I have desired to return to Moldova, and have been praying about it, and have really wanted to know from God clearly, so that I have an answer to give to those that will ask me, as well as my own heart when it begins to doubt. So, in answer to your questions that I know you have...I plan to retrn to Moldova for an extended period of time, probably beginning this coming September, 2010. I cannot explain many details yet, because it is yet very new to me. I will need extra prayer for this big step. I have stepped out and agreed with God, but now there are more things to consider, and work through. I will keep you posted about more specific prayer requests in this area.
Currently, the LMT(Local Ministry Team) in Rezina where I am is getting a little bit more busy. By next weekend, we plan to have a small European team join us for a few days. They are travelling around Europe doing ministry, and will be in Rezina for about 3 days. We are putting together a plan for while they are here, as well as programs to share with the children for Easter. Our team has continued to grow and shrink as the weeks pass, and it has created some challenges, but all have been opportunities for growth.
Glinjeni:
Today, there was a challenge, as there were only two of us girls available to go to a village called Glinjeni. Michaela is from Austria, and though she has been in Moldova for a year, sometimes the Romanian language can be a struggle when it comes to teaching Bible stories. She and I were going to this village, and I have not yet caught on to the language enough to do more than say some words. Also, we were taking a car that was not very reliable, and we were not completely sure of the way...All that said, we were facing what seemed to be some giants, but our God was faithful to bring us safely there, and we really had a great time with the children. They are so sweet, and try to get us to stay with them as long as possible.

Please remember in prayer some needs from other villages we minister in:

Pripiceni:
-children's program: many of these children are very active, and it's often a struggle to keep their interest. pray for wisdom for us as we plan and present the love of God to these kids.
-english lessons: opportunities to reach these young people with the gospel as well as through lessons

Ciniseuti:
-children's program: not many children coming lately, possibly having to do with the weather, but, it can be discouraging
-mother of a former LMT member is in the hospital. she is blind.

Papauti:
-children's program(same as above)
-english lessons

Gordinesti:
-believers gathering for church: not many-pray for strength and encouragement

Saharna:
-influences from the local monestary: pray for the truth to be made known
-kids program: consistancy in children that come-very sporadic, and its hard to keep up with lessons with new kids every week

Rezina:
-outreach to the local Maxima shop/small food store: recently had a fire, and the local Baptist church has asked to lend a hand with clean up and repairs. They were accepted gladly, though with surprise. pray for continued opportunities to help, and reach these people for Christ.
-Pastor Virgil and Sister Larisa: travelling to Holland for Easter to visit a church there-pray for safe travel, and the church while they are gone

Thank you to all those who are stopping by to read these updates. I hope you are getting an idea of what it's like here. Please ask questions if you are wondering about anything that I am involved with here, or what God is doing.

I miss you, my friends, and I will soon be returning. It is hard to believe that 3 months can go by so fast! Tomorrow is one month until I fly home. Please keep me in prayer as there are a lot of details to cover before that day.

God bless and keep you!

Pace Domnului! the peace of God

marching on in moldova-WE DON'T QUIT!

Dear everyone,
here I am again, sitting down late at the computer to attempt to fill you in on details that have become daily life to me now. Yes, I feel like I am finally getting use to being here, and today I even called Rezina "home".
It is so hard to not be able to share all the details. Every day has it's joys and it's frustrations at times, but always some reminder that God Almighty has put his fingerprint on it. Everything there is to share would not fit in these pages.
Let's see...this past week we had a week of being stretched a little bit, as we had only 5 of the usual 8 team members in Rezina, and almost all of the same outreaches to be involved with. So, being short staffed, it meant that each of us had to work a little harder, and give a little more, and maybe do more things than normally were required of us. For me, this meant teaching a Bible story-the first time I have since being here in Moldova this year-among other things. We learned a lot as a smaller team, especially about trusting God to strengthen us when we were weak, and to see spiritual opposition as a reality. It seemed like everything happened this week that could, and many times we just could not understand why. But, God was faithful to remind us of His goodness, in spite of what our eyes could see. In the girls apartment, the heat stopped working for a few days, among a few other minor things that decided that this week was the time to fall apart. :)
We delivered some food packets this week in the Rezina area, to some elderly people, and spent some time visiting with them and hearing their stories. It is often sad to hear what they have been through. One woman is bedridden, and had been for the past two years. Her husband had been an invalid from 1968-2008, when he passed away. She cared for him all those years herself. 40 days after his death, she had an accident with a ladder, and broke her knee, and injured her head pretty badly, causing damage to her eyes. She was hospitalized for a time, but now is in bed at home. She gets very fearful when the woman that helps her goes home for the night, and leaves her alone. We encouraged her by reading scripture, and talking about Christ's love for her. She cannot see well enough to read the Bible. This is one of the many stories from our house visits this week in Rezina. On Wednesday, in the village of Cineseuti, I was again part of a small team visiting homes. We met with a woman who had grown up in Siberia. She now lives in Moldova, and cares for her grandson. She lives off of a very small pension, and in her case, this pension is divided between two families-not very much to live on. In the valley where she lives, there is no source of water, which is a hardship, because water is used for everything. Imagine how often you use water during the day: drinking, cooking, cleaning, washing laundry, taking a bath, etc. In most places in Moldova, there are wells for water, but here, in the valley, there is nothing. They have to walk uphill 400 meters to find the closest water source. It is a big job, but I'm sure they are grateful that it is downhill when they come home with the water! I am not sure how often they have to make trips, but the can they use to transport it doesn't seem to be very large.

Praise and prayer from Rezina-
Friday night, our pastor, Brother Virgil, stayed late at the church preparing for sunday service, and was there until after 11pm. A woman of about 30 years, stopped by the church because she saw the light on. She was on her way to commit suicide, she told the pastor. He was able to talk to her, and ended up bringing her home to stay the night with his family, and her plans never came to pass, thanks be to God. Sometimes we never know why God allows us to be at a certain place at a specific time. Often He may have someone waiting, that needs a helping hand, or a touch from God to turn them from the darkness into the light. Please pray for this woman. Her name is Tanja. Pray that she surrender her life to God, and find hope in Him.

Remember Pastor Virgil in prayer as well. Being a Pastor in Moldova can be very challenging, and taxing, and he gets no breaks, as our team does.
Other pastors that we work alongside are as follows. Please remember them in prayer as well as their villages where they minister:
*Ciniseuti_Brother Anatol
*Papauti_Bro.Gheorgh
*Pripiceni/Gordinesti_Bro. Mihai
*Saharna_Bro Alexei
* Glenceni_Bro. Igor
*Mateuti_Bro. Grisa

Miscellaneous prayer needs from Rezina:
-some team members need financial help
-Transit team:a group is coming to Rezina at the end of March
*pray as we prepare for their arrival, and plan for their stay here
-an elderly sister in the church is very sick with cancer. she wants to be able to visit the church one more time before she dies. pray for her husband as well, who has faithfully cared for her.
-our team: unity, love for one another, and order. much has been shaken up lately, and we are still trying to settle back into a normal routine again.
-local business: a shop just recently had a terrible fire, that must have occurred overnight, and was electrical. It was a big loss! We used this shop to purchase food for the food parcels we deliver, as well as for personal use. I am not sure about the full extent of the damage, or whether there were any people injured, but I can imagine such a big loss to the owners themselves, already living in a poor country.

On a lighter note, I went food shopping again in Chisinau, the capital city here, and found it much easier than last month when I felt absolutely lost. I am glad to see some improvement!
As far as language goes, I have noticed that I am catching on to more things that I hear in conversation. I think I am getting closer to understanding, though speaking will come a little slower. I know that I need to try harder to use the words that I know, and it will help. It can be very intimidating, but I am determined, and I have such awesome friends that are helping me, and challenging me to learn.

Yesterday, 8 March, was 'Women's day' in Moldova, a government-recognized holiday for all women, though very similar to Mother's day in the USA. The guys of our team made us feel really special with a presentation and a meal in our honor!

March 1 was Moldova's official 1st day of spring, and it seemed like it would be so, but then we had another fresh fall of snow this past Friday, and it is forecasted that we will get heavy snow this week...well, Spring came and went I guess!

On a personal note, I have been blessed by God more this past week than in most of the time I have been here. In the midst of a trying week, he showed me how close He was/is. Today, through the words of a new song, Where You Go, I'll Go, God spoke to me, and reminded me that all I need to see is His hand, and be sure that I am holding on tightly to Him. I don't need to see the future, or anything that is ahead that He has not chosen to show me yet. I just need to hold on to Him, and be content with that. If everything else is dark around me, but I feel His hand holding mine close, I have nothing to fear or worry about.

During a devotion this week, one of the guys on my team asked us what we were created for?
To glorify God. As he shared passages on this truth, I began to picture the earth being filled with the glory of the Lord. How can this happen? If we were created to bring glory back to God, then everyone that has chosen to allow this glory to flow through them will be returning that to God. Since the body of Christ is all over the earth, then the earth is being filled with the glory of the Lord! Every time another heart and life is committed to the Lord, that person begins to send glory up to God...can you picture it? Glory rising up to God from the earth that is full of His glory manifested in the lives of saints around the globe.

In closing, please remember me in prayer, along with the former mentioned needs.

-language study
-a steady focus on God
-building relationships with people
-my future in missions

Thank you for your support and for standing behind me in prayer!

photos from top down are as follows:
1. half-frozen waterfall in the village of Saharna
2. team with some teens in Rezina on an outing to an old bridge
3. house visits in Pripiceni
4. children's program in Ciniseuti
5. at the bridge again(see #2)
6. a gorgeous sight over Ciniseuti

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!

"La Revedere"

the big day has arrived. Feb 1 will soon be here to send me on my way to Moldova. the next time I update this, I will be in Eastern Europe.
thanks again for all those who have and are supporting me!

all His blessings on you,

melanie