Thoughts About My Moldova Trip

I apologize for not being better about keeping this thing updated. The past few weeks, well, the past few months have been pretty crazy with my trip to Moldova and then my trip to Colorado for my best friend's wedding.  I wanted to give you a summary of my Moldova trip, so I copied below what I wrote for the young adult blog for my church. Usually I would have time to compose more, but as it turns out, things are still pretty hectic now that I'm back in the state of TN. So, if you would like to hear more about what I learned on my Moldova trip, please continue to read.  :)

My summary of my trip to Moldova:

I had the opportunity to go to Moldova for three weeks this summer and it was definitely an eye-opening and life-changing time for me. I spent two weeks at two different camps, working with teams and hanging out with the kids from the orphanage. We shared Christ with them through Bible study, music/worship, crafts, life skills and recreation. It was a lot different from the Christmas trip because I was able to spend a full week with the same group of kids. It was really hard to say good-bye to them at the end of the week. Despite the way their families may have treated them, they are able to immediately accept you the way you are and love you that way. I didn’t have to have the fanciest clothes or care about my outward appearance for the kids to love me and want to be around me.  They crave love as much as they give it and it was my privilege to be able to love them back in the same way they loved me.

One week was spent working with the young men in new JMI transitional living house for boys (Boys2Leaders). We taught them English and money management. They really wanted to learn English and we were surprised and proud of how fast they learned. When we first met one of the boys, he only knew one phrase in English. By the end of our time with the Boys2Leaders, he was able to speak enough English for us to understand what he was trying to say. As we talked with the boys about money management and saving for the future, we quickly learned that the concept of saving is not common in Moldova. Most people do not have any money left after paying bills, buying food, and paying for public transportation. After our discussion, I spent some time processing and I became very aware of how those boys live in the moment and how we tend to live in the future. We think about saving for a family “one day” or for retirement and sometimes we get so focused on our future that we neglect to live for today and cherish each moment we’re given.

As I look back on the three weeks I spent in Moldova, I can’t help but think about how fortunate I was to be able to see life through the eyes of the people there.  I was reminded that true happiness and joy cannot be found in anything materialistic.  The children at the orphanages reminded me of that every time they came running up to me to shower me with hugs and love. Their infectious smiles were worth more than anything in the whole world.  They may have very little physical possessions, but they have something many Americans lack…true joy. Their joy isn’t based on their circumstances or the situations they find themselves in.

I am so thankful to’ve had the opportunity to go back to Moldova. I was challenged and changed in so many ways. God has done so many great things there and I can’t wait to see all the great things He has planned!

~ Sara

Reflections from Moldova

As I look back on the three weeks I spent in Moldova, I can't help but think about how fortunate I was to be able to see life through the eyes of the people there. I was reminded that true happiness and joy cannot be found in anything materialistic. The children at the orphanages reminded me of that every time they came running up to me to shower me with hugs and love. Their infectious smiles were worth more than anything in the whole world. They may have very little possessions, but they have something many Americans lack...true joy. Their joy isn't based on their circumstances or the situations they find themselves in.

Throughout the course of my time in Moldova, I was the recipient of unfathomable amounts of love. Even though it was my second time in Moldova, I was still amazed at the children's capacity to love unconditionally. Despite the way their families may have treated them, they are able to immediately accept you the way you are and love you that way. I didn't have to have the fanciest clothes or care about my outward appearance for the kids to love me and want to be around me. They crave love as much as they give it and it was my privilege to be able to love them back in the same way they loved me.

During this trip, I had a lot of first time experiences. I washed clothes for the first time in Moldova. I quickly learned to appreciate the dryer I had at home as there wasn't one at the team house and we had to dry our clothes out on a drying rack. Usually clothes are hung outside on the clothes line, but since there was a chance of rain, we dried them inside. Another first for me was using a very primitive bathroom facility, which was basically a hole in the ground. I cannot even find words to describe the gut wrenchingly awful smell that accompanied that bathroom. I just know that I learned to appreciate facilities with an actual toilet and running water. (though I definitely appreciate being able to flush toilet paper since that wasn't possible in many places that we frequented)

I learned to appreciate working appliances, when we cooked dinner at the boys' apartment. I learned to appreciate air conditioning, since most places didn't have it. (though I'm cold natured, so I was ok most of the time) After teaching about money management, I really appreciated the lessons my parents had taught me to get me to save for the future. I learned to appreciate the savings in my bank account.

I heard about some of those in the transitional living facilities having problems with their kidneys. I was informed that the medical equipment there is so basic that they cannot just use an MRI or CT scan to find out the problem. They have to basically guess based on the symptoms. The ones that were having kidney problems had not been cured from the infection for quite some time. I really got to thinking about how blessed we are to have the medical professionals that we have and the equipment that we have here to help diagnose our medical problems.

There are so many other lessons I learned on this trip, but I am still recovering from jetlag and am fighting to keep my eyelids open. Before I end this, I would like to ask for your prayers. Last September I read "The Hole in our Gospel" by Richard Stearns and through the information I got from that book, I really felt called to do something with orphans. I wasn't sure what, so I contacted the executive director of JMI, Steve Davis. I talked to him about sponsoring an orphan and I ended up sponsoring 6 yr old Ana-Maria at the orphanage in Straseni. Even after agreeing to sponsor an orphan, I felt called to do more. I signed up to go on the Christmas in Moldova trip and, while I was there, I knew that God had called me to a longer-term stay there. I wasn't sure how long of a term it would be, but when I returned home the possibility of 3 months came around. Due to some unforseen circumstances, the 3 months option just didn't work out. I was pretty sure I wasn't going to be able to go to Moldova at all this summer. Well, the option to go for 3 weeks presented itself and, to make a long story short, I ended up going for 3 weeks.

During those 3 weeks, I knew that Moldova is where God is calling me and that the time frame wouldn't be 3 months, but more like 1 year. I'm praying that God would open those doors for me to be able to go back for 1 year. If things are able to work out, I would love to go back sooner rather than later. I don't want to get back into the swing of things and get too comfortable with the way things are here. We've done so much there already that I'd like to continue to build on that as soon as possible. I'm not sure exactly what all I would be doing, but I'm going to set up a meeting with Steve and push him to get some answers for me. I would appreciate your prayers as I seek this opportunity God has placed in my heart. I appreciate your support more than you know.

I will now leave you with some pictures from the trip...

(Eduard, Ilie, Igor & Dima being goofy with their sign as they welcome our team to Moldova.)

(Veronica & me at camp. I am blessed to be able to sponsor such a sweet & caring young girl.)

(Alex & his pal, Loreti, at camp in Falesti.)

(Me & Loreti became friends too. He is such a happy kid!)

(Leaving camp was hard on us, but also on the kids.)

(Going home was especially hard for me after bonding with the Boys2Leaders. Don't be fooled by my smile in this picture. A few minutes before I was in tears. They really are a group of wonderful, Christian young men and I am so proud of them!)

Cooking & laundry in Moldova

Since our last blog post, a lot has happened. Wednesday, after English lessons, we took the boys to see Shrek 3 in 3D. The movie was in Russian with subtitles. Unfortunately for us, the subtitles were in Romanian. I (Sara) understood putin (a little) of the movie in Romanian. Colleen got a headache from trying to decipher the foreign languages and, therefore, had to take a brief respite (aka nap) to recover. We plan on seeing the movie in English when we return home so we can see how far off our interpretation was.

Yesterday, Eli, Alex & Dima picked us up from the house and we went to the art market. We found a few things that we liked and had a good time walking around looking at all the beautiful paintings. After the market, we went on a long walk and ended up at...you probably can't guess...the Yellow Box. If you haven't heard of the Yellow Box, then you probably don't know Steve Davis. On our Christmas in Moldova trip, we went to the Yellow Box probably 3 times or more in a period of 7 days. Don't get me wrong, the food isn't bad. It's just complicated when you have to take a team of 12+ people who don't speak the local language and they have to go through a cafeteria style line to pick out what they want to eat. (not knowing what it is they are actually getting)

Anyway, back to yesterday... So we ate at the Yellow Box and then went back to their apartment and had an English lesson. It lasted about an hour and a half and then we went downstairs to the market to buy groceries for dinner. If you've never shopped in a Moldovan market, it's quite an experience. Many of the food choices & ingredients that we are used to aren't available here. We had thought about making tacos, but were not able to find tortilla shells or salsa or anything that resembled it. So, at the market, we revamped our plan and chose to buy ingredients to make chicken, mashed potatoes, corn & Moldovan salad. Looking back, we wished we would've asked (prior to our trip to the market) what appliances in their apartment were in working order. When we returned with the groceries, we quickly found that their refrigerator is only slightly cool. We also found that their oven doesn't work and only one eye on their stove is functional. That made it more difficult and extended the process considerably. We also didn't know how few dishes they had or pots & pans. We made it work though.

Colleen didn't realize that Eli had picked out chicken that still had bones, when he had told her that it was boneless chicken. So, Colleen spent a good part of an hour de-boning & slicing the chicken. It was at that point that I was informed of her disgust of raw meat. She REALLY doesn't like touching it and I now wish that I'd gotten her expression on video. It was priceless. Apparently, her disgust of raw meat is comparable to my fear of mascots (aka people in furry costumes). I will now go on a minor rabbit trail to explain my mascot fear and how it was challenged here in Moldova.

On Sunday, before evening church, Igor, Colleen, Eli, Constantsa, Alex & myself went to the park and found the writing wall and we wrote some messages on it. Well, there was a man in a tiger costume walking around and Colleen asked me if I would take a picture with him, since no one seemed to take him up on his offer to have their picture with him. I protested, but was bribed with a Coke, so I conceded and tried to put my fear aside. (at this point, Colleen had no knowledge of my fear of mascots) She took one picture and then the mascot pulled me onto his lap for another picture and then wouldn't let me up. Igor gave him a look and he let me up. Then, when I was standing by the wall, the mascot came up behind me and grabbed me. I pushed forward toward Alex (since he was standing in front of me), hoping that he would protect me from the disgusting, furry creature. Thankfully, the mascot let go of me. Igor said something to him and he let go. Needless to say, whenever we go near that park and I see the tiger, I immediately latch on to one of the boys for protection. Sadly, that experience has further increased my fear of mascots.

Ok, back to cooking. So while Colleen was de-boning the chicken, Eli washed potatoes & I sliced them. We put those on to boil on the only available eye. While that boiled, Colleen still de-boned chicken and I took a break. In our first trip to the market, we didn't think to get milk, flour or dish soap. (since we didn't know they didn't have dish soap) So, Colleen & Eli went back to the market for those items, since Eli didn't know what flour was & needed some help. Once the potatoes were soft, I drained the water and mashed them and, in the typical southern way, added butter, milk & salt & pepper. We then breaded the chicken with the flour & a seasoning packet we got at the market. Since we bought 2 packages of chicken, it took a little longer than expected to cook it. We sauted it in some olive oil and while that cooked, we washed the raw chicken dishes with the newly bought dish soap. While the chicken cooked (which took about 45 minutes), Alex prepared the Moldovan salad which consisted of many random items such as, cabbage, radishes, mushrooms, mayo, cucumbers, tomatoes, etc. Once the chicken was done, we heated up the corn (to which we added some butter and salt & pepper).

We managed to fit 7 of us at the table (which was moved into Alex's room) to eat. There weren't enough plates or utensils, so some of us ate out of bowls and with spoons. (it was kinda fun eating chicken with a spoon) They really seemed to enjoy the food, though we didn't salt it to their liking. The Moldovan salad that Alex made was pretty good too. We bought ice cream for dessert, which was a big hit.

When we went to clean up, Eli told us to leave the food out and they would eat it later. We were concerned about food temperatures and it spoiling, but apparently this is a norm to them. Overall, it was a good experience for us to have. We learned how different things are here than in the states and we are very thankful for the modern appliances we so easily take for granted. (like a microwave, working refrigerator, a working oven, or a dryer)

We neglected to inform you of our experience washing clothes in Moldova. Victor & Valentina have a washing machine, but no dryer. We washed 1 load of clothes and then had to lay them out on a drying rack. If it wasn't supposed to rain, we would've hung them outside on the clothes line. It took a while for them to dry and we ended up having to iron them the next day (they creased on the drying rack), but it was a good experience for us. We will appreciate dryers much more now.

Today we're giving the boys an "exam" to review their English and then we're taking them bowling and to dinner at La Placenta. It's going to be a fun, yet bittersweet day since it's our last day with them. I'm going to post some pictures now for your enjoyment. We miss you all and love you dearly.

Sara (write) & Colleen (co-writer)

Colleen's laundry in the tub. She decided to hand wash a few things.

Our writing on the wall in the park. "Sara was here & so was Eli & Colleen & Igor & Constantsa & Alex."

Me with the scary mascot. Don't I just look thrilled?