Mission Slideshow

This is a chronological slideshow I compiled of photos taken by the Mission Team members.

 

 

Thoughts

Thoughts, so many thoughts have been running thru my mind. I started to Blog 4 days ago and couldn’t wrap my arms around all my thoughts and feelings. What I do know is that God is wrecking me, breaking me to my core. God has once again broken my heart for what is breaking his – broken for what I saw in Moldova and broken for what I should be seeing here at home. I have tears of sorrow intermixed with tears of hope.

 

  

On my first Reflection post I mentioned we met in the city center with the children living in the transition homes and how there were many who were familiar to me. Some of those children remembered that I had visited last year, I can still hear the words ‘I remember you’ (Я помню тебя) being said and see the faces those words came from. There were also faces in the New Hope Moldova team that were familiar but I could not exactly place. I feel so overwhelmed with sadness that it was not until Friday evening, after our work at the Transition Center in Balti was complete that it was revealed whom the familiar man’s face belonged to. We were speaking of the house father Ян, the construction Ninja  who worked from sunup to sundown. This gentleman had a serious yet gentleness in his eyes. Ян is Ian (I could not recall at the time that this was how it was translated from Russian sound to English sound) – the gentleman who shared last year in the Village of Sofia, how he an orphan being raised by his grandma, had his life changed because a missionary cared enough to come to share a small gift but even more important, share love. It gave him hope and changed his life. Now, because of that love, he is changing the lives of orphan boys, caring for them as his own, raising them to Know God, Grow Strong and Do Great Things. That is so incredible to me, truly a reflection of how God works as in Ephesians 3:20 Now all the glory to God, who is able, through his might power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. The first picture is my memory of Ian in 2013 and the second is of him in 2014 with his family and team.

A second experience that has touched my heart deeply was shopping at the market for a school uniform for Costa and Alex. The boys were being given a rough time at school because they didn’t have the appropriate clothing. Boys who had been marginalized in so many ways were yet again having it happen – when they were trying to learn at school. Each boy got a pair of dark colored dress pants and white long sleeved dress shirt and Costa was able to get a belt. While we were blessing them, they were blessing me – just the look in their eyes was so telling.

I would like to share what was asked of me in a letter from a loved one: ‘Think about everything you have seen and accomplished, literally everything, even the small things. Now look at that list and know that NONE of that could have been done without you because everyone there did their own part on this mission. Look at it and be happy that so many lives were touched and that we will remember each other. Remember it was from God, and being obedient to his request.’ I would like to share just some of those things.

Presented in 3 schools on Human Trafficking – including a college, a school in the poorest section of Balti (the marginalized of society, gypsies and the poorest of the poor), and a Romanian school

Passed out new shoes and socks to young children living in an orphanage ( boys and girls who are often referred to by number rather than name, boys in flowered pants and girls with butch cuts, and the joy in the child’s eyes and laughter of getting superhero shoes that light up)

Shared my personal testimony

Met new friends

Made salvation bracelets with children – I have one too

Washed windows and doors, swept floors

Gave manicures to each other at the girls transition home in Orhei

Watched a teenager from the boy’s home teach another neighborhood boy how to jump rope

Gave and received many hugs, but the biggest bear hug was with Sonja

Sang to God

Climbed ladders and steel stair framing (not as coordinated as I used to be)

Saw God working

Sat in the dirt and played with a child (including holding a screw while a 2 year old used a sledge hammer to pound it into the ground and no smashed fingers)

Saw the light in children’s eyes despite the circumstance they lived in

Was welcomed with a handshake each time we saw Sasha (at school and the camp), an orphan being raised by his grandmother

Saw adults working with New Hope Moldova who when they smiled, I could see joy in their hearts and the light of Christ

Watched construction including cement mixing and pouring for porch posts and septic tank

Danced

Listened to beautiful music

Ran (slowly – I’m getting old and these legs don’t want to move as they once did)

Saw once again how we could live simpler and still be happy

Listened to people talk – both in English that I could understand and in Russian and Romanian that I could not Witnessed love in action

Ate the delicious food provided to us

Talked and shared

Blew up balloons

Cheered kids on

Rode down bumpy roads

Watched an obstacle race

Could not have asked for better weather

Shared tea and cookies

Glued up posters for Human Trafficking awareness

 

Saw beautiful flower and vegetable garden

Picked and ate grapes off a vine

Got up early and went to bed late

Walked to the corner store

Laughed

Heard a rooster crowing most days and dogs barking

Made a card with construction paper and crayons for a child

Painted faces - we are warriors of God

Demonstrated my acting talent by impersonating a thunderstorm and the city of Nineveh

Cried with my fellow missionaries

Watched a talent show

Learned about the value of time, purpose and goals

Been thankful for the prayers and support we have received from family and friends – because without it, this would not have been possible

Witnessed Faith, Hope and Love, but the greatest of these is love

I am glad to be home but I am also grateful that I had the opportunity to return to Moldova and witness God’s Glory. I don’t know where God will call me next, but I do know that he will call me to step out of my comfort zone, to step out in faith for Him. I can do this as I know He is always with me. It is my hope to return again to Moldova, to see old friends and meet new ones, to be his light in the darkness.
 

Day 8 - Some Final Thoughts

As our plane lifted from the Moldova runway, I had an unexpected deep feeling of sadness to leave the country.  I'm excited to go home and see my family because my heart aches to see them.  But I made meaningful relationships this week in Moldova.  I want to come back and I wonder if God will ask me to return.

It is amazing what happens when we are obedient to Gods calling.  I witnessed things this week that will make me a better father, husband, friend, leader, and most importantly - Christ follower.  I am changed in ways I cannot describe.  For a long time before this trip I had felt spiritually restless and was desperately searching for something I didn't yet understand.   Although I now know much of what I was searching for, I feel like I may not understand the rest for awhile.  I'm O.K. with that as I know God will reveal the rest in his own time.  I am so happy I had the courage to be obedient to his calling.

This team has cried together and has laughed together.  Faith has been tested, stretched, strengthened, and hopefully found.  Each one of the members have had personal struggles they have been challenged with.  We have been asked to do things way beyond our comfort zones.  We had to let go of our fears and just trust God.  I certainly felt the presence of God guiding us throughout the week.  It's beautiful how God uses our brokenness to bring restoration to ourselves and to others.   The complexity of it is  beyond comprehension so we must rely on faith.  Each time we do, faith becomes stronger.  It's a cyclic process.  Know God.  Grow Strong.  Do Great Things.  Sound familiar?

Perhaps my greatest enjoyment this week was witnessing the culmination of God’s work to assemble such a powerful team.  We were small in number at 7, but we had the impact of many more.  Oleg gave this team some really nice compliments, and they deserved it.  None of us were experts at what we were called to do yet the team was highly successful.  How did God do that?  I know that the success of this team was due to the willingness of the individual team members to trust God and each other.  We had to stretch ourselves, work together, support and encourage each other, offer grace for each other's faults, and step in and help even when it meant being vulnerable.  Each team member made these tough choices over and over again.  Each member brought something important to the team that allowed us to win for God this week.  Hearts were changed by faith, hope, and love.  I'm proud of this mission team and I'm proud of our church, friends, family, and other supporters who were significant in making this trip possible.   I thank each one of them from the bottom of my heart as I also thank God.

Now that the trip is over, I think it's time to ask God – “What’s next?”

Day 7

Today we woke up in Chisinau.  

We had breakfast and then traveled to the girls mission home.  

We already met the girls when we arrived on Sunday.  But today we sat with them and had tea and cookies.  We talked and they told us of some of their hopes and dreams.  

Hollie brought nail polish from home so the girls and our mission team women spent  time painting and decorating nails.  

The mission team men helped the transition home by moving some dirt.  

Afterwards we all came together and spent time in fellowship singing songs and then praying.  

The remainder of the day we spent with Oleg and his family visiting historical sites and getting to know the deep traditions of the local churches.  A very nice way to close out the week.

Day 6

A few days ago the the transition home boys came home from school upset because they were not allowed to attend without uniforms.  The mission team wanted to help out the boys.  Today started out by going to the transition house.  The men worked on construction, while the women went to town and bought new uniforms for two of the boys at the transition center.  

We then went as a team to a school in Balti and gave our last presentation on Human Trafficking.

In the afternoon we were able to go to the orphanage and deliver shoes.  For safety reasons we were not able to take photos of the kids, but I can assure you that they were adorable and very appreciative of the shoes.  One of the kids picked out shoes with red flashing lights and started stomping around the room.  Two of his buddies were watching and started laughing.  The kind of laugh that comes from deep with in and hurts when it's over.

We were then off to the last after school program at the transition center.  We did some songs, some games, made salvation bracelets, and then finished with a talent show for the kids.  Many kids came up to showcase their different talents.  To close out the show, Hollie blessed us with a performance on her ukulele.  It was so good I could feel it.  

After the program we were able to sit down with the boys from the transition center and share some food.  We prayed and said goodbyes.  It was hard to leave.

We traveled to Chishinau for the night and Oleg will guide us around town tomorrow.