A voice of one calling:
“In the desert prepare the way for the Lord;
make straight in the wilderness a highway for our God.
Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low;
the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain.
And the glory of the Lord will be revealed, and all mankind together will see it.”
Isaiah 40:3-5
Dear Family and Friends,
It has been a couple of months since we last spoke. How about we grab a cup of something warm and chat a bit? Great.
Our team arrived in Chisinau exactly one month ago today. John Koon, Rachel Simons, Magda Clopotel, and I were greeted warmly at our new office by Adriana Ciobanu. She welcomed us with the warmth of her presence, as well as a great meal! Thus we began our time as a team together around the dinner table. Our first two weeks were spent meeting together to listen to one another’s stories, reviewing and discussing WMF policies, gathering paperwork for our living permits, and finding host families for Magda, Rachel, and myself. We also dedicated time to visiting various organizations around Chisinau.
Chris, Phileena, Liz, and David came the following week for our first field visit. It was really encouraging and helpful. Phileena lead our chapel time, and Chris (with the help of David and Phileena) spoke with us about WMF history and reflected on what they learned through the process. They gave us a lot to consider in regards to creating a vision of ministry for our community. From those discussions we decided to volunteer together these next few weeks at the ministries we visited previously. Iosif also visited us this week, and let us know he will not be joining the team in Moldovaat this time. (Thank you to all who prayed for him during this process.)
Last week we spent time with children at a state-run placement center. The children are able to stay there for up to a year. During this time, workers try to re-integrate the children into their families, into foster families, or connect them with adopting parents. If unsuccessful, the children are sent somewhere else, most likely an orphanage. We helped with homework, played games, and sang with the children. It was so easy to see how these children need love and encouragement, enabling them to see that they are smart and can learn. The children simply drank in the words of affirmation from my teammates.
This week we will be spending some time in an orphanage at a nearby village, where 360 children live and go to school on the same campus. We will be observing their classes, sharing lunch with the kids, and simply trying to get to know some of the kids. It is heartbreaking to know a whole room full of 3rd graders that don’t have a family to go home to after school.
More than anything else, through this volunteer work we want to be open to building relationships and listening to where God would lead us to work. We would like to get to know the children, see what their needs are, and then seek to help meet those needs. My prayer request is just that: God would open our eyes, our hearts, to the children. That He would give us wisdom as to where our focus in ministry should be, and that we would be unified in this purpose.
On a more personal note, I am still adjusting to life in a big city, public transportation, Moldovan culture, a new language, and a new job. Whew. God has provided a terrific host home for me, and teammate Magda is also living there. Praise God, more Romanian language stayed in my head that I expected from my time in Galati last year. Many of you are praying about the language learning process for me. Please continue. Please also pray that I would continue to be open to God’s leading and sensitive to His Spirit.
To those who are supporting me financially – thank you. Currently, you have provided all but 35% of my support for 2010. If you are still considering a gift, please head to the Give section of our WMF website.
Feel free to contact me anytime. Also, feel free to ask questions! I love hearing from you!
Take care and much love,
Annie