Dear Friends and Family,
Here are some notes on our activity from the past month:
- A team of seven people from Columbus, Indiana spent a week with us in March in Moldova with the goal of learning about our work, getting to know the kids who come to our program and helping out by organizing games, repairing our facilities and giving massages to the school educators among other things. The team was able to spend several days at our after-school program, visit a village where they were served a traditional Moldovan meal, visit a hospital for children recovering from tuberculosis and learn about the history and language of Moldova. We are thankful for this team’s openness to a new place and culture and their desire to share about the children they met with friends and family back home.
- Rachel recently became a member of the International Women’s Club (IWC) in Moldova and has been able to share about La VIA at several meetings. This month we attended an event called “Night of Art” organized by IWC with the purpose of promoting local artists, businesses and non-profit organizations. Rachel was able to network at this event and will be able to pursue potential future collaboration with some of these organizations.
- One of the children we have known since we came to Moldova with Word Made Flesh in 2010 came to visit our program this month. He was reintegrated into his family two years ago after living at the boarding school for some time and is now enrolled in the school in his village. One of the questions we continue to ask as more and more children are reintegrated into their families is how we can be a support and help to them in this process. Our hope is that maybe this child will begin to come regularly to our after-school program and that we will be able to establish a deeper relationship with his family. Please pray with us as we consider this direction.
- Rachel and Vitalie (who is also a part of the advocacy team) attended a meeting hosted by an organization for young journalists in Moldova. They were able to share the school newspaper that La VIA publishes quarterly and to receive helpful feedback.
- We are still open to scheduling more fundraising events to share about our work with La VIA in the States. Our time frame is approximately June 24-August 21. Please email me (john.koon@wordmadeflesh.org) as soon as possible if you would like us to come to your city. Our goal is to connect churches, businesses and individuals directly to the work of La VIA in Moldova.
With love and gratitude,
John & Rachel