Take the very hardest thing in your life – the place of difficulty, outward or inward, and expect God to triumph gloriously in that very spot. Just there He can bring your soul into blossom.
(Lilias Trotter in Parables of the Cross)
Our border crossing from Romania into Moldova seems like ages ago. A month has passed since our arrival and I’ve settled into the room I found to rent. I was delighted to hear someone practicing Beethoven in the room beneath mine shortly after moving in. There seem to be quite a few musical artists in this capital city. Four hours later my delight turned to consternation from hearing the SAME song over and over again with only a short break at the two hour mark. These Moldovan musicians are really serious about practicing!
We received our first guests only two weeks after our arrival. David, Liz, Chris and Phileena encouraged us immensely, offering guidance for our fledgling community as we pray and cast vision for the future. Iosif also visited us from Romania and shared that he will not be joining us until he comes to more clarity about his calling and feels supported by his home church in Galati.
During our first week of volunteer work we spent several hours each day at a foster house, tutoring and playing games with 19 children. By law, these children can only remain up to a year during which all measures are taken to place them back in their families or with the nearest blood relative. If they are not received by a family member, a few are selected for adoption, others are integrated into a children’s home and most are moved to another institution.
The “other institution” that I mention is what could politely be called a state boarding school, but I would call an orphanage. Children K-9 are housed, fed and schooled all on the same property that consists of multiple-storey concrete buildings, a cafeteria and an open space for playing soccer or other sports. (Ok, funny story: today I asked the third graders what their favorite subject is and they almost all said “physics.” Amazed, I let out a “Wow!” but have since discovered that what they actually meant to say is “Phys. Ed.”)
The director of one boarding school boasts of providing for all the physical needs of the children, but shrugs his shoulders and admits that the school does not provide “a mother’s love” that children need to grow. Moldovan social workers are working at reintegrating children into families, but the work is slow and complicated. At present, there are still more than 10,000 children living in these orphanages. The one we visited houses 360.
The greatest challenge we face at present is to wait and listen to the Lord as we make decisions together concerning our response to the needs of the poor in Moldova. Do we reach out to the children in the orphanage or the foster house? Do we seek to support parents who feel hopeless and are considering in desperation to seek work outside Moldova, leaving their children in an orphanage? Do we reach out to the ninth graders who graduate from the orphanage and find themselves vulnerable to human trafficking, with no family support to help them enroll in a trade school and try to find a job? There are so many children and so many relationships where we could invest ourselves. The challenge is to remain united in our vision and not spread ourselves too thin too fast.
Thank you for your continued prayers and financial support. I am blessed to have so many people behind me, and am convinced that God blessed me with wonderful family and friends so that I can share that gift of love with those who have not experienced the same.
As a friend recently mentioned, “Maybe you all are the answer to some of these children’s prayers.” If this is true, it means that you are also an answer to these children’s prayers as you pray for and support me here.
In Christ,
Rachel