Dear Friends and Family,
I write this to you after four and a half weeks in my new home with John. It has been quite a transition. We arrived in Chisinau on April 15 welcomed at the airport by our entire team, and upon arrival at our apartment, by wedding gifts from the team which included new bedding. Needless to say our welcome was especially warm on an awfully cold, rainy day. Since, however, we have had beautiful sunny weather that has helped facilitate our transition immensely.
Our days have been spent cleaning and outfitting our apartment, working at the office and with the children three and a half days a week, while spending the rest of our time working from home. I have been busy learning language with my Romanian teacher, Adriana, and John has been supplementing my lessons by helping me practice at home. Being with the children has been a true joy, but is deeply mixed with heartache. We see smiles and laughter and true joy at our presence with the kids, but we sense their abandonment and need for deep and fulfilling love. So we go on as best we can and pray the children feel Jesus in every hug, kiss and minute we spend with them.
Living daily life in another culture is exhausting. I come home at the end of the day, after having heard Romanian spoken for the majority of it and been crammed on a microbus between fifteen people standing for thirty minutes, and I am completely exhausted. I have struggled my whole life with getting enough rest – I need a lot, just ask my family! – and now I am here in another culture where just being awake drains me of energy. I think that has been one of the hardest parts of my transition. Pray that I can have grace for myself in this time.
While I love my life here, the children, the dog that lives outside our apartment, our teammates, cooking dinners with John, and the open air markets, I still deeply miss home. A prayer request during this time of transition is that I would hear God speaking to me. That I would hear his voice, feel him near and learn to rely completely on him. I have learned how much I need Jesus here and how often I got along without him back in the States. Pray also for discernment regarding my decision of whether or not to join staff with Word Made Flesh in October and discernment regarding how long John and I will commit together to being here in Chisinau.
I have learned a lot in the past month about myself. The more I learn about the world, the less I realize I actually know. Shocking, isn’t it? A 24 year old who thinks she knows everything… Pray that God continues to humble me, keep me on my knees, relying on him and seeking his kingdom. Keep John and me in your prayers as I celebrate being a quarter of a century old this month and John creeps his way towards 30, celebrating his 28th birthday on June 1st.
We love you, value you and treasure your place in our lives,
Rachel & John