Dear Friends and Family,
Today is Sunday, April 15, and on this day we join together with other Christians in the East to celebrate Easter. Gathered outside of a small church in our neighborhood just a few hours ago at midnight, we held lit candles and joined in the repeated singing of the hymn known as the Paschal troparion:
“Christ is risen from the dead,
Trampling down death by death,
And upon those in the tombs
Bestowing life!”
Afterwards, on the walk home, candle still in hand, I thought about the hope symbolized by the little flickering light. Jesus says that we are light, and we are urged in Scripture to embrace that identity: “Wake up, sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you” (Ephesians 5:14).
But the reality is that there are many days in which discouragement threatens to choke out any sense of hope or light that I may have:
The 5th grade boy I’m supposed to tutor on a daily basis only showed up once last week….
Someone dear to me has to have surgery that will affect her for the rest of her life….
One of the girls in our after-school program ran away and is now being held at a detention center….
Countless people are forced to move to Russia and Western Europe in search of jobs in order to support their relatives back in Moldova….
Interpersonal conflict and misunderstandings among our staff sap all of my energy….
Where is the light in the midst of discouragement? What does resurrection mean, and does it matter? How many of us struggle to feel hopeful in the midst of depression and disappointment, anxiety and fear?
But then I try to reflect on the brighter moments of the month:
Tulips and daffodils are blossoming all around….
My sister Sarah came to visit for a week and made me laugh like I haven’t in a long time….
We hired two new Moldovan staff members this month….
The markets are full of fresh spring vegetables including wild garlic, green onion, stinging nettles and spinach….
A third grade girl who no longer has parents spent the night at our home this month. Hovered over a pot on the stove as we heated oil to make popcorn, in a rare moment of vulnerability, she began telling me about the way she and her mom used to make popcorn. And then she, Rachel and I sat on the couch, watched a movie and fell asleep. We were just together, nothing more, and it felt like we were exactly where we were supposed to be….
These are moments in which hope is made visible, like the candle flickering in the dark midnight walk home. The other moments, on the other hand, remain hidden in the shadows, lurking in grey spaces of disillusion.
And yet as I lay in bed last night, aware of the coexisting darkness and light, my candle continued to burn on the nightstand until it was finally swallowed by the morning sunrise.
Sent with love,
John & Rachel
A couple of updates:
- We will be taking a retreat from May 7-13 in the mountains of Romania with Word Made Flesh staff from our region in Europe and Africa. Unfortunately, however, the Sierra Leonean staff members were denied visas to enter Romania, so please pray with us as we grieve this injustice. The theme of our retreat will be reconciliation in its various forms: reconciliation with God, reconciliation with each other, reconciliation with the poor, racial reconciliation, reconciliation with the cosmos, etc. We will be taking time each day to reflect on these topics together as well as in extended periods of solitude. We appreciate your prayers for this time.
- We are thrilled to announce the addition of two staff members here in Moldova. Mariana and Violeta have both finished a period of internship with us and became full-time staff members on April 1. Mariana is finishing her degree in social work and will be serving with us as the coordinator of family relations as well as an educator for our 3rd graders. Violeta is finishing her degree in education and will be working on developing curriculum for our tutoring program as well as serving as an educator for our 5th graders. If you are interested in supporting either one of them financially (100% of their salaries comes through the generosity of people we know), donations can be made by designating “Moldova” under ministry support on the included envelope.
- Along with being Easter, today also marks our one-year anniversary of living in Moldova as a married couple. Thank you for your prayers, encouragement and love that have carried us each day. We are grateful.