Moldova

The purple bit is Cahul, and Chisinau is the capitol.

I am back in Newcatsle Australia for a week of debrief and seeing everyone for one last time. I am obviously jet lagged because it is 2:08 AM in Aus, but I never blog so when is a better time?

Our team was in Riga for 4 weeks total and then we went to Cahul, Moldova for two weeks. 

We arrived in Moldova at 1:00 AM and had a 3 hour bus ride down the bumpiest roads I have ever been on and arrived in the 5th largest city in the country that had no street lighting. It seemed sketch for sure. We just recovered that day and started ministry the day after.

When we went out and walked around and it was pretty obvious we weren't in Kansas anymore. Everything was just in shambles, the roads and sidewalks had so many huge potholes that it looked like the remnants of a bombing. All the building are plain and cementy, usually in disarray. We stood out like a sore thumb there. We were lighter and wore different clothes and were always stared at wherever we went. We, as a team, entered into a lot of spiritual warfare here.

We were very used to Riga. A nice normal looking big city with people who were more fashionable than us and most people spoke english. In Moldova hardly anyone spoke english, which actually is more what you would expect for this kind of a trip but we were spoiled before. The two women who staff at that base were able to translate for us most of the time, but sometimes we split up too much, and the other translator? He was 14! Yeah my first ministry day they tell us we are teaching english to school kids. When we get to the van they tell us David will be our translator. The three of us look around and are confused because all we see is a kid who probably skipped school in the background. He turned out to be super mature for his age and a great person, sometimes he would just translate 4 words from 5 minutes of speaking, but he was great.

So yes, the village. It seemed like a lot of houses but there was no movement. We heard nothing and saw no people moving around. The roads were dirt and there were horse drawn wagons and wind up wells. 

Katie, Laura, and me

These kids were so eager to learn! They got their paper out and wrote down everything, participated and did really well. They were total champs about the whole thing! They still desire better things for themselves. They haven't had too many people try and bring them down. At the same time the stark reality of this village shook the thee of us. David had told us two of the girls are from a family of 9, with just one parent. I can only imagine what life must be like for them . People don't have excess there. They have what they worked hard for and cherish it. You can see how they decorated with a piece of styrofoam with color pencil writing on it on the back wall. They make do with what they have and choose to have joy for it. I never felt so American in my whole life until then. I was concerned when I saw there was no McDonalds, I was loud and obnoxious, and really put off by not having the perfect shower. The difference being we had a handheld nozzle so we had to turn it on and off to rinse off. We complained about this. Americans are used to nothing but comfort, and I feel super guilty about it.

I feel so blessed to have been given perspective, if nothing else, through this time. I appreciate my parents so much more. Not only was I privileged enough to grow up in a country without want and literally countless opportunities. My parents are strong enough and brave enough to have left their country to give me that upbringing. I was given double dose of awesome.

When I look back and try to think how to better describe it I can't. It is too much for words.

I was continually suprised by the people. We went to another village, and actually saw the Romanian border, to do a girls group. These girls look normal, fashionable clothes, styled hair, and make up but there is a squatty potty around the back. I imagine some asian village when I think of a squatty potty, not these women. We asked what they have been up to lately and they all said "working in the family garden." It was all just so bizarre and nothing made sense. I feel so friggin jumbled trying to make more sense of this.

Others on our team went to a disabled school to do crafts with them, visited a single mother support group, visited orphans in the hospital, spoke at churches, and gave sandwiches to the homeless. Our last night of ministry we did a girls night at the local church, Emmanuel, and shared about Gods vision for our lives. Laura and I were able to share testimonies about how God has called us and spoken vision over us. The girls asked a lot of questions and were really interested. One of the girls in particular was asking a lot of questions and shared a bit of her story. This, also, made me realize how privileged I am to be American. She felt called to missions but her dad had died and her mom had no one else. Her mom is not a christian and she was working so much in order to send her through college. She worried how she could deny that from her mom and say she needed to travel around the world to do something God had asked her. What the heck my life is so easy. I have been worried that all my friends back home have been getting engaged and moving, literally stressing about things being different. These people have real trials and teach me what it means to appreciate what God has gifted me with during this secondary life, and have given me hope to desire more of my actual life in heaven with my father.

Our ridiculous line of huge bags going to the bus stop. We all crammed into already pretty full busses! 

(credit for all photos Katie Bushman)

We had a few days in Riga doing some last prayer walks and goodbyes. Enjoying the city I have grown to love and consider some weird 3rd home, after Colorado and Lewis House. I truly love Riga, every bit of it and I will miss it.