Two Rules

As was mentioned in a previous post, Andy Raatz shared with us that the number one rule of a missionary is: When a bathroom is available, use it, because you don’t know when the next time will be.
Rule #2 states: Be Flexible.

Today we used both rules to the max.  We woke up with no water.  That could not stop us, however.  We modified our early morning routine, and made do.

Several good things happened to day.  We worked a long day, about 12 hours today.  In the morning, four guys (Jim, Steve, Dave F., and Jerry) went to a men’s prison.  They came back very excited.  They really believe, that at least some of the guys in prison were touched by the teams stories.  I will try to get some pictures from their meeting.

Carol and Sharon took some time in the afternoon to visit a couple of elderly ladies from the church at Orhie.  A girl named Angella brought them to the ladies houses and interpreted for them all.  Carol said that the ladies were just so pleased and honored that someone would come and visit them.

While the main crew continued to work on the church, Sharon, Dave and Jan, Craig and Courtney, and Brianon, went to a medical university meeting on family, relationships, and love.  They talked and answered questions about those topics, that the students posed to them.  Brianon played the guitar and sang for them.

By the time that part of the team was done, we had finished our time with the church at Orhei, the church we have been working on this week.  We ran out of day light, so had to wrap things up since we had no lights.  We got very much accomplished.  The downstairs team finished most of the tile work,and the upstairs team got a very good amount of the sheet rock work done, that involved installing steel studs on the limestone rock walls, insulating, and sheeting.  Take a look at the pictures for the past three days and see all of the progress being made.  Unfortunately, we are all done with our work at this church because we have more commitments at another church who could lose thier building any day.

We need to do some concrete work for the foundation of the church next on our schedule.  It will all be done by hand (with the help of a cement mixer), and poured bucket by bucket.  This is the typical way it is done here in Moldova.   As we travel on the streets, the sight of piles of sand, and gravel sitting on the curb is not uncommon.  Many time, there is also a pile of limestone blocks also.  The blocks are never in a nice order as they are just dumped from the back of a truck.  The blocks are quarried a few miles outside of town; and it is not uncommon to find seashells embedded in the limestone blocks.

Typically, when we are done with our jobs, and wind down for the night, there is a lot of talking and laughter going on in a small living space on our floor of the Pentecostal Union.  Tonight it is silent.  Everyone is tired and going to bed.  It has been a busy, hard day, but a good day.  God is so good!

Click the picture to see photos from Tuesday of the Moldova Missions Trip.

Progress is Happening

Today was another productive day for our Moldova Missions Team. The day started with another Moldovan delicious breakfast. We had a meeting amongst ourselves last night before we went to bed. We decided to get up a half hour earlier so we can start working a half hour earlier; and to leave the job site so we can get another half hour at the end. That extra hour really helped.

Sharon spent part of the day meeting with the workers at the Home of Hope, the home for women who come out of the sex trafficking trade. Yesterday, she spent the day in meetings with church leaders concerning marriages, family, relationships, etc.

David F. led our devotions for the day. His emphasis was on how we need to be aware of those around us, and our conduct here. Many Moldovans can not speak English, but they know enough to pick up on what we say. It was a timely message for us.

We were reminded once again that there are two major rules to be a missionary.
1. If there is a bathroom there, use it. You may not know when the next opportunity will be.
2. be flexible. Everything can change at a moments notice. And it has.

Reva and Courtney had the opportunity to visit an elderly lady whose name is Maria. Angela, a member of the church at Orhei, invited them to go and she translated for them. Brianon was asked by a group of the girls that go to the church, to go to a football game (soccer). She had a great time hanging out with new friends of her own age. Russia played Italy and won.
Gheroghe (George – pronounced Eyourgie. This is the same George that I have written about for several days. We finally got his name and spelling correct. He has been a truly wonderful tour guide, and history teacher. He usually drives us from here to there. The last two days, he has been a helpful language teacher, teaching us all interesting tidbits about their language. He told us of interesting Romanian words (the people speak either Romanian or Russian)  that are pronounced like different English words. Like frog (I am not sure of the spelling). Frog in Romanian is the word for keyhole in English. He is full of all kinds of interesting things.

The progress on the church is really getting somewhere. We have most of the walls sheet rocked now. Tomorrow is our last day there and we want to get as much sheet rock work done as possible.

The people at the Orhei church are so nice. They just love us and we love them. The congregation is small and they need this church built. It will be a shining star in their community.

This evening after supper, we had the privilege to talk to a few people at our church home. We briefly talked to Kathy and Tana via Skype. It is always nice to hear from home. We need to remember that after we get home so we can encourage others that are away.

As I type this, it is evening, and a wild card game is in progress out in a living area here at the Pentecostal Union. We all worked hard today and will sleep well. Please, remember us in your prayers. Thanks!

Click on the picture to the left of this post to view pictures of today.

Click this picture to see photos from Monday, March 6

A Good day of Work

Today was a good work day.

It started with a great devotional time led by Jim S.  We ate some good breakfast and off to work we went.

We worked on the church at Orhei.  We knew our routine from working there on Saturday; and we were able to get right on the job and work. Good progress was made on installing the metal studs, insulating and sheet rocking. Downstairs, others began tiling the hallway. The day was not glamorous, but was quite efficient. We got a lot of the work done that we came to do.

Lunch was very good, and the food was not piled on us like it was on Saturday.  That was good, since we didn’t want to take an after lunch nap like we did on Saturday.

The afternoon was just as productive, but the tile layers hit a dead end because they did not have some of the tools they needed, like a tile saw.

We had a pizza dinner back at the Pentecostal Union.  This is the second time we had pizza.  Andy mentioned that since choices are so small, when you find a good place, you tend to eat their food often.  We had a relaxing evening.  Several of us walked over to a store that is just a couple of doors down the block, but the bank there was already closed so we couldn’t exchange any money.  The weather today has been cool, which was nice for working.  This evening it is raining.

Thanks to all who are sending messages to us and praying for us. We appreciate it all, and we appreciate you all.  If you want to send a message to the team, go to the main Moldova page HERE and look on the right side column and click the “send a message” button.  We love you all and miss you!

Click the pictures to see a few photos of the day.  We didn’t have as many photos today because we just got down and dirty.