Just in case (10 essentials for travelling in Moldova)

When you are asked to drive someone home for their mother’s funeral, you really should stop and think before you jump in the car. There are certain essentials you need for any trip and certain essentials you might need if you end up staying somewhere overnight when you didn’t expect to. This weekend I thought I was driving for three hours, dropping someone off, and driving back again. So Saturday morning I headed off, forgetting that a 3 hour drive on Moldovan roads can last many more hours, especially if every time you ask someone at the side of the road for directions, they ask you for a drive to that place (or nearby…) and somehow their directions take you on a different route than you had intended. But after all, what are backroads for but to explore!? So – here is my list of the 10 essentials for travelling in Moldova (even short trips):
1. Boots – I get an A for this one. As I was leaving, it was raining in Chisinau and so I did the math – spring + rain+ Moldovan village = “glud”, or Moldovan mud – lots of it! Walking in the funeral procession down a side “street” of a tiny village, I was very glad I had remembered not only my boots but shoes to wear when it was sunny. When I got home, I just left the boots in the car – you never know!
2. Map – after our adventurous trip to Odessa I discovered that I had a map of Moldova that was much better than the one I bought for 70 lei. This was very helpful driving to Paicu last week and then again this weekend heading down the same road and beyond.
It was also helpful as I was picking up the girls I was taking with me. On Thursday I had driven to Orhei, which is the other direction, and had it in my head we were going in that direction. Checking the map before I left, I realized we were going in the complete opposite direction; a good thing to know. Also, after we had our friendly assistants giving us directions (see above), the map helped us to make sure we were still on the right track.
3. Toothbrush & paste – a simple thing, and thankfully my travelling companion had toothpaste, but as I brushed my teeth with my finger out back by the rabbit hutches
this morning, after 24 hours without, I was grateful at least for the toothpaste! (I will also include in this category other personal items such as wet wipes, deodorant, and clean underwear.)
4. Water – I score full marks for this one too. I had been battling a cold so was drinking lots of water all the time anyway, so I made sure I had some with me. Not that they don’t have water in Moldovan villages but we have always been advised not to drink the water from the wells here – and that’s where they get it, straight from the well. However, I took great pleasure in partaking of the cherry compote (basically homemade cherry juice) we were served!
5. Brush & mirror – For some reason I often forget to put my brush in my purse. After sleeping, not to have a brush can be a problem – and even if I have a brush, if I don’t have a mirror I could do worse with the brush than without it. So I am going to purchase a small mirror to keep in my purse, along with my brush.
6. Headscarf- If it’s a Saturday night and you are staying overnight in a Baptist home, chances are you will go to a Baptist service on Sunday morning.
If you’re the only woman without a headscarf you might feel out of place, especially when they welcome their guests and invite you to share a testimony or a song or some poetry. Thankfully I did have my headscarf, though Liuba, my travelling companion, did not.
7. Something always ready to share in a worship service – In eastern Europe there is no such thing as a backrow Baptist, nor any hope of a visitor remaining anonymously hidden in the back row. Rather, visitors are ushered to the very front row and expected to share something (at the VERY least to bring greetings from their home church) with the congregation. I keep forgetting this. Liuba didn’t have a headscarf but she did have a poem at the ready in her Bible so she got full points for being a well-prepared guest in that aspect. In spite of my cold I decided, in desperation, to sing a song. During the first sermon, and then even the second, instead of listening attentively I spent the time trying to choose which song I would sing and trying to figure out if I knew the words and if I knew how to explain the English words with my limited Romanian vocabulary. Liuba said I did good – I hope so!
8. Bible – What kind of missionary goes anywhere without a Bible??! Well, I did. And not only did I have nothing to read before going to bed last night, this morning in church when I might have simply shared a Bible verse, both people I was sitting next to had Russian Bibles, so I couldn’t even find a Romanian Bible to read from. I was grateful that the hymn book was in Romanian, even though all the hymns seem to be somewhat doleful in their tone. They fit in well in the funeral procession this afternoon when the Baptist sisters were singing hymns enroute and as the procession stopped for a Bible reading at every corner we passed (much to the annoyance especially of truck drivers impatiently waiting to pass the procession).
9. Stickers – OK, well maybe not an essential, but a definite boon when there are children around. In the home where we stayed, there were two delightful children – Daniel, 3
and Viorica, 6. They took a real shining to Liuba (actually all children do – she’s like that) and during church they just wanted to be close to her once they returned from their Sunday School class. As well as poetry, Liuba had stickers in her Bible (yes, she had her Bible – a much better missionary than I!).
The children were absolutely thrilled to pieces to have these wonderful ‘Jesus Loves Me’ stickers to show to everyone. I thought, "Now there’s something I can ask my friends at home to send in the mail that won’t require a parcel and that will be a treasure for some Moldovan children."


10. Camera – Full marks for me here, too. I grabbed my camera as I went out the door, grateful that the batteries had been recharged. You, my friend, are enjoying the benefits of the fact that I took it with me. Southern Moldova was absolutely gorgeous and on the way home, after a sad but satisfying weekend, Liuba and I took lots of pictures, stopping every time we saw another breathtaking scene, or cows in the road, but not when we saw someone looking for a lift! We made it home in just over three hours. Took us 4 ½ to get there.

Distant Bells

...wedding bells, that is!It was so great seeing my daughter, having her here with me for those two weeks. And now we are into wedding mode as she and Dan have set their wedding date for June 23, 2006!!! (Yes, folks, that’s in two months.) So the current agenda is to plan a wedding in Vancouver from Moldova. Ask me if I’m thankful for Skype and for e-mail!
Believe me, any suggestions for reasonably priced reception halls, caterers, flowers, photographers, cakes, hotels, and air fares will be most gratefully received!!

Gospodina

In Moldova, they say that once a young woman knows how to make ‘sarmale’ she is ready for marriage; she is able to be a ‘gospodina’. So – two new vocabulary words for you:
sarmale – this is a Moldovan dish that is basically tiny cabbage rolls. They can also be made with grape leaves. In Romania, they are usually made with meat but in Moldova, they generally are filled mainly with rice and vegetables. We went to a Moldovan cultural event and they had a variety of Moldovan foods. At one table they had what looked like very large cabbage rolls but when you pulled back the cabbage leaf, it was in fact filled with many very tiny sarmale, like a little surprise package!
gospodina – some would translate the word as ‘housewife’ but I am told that it has a much richer meaning than that – a woman that is good and competent and frugal, wise, capable and hard-working. Probably the closest English translation would be ‘homemaker’ but it is along the lines of Proverbs 31.

So, during the time that Marah was here, sporting her new diamond ring and looking forward to her June wedding, one of our Moldovan friends offered to teach her how to make sarmale. Marah was delighted to have such an opportunity. She and Brandy, one of the American young women on my team, had their first lesson together.
(As you may remember, new team members are required to live in a Moldovan home for the first three months of their time here. Brandy is living in the same town where I was living, Ialoveni, but with another family. Sora (sister) Sveta is her host and it was Sora Sveta who taught Brandy and Marah how to make sarmale.)
So yesterday when I put Marah on the plane to send her back to her fiancé, Daniel, in Vancouver, it was with the confidence that she is well on the road to being the best ‘gospodina’ ever. Not only does she know how to make ‘sarmale’, but she also knows how to make apple pie, which her very own mother taught her how to do. Daniel, you are a very lucky man!
I feel a need to add a bit of a postscript to this. It is a wonderful thing for a woman to know how to cook and manage a household, and it is no small skill. Keeping house, raising children, cooking meals takes a great deal of wisdom, planning, patience, love and ability. But there are some who believe (and this is a common assumption in Moldova) that this alone is what women are meant to do and this alone should be their goal and their purpose in life. For some, I’m sure this is what God calls them to and equips them for. For some, God calls them to home-making for a season, but that is not to say that they are not capable or deserving of having other dreams, hopes and plans for their lives. Some never marry but that doesn’t mean that there isn’t something amazing that they can do with their lives.
Each of us is given one life to live, talents and abilities to develop and use, and love to share. I want my daughter to be competent and able to be a loving wife and mother, and a competent home-maker – but I want her also to develop all the talents and abilities that God has given her in whatever realm of life she can use them. I want her to be constantly reading and learning about the world we live in. I want her to be aware of the needs of her community and the gifts she has to offer beyond her own home. I want her to be confident that she is capable not only of raising a family, but of taking responsibility together with her husband, for the support of her family and the decisions that need to be made and the situations that need to be addressed day by day and year by year. I want her and Dan both to know that each has a great deal to offer to the other and that marriage is an opportunity for them to help each other become all that God has created them to be. I want them to know that individually and as a family, they have a responsibility to give of themselves to make this world a better place, and to show the love of Christ in whatever way He directs them. By God’s grace, may it be so.

Odessa - The Grand Adventure

My daughter Marah and I went on a ‘grand adventure’. With a couple extra days off for the long Easter weekend, and with my ‘new’ car, we were able to take a road trip to Odessa. Odessa is in the Ukraine, a seaport on the Black Sea. If it were in Canada it would be a 2 hour drive from Chisinau. In fact the trip to Odessa actually took closer to 6 hours. Here’s a list of some of the challenges we faced, and with God’s help, overcame:
- Roads – On the way to Odessa we were advised to avoid Transnistria (Moldova’s renegade state) and in order to do so we went over horrendous pot-holed roads, making the trip much longer than the distance warranted.
- Map – The Moldova map we had didn’t have all the roads, including the one we were on, and the European map was also missing the roads we were on. We didn’t have a map of Odessa till we actually got there, and the first map we got was all in Russian.
- Road signs – In Moldova a route was indicated only at the exact moment that you have to decide whether you want to take that route or not. In Ukraine the signs (and maps!) were all in Russian (Cyrillic script) so we couldn’t even read them!
- Border crossings – Although, on the way there, we did avoid Transnistria, we still had to cross the Ukrainian border, where they spoke only Russian (or Ukrainian, which is similar but I don’t know the difference). On the return journey we opted for better roads and discovered that the border crossing was an even greater challenge – experiencing realities that I have heard stories about but hoped not to face…

One of the most difficult challenges was the fact that we had no idea what to do when we got to Odessa as I didn’t know the route from the highway to the apartment we had booked (over the internet – in English). We tried to figure out how to get into the city (remember, we couldn’t read the signs!) but somehow (I’m sure it was God’s direction) we arrived at the airport, where we were able to change some money, use the washroom, buy a map and ask direction. Eventually we made our way to the great apartment we had booked, right near the centre of town.

The time in Odessa was great – lots of walking, talking, shopping, planning the wedding, eating, talking and taking pictures, and more walking. Some really funny things have happened, like when Marah was handed a monkey to hold so I could take her picture and pay the guy money for the privilege. We figure the monkey is due for retirement, at age 23, as he has no teeth but he did gum Marah’s finger. She also told me after that he was incredibly stinky and we’re often laughing about the ‘tooting’ monkey.

Of course when I didn’t have my camera we went out for dinner and ended up at a Ukrainian restaurant with folksingers in awesome costumes performing right by our table!

For me the highlight (apart from just time with Marah)
was to find the beach and sit in the sand of the Black Sea shore, listening to the lap of the waves on the shore.

On Sunday morning, (Orthodox) Easter in the Ukraine, we heard the church bells peal out the glad news that Christ is risen. We had planned to attend a Presbyterian church a vendor had invited us to, but instead we went into a nearby building because we could hear the loud praise and worship music from the street. It was a contemporary worship service, complete with liturgical dance, music, lights, smoke, and a communion service too.

It was interesting this weekend being ‘incommunicado’ from the world. Very few people were able to speak English, my Russian consists of ‘please’ and ‘thank you’, we couldn’t read the signs, watch TV, use my cell phone and didn’t seek or find an internet café. Nevertheless, the Good news of Christ’s resurrection was heralded not only by the bells but also when we met a Ukrainian vendor who invited us to her church. And aside from that, some very important communication took place in the deeper twining of souls of mother and daughter sharing together about the joys, sorrows, and mysteries of love and life that has been, is becoming, and that will be. Thanks be to God.

Marah and the cuties

The other day we went to Telenesti, a village where two of our OM missionaries work with the churches there with some children's programs. We visited both the children's feeding program and the orphanage homes that are there. It was a great day and I learned a lot from Corinne and Aniko about the work they do there and the wonderful partnerships of Christian people and agencies who seek to bless the lives of these very poor families. I won't share a lot now, but I wanted to share this photo of my daughter Marah, who -as you can see - loves children and puppies!

Bine ai venit la Moldova! Welcome to Moldova!

Spring is here, Easter is here, and my daughter is here!!!
What a joy it was on Wednesday evening to greet my daughter Marah at the Chisinau airport, along with several of my team-mates who came to help welcome her. After 16 hours of travelling – from Vancouver, Canada – she was pretty tired and is still catching up on her sleep and dealing with jet lag.
I spent the day on Wednesday buying a car. Praise God for providing me with a very good used car, a friend to help with the purchase of it, and a mechanic to care for it! It took all Wednesday afternoon to change registration of ownership, get the environment test done, go to the notary to do up a contract regarding the ownership of the car, buy gas, and then rush to the airport, arriving barely in time to greet Marah. In Moldova, a foreigner cannot own a car, so what happens is that a Moldovan buys it and then you make a contract allowing you, as a foreigner, all the rights of ownership and insurance, etc. So now I am the proud semi-owner of a 1990 Ford Sierra, with all the privileges and responsibilities that go with it. Finally I can go some places!
So today, Saturday, Marah and I took advantage of my new-found mobility and drove with a group of people (connections through International Women’s Club) to a village in Anenii Noi. There the community had prepared a cultural festival so it was a wonderful opportunity for both Marah and I to experience traditional Moldovan culture. At the entrance we were greeted with bread, salt and wine, the traditional symbols of Moldovan hospitality. After a series of speeches and welcome there were some traditional dances and songs performed and then an opportunity to sample wonderful Moldovan food and to buy crafts made by local people. The food was amazing and Marah seems to like ‘brinze’ (sheep cheese), and sarmale (tiny cabbage rolls) and the delicious cheese bread that was shared. She even said the mamaliga was ok, in small amounts. She also got to join in as the women spontaneously started dancing in a circle – it was great! We bought each other tiny trees, pretty decorative trees made of wire and beads. On the way home the trip was a bit longer, firstly because we got a bit lost at the beginning, and then once we found a road back to Chisinau (a different one than we came on!), I kept stopping to take pictures, because I could. We had another woman with us, who works with Peace Corps, and she also enjoyed the opportunity to take pictures.
Spring is bursting forth and at some places the vivid green was breathtaking as we drove through the countryside of what was known as the breadbasket of the Soviet Union. As beautiful as the scenery was, none of us were particularly appreciative of the bumpy roads we find in most parts of the country. The highway wasn’t too bad, but in the city the potholes in the streets are atrocious and you have to weave down the street to avoid huge ones and sometime play ‘chicken’ with oncoming cars in order to avoid the worst of the potholes on narrow streets.
This is Easter weekend, in Canada, at least. Here in Moldova Easter is celebrated next weekend. But for those of you who hail our Lord’s Resurrection tomorrow, may you be blessed with the joy of His victory and the peace of knowing that His death has obtained forgiveness of sins for all who put their trust in Him and receive His loving grace!
The Lord is risen! Alleluia!

Trying to Stem the Inevitable

Since I left Canada I have had news of 3 different engagements of people with whom I have varying degrees of attachment. I was delighted to hear about these dear friends and about my nephew Jamie, although disappointed that I would have to miss his wedding in July. And although my daughter had invited a young man home for me to meet last summer before I left, I reassured myself – and reminded her – that she had been clearly instructed there were to be no weddings for at least two years.

On Friday, April 7, Marah turned 21…
…and she got engaged!

There are some things over which a mother simply has no control. All we can do is love from a distance. Thankfully, Marah is on her way here to Moldova to visit for 2+ weeks so we will be able to hash out all the details and plans that need to be made. Ask me about keeping my mind on my work - it's not happening.

Congratulations, Dan and Marah!

My Amazing Mother

I forgot to add a very important post last week. You all need to know that one of the hardest things to do when I was planning to come to Moldova, was to say goodbye to my Mom. Mom has been my #1 supporter and fan forever and I appreciate her a lot. Last week, on March 22, my mother turned 87 years old! I missed the party but my niece sent me photos. The man at the right at the head of the table is my uncle Jack, Mom's brother. I think he is about 10 years older than Mom! So here's some pics for all of you to see my dear Mom and feel free to comment with birthday congrats for her, because - of course - she reads my blog regularly!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MOM!!

Stepping into Spring

Usually on the weekends I make an effort to get out and have a nice walk. Now that the time has changed and the spring weather is beginning to brighten the days, it’s easier and easier to go out and enjoy the wonderful warmth and sunshine. Another thing that makes it easier to go walking is having someone to walk with. When I was in Toronto, I had the blessing of my friend Inga who faithfully walked with me every week. And now God is bringing some new friends into my life, and walking is becoming more inviting once more.
Last week I went walking alone in the park across the street from my apartment. It was one of the first really ‘springy’ weekends and people were out to enjoy the weather, even though there was still a bit of ice left on the lake. I saw people walking dogs, babies in carriages, kids riding bikes, couples enjoying the sunshine, and kids even roller-blading even though there is no such thing as a smooth sidewalk in Chisinau!

This week my Scottish friend Melly called me and invited me to go walking on Saturday. Melly works for the United Nations and she and I connected through the International Women’s Club. We met each other for a walk a few weeks ago and then had dinner together one Friday night. Yesterday she brought another friend, Holly, for me to meet. Holly works for the American Embassy and she is from Alabama. That’s another whole interesting part of being in a foreign country, is being part of the expatriate community and meeting people from all over the world. And the thing about people who come to live in Moldova from somewhere else is that, generally speaking, they are people who are here because they want to do something to help the country of Moldova. So the three of us enjoyed a lovely time in the old botanical gardens of Chisinau.
Melly & Holly
You may remember me telling you about the custom of ‘martisor’ at the beginning of March. Women are given a red and white ribbon to wear in honour of spring, and the custom is that they hang the ribbon on a tree .
at the end of March and the tree is supposed to bear abundant fruit (or something like that). Anyway in the park we saw a bush with a marisor hung on it. I thought that was pretty cool and of course, took a picture Here’s another interesting thing about meeting other expatriates – not everyone has learned the same language to be here. For example, Holly speaks Russian and I speak Romanian. Melly is here only on temporary assignment so she manages fairly well with only English to get by on. I have decided, though, to start at least learning Russian numbers so that when someone tells me the price of something I’ll be able to understand!
So spring has begun, shoots are breaking through the earth, people are cleaning up yards and painting fences and trims, brightly painted playground equipment was installed next to my apartment building, buds are forming on the trees and life is getting ready to burst forth. I can’t say I’ll be sad to say goodbye to winter. Already the brightness and beauty of spring has lifted my spirits and the prospect of a visit from my daughter contributes to that same lifting of the spirit. She’s coming in 11 days. Ask me how excited I am! I hope all of you are having a wonderful spring season as well.

Melly & Barb

Briefly Back to Budapest

You wouldn't necessarily expect to find John Calvin in Budapest but sure enough, there he is standing in Kalvin ter (Calvin Square) presumably reminding those who pass of the great influence he had on the Reformation. It was near this statue that I attended a conference/consultation on member care in mission agencies in central and eastern Europe. This was an interesting time, with input from missionaries from Estonia, Poland, Slovakia, Bosnia, Hungary, Romania, Italy and of course, Moldova.
As well as enjoying the conference, I enjoyed the experience of simply being in Budapest once again. I had wonderful hosts during my stay there and my friend Sue was extremely generous with her time, showing me around and taking me on an adventure with her and another friend. She filled me in on many of the must-sees of the city and places I need to go next time I come.
When I left from Budapest, it had been a beautiful spring day. How delighted I was, when I woke up the next morning in Moldova, to discover that finally it is spring here too!

More New Friends

One of the ways I hope to make some new friends in Moldova is by joining the International Women's Club here. And so I did. Unfortunately, their regular meetings are on Tuesday, the same night as our OM prayer meeting so I was unable to attend. But I did sign up for interest groups of various kinds - book club, walking, cooking. Haven't heard much about these yet, but I did get a phone call from a woman who wanted to go walking. So we went walking. My apartment is right across the street from a good-sized park, so we arranged to meet and then we walked for about an hour and a half (my feet were very sore the next day). This woman is Scottish, from Edinburgh, and she works for a Commission of the European Union so she has some very interesting insights and experiences of living in different countries. I enjoyed her company a lot and the next Friday we met and had supper in a nice little restaurant that I hadn't been to before. She's on vacation now but when she returns, I expect that we shall re-connect and build a friendship as we both try to establish a social life here in Chisinau.
Another way that I have tried to find life apart from my work is by participating more fully in the life of my church. I enjoy attending the church on Sunday mornings, even though I still understand a minimal amount of the sermon. The music is good, they have a good choir and people are very friendly. So I have joined a small Bible study group. Those of you who know me well know that I love Precept Bible studies and have participated in and also led many over the years. Our small groups are all doing Precept Bible studies!! This is one way that God has helped me to feel at home in this church. And so I am in a group that is studying Philippians - a book that I have taught many times - but now I am a student as it is being taught in Romanian! You can be sure that this is stretching my language learning in a very good way.On Sunday mornings the pastor is even preaching on the book of Philippians. Being in a small group, though, also gives me opportunity to get to know some people. Tomorrow evening I have invited the youth pastor, an American, and his Moldovan wife over for supper. There is a very active ministry in this church with youth and young adults and I just want to offer my encouragement and support to this couple, who are also actively planting a church in a nearby small community. God is doing great things in and through the believers in Moldova and I see them all actively reaching out to share the good news of the gospel with their neighbours and friends.
Another neat thing that happened recently was the opportunity to meet another Moldovan friend through a contact with another missionary in Belgium. This other missionary had told me that they had baptized two Moldovan men in their church plant there. He said that the wife of one of the men was still here in Moldova, waiting for papers to enable her to join her husband.
And so I was able to make contact with this young woman who has not seen her husband in 2 years. And her 3 year-old daughter has not seen her father in all that time. This is not unusual for Moldova, where so many people go to other countries to obtain jobs and support their families. I had a lovely evening with this young woman, her daughter, and her brother-in-law, with whose family she is staying. She shared her story of how she and her husband, miles apart from each other, separately have come to faith in Jesus Christ. God does do amazing things, doesn't He?
I am learning some things, too, about Moldovan hospitality. Generally, when people come for a meal or a visit, they bring some sort of gift. Then- unless they have been specifically invited for a meal - when you offer tea or a snack, they decline. But I have learned that you are expected to offer again as it is not considered polite to accept the first time of asking ( I don't think I have remembered this YET when I've been on the receiving end!) The second or third time of invitation is when the person accepts, so I have to remind myself to offer again when they are at my place. This is easier to remember when I have made the effort to get something special in the house to serve when guests come. But how will I ever remember, when I am the guest, to say 'no' the first and maybe even the second time that I am offered something?? You can pray for me to be polite and gracious in this regard!
I have also had the privilege of being a guest, most recently in the home of other missionaries. I was invited to have supper with IFES missionaries Tanya and Kevin and their children. They are from the States but lived in Vancouver in Canada long enough for their son Stephen to be born there and to proudly claim his Canadian identity! I enjoyed a great evening with them, learning about their ministry with university students and their experience of living here in Moldova. Every interaction with other ex-patriates offers a chance to learn a few new things about how to get around in Chisinau, where to get what, and how to locate resources that I didn't know where to find. Not to mention the best blessing of beginning to establish supportive and hopefully mutually encouraging relationships.

Martisor

Some of you may be wondering why I haven’t written in my blog lately. I’m wondering the same thing myself! It’s not like there’s nothing happening – and that could be exactly the problem. There is so much happening that when I get home in the evening I am simply exhausted and don’t have energy to do much more than prepare a light supper and then veg in front of the TV for a couple of hours. I’ve been told that it’s normal at about the 6-month mark to be feeling tired, and struggling to deal with the reality that begins to hit: I am living in Moldova!!!! It’s not a visit anymore. It’s not a great adventure full of questions and mystery – it’s a day-to-day life with normal everyday struggles, plus the fog of coping with those challenges in a new language. However, the good news is – I am indeed coping, and thriving, lest any of you begin to think you need to send cards of concern and sympathy. I am fine!! I am happy!! I LOVE what I am doing! I’m just tired, but spring is coming!
Speaking of spring, in Moldova, March 1st is considered the beginning of spring and the whole week till the 8th is some kind of festival which culminates in a day to honour women!! So on March 1st, guys give their girls and friends give their friends, etc. a little pin made of red and white yarn tied in a bow and decorated with some kind of flower or coin. It’s called a ‘Martisor’ and I was given one by Ana, one of my Moldovan team-mates. Then my Romanian teacher also gave me one – they are very pretty. You can follow these links to find out more about Martisor:
http://social.moldova.org/articole/eng/357/
http://www.folkromania.com/cms/articles/traditional_celebrations/march
The wonderful thing is that March 8th, which would be the equivalent of our Mothers’ Day except that it’s not just for mothers. It’s for all women, and everything closes down so people can celebrate the wonderful women in their lives. At OM we have the day off and we are organizing a social event for all the women on the team – we’re going to go to a sauna for the afternoon!! Cool, eh? Well, actually, I suppose it will be hot.
Now you may be wondering what’s been keeping me so busy. One of the new things that I was responsible for last week was to welcome and host the new team members who arrived from USA – 5 of them! I’ve been helping them get oriented to Chisinau and life on our team, had them for dinner one night and have been trying to answer all their questions. As a member of the personnel department this falls in my court, and along with Ivanir I have been doing all possible to help them get settled, arrange their language lessons and language contacts and all the things that Personnel helped me with when I first came. It’s nice to be on this end of it and actually know some stuff!
This photo was taken the day after they arrived when I took them downtown to experience the fun of the rutieras and the joy of the Piata Centrala. Front row is Brandy, Donna, and Ersebeth. Back row is Myra, Mike and Ron. Ersebeth is Hungarian and here for a 3-week short term experience. Mike and Myra, as well as Brandy, are from Georgia. Ron and Donna are from Washington state.
One of the new recruits, Brandy, is doing the Global Action program and will be studying the core study program together with Dana and Claudia. Guess who gets to facilitate the study? Yours truly!! So that is another couple hours of group time plus preparation time each week for this course, which covers foundational things like Bible survey, hermeneutics, discipleship, mission and other subjects. I am excited about this, and the nice thing is it is in English.
I am also still teaching 3 English classes a week and with the addition of all these Americans, the Moldovans are really being encouraged to learn the language and being given lots of opportunity to do so. Another course that I will be teaching is a Missions course for Moldovans who plan to do cross-cultural missions. I am currently trying to find time to pull that course together so that when the students have enough English to take the course, I will be ready to teach it. And my Romanian will be getting better, too, so that I can help them more when the language is a problem. It’s all about communication!
As well as these things, I still have major responsibilities in the Public Relations Department. I will be picking up the Moldova News from the printer on Monday to send out to other OM offices, such as OM Canada, who will send it to your church if you let them know you are interested. E-mail me for more details.
But apart from my ministry with OM, I am also working on building a life and some relationships outside of work. I’ll tell you more about that in the next edition…

My Team

This weekend we had a team retreat. It was exhausting but nevertheless, a really good time. As well as Bible study and small group sharing and prayer times, we had workshops and seminars, interesting meals and lots of fun together. One of the most interesting small group experiences I have ever had was on Saturday when we had guests who speak Russian and English, but no Romanian. In our group we had four who speak Romanian, Russian and very little English. When Russian was spoken, someone would translate into English or Romanian. . When Romanian was spoken, a couple of times I actually translated into English, or someone would translate into Russian. When English was spoken - if you can imagine!, I translated into Romanian for my Moldovan team-mates. This kind of language gymnastics is very normal in the OM world.The Christovam family (from Brazil) taught us a Portuguese song this morning during our 'Family Bible Adventure'

This afternoon we all went out to a park together and had quite a wild time. It was mild and there was lots of sticky snow - you guessed it - suitable for snowballs. I think everyone got their face washed with snow at least once, including me. When I look at this group of people that God has blessed me to be part of, I am in awe. This is an outstanding group, with a sense of fun and family and unity and personal concern that is just great. Tomorrow, five more members will be joining our team - all Americans! It will be nice to welcome other English speakers, and I look forward to helping them to feel at home and part of the team.

The Hand of a Stranger

It could be that the February blahs are setting in. It could be that I’m just tired of riding rutieras. It could be that living in a language fog is getting to me. It could be that I’m just tired. But there it is. I’m so tired that I’m finding it hard to stand on my own two feet. But I have learned the existential meaning of “am cazut”. On Saturday as I headed out for my Saturday morning walk, I gingerly picked my way along the snow-covered ice of the driveway from my apartment building, but it wasn’t gingerly enough! All of a sudden, my feet went out from under me and - whoops! – am cazut!! My tailbone still smarts from time to time. The problem in Moldova, though, is that it’s not only ice that can cause a fall. Someone had the brilliant idea to use lovely marble-like stone for the walkway in front of some buildings (including the OM Centre). In the summer, it is lovely and smooth and makes walking very easy, but in winter it is deadly – with a bit of snow it’s like a skating rink. But so far I have managed to stay upright on these surfaces. Then there’s the rutieras and trolley-buses – a sudden stop or a sharp turn can cause the most seasoned traveller to go tumbling in someone’s lap. So far I have mostly avoided that (there may have been a few close calls). But then there is the general state of any given walkway or sidewalk. They are often uneven, sometimes manhole covers are missing and if it’s dark you could go down the hole. This evening as I walked through the underground tunnel to my bus stop I was thinking of how slippery the slushy underground walkway was and how amazing it was that I had survived so many times going up and down the snowy inadequately cleared stairway. In my pondering, I failed to notice the grate that was slightly off-kilter along the path, until suddenly I found myself more than off-kilter – am cazut!! – again!....How embarrassing – it wasn’t even icy – I just mis-stepped and went down on the slushy dirty underground walkway. A passing soldier kindly gave me a hand to help me up, and I limped away with an embarrassed but grateful ‘multumesc’. I had only walked a short distance and suddenly I encountered some of my OM friends, smiling and greeting me. I felt surrounded by these caring friends, who noticed the dirt on my coat and heard my sad tale of toppling, and expressed their sympathy and concern for me. It felt good to tell about what had happened and to have those moments of interaction with friends. It gave me time to regroup and remind myself that I am just another weak human being, still loved and cared for in spite of my foibles.
Yes, it could be that I am just tired. Too tired to endure many more of such surprises. I should be grateful, though. Recently I have had two good friends whose falls on the ice have resulted in far more serious consequences than a bumped knee, a sore tailbone, or a red face. Life is like that – you may be going along with everything according to plan or expectations but then suddenly the ground goes out from beneath you. No matter how confident you were, how carefully you sought to avoid any kind of danger…there are times when life takes us by surprise and leaves us fallen and hurt. It’s times like that that we need the hand of a kind stranger or the concerned face of a familiar friend to remind us that we are not alone. Never alone. I am so thankful that God ‘sets the solitary in families’. And families endure across time and distance in a way that is beyond explanation.
Tomorrow is Valentine’s Day – the day of love. Sure, I’d like to have a love of my own, a sweetheart – but I have survived many Feb. 14th’s without one and each year I appreciate more and more the incredible variety of love God has placed in my life. I am loved. Here in Moldova I have a family in our OM team. Back in Toronto, I have an incredibly supportive and caring church family. And spread across Canada I have three of the most wonderful children as well as many other family members who care for me and tell me so. There is no lack of love in my life this Valentine’s Day. I pray that it is the same for you. When the ground goes out from under you, may there always be familiar faces to express their concern and offer their assistance. And even if the faces are not familiar, may you always know that the stranger’s hand that helps you up is no stranger at all.
When I said, “My foot is slipping”, your love, O Lord, supported me.
When anxiety was great within me, your consolation brought joy to my soul.

Welcome to my office...

Welcome to my office! I thought that it would be nice to introduce you to some more of my colleagues. As I may have explained to some of you, my job is divided between the Department of Personnel and Training and the Department of Public Relations. My desk is in the Personnel and Training office. This is a good thing because the upstairs office (PR) is way too crowded and it’s hard to find a corner in which to work. Some of my work for PR, though, does require that I use one of the computers in that office, plus for meetings about PR, etc. There are only 5 of us working in the downstairs Personnel office so I want to introduce you to my colleagues in that office.
You have already met Ivanir. She and her husband Vitor are from Brazil and are here with their two great kids, Joao and Marina. Ivanir works with the people who are in the Global Action program, a two-year discipleship and mission program that all new recruits participate in. She teaches the core study programme and mentors the participants.
Ianos (pronounced Yanosh) is one of the Moldovan members of our team. He is from Ialoveni and he works with Liuba to plan and run the Challenge into Missions training programs – a huge job! Twice a year we have about 20 students from churches all over Moldova who come for this 10-week course. Ianos and Liuba work together to develop the schedule, find and book appropriate teachers/pastors to lead various seminars and components of the teaching stream of the program. They also assign the students to their mission groups and oversee their hands-on involvement in missions and evangelism in the villages where they are sent. They deal with any problems that arise and basically do all that is necessary to keep the program running. Ianos also was the person who arranged for my stay in a home in Ialoveni for my first few months. That is also part of his job with Personnel.
Liuba is also Moldovan but her mother-tongue is Russian. She had to learn Romanian when she came to work with OM from the town of Anenii-Noi. ( This is not unusual. People in Moldova speak either Romanian or Russian or both. And many people, even if they don’t speak both languages, they do understand the basics of the other language. When I ask how much something costs in the market place, if the person responds in Russian, they expect me to understand – even if I asked in Romanian!! I guess I’ll have to learn at least my numbers in Russian. ) Anyway, Liuba is the same age as my oldest son and she is a gem. She is the person who did all the phone work and leg work to help me get my apartment. That, too, is part of her job in the Personnel department. She is one of those people who just sparkles almost all the time and is so pleasant to be with.
I believe I have already introduced you to Rafael, who is not only our Team Leader, but is also our Department head for Personnel and Training. (Sorry, I was going to put in a photo but blogger stopped cooperating with me and my photos for some reason all of a sudden.) My desk is next to his and it is nice to be able to ask for his help if there is something I don’t understand. Rafael is Romanian but he speaks very good English. Our department meetings, though, are in Romanian and I’m getting better at following the conversation and even offering input at times. When I get an idea or have a suggestion, I start off fumbling in Romanian but sometimes if I just don’t know how to say what I want to say I eventually break out in English, knowing that Rafael will translate what the others don’t understand. They are all very patient with me. But hey, can you believe that I am actually participating in meetings conducted in Romanian? When I stop and think about it, it really is amazing.
Having said that, there are times when I perhaps become overconfident and that is always a dangerous road to travel. Last week I had to give a report at prayer meeting. I could have had translation but I decided to go for it and speak in Romanian. So I said the things I needed to say but then I asked for prayer for Ana, who is in our PR department and has had problems with her back. I meant to say that she was not well, but when everyone started laughing I realized that perhaps I hadn’t said that. When I asked what I had said, Dana kindly informed me that I said Ana was crazy. Instead of saying that she was not well , I had said that she was not sane. Poor Ana! So now Dana is telling me (you may notice in the comments on my blog) that I am crazy – but of course, I don’t claim not to be!!
Speaking of crazy, today I bought pussywillows from a lady on the street. Pussywillows! In February! The Romanian word for pussywillows is ‘little lambs’. Isn’t that cool? Spring isn’t here yet, though… there’s more snow coming next week. Don’t know that we’ll get as much as my friends in Nova Scotia got recently though. How are you all? Hope you’re safe and warm! God bless you, my friends.

Teaching English

This is my English class!From left to right you see Viorica,Lilia, Oxana, and Alina. What a great time we have together learning the sounds and meanings of the English language. I am beginning to understand why English is not considered an easy language. Just working on the vowels and vowel sounds alone, with all their variations, is pretty complicated. So on Tuesdays and Wednesdays every week we have our class. On Wednesdays I also have a separate class with my colleagues, Liuba and Ivanir. This is a typical OM reality: Ivanir (from Brazil) with an English-Portuguese dictionary, Liuba (from Moldova) with an English-Russian dictionary and me with my English-Romanian dictionary speaking together in our common language, Romanian and learning every eastern European's desired language: English. You'd be amazed how much fun three women can have learning the long vowel sounds!

Zapada

Zapada is the Romanian word for snow. Along with sub-zero temperatures, we have snow on the ground. It feels more and more like home...
On my way home from church this morning, it was nice to watch the children playing, riding their sleds down the hills. They still have sleds here. Do you remember these?

Brrrrrrrr!

Oh good! Looks like I can post photos again... and here is a photo of "my" corner, the one nearest my house. You can see the trolleys and the mini-buses (rutieras). I take the #17 trolley to the OM Centre in the mornings. It is about a 20-minute ride and then I switch to the number 178 rutiera to get all the way to the Centre. I have decided to opt for the trolley bus whenever I am able. Most of them are pretty ancient but there's more chance of getting a seat, they're cheaper, and the stops are pre-determined so there's no stress about whether you won't be able to get the vehicle to stop where you want it to. It stops at every pre-designated station. Less stress - more relaxed me.
So, winter has truly arrived with -18 temperatures and the like. Glad I have warm clothes, hats, scarf, boots, gloves, etc.! In spite of the cold, I enjoyed walking back and forth to church this morning. Yes, I have found a home church right in my neighbourhood. It is a 20-minute walk and this morning in the snow, it was quite lovely. Some of you have been asking about my job description. Now that my first three months of language learning and cultural orientation is over, what is it I am supposed to be doing. Or as my mother asked, "When do you start being a real missionary?" In spite of the fact that I am in the northern hemisphere, I think the image of jungles, huts and pith helmets still prevails in some people's minds. In fact, I would like to think that I have been a "real missionary" ever since I got here. If a missionary is one who brings the good news about the love of God and the grace of Jesus Christ, I hope that I have been doing that even before I got here. It's just that now I have to learn how to do that in another language and culture.
Learning the language continues to be a major responsibility as eventually the majority of my time will be spent in teaching and training. In which case, knowing the language is slightly helpful. :-) For now, though,there are quite a few things where knowing the English language is a big asset, and that is where my responsibilities lie initially. I will be working for about 60% of my time in the Public Relations department where I am in charge of all forms of communicating to the English-speaking world about our work here in Moldova. That means I put together our newsletter 'Moldova News' (let me know if your church would like to receive some copies - and how many!), a 4-page glossy newsletter with stories and reports about OM Moldova. I also am gathering all the necessary information for our website to pass on to the web designer. I send out a prayer update every week, with prayer requests from team members, and I keep a finger on the communications with foreigners coming from other countries for our Global Challenge or Global Action programs, although Claudia is the one directly responsible for those communications.
We also publish a prayer bulletin monthly that is sent out to about 700 churches in Moldova with prayer items from all over the world printed in Romanian on one side and Russian on the other. I am responsible for choosing the items for prayer, which I glean from many English news bulletin sources, which are then translated into Romanian and Russian. Ana, a Moldovan team member, pulls it all together, chooses photos, sends it to the printer and mails it out. We want to encourage Christians to have a broader vision of the needs of the world and of our responsibility to pray for the whole world.
The other 40% of my time is in the Personnel and Training Department. For now that means I sit in on meetings and planning for new programs we are developing. I also teach English two mornings a week to some of our Moldovan Global Action team members who are required to learn English, as well as some computer skills. (No, I don't teach the computer skills!) When our Challenge into Missions program starts in March, I will be leading a Bible study and a seminar for the leadership level of the program. And later in the year I will be teaching a course on missions to the (Moldovan) team members who are preparing to be involved in cross-cultural missions. It's nice to have several books of curriculum on my desk that I have to become familiar with so I can teach it. It's also nice that the material is in English! Along the way, it looks like I will also be doing some mentoring and pastoral care and later on I will be able to do more travelling around, visiting our various teams in the villages to provide pastoral care and encouragement.
I know it all sounds a bit complicated but it is falling into place and when I thought about it the other day, I realized that I am doing all the things I love to do. I am writing, teaching, mentoring, pastoring, learning a new language, and will be able to do some travelling and pastoral care. It doesn't get much better than this, and I am so thankful to the Lord for how He has blessed me!

Small Pleasures

Last night Dana and I went to an English movie. OK, it's true that there are frequently English movies on the TV in between the Russian and Romanian news and an occasional French movie on the Eurovision channel. But there's something about going out to a movie with a friend that's just nice. And Dana was kind enough to buy popcorn for us while she was waiting for me at the Stefan Cel Mare statue (because I was late, if you can imagine that!). The popcorn they sell on the street here in Chisinau is as good as any movie theatre popcorn and way, way cheaper - like about 10cents (1 leu) for just the right amount for one person. The movie is shown in an upstairs room that I would never have found by myself, but the seats are very comfortable, the screen is big and the six of us who were there enjoyed the movie, which was a romantic comedy I hadn't seen before. Then we went out for supper and just had a very pleasant Saturday evening. So, folks, this is life in Chisinau!
What else exciting has been happening? Well, not a lot, which is why I haven't written too much on my blog recently. The most exciting thing this past week was receiving four of my Christmas parcels in the mail finally! My dear sister sent me what amounted to "Christmas in a Box", complete with warm polar fleece pajamas that keep me cozy at night. And there was a parcel from my niece as well, with cozy warm socks!And dear Susan Carlen sent me a care package of Second Cup treats - oh, how I miss Second Cup!! So in case anyone is still thinking I'm cold, I'm not! I have coffee,hot chocolate,warm PJ's, and warm socks! Life is good!
So trying to think what else to blog about I realize that I didn't have time to tell you about some of the things that happened before Christmas. Matthew and Helen were moving into their newly built house a week before Christmas (brave souls!). They gave us a wonderful opportunity to spend a work day in manual labour instead of at the office when they invited the whole team to come and paint the rooms of their house. It was a lot of work but a lot of fun. I've got a couple pictures but for some reason I can't post them right now. So... I'll leave it for now and try again soon. Sorry, folks! Matthew and Helen's three daughters were given the opportunity to do some painting in their own rooms before others finished the painting. It was very cute. The girls are expecting a new little sibling in March and will be returning to England with their parents to await the baby's arrival. I won't tell you what colour they painted the baby's room. :-)

Nesting

First of all, Happy New Year! I wish every one of you all the blessings of the Lord in this new year 2006.

I have been nesting. You know, feathering my nest, making a house (apartment) into a home, settling in. That's why you haven't heard too much from me the last few days. It's not like I haven't had time... the OM Centre closes over Christmas so we have lots of time 'off' between Dec 23 and Jan 10. But I guess I am beginning to settle in on several levels - in my home, of course; but also in my relationships. I am starting to get to know people. In fact, one of the wonderful things about having my own place is the opportunity to invite people over. And with a more relaxed pace of life,- especially in this season - that seems to be happening a fair bit.
So if you are expecting to read my blog today and hear exciting missionary news about valiant endeavours for the Lord, or needy people that God has called me to help... you'll have to wait for another time. Today I want to tell you about the sweetness of life lived at a gentler pace, and new friendships being forged.
Since Christmas I have started baking and cooking again. For our New Year's Eve gathering I decided to take a chocolate cake. So I had to go to the store, buy a cake pan, find cocoa and icing sugar and baking powder (not an easy task!). Then I went on the internet to find a recipe, since I gave all my recipe books to my daughter. And I had to estimate measurements as I don't have a measuring cup, and then guess whether the oven was hot enough or too hot and how long to leave the cake in because it is a gas oven...but the cake turned out really good!
Now that I am living on my own, I have to start cooking for myself again - it's been awhile! Even when I was in Toronto I would be more likely to eat out or zap something in the microwave than to cook a meal. But here those options aren't quite so simple. So - I am making big pots of soup of various kinds, eating it for a couple days and freezing the remainder for another time when I want some variety. I wanted to make spaghetti - something I haven't had since I've been here - so I called Dana and the Brazilian family that I work with and invited them over for a spaghetti dinner.
Vittor & son Joao
We had a lovely relaxed evening and at the end of it all, I realized that we had spent the whole evening conversing in our common language - Romanian - and I had understood almost all of it! And participated too!
So I am feeling more relaxed with the language, being in my own home, and having more easily accessible internet.


Ivanir
On Monday, Claudia called and we went for a walk in the park across the street from my building. Another woman, who is Swiss like Claudia, joined us for our walk and we went to her apartment afterwards for tea, cake and a game of Rummikub. On Tuesday I went shopping with Jeanine for furniture for my apartment - and bought a desk and chair. Yesterday it snowed - so beautiful and in the evening was the spaghetti dinner. (I should mention that Ivanir, the mother in the Brazilian family, had participated in building her first snowman ever yesterday - and loved it!) The view from my apartment window this morning
And today I was relaxing at home and Matthew and Helen phoned and asked if they could drop by to see my apartment. So they came up, along with their three girls, and we had a nice visit. And tonight I made curried potato,mushroom and onion soup for my supper.
It's been nice having some vacation time. Monday we go back to work... well, for me that means Romanian lessons for one thing, but it also means I am finally going to find out exactly what my job responsibilities will be! I'll keep you posted about that.
I like having my own little nest. And I like that when you come to visit me in Moldova, there will be room for you to stay in my house. Just let me know what kind of cake I should bake for you!