Kotor & Budva

Mid-way through the week in Montenegro we took a day off and enjoyed an outing together to a historic city further up the coast to the north. The city of Kotor is located on a large inland port which is accessed through a fjord-like channel that the cruise ships navigate to arrive in this beautiful spot. For us, it was about a 1 ½ hour drive from Bar. Kotor is listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site. (I remember going to Wielicka in Poland – another World Heritage Site. That too was amazing so I think I will make it a goal to visit as many of these sites as possible!) Kotor’s chief attraction is the old city, enclosed in the historic fortress-like walls. At one time an autonomous city-state, it later (1490) put itself under the protection of Venice so the Venetian influence is seen in some of the architecture and décor. Its narrow alleys and well-restored walls contain many cafes where tourists (like us) can while away an afternoon with cappuccino and lovely cakes. The city’s fortifications are built right into the mountain that embraces it. The ambitious in our group climbed the 1,350 steps to the Fortress of St. Ivan and had a spectacular view from there. Those of us who were less ambitious get to enjoy their photos! As well as the pleasure of relaxing at cafes and exploring the narrow cobblestone streets and the car-less city squares, we were able to do a bit of Christmas shopping in the very nice shops conveniently located for visitors from the cruise ships. After spending most of the day in Kotor we stopped on the way back to Bar in another coastal town called Budva. I was tired and didn’t want to do a lot of walking around the old historic city so I asked Micah to show me where the beach was. She led me to an awesome beach, filled with cafes, next to the city wall and fortress. The waves were rolling against the shore and the sound of the waves and the breeze from the ocean and the sun gradually descending over the sea were such a balm to my soul. I found a seat away from the others and just soaked it all in, while I also did some reading in preparation for my next day’s teaching. Since that day I have looked for every opportunity I could find to sit on the shore and breathe in the salt air. Will I ever get enough of it? My Nova Scotia ocean blood is still pretty powerful!

Montenegro

For the past week I have had the wonderful privilege and opportunity of being in Montenegro – an absolutely beautiful country. Driving from the airport in Podgorica to the city of Bar where we were coming to attend a conference, I was amazed at the mountainous country we traversed, sometimes through very long tunnels through the mountains themselves and sometimes along the shore of a beautiful lake, part of which is a bird sanctuary. Crossing the last range of mountains we descended to a small city cradled among the mountains and set on the shore of the Adriatic Sea. From here you could take a ferry to Italy which would take 8 hours to cross. But Italy is not on the itinerary and we have been quite content to enjoy this beautiful country, whose name means “Black Mountain”.
The conference we have come to is a gathering of missionaries from our region who have just completed their first year on the mission field. The purpose is to give them a chance to reflect, receive some pastoral care, share their experiences with others who they trained with upon their first arrival, and also receive some teaching and training that will equip them better for their ministries. The group is small: the German team leader for the small team here in Montenegro, a Korean couple who are serving in Kosovo, an Ecuadoran woman and a Chilean couple who are serving in Albania, and two young women – a Moldovan and an Austrian – who are serving with me in Moldova. I have come as one of the teacher/trainers along with another long-time missionary, Dave, who is American but has been living in Austria for more than 30 years. We have been hosted and organized by Micah, a woman from Idaho who arrived in eastern Europe at the same time I did and who is now serving in Montenegro, after spending her first term in Albania. Micah and I get along really well and it has been nice to renew acquaintance with her. She’s going the extra mile in hosting several of us in her home for a few days after the conference.
For me this week has been a gift in the opportunity I have had to do the Bible teaching I love to do. The first few days I was doing seminars on how to study the Bible and for the last few days I was teaching the book of Colossians. I also had the privilege of working together with Dave in presenting several workshops related to ministry skills. We did a few on transitions and adapting to the culture and then some on mentoring and listening skills.
One of the highlights for all of us was the opportunity to hear Dave’s stories. He is renowned in our organization as a story teller – and does he have stories to tell!! Around the dinner table after the meal each evening he would entertain us with all kinds of stories.Whether they were stories of his childhood or stories of his Bible-smuggling days, they were either humorous or rivetingly exciting. As we talked about the challenges they had faced bringing the word of God to countries that had been behind the Iron Curtain, I suggested to Dave that we have it much easier now as missionaries – at least in the countries where we are serving. I was really challenged by Dave’s response that the opposition is just as strong but we don’t always recognize it as easily. The things that make missions difficult now are such things as materialism, that distracts and deters people from listening to or responding to God’s call to follow Christ. If people are satisfied temporally, they don’t always realize how great are their deeper spiritual needs. And so they don’t bother listening to the good news we bring.
I guess we need to pray that we as missionaries not be entrapped by materialism and lulled into indifference and lack of passion for the message we bring and the ministry we fulfill. Also that the people we seek to reach are not deceived into thinking that material things can fulfill spiritual needs. Dave smuggled Bibles to bring the word that people were longing for. We openly bring the Word of God and sometimes people are totally unaware and uncaring that this is a message of hope and redemption that can dramatically change their lives for the better.

Open Hearts in Exile

From time to time - more frequently than we would choose for ourselves - we are called upon to be in a place or bear a burden or do a service that we don't want to be or bear or do. But there it is. It happens. And it has been said, and will be said again, that in those times when we feel we have no power of choice, we do have the ability to choose our attitude.

Such is the case with some of my team-mates, whom I had the privilege of visiting this week in Romania. They have chosen an attitude of gratitude and a willingness to serve the Lord in whatever way He opens up for them. These friends are living outside of Moldova because they are waiting for visas to come into the country. They have set up house in a small village near the border of Moldova. Henry and Ingrid hope to come and work with us but they have not yet been able to receive an official invitation into the country, which is required for them to obtain a visa. They are sharing a place with our team-mate Dana, who is teaching them Romanian as they wait. Dana's residency permit expired and so she had to leave the country for 3 months so that she can come back in for 3 months. However she is also waiting for news of the possibility to study in the UK or the US.

So there they are... nothing to do but teach/learn Romanian. ? But not really! The village children have discovered that Dana and her friends love children and so they come calling in the morning and all throughout the day. "DANA!! DANA!! Can we play in the yard? Do you have candies for us?" They are received kindly even though at times they need some instructions regarding boundaries... more than once. Later in the afternoon Dana bakes cookies for them - something that is not part of their normal experience. Watching her expressing such care for these children reminded me of how much I have to be thankful for. I had never really thought of how much love is expressed in the simple acts, like baking something for someone. When I was a child my mother baked every Friday afternoon so that we always had some kind of cookies or cakes around. I didn't realize until now how much that spoke of her love for us. (Thanks, Mom!)

I was encouraged by the way my friends are speaking into the lives of these children, who come from very poor homes. Some of them don't even go to school as they are not encouraged at home to do so. But they are learning about the love of God through the caring and nurturing they are receiving from these foreigners in their midst. With open hearts Dana and Henry and Ingrid are receiving this time as an opportunity given by God to care for the poor and to let the little children know that they have a loving Heavenly Father. In the evening I watched the joy of these young boys as Henry played a game of pickup soccer with them. Is he the first adult to ever do so? My friends are not expecting to be in this place for long but I am guessing that however long or short their time is, these little boys will never forget the kindness and the care that they were shown by some people who for a time sojourned among them and told them about a friend named Jesus.

Please pray for these children and for their village, and for my three friends. Pray that they will receive their documents in due time.

I just want to let you all know that I won't be blogging for a bit over a week, at least. I leave tomorrow to go to Montenegro to teach at a conference there. I won't have internet access! I'll post photos later so keep watching!

A very busy month

Dear readers, I must apologize for the lack of entries this month. It is a good reflection of the fact that I have been very busy. I can't even begin to go into details. But when my son complains that I haven't written on my blog, I figure I better do something! So before I go off to Romania tomorrow morning early, I'll see if I can find a photo or two to share with you.

Last Sunday I went with Albina to her home village so she could present a report of her work to her sending church. After the worship service, in which I also stood up and brought greetings to the church, we went to Albina's home for dinner. The food was awesome! Some of my favourite things were on the table, including placinte cu bostan and clatite cu brinza dulce. Soooo good! Albina then took us out to see the calf that had been born that very morning. Imagine that they can stand on their feet the same day they are born!!

Our missions training course is currently running, with about 30 students from all over Moldova participating. Our regular prayer meeting was extra special last Tuesday as we had different stations representing different countries. We would travel from one "country" to another, hear about their culture, sample their food, and pray for some of the needs that had been shared regarding that country. In this tent we learned about some Asian countries, like Indonesia. Our Australian team members had some amazing photos of their beautiful country and we learned a bit of culture as they taught us how to play cricket!! Speaking of whom, we have been spending a fair bit of time trying to get their documents sorted out and it is still uncertain whether they are going to be able to stay in Moldova or not.

Last Saturday I spent the whole day at a women's conference at which Anne Graham Lotz (Billy Graham's daughter) was the speaker. She is an excellent preacher and I really enjoyed hearing her. Hope she doesn't mind that I'm going to use some of her material at a training seminar I will be doing next week in Montenegro! There were several hundred women there and during the breaks I saw some women who I hadn't seen in awhile so it was nice to realize that I do know some people in the country now! Got my photo taken with Anne so I could show my friend Birgit. Birgit, do you see this? I met her finally! God bless you, Birgit! The event was at the Moldova Opera House and I was back there again this past Saturday to attend an opera - Verdi's Aida. It was quite good and Becca (from Australia) and I enjoyed it. Also enjoyed a conversation we had with a couple who work with Peace Corps, who were sitting next to us. There's over 100 American Peace Corps volunteers in the country of Moldova.

Yesterday (Sunday) evening I went with my Moldovan friend Tanea to a worship service at a new church plant here in the city. It was great to be there although the numbers are small but the pastor has a heart to share the hope and love of Christ with the people in this city. I'm sure the church will grow.

OK, so tomorrow morning I will be travelling by mini-bus to a town just on the other side of the border in Romania. I'm going to visit the couple from Chile who are still waiting to receive their invitation to be able to come into the country. They are there with my team-mate from Romania who is teaching them the language. So I need to finish this and get to bed. But before I do I'm sure you want to see photos of my grandchildren so you can see how much they are growing. Alejandro turned 2 years old on October 10! You can be sure that I am thankful for all the Lord's blessings, but especially for these beautiful grandchildren!

An Evening in Brussels

Belgium was a good time although it rained most of the days we were there. Good thing we were simply in meetings much of the time. But on Tuesday evening we had an outing, divided into teams to find certain information and report back with our answers. Here is me with my team-mates: Simon (England), Kurt (Switzerland) and Johan (Holland). Some answers were more creative than others!

One of the statues that we found is called "Manneken-Pis" and is in fact what it sounds like. It is a statue of a little boy, commemorating his efforts to extinguish a fire that would have destroyed the Town Hall, by means of the most readily available source of fluid! Another story simply says that a father was looking for his lost child and he promised the Blessed Virgin Mary that he would make a statue of the child doing whatever he was doing when the father would find him. Guess what the kid was doing!!

There were other interesting sights in Brussels, of course. The smell of chocolate on one street in particular was absolutely heavenly. And inside one of those luscious shops was this fountain of chocolate!! Awesome, eh?

The centre square of the city was quite beautiful, in spite of the drizzle that evening. We finished off our time together enjoying the delight of Belgian waffles. So good!!

Rhine Cruise

When I was a kid, my mother went on her first trip to Europe. I remember when she came back that one of the highlights she remembered was a cruise on the Rhine river. She spoke and showed us photos of the castles and vineyards and told us about the legend of the Lorelei. (See http://www.loreley-rhine.com/) The pictures of the castles captured my youthful imagination and ever since, I have wanted to see the castles along the Rhine river valley. This week I finally had my chance, and had a lovely time cruising down the Rhine river on a vacation day I took on the way home from a training forum in Belgium.

An optional part of the trip was a ride down the moutain on a chair lift with a spectacular view. Those are vineyards you see in tiers on the hillside.It was a bit scary but I was glad I went!

One of the really wonderful things about this trip was the timing. Being October, the leaves are at their peak of changing colours and it really was so beautiful to see them! It reminded me a lot of my beloved Canada and the beauty that always surrounds us in the fall as God's paintbrush splashes spectacular colours among the trees. I was very grateful for this relaxing day of rest in the middle of a busy fall season.

Frankfurt am Main

Last Sunday I was in Frankfurt. It's a beautiful city, centred around the lovely river where green walkways and leafy trees line the banks. The local citizenry spend their Sunday afternoon strolling, dog-walking, biking, fishing, dangling feet over the wall, and just walking along the riverside. Some people, including the odd tourist, such as one from Moldova, go sailing down the river on a cruise boat. It was sunny and beautiful with a nice breeze ruffling my hair and the sun shining down warmly.

Later, I enjoyed strolling through the historic centre square, enjoying buskers and just seeing all the people enjoying themselves.

Reluctant Angels

Every once in a while God sends us a reluctant angel. At least, I had one last week. It happened when I was on my way home from work on a day that was one of a week of just about everything going wrong. As I drove down the hill not far from my apartment block there was a strange sound. I wondered why the street was making this strange new sound and then it occurred to me that possibly it was me.... like the tire slapping against the pavement. My worst suspicion was confirmed as I pulled up to the stoplight and a guy walked over pointing to my tire. Oh-oh> it was a flat tire. I pulled over (across a lane of traffic) and pulled around the corner. I drove the car slowly and carefully to a spot behind another car which also seemed to be in distress. The guy had the hood of the engine up and was standing there in his black leather jacket, white turtle-neck and pointed shiny shoes, apparently waiting for someone to come and help him with whatever his car trouble was. I opened the trunk, took out the spare tire and the jack and set about looking confused, helpless and open for offers of assistance. It took a direct hit on my part for me to finally ask the nice man if he could help me change the tire. (I could have done it but it has been years and years since i have changed a tire and also I was wearing my good clothes.) So he did it, all the while looking over his shoulder to see if his help had arrived. Once the tire was on the car, it too looked a bit low. Next thing I knew, the nice man went and got a gadget out of his car, which he connected to my battery and then used to fill my tire with air - very cool! I thanked him profusely and he barely said a word and hardly cracked a smile the whole time. Once fixed, I was on my way home, thinking all the while about how this guy had been a reluctant angel and doing all I could do for him - praying God's blessing in his life.

Of course, it's not just reluctant angels that God has sent my way. The other evening I had some of my team members over to my house, including the new recruits. We walked in the door, planning to cook supper for them all (there were 8), only to discover that my power had been turned off. (Another long story, but it's related to a non-payment of a bill) One of my angels - male team member - did everything he could for me to find out what had happened and then to find out where to go and even offering to go to the place the next day and take care of the problem. So meanwhile, we cooked hamburgers and french fries on the gas stove and visited by candlelight. I made frosting for the chocolate cake that I had fortunately finished baking in my electric oven that morning before the power went off. Here is Eugen licking the spoon as Aurica looks on. The flash was bright but in actuality this was my kitchen in darkness aside from a candle! I am so thankful for all the reluctant (and willing) angels, who bring so much light and encouragement into my life.

Leaders' Retreat

Last week the leaders of our team took a few days apart to "refocus" as we move into the fall season. We had an area leader visiting with us and it was helpful to have his more objective input as we discussed many things. Matthew led us through an overview of the history of our work here since its beginnings, in 1995-6. The place where we retreated for 2 days and one overnight was somewhere in the middle of nowhere but it was very picturesque. We ate very well, particularly the evening we had 'shashlik' (shishkebab). It was prettty nice to be in a place where we were undisturbed for a while by outward demands and responsibilities. That's not to say, though, that we didn't work. We had meetings all day long both days, that resulted in us doing some restructuring of the organizational aspect of our team. The end result, hopefully, will be that things will be run more efficiently. But one of the decisions made that affects some of us immediately, is to do some office-changing that will reflect our new structure. For me, this means that I will be moving out of my nice, big, open, airy, blue office in the new mission centre into an older, smaller office in the older building where our other offices are. Sigh. There are some positive aspects to this, though. Namely, there is wireless internet in the old building (and not yet in the new - go figure) and the old building is much easier to get to as it is on a paved road. No longer will I have to discuss with myself on the way to work which road will be least muddy and which road will be inaccessible and where I should park and how far and through how much mud I will have to walk to get from my car to work. I will just pull up in front of the building, even when it's raining, and park right there. Ain't life grand?

Canadian Distinction

Can you believe this one?!? I was walking down the street in Chisinau, minding my own business when suddenly this Canadian flag leapt into my awareness! It seems that Canada, specifically Quebec, is doing a big push for Moldovans to emigrate to la Belle Province. So many Moldovans are constantly leaving anyway, somehow Quebec has clued in to the fact that they could learn French and help populate that part of Canada. So here I am on the other side of the world and suddenly my country (not the other North American country!) is becoming well-known in the eyes of my hosts.
I only recently realized what a rare bird a Canadian is in this land. While contacting the (closest) Canadian embassy in Bucharest I asked the nice lady how many Canadians are in Moldova. She told me that the embassy is only aware of 5, and the other 4 are Moldovan-born who lived in Canada for some time and obtained citizenship. In other words, to the best of my knowledge, I am the only Canadian-born Canadian living in Moldova! And I barely even remember any French! C'est la vie!

Sounds

(in which no pictures are included so as to focus on the sounds)
I live above a pizza place and so always in the evening there is the sound of chatter and laughter as people relax over a casual meal. Sometimes the voices and the music go on late into the night and often are mixed with the clattering of bottles being unloaded from a truck, and empty bottles being collected from the restaurant. Across the street is a casino and it isn’t unusual to hear loud talking on the street in the wee hours. Not long ago the most prevalent sound at night was the barking and whining of many dogs who wander randomly in the city. But I think when I was away this summer there must have been some kind of purge of the canine contingent. The first few nights after I returned I would lie awake at night wondering why it was so quiet and then I realized that I hadn’t heard or seen many dogs since I got back.
But still there are the sounds of people; sometimes an inconsiderate neighbor who plays very loud music in the middle of the night. But that doesn’t happen too often. In the evenings you can hear the sound of children running and playing, riding bikes, climbing and swinging in the playground between our apartment buildings. An older brother teases a sobbing sister, and an overtired child whines at the heels of an equally overtired mother. Behind my building is a kindergarten and when I am home on a week morning I can hear the children laughing and playing but always there is at least one child crying and the not-always-pleasant voice of the adult in charge.
My street is a route for trolleybuses and mini-buses so you can usually hear traffic going by, especially the distinctive sound of the trolleybuses, which should have been replaced with new buses long before this.

Today is Sunday and earlier in the afternoon there were some very loud sounds of cars honking their horns. I had seen a vehicle all decorated for a wedding so I wasn’t surprised. In Moldova weddings are often part of the worship service on a Sunday. I heard the horns and felt some of the excitement and joy of this new beginning for a young couple.

But now, with my balcony door open, (despite the September chill that has set in) I hear a new sound – but a very old sound. It is the sound of funeral dirges being played by a brass band. Through the tree branches I cannot see the band but the mournful sound rises clearly in our little community and it is known that someone is grieving for a lost loved one. For a while the other sounds seem to diminish and it is as if the sounds of joy and continuing life stand back for a while in respect for this profound reality. The dirge stops for a bit and I guess that the customary ceremony of the priest saying some prayers and maybe reading some Scripture is taking place. In a village the funeral procession would be walking from the home of the dear departed – where the wake had been held with the open coffin in a room of the house – to the cemetery. At each corner the procession would stop for some words from the priest. In a Baptist ceremony, the gospel would be preached at every corner, with the evidence of the brevity of life in full display as people consider their own eternal destiny. Today I cannot see the procession but the dirges continue, with breaks in between for whatever words of comfort, hope, or warning are being shared.

So many sounds here in my fourth floor home. I stand on my balcony to see if I can see the funeral band. I cannot. But I can hear, here among the treetops, the sound of the breeze blowing through the leaves. And I remember Jesus’ words about the Spirit of God:
‘The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.’ (John 3:8)
I can hear the sound of the wind, but can I hear the sound of the Spirit? More than any other sound, may I hear the voice of the Spirit of God speaking to me of things eternal , of Jesus Christ, and of how I might bring praise and glory to God in the space of this brief life. I hope that you, too, dear reader, are listening for the sound of the Spirit of God speaking to your heart.

Tyranny of the Urgent

Do any of you remember that? It was a little pamphlet published by IVP and written by Charles Hummel in 1967. (Wow! I am aging myself!)
In a 2004 editorial, Gordon Govier refers to Hummel's article and says:
' The issue, Hummel said, is not so much a shortage of time as a problem of priorities. Or, as a cotton mill manager once told him, "Your greatest danger is letting the urgent things crowd out the important."The essay does not offer three, five or ten bullet-points of a program to get our priorities back in order. Instead it points to the Gospel accounts of Jesus who never seemed to be in a hurry, even when his friend Lazarus was dying. Quoting Mark 1:35, Hummel saw the secret of Jesus' life and work for God in that "He prayerfully waited for His Father's instructions." The headline for this section reads "Dependence makes you free," and Hummel quotes P. T. Forsyth, "The worst sin is prayerlessness."

It's something I have thought of different times over the years but this week I have really been feeling under some kind of tyranny - spiritually, that is. You know, when there are so many urgent AND important things that MUST be done that you don't even have time to sit down and prioritize. Never mind sit down and pray about it. Part of the problem is that I am so much unlike Martin Luther. I think it was him that said "I have so much to do today , I think I will spend the first few hours in prayer." Maybe if I was more like that, I would not feel so frazzled. I need to learn to 'prayerfully wait for my Father's instructions'. Anyway, I don't have the energy to go into details but for those of you who pray for me, please pray that I will be able to focus and find my centre and my strength and my wisdom in Jesus.
"...by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption that, just as it is written, 'Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord." - 1 Corinthians 1:30,31

Team Retreat and on we go...

The time is flying now... hard to catch my breath between events. I barely got back from Canada, did some debriefing with teams that were just finishing up summer outreaches and then we were off for a week for our team retreat. Would have been relaxing if I wasn't in charge of it, but fortunately this year I was a bit more organized and more relaxed about delegating to others. On the left is our current team picture. Matthew's wife Helen and their 2 boys are missing as the boys were sick. But do you see all the babies? Since last year's retreat, we have added 4 babies to our OM Moldova family!! And this summer Slavic got married... he and his wife Snejana are in the front row on the right. A highlight of the week for me was the return of my friend Corinne to the team, along with her dog Silas, of course.

Also we had an A-1 speaker couple - Ian & Helen Orton really blessed us with their presence and sharing the gifts and passion God has given them. Ian led us in a cross-cultural study of the book of Ruth. Ian and Helen also led several sessions on cross-cultural relationships and relationships in general, addressing couples sometimes and singles other times. I think it was a real team-building week.





But now we are gearing up for the fall and the first week or so of September we are welcoming our new recruits and I am coordinating their orientation program. This evening I will pick up an Australian couple and a British girl from the airport and on Monday we begin our program. At the same time we have a couple from Chile who hope to join us but who have to wait outside the country a bit longer until they can obtain a visa for Moldova.

Tomorrow is a national holiday - Limba Noastra day - ("Our Language") so today the banks are closed and i haven't paid my bills and Monday is the first of the month. a bit of stress there. We pay our bills the old-fashioned way here in Moldova. They arrive in your mailbox (or not - as has happened this month with me) and you pay them at the bank or the post office, after standing in line for some time. If you miss the final date for payment (as I have this month, with not receiving the billls and not being in town to go to the banks when they were still open) then you have to go to the various companies themselves and pay - which of course takes more time and more running around. Other than worrying about my bills not sure what else is going to happen tomorrow but probably there will be a parade and a big festival down in the centre of the city. Might be a good opportunity for the newcomers to see a bit of Moldova, as it celebrates a national holiday.

Anyway, I've cleaned up my kitchen (have been battling ants this summer), am doing a wash and am about to head out to get some groceries. Later I'll pick up the new recruits at the airport and see if they can understand my Canadian accent. Actually, it'll be interesting picking up Aussies and a Brit at the same time... I should be able to distinguish better the differences in accents soon.

By the way, on my last post I had trouble with the photos and so I ended up not posting the photo of my grandson Alejandro that I had planned to. So here he is, in his soccer outfit with his soccer-fan dad.

Back to my life

Over the mountains, the prairies and the ocean I have flown, back to hot Moldova and struggling to overcome jet lag and catch up with my life here. But I am so grateful for the time I had in Canada and the joy of changing diapers and rocking my baby granddaughter and blowing bubbles and reading stories to my grandson. It was a nice visit with my daughter and her family and I was also blessed to have time with both of my sons as well as my mother.

On the way to Vancouver I had a few days' stopover in Toronto. Thank you, Harold and Heather, for your hospitality. You and my other dear friends have made me feel so loved and cared for. I will especially never forget the serendipity supper I had with my precious friend Inga and my equally precious friend Karen on my last night in Toronto. Thanks, sisters!

Now I am settling back into life here and actually glad to be back in my own little apartment. It's hot and I don't have air conditioning but for once I am not sorry about that. There was a lot of air c-c-c-c-conditioning in Canada, even when it wasn't that hot outside!

My mom wants to see more photos of her great-granddaughter so here are a couple more!

It's been a busy summer here with all kinds of short term mission teams coming and going. Next week is our team retreat and then we will be holding a training for our new recruits who will be arriving - from Australia, and from England! I'll be pretty busy for this time but hopefully will find/make time to keep you all up to speed on life in the Republic of Moldova for this missionary.

Please pray for Moldova

The following is reported on the Moldovan Embassy website: Starting with July 26, the Republic of Moldova has been confronted with flash floods caused by exceptionally high water flow on the Nistru and Prut rivers. Although the water has begun to recede in the Northern regions of the country, the floods continue to affect the central and Southern parts of Moldova. The Government has managed to mobilize internal resources to respond in a timely and effective manner to this emergency situation and is undertaking measures to anticipate post-crisis needs. However, eliminating the consequences of the floods will be a long and costly process, which exceeds the capacities of national authorities.

As of August 5, a total of 56 localities from 22 regions have been affected by the flash floods. According to preliminary estimations, 1123 houses have been flooded, out of which 91 houses have been completely demolished. Approximately 7,950 people have been evacuated from the localities at risk. Some 7,000 hectares of crop lands have been inundated. Floods have also affected health and educational facilities, roads, protection dams, and monitoring equipment.

Presenting: the little Princess!

Here she is: the most beautiful granddaughter in the world! Eliana Kecia is an absolute doll and so tiny! Perfect little fingers and toes and tiny nose and rosebud lips and a head full of dark hair, just like her big brother Alejandro. So far he is a pretty good big brother and it's fun having a visit with him too! Here's the happy family!

She's Here!!

On Tuesday, August 5 at 12.11 a.m. Eliana Kecia was welcomed into the world. My daughter Marah and her husband Daniel are now the proud parents - and I am the proud grandma - of the two most beautiful children in the whole world. Alejandro met his little sister today and tomorrow he will be able to take her and their mommy home from the hospital. Tomorrow morning I will get on a plane and then a bus to arrive in Kamloops so I can hold Eliana in my arms. Praise God for this new little blessing! Not to worry - there will soon be pictures!!!