Friday Night in Transylvania

As you know, for the last two weeks I had the joy of being accompanied on my vacation by my sister Beverly and niece Jenni. They came all the way from Canada to visit me in Chisinau and then to travel with me to Vienna, a city none of us had previously visited. We planned to leave Friday morning and hoped to get 2/3 of the way across Romania by nightfall. The drive through Romania was quite lovely. On first crossing the border (a fairly complicated process with the first inkling of the challenge various currencies would be!) we headed north to Iasi (pronounced yash). We passed through small villages where Bev and Jenni got some sense of the simplicity of life in the country that seems from another era altogether: wagons and horses, grass-cutting with scythes, people carrying buckets of water from the local well.
Iasi is more advanced, though – a nice city/university town where we stopped for lunch. Then in my trusty little Ford Sierra, we began our trek through the Carpathian Mountains. We stopped to see one of the Romanian monasteries, Humorului, which was a lovely oasis of peace with well-tended garden, ancient frescoes on the walls of the chapel inside and out and a sense of constancy in a changing world. Outside its walls, though, we were swarmed by vendors at the first indication of interest in any of the lovely handcrafts and goods displayed for sale to the tourists who come to see the monastery.
As we proceeded through the mountains we managed to maintain our schedule in spite of the incredible amount of construction underway. In some places there were lights (sometimes ignored!, but not by us)to regulate long single-lane stretches of construction, but sometimes there wasn’t even a flag-person! The driving was definitely a challenge.
As night began to fall we decided to make the push to get to Bratitsa to stay overnight. Then suddenly in the dusk on the crest of a hill before us we saw ‘Dracula’s Castle Hotel’. Jenni and I had seen this on the internet and thought it would be a neat place to stay. How pleased we were to see it there! We booked into an apartment/room with a view of the mountains that was awesome. Throughout the trip we had nothing but sunshine before and after, but that night in Transylvania we could watch a spectacular lightning storm over the mountains from our ‘castle’ windows. Even so, that Friday night nothing (and nobody!) disturbed our sleep in Transylvania.

Back to Reality, again

Hello, all! I'm back... back to my own apartment, my own computer, my own bed...and in the morning I'll be back to work. The last few weeks have been a wonderful adventure and I've already written something about some of it, which I will start posting tomorrow along with appropriate photos. For now, here's a pic of my sister Beverly, my niece Jenni, and me at Schonbrunn Castle in Vienna - just to prove we really were there. Thanks, Bev & Jenni, for a great time - and Happy Birthday, Jenni!!! Love you lots!

Somewhere in eastern Europe...

Greetings, friends!
No photos this time as I am just grabbing some moments on a friend's computer to let you all know that I am still alive and well, despite a paucity of prose on my blog. I have had a vacation with my sister Beverly and niece Jenni that took us through the mountains of Romania, the highways of Hungary and the awesomeness of Austria. We had two lovely days in Budapest followed by several touristy castle-crawling, museum-meandering days in Vienna - with Sacher torte at either end of course. After they flew home to Canada I continued my journey up to Poland, where I am currently visiting my Rogaczewski friends - and having a wonderful time, of course. I will be home this weekend and will fill you in with more details and photos at that time. Please keep me in your prayers as I travel home alone in my trusty little car.
God bless!
Barb

European Birthday Bash

Greetings and salutations, dear readers! I am now officially on vacation and my sister and niece have safely arrived from Canada. We are having a great time!! Before my official vacation started, though, Beverly and Jenni came and presented a puppet workshop at our OM base, which was enjoyed by all the participants. Bev and Jenni are really wonderful teachers (like mother, like daughter) and they make a great team.
They not only taught how to use puppets and present puppet shows for ministry purposes but after lunch they taught people how to make puppets. There were more puppet arms and heads lying around than I’d ever seen before. I was also pleased that Bev and Jenni had a chance to meet and interact with the people who are so near and dear to my heart.
For the last two days I have been giving them a wee taste of my life here in Chisinau. We went downtown to the Artists’ Square and to the central market, which is bright and alive with fresh fruits and vegetables now that the growing season has begun. Jenni and Bev really enjoyed the experience but we were very glad to take some time to relax at a sidewalk café after our afternoon adventure. I should mention that prior to going to the market, we all went to the bank. B & J had to cash some travellers’ cheques and hence they had their first experience of service and public relations in Moldova. It took much longer than they expected and the need to stand in line three consecutive times to accomplish one transaction didn’t seem to make sense to them. In Moldova, it is normal.
Also – of course – for the first time this week there was no hot water in my apartment. I was hoping it was temporary but when my landlady came by she said that we needed to plug in the electric hot water heater because there is no hot water – not just in my apartment but anywhere in Chisinau! I asked for how long and she said it was indefinite. I asked why – she smiled and shrugged her shoulders and said – ‘This is Moldova!’
Before I came to Moldova more than one person had told me about the underground wine caverns here that you can drive through in your car. I have been wanting to see them ever since I came and this morning we did indeed drive through underground streets lined with thousands of bottles of wine and huge barrels of wine. Milestii Mici was an amazing and extremely enjoyable experience to share with my visitors, even though driving in the narrow caverns was somewhat stressful. The caverns were originally limestone mines but now are used to store the most valuable commodity Moldovans have to sell – wine.
Tomorrow, Jenni, Beverly and I will be leaving on a road trip through Romania to Hungary and then eventually to Vienna in Austria. As I write, Jenni is researching our route tomorrow and we are planning to be driving through ‘Dracula’ country in Romania, as well as seeing some very interesting monasteries. A couple days in Romania, a couple in Budapest and then almost a week in Vienna and Bev and Jenni will be returning home with wonderful memories and lots of interesting stories. I will carry on a bit north to Poland to visit friends there before I head alone across country back to Moldova. It will be a great time and I thank you in advance for praying for our safety as we travel.
Oh – I forgot to mention the basis of our visit together this summer is a big birthday party. Each one of us – Bev (October), Barb(November), and Jenni (July) – will observe a birthday this year that ends in a ‘0’ digit. I’ll leave you to guess which digit is the first for each of us but of course the first digit in Bev’s age is greater than mine! So this memorable trip is our celebration of birthdays for which we will not actually be together. The party is here and now! Life is good.

Back to Reality

I’ve been back in Moldova for four days and am still jet-lagged from the 10-hour difference between Vancouver and here. Transferring your body from one time zone to another in the course of 17 hours is brutal. Coming to Moldova the first time occurred in increments: Toronto to Amsterdam; 2 weeks later, Amsterdam to Budapest; a month later 2 days train ride from Budapest to Chisinau. So doing that same journey, plus the difference of distance from Toronto to Vancouver… well, it’s a different ballgame and my adjustment is challenging.
Combined with that is that it is HOT. The temperature in Chisinau has been in the low 30’s, which I could handle in Toronto when I had an air-conditioned house. But here with no air-conditioning – and still jet-lagged – there’s not a lot of energy coming forth from me. So please forgive me if my blogging is not yet up to speed, and if I haven’t posted the wedding pictures I know you are all dying to see. I am struggling to catch up on the work I have to do and already this morning got caught short when I showed up late for a Bible study that I then discovered I was supposed to be leading!! Such is my first week back at work.  Oh well, I will continue to rely on grace and trust God for the strength to get into the swing of things. Sorry if I am complaining and whining, dear reader. I trust you, too, will forgive me this once.

Wedding photos

Does this bride not look unstressed? She was awesome!



Marah and Dan - happily ever after, by God's grace!

Ten Days in Canada

A bit about my trip: I stopped in Toronto for a few days en route to Vancouver, much to the surprise of many of my friends. But that gave me a wonderful opportunity to see some of the people who are so special to me. I had a lovely day to spend with my mother, and then a day with my son Ben, who helped me in my storage locker to find the things that I have really wanted to have with me here in Moldova. Surprising Doug & Jane on their 50th wedding anniversary was fantastic,
and showing up at my church on Sunday to be welcomed by lots of hugs and kind words, was also fantastic. And lunch with “the girls” on Saturday was really fun as they had no idea I was in town. I felt very loved and appreciated after my time with them and I was so blessed by the hospitality of my good friends Harold and Heather. I also got to see Sarah, who was here in Moldova last summer, and she loaded me up with Canadiana gifts to bring back to the dear ones here. They have been distributed, appreciated and our friends send salutare, Sarah. Domnul sa te binecuvinteze! In fact, last evening at our prayer meeting I led the second half and made a presentation about Canada so everyone prayed for Canada, (I read your letter as promised, Sarah, and we prayed for you) and they all received gifts from Canada. We also prayed for the mission team who will be coming from YP next summer... and for every province and territory of Canada!
So, how was the wedding, you ask? It was wonderful! My week in Vancouver absolutely whipped past, but not without some great times with family and friends. Just to see Josh again after a whole year was so special – and he is doing well. And to have my family all together - the joy of every mother's heart! Visiting with my brother Bob and his wife Jan was great. They not only had us for a meal on their boat one lovely evening, but they also hosted the wedding rehearsal party in their lovely backyard. Of course, the wedding rehearsal went longer than expected (they always do!) and Marah and I and our passengers were late – and we had the burgers for barbecuing!- but nobody was too upset. By then we had friends Eric & Vicki from Nova Scotia, Karen from Toronto, Marah’s high school friends from Toronto, and cousins Kelly and Christa from northern BC all with us,
as well as Dan’s mother Susanah who had arrived from Spain, so it was quite a gathering. I love weddings for the opportunity to bring family and friends together – where there is always laughter and love and caring.
The hero of the week, in my mind (apart from the lovely bride) was cousin Jenn.(Second from the left in this photo of the Fuller cousins.) She was the one to call if we needed information, help, or someone to get something done. Jenn is the woman! She said at the wedding reception that she has adopted my kids – even feeds them!! She has been a tremendous support for Marah ever since Marah moved to Vancouver and this week I saw how amazing she is. Thank you, Jenn!!
The day of the wedding went by pretty fast. The afternoon was spent at the hair salon and by the time we were ready to head out time was disappearing quickly. Finally on the way to the hotel to get dressed and go to the church, Marah got a phone call from Eric reminding her to bring the marriage license! “Mom, we have to go back!”… so we turned around and went back. Long and short of it is that the guests were invited to a 6.30 pm wedding that started at 7 pm. Not bad, I say. (But I won’t tell you all the things that were not done until the absolute last minute!)
At the reception, Ben had his debut as Master of Ceremonies, even gracing us all with a performance of two of the songs he has written. The DJ had great music and there was lots of dancing… just a nice evening. Marah was beautiful. What can I say? As a bride, she had handled the whole week very well – not stressing out unnecessarily, enjoying the people who had come to visit, and getting done the things that were absolutely essential. I was/am really proud of her. Dan is blessed to have her by his side. Dan was a quiet encouragement too – being the steady, laid back, easy-going guy that he is. And I think and pray that Marah and Dan will be very happy together.

Canada & back

My daughter is married! Congratulations, Marah and Daniel! I have been to Canada and back and now am safely once again in my cozy apartment. I will write more once I have had some sleep. Thanks to everyone who has been praying for these events.
Wow - Vancouver was beautiful! and it is hot in Chisinau.

Romania in the Rain (and in the sun!)

Wednesday evening we arrived back from our retreat. We had a great time in Romania, once we all got there. There was a bit of difficulty initially due to new visa laws that require Moldovans to have an invitation in order to enter Romania. Some of the Moldovan team members had left Thursday evening on the bus, only to be turned back at the border. They arrived back at the OM base early early in the morning, not knowing if or how they would be able to get to the retreat. Fortunately, OM Romania were able to quickly put together an invitation and fax it to us to take to the border. So the bus travellers tried again (this time successfully) and those of us going in cars also headed out. Because of the various adjustments we made, we didn’t need to take my car, so I was able to sit and enjoy the journey through beautiful Romania
The OM base in Romania was located in a quaint, lovely small town, Ghimbav, near Brasov, right in the foothills of the Carpathian mountains.
As well as Bible teaching (led by our team leader and myself alternately), prayer and worship, and fun times together, we also had some outings to the nearby mountains – rain or shine. The children had fun in the stream at one mountain spot we went. A local guy was catching crayfish to cook up. The children held crayfish, grasshoppers, frogs, and who knows what else that day?
The day we went for a picnic up in the mountains it started raining just as we finished eating. People still had fun while we waited for baby David to have his lunch before we left. This OM team really is a big family, with adults and children and aunts and uncles and even this soon-to-be grandma!
The trip back went smoothly on a lovely clear day driving through the beautiful roads of Romania. We saw many people working in the fields, often hoeing by hand, or ploughing with a horse; and people riding along in their horse-drawn carts. In Romania, and in Moldova, people often stake their animals – cows, horses, even goats - by the side of the road. The one very noticeable thing about Romania was how smooth and well-kept most of the roads are. When we crossed the border to Moldova yesterday, one of the first confirmations that we were really home again, was that the roads were awful once more. Praise God!

A Place to Party

Last week it was Claudia’s birthday, so we had a birthday party at my place. I even bought a table for the occasion – so here we are: Claudia, Dana, Brandy and I around my new table covered with the pretty tablecloth I bought in Budapest.

Rolling to Romania

Good evening, everyone! I thought I would post a quick note just to let you all know that I won't be posting for a few days as we are going to Romania. It is time for our team's annual retreat and we will join the OM Romania team at their base in Brasov. I understand it is in the mountains of Romania and very beautiful so hopefully when I return next week, I will have some beautiful photos to share with you. We expect to do some walking/hiking in the mountains and I am told maybe we can do some shopping in Brasov. It won't all be fun and games for me, though, as I will be leading two of the four Bible studies during the course of the retreat. I'm all ready and set to go early in the morning. We will begin from the OM base here, at least starting in a convoy to make the 12-hour journey to our destination. Please keep us in prayer for the travel itself and for the time together in Brasov, that we will all be refreshed in every way, and get to know one another better as fellow team members. Some of our team have been in Romania for a awhile already so it will be great to be re-united with them.
I am also going to post this picture that we took last Sunday.
Quite often after church on Sundays a few of us go out for pizza. here's the group I went with on Sunday. An interesting thing about Moldova pizza is that quite often, they put corn on it!!




And... this is June!! Already!! This is the month my daughter gets married! Wedding plans are in full swing and starting to fall in place. One week after we get back from Romania, I will be leaving for Canada! Look out, here I come!!

sorry it's been a while...

I guess I've been pretty busy lately. Part of it was that I had a cold - battled it for a couple weeks and eventually realized it had developed into a sinus infection. But that's all fine now and I can't claim illness as my excuse any longer. But when I try to figure out what I've been doing, not really sure. I did arrange a farewell celebration for our team-mate Victor, who has gone off to be a missionary in another country. Then I went with the group who saw him off at the airport one evening. There's always people coming and going. We have a new recruit here from Austria and getting her established in her program and in the team, is one of my responsibilities. I have also been working at arranging my schedule to allow time for preparation for a couple Bible studies I have led, for some sharing I was going to do, and for co-leading the Bibles studies at our annual team retreat coming up next week. So I guess it's fair to say that the time I have usually spent writing on my blog is starting to be used for preparation time for doing some of the teaching I love to do. Yesterday morning I led a study on Ephesians and on Sunday I went with Matthew to some village churches where I was able to share a word of testimony and sing a song. I do enjoy getting out to the villages and seeing a bit of the rural life in Moldova. Here's an example of the roads in the villages. I was just as glad not to be driving on Sunday!
But I am always happy to come back to my own little apartment where I can close the door, put up my feet, put on some music and relax.
One of my favourite responsibilities each week is leading our little Global Action group - a core study program that I am leading 3 girls in. So on Friday mornings I bring them to my apartment so we can drink coffee, eat muffins, and share in our Bible study. It's a very special time and Marah refers to these girls as my 'wannabe' daughters. They're not my Marah, but they are still pretty special.
Speaking of Marah, wedding plans are coming along - even half a world away. There was a bit of a glitch when someone somehow got my credit card number and started stealing money from my account. RBC Visa got right on it so, praise the Lord, I am not out any money but it's pretty unsettling to have this kind of scam defraud you of oodles of money without them even having the card itself!! So paying wedding bills has been put on hold until my new card arrives by courier. (I keep thinking of Tom Hanks, FedEx and the soccer ball, and wondering if and how the card will ever get here. The same is true, actually of my plane ticket to Canada - it is coming via courier. Five business days, they say. Wonder what that translates into in Moldova time...)
That's the other thing recently - there's been a lot of contact back and forth with family and friends in Canada. My sister and niece are coming to visit in July and I am trying to find a cheap and easy way for them to get here from Vienna. You wouldn't think that would be so complicated - but it is!
Also, Jenni went to my storage locker to get me some books which she will bring when they come this summer. In doing so, she had a visit with my son Ben. I was really delighted to receive this picture of Jenni and Ben.

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!!