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!!!

The Canadians

They're here! Finally a whole team of Canadians have come to help us in our work here. This group has come from my home province of Nova Scotia and are spending a week in mission in MD before heading off to the Baptist World Youth Congress in Leipzig, Germany. It's wonderful to have them here. Yesterday we went to stay in a small village in the north of Moldova where our host pastor is serving the young church plant there. Here you can see Rob, leader of the team, teaching the children how to sing 'Head&Shoulders, Knees and Toes". That's Viorel on the right, who is translating for our team. As well as learning some Moldova phrases, the team is working hard to learn some Moldovan songs which they can then teach to the children. They did very well today with "Isus iubeste pe fiecare". The women of the church are feeding our Canadian young people very well and nobody is complaining about the food - it's all so good! It's a good thing, as they need lots of energy to keep up with the kids they are working with. All afternoon Tuesday the group played football with the village children who had come to the program. The village they are in is very beautiful and all is green and luscious-looking. The church itself is absolutely lovely and as well as a place for the children's program, it also provides a place for the team to stay - and an indoor bathrooom and hot showers as well!!

Here's our Canadian team along with the children who showed up on the first day. They're standing in front of the lovely church where they are staying. Please keep this group and the children whose lives they are touching, in your prayers.

Celebrity Status!?

The strangest thing happened in church this morning. I heard English being spoken and I turned around to see which southern state our guest was from. (We have a lot of American visitors in the summer from Southern Baptist churches which partner with churches in Moldova.) As I was chatting with a very sweet young lady named Lindsey, a man a few seats over looked at me, leaned across and said, 'Your name's Barb, isn't it?' I was a bit surprised but thought maybe I had met him at a missionary gathering or something. As we shook hands and he introduced himself he said, "I recognize you from your blog. I read your blog!" He then went on to laughingly suggest that I'm famous now, and I laughed too, sort of.

I suppose when complete strangers recognize your face from some public forum, that could constitute celebrity status. It's actually been pretty cool to have met several people, both online and in person, who know of me through my blog. It's a bit disarming, too... I always stop to think "what have I written and is it all stuff that I really want to share with complete strangers?" The thought has occurred a few times to restrict access to my blog but then I think, no, I'm not pouring out my guts here, just sharing some of the realities of life in Moldova and some of my own personal journey and experiences. Several people have found my blog because they were looking for information about Moldova. And many people have commented that the number of pictures that I post really makes it interesting. So I continue to seek to please my public. :-) But more than I want to please my public, I want to please my God. Therefore, I want to tell you more about God's work in my life. He's done some pretty amazing things and after all, this blog isn't about making me famous. As one short-term missionary put it, 'I want to make Jesus famous.' So if writing this blog can help to make Jesus famous so that people see him and recognize him for who He is, and want to get to know Him - I have done what I ultimately and truly want to do.

This morning in church there were some other people who were making Jesus famous. Six new believers were baptized by immersion. Before they were baptized they each stood up and gave a word of testimony, sharing how they learned about Jesus, repented of their sins, and how Jesus Christ has changed their lives by offering them forgiveness of sins and eternal life. Living your days without feeling guilty all the time and without being afraid of death... that can only be a good thing, don't you think? If you want to know more about Jesus, please feel free to make a comment or to e-mail me directly at barbtherev@yahoo.ca. I'd love to introduce you to my best Friend, my Saviour and my Lord. He is the One you want to know.

Missionary Life

So, you may ask, what do missionaries actually do? Let me show you:
They leap over walls in a single bound. "...and by my God do I leap over a wall." Psalm 18:29

They feed the multitudes.

"Then Jesus broke the loaves in pieces and kept giving them to the disciples to pass on to the crowd.
All of them ate and were filled." Luke 9:16,17

They ensure that there is fuel in the tank to keep the vehicles running.

"...and then you can help me to continue my trip,..."

I Corinthians 16:6

Where life is empty and colourless, they bring the colour and joy of God's love.

'I said, "I am falling"; but your constant love, O LORD, held me up.
Whenever I am anxious and worried, you comfort me and make me glad.' Psalm 94:18,19

And as they enjoy close fellowship, they are always learning more and more to love one another.

Behold, how good and how pleasant it is For brethren to dwell together in unity! Psalm 133:1

This is my commandment, that ye love one another, even as I have loved you. John 15:12

After a week and a half of working with children and youth in the hot summer sun, missionaries are glad for a break. They appreciate Jesus' words to his disciples.
He said to them, "Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest for a while." For so many people were coming and going that they didn't even have time to eat. Mark 6:35

Missionaries go out to the streets and fields to invite people in. Some are happy to come to hear good news and others, though welcomed gladly, choose to watch from afar.
Then the master told the servant, 'Go out into the streets and the lanes and make the people come in, so that my house may be full. '

- Luke 14:23


They are always encouraging people to reach up and find God.

From one man he made every nation of humanity to live all over the earth,... so that they might look for God, somehow reach for him, and find him. Of course, he is never far from any one of us. Acts 17:26,27

Missionaries bring new life into the Kingdom!

Jesus replied to him, "Truly, truly I tell you, unless a person is born from above he cannot see the kingdom of God." John 3:3

Where there is an emptiness, the missionary will help people to see that the shape of that empty place is the shape of the cross.

Through the Son, then, God decided to bring the whole universe back to himself. God made peace through his Son's blood on the cross and so brought back to himself all things, both on earth and in heaven. Colossians 1:20

And we watch and wait for the day when Jesus will come again in the clouds and in glory...

Then the Son of Man will appear, coming in the clouds with great power and glory. Mark 13:26

Comings and Goings

On Friday I went with some team members and with my friend Carolyn, who is visiting from Canada, to visit one of our outreach teams in a nearby town. The outreach team consists of several girls from England, a guy from Germany and a couple of our Moldovan team members. For one week they will work in this town, doing a children's program in the morning, teaching English in the afternoon, and playing soccer with young people in the early evening. Through building relationships and helping in any way they can, they hope to share the love and hope of Christ in this community. We enjoyed watching the children play games, work at a craft project and learn a Bible verse. They all seemed to be enjoying themselves.
The day ended up requiring more driving than I originally expected as one of the girls had lost her luggage. Finally, on this Friday, the airport called that it had arrived but she had to pick it up personally. Since I was there, and it wasn't that far (an hour's drive) I took her to the airport to get her long-awaited baggage. She was very happy to get it after 5 days of borrowing and buying clothes.
As I mentioned, a friend is visiting this week - Carolyn - and she so kindly brought me a care package from Canada, including some skirts that my favourite sister made for me. Thanks, Bev! There were a few other specially requested items and I am really thankful that God has sent her for this visit. Today we had a free day and it was nice to have company on my relaxing day so we did a bit of an in-city explore. Downtown to 'Artists' Square' to buy some souvenirs and then to the park so she could see the fountain and have her photo taken in front of Stephen the Great. It was a beautiful sunny day and so nice to just sit on a bench in the shade of the park, relaxing and chatting. I thought we would see a wedding there, but we didn't. Maybe it was too early in the day. So then we went to see another park which I have just never bothered going to before.

This one is a memorial park of the World War 2 and has an 'eternal flame' which appears to be guarded by soldiers - not sure if that's 24 hours a day or not. Anyway, I am trying to upload the video from the park from where the soldiers were changing the guard. I think you will enjoy seeing them march! Adjacent to the park was a military graveyard and then in behind that was another large cemetery that I was not aware existed. Moldovan graveyards are very interesting and both Carolyn and I enjoyed wandering through and taking pictures and discussing the presence of benches and tables in the individual grave plots. Do you know what they are for?

Completing the Work

It was quite a few years ago that these two young ladies started working in a very small, very poor village in the south of Moldova. They worked with children and also shared Christ with village people of all ages. Gradually, people started committing their lives to Jesus. There is no church in the village and some had never really heard the gospel at all. Those who came to faith were people whose lives were truly transformed by the new faith they had found in Christ Jesus. Tamara shared the Word of God with them and encouraged them in their new faith and helped them to grow. We sent a team to help with the work in the village and several people have been based there over the last few years. This year a building has been contructed in which the small growing church can meet. It also provides a location for the ministry to children, providing food and assistance on a daily basis. The new building will essentially serve as a community centre as well as a church. It was exciting to see that over 150 people came to join in the celebrations, many whom had never been to a service before. Although it was a hot, sunny day, people seemed to enjoy listiening to the music and the preaching. There were at least 4 different speakers and in typical Moldova fashion several of them gave a message from the word of God. I was especially pleased that Tamara, who has done so much in bringing people to faith and essentially planting and leading the church, was given an opportunity to share a public testimony. As a woman, she rarely receives any kind of acknowledgement for her leadership as women are perceived as not suitable to be leaders. This is a difficult thing for a gifted young woman such as she is. Afterwards, of course, there was food and a chance to see the inside of the building. It is still pretty rough on the outside and we continue to raise funds to complete it. For example I personally did not see the upstairs as the stairway has not yet been built and I was not about to climb up the ladder you see in the photo! But much on the inside has been completed and it is lovely. I think that is how God sometimes works in our lives - from the inside out. He begins the work of transformation and healing where nobody can see it easily and sometimes people only see what is still rough on the outside. Thankfully, God sees our hearts and He is committed to complete the work which He has begun. This is true for individuals, as well as for communities such as this one. God has begun a work there, and He will complete it! Praise be to His Name!

Welcome to the world!

His name is Ivan Bogdan and he arrived on June 12. Liuba is glad to at last hold her little son in her arms. And I was blessed to be able to hold him also during the brief visit I had with Liuba last week. Is he not perfect?!

God brings forth life!

It's strawberry season, and last Sunday Claudia and I were invited to the home of a friend, Maria, for lunch. After a lovely meal of sarmale - made with stuffed vine leaves - dessert was placed on the table: a huge platter of fresh-from -the-garden strawberries. After dinner we went outside to see the garden. They have a large garden with strawberries, beans, cabbage, radishes, lettuce, carrots and some other things as well. On that day it was dry and we spoke of how the land was in need of rain. It's important to pray for rain, we said, as we headed home. Last year there was no rain and the land suffered greatly. Even until recently prices have been much higher than before. Thankfully, this week God has answered our prayers as we seem to have had one rain storm after another. Always a relief as the air is so humid leading up to a storm and I have been sweating, red-faced and virtually useless on those days when the heat just weighs on you. I am becoming more and more of a nocturnal creature so that I can have cool air in which to function.

Other than strawberries, the more significant highlight of this week was the birth of a baby boy to my team-mates, Butje and Liuba. Earlier in the week I got a picture of Liuba practising holding a baby with James. Tomorrow I hope to go and visit Liuba and little baby Ivan. Congratulations, Butje & Liuba!!

James, until this most recent birth, was the cutest baby on this side of the ocean. He especially looks cute in a Canadian t-shirt, don't you think?