Heading off on an adventure...alone...or not

Hello all!
This is just a brief update as I am asking for special prayer for tomorrow. It seems I have to go to Brussels, Belgium in order to obtain my visa to Moldova. So I will be leaving at 5.30 am to catch a 6 am train - making 3 changes along the way - and arriving in Brussels at about 10 am. Then I make my way to the Moldovan Embassy and pray that it will be as easy as they anticipate for me to receive my visa. Please pray that I can get a one-year visa with little problem. Then I have to get back to the train station and back to the conference here at deBron. Won't this be fun! In Belgium I am told they speak Dutch (don't know it), French (can get by) and Flemish (don't know it). Many people in Europe do speak English though. In the MOldovan Embassy though - if it's anything like the Polish Embassy in Toronto was - they might only speak Romanian, Moldovan and Russian... we will see. God is good and God is faithful and as tomorrow is our prayer day anyway, the train ride will give me plenty of opportunity to pray. I will be thinking of and praying for many of you specifically. We have also been aware of the horrendous situations in the news and praying for the victims in New Orleans and in Iraq. It is wonderful to be in a place where so many people are choosing to devote themselves to bringing hope to the people of the world. One of the many wonderful songs we have been singing here is 'Jesus, Hope of the Nations'. Amen. May each of you be filled with the hope and joy that we have in our Lord Jesus Christ.

Life in Holland...

...has been incredibly busy so far but very pleasant. I have had trouble accessing computer hook-ups and have yet to accomplish the photo thing as I discovered I forgot the appropriate software. At any rate, not spending time on computers means spending more time with people and what is better than that? As a matter of fact yesterday afternoon I had a great visit with Susan and Anders Carlen when they stopped by on their way back from Sweden to Canada! That was pretty great! I sent hugs with them to deliver to anyone at home that needs one from me, so be sure to collect!
Last night we had an amazing program of acts from representatives from many of the countries. It was wonderful and truly a celebration of our diversity. Not to mention hilarious!!

Then today we spent the day doing a very realistic simulation of a mission trip! It was a wonderful team experience and with 3 Koreans, 2 Italians, 1 Spaniard, 1 Trinidadian, 1 German and myself on our team, we had an interesting time together trying to communicate with the family we 'visited' in the fictional country we went to. As a result of this experience and the debriefing we have had and will be doing, we will really have a better sense of what preparation is needed, both emotionally, and logistically for heading to the mission field. I was elected the group leader and I must say that our mission trip to Poland in 2003 was a helpful thing for me in going through this exercise today.
Anyway, I just dashed into the computer room on my way to supper, so I must sign off. Hope to hear from some of you soon. May the Lord bless and keep each one of you. You can be sure that He has me in His care, thanks to your prayers, and I am still excited about following Jesus to Moldova!

the deBron experience

Well, I thought tonight I would have photos but the day was non-stop and I never got that far. Wow! first off, I slept in - and I didn't even go to bed late!!! (i.e. I was in bed by midnight) I thought that would give me lots of rest to get up for my 9 a.m. meeting with group leaders. I was asked to facilitate a small fellowship group during the course of the conference and felt this would not be too onerous. I must have been jet-lagged, because when I woke up and looked at my watch, it was 10.30 am!!! I managed to get up and over to the 10.45 am morning meeting, and there wasn't a break since then and now (10.30 pm)
My small group, it turned out was responsible for helping with clean-up after lunch, so as soon as we finished that it was time for the next activity: the De Bron experience. And what an experience it was! Basically, it was one of those team-building group get-to-know you events with multiple stations and activities that might appeal to a variety of people. The activities ranged from the mildly pleasant - eating a Dutch cookie hung from a string while blindfolded - to the simple - pin the tail on the donkey - to the absolutely horrendous - putting your face in a pan of flour and pulling out a wrapped candy with your teeth! Remember, people, most of the new recruits here are between 18-25.
Anyway, my group was pretty good but not as competetive as the German men's team that won. In fact, we didn't even finish all the activities but it provided some good chances to chat. My small group consists of 2 of the Canadian girls I came with - SuJan and Jenilea, a girl from Kazakhstan who is going to work on the ships, and another girl, Dana, from Romania who is going to - guess where! - MOLDOVA!! Iryna is from Ukraine and didn't arrive until later in the week.
In fact, later in the day, at our target field meeting I also met the other girl going to Moldova; Claudia from Switzerland, with whom I have been exchanging e-mail. So it was exciting to meet both of them and they have both been to Moldova before and cannot wait to return on a long-term basis as their previous experience was short-term. So that is encouraging. And - Dana, being Romanian, will also be at the training seminar in Hungary and so she will help me to begin learning Romanian. She is a real sweetheart and very enthusiastic.
"My girls" -from left to right: Iryna - from Ukraine, going to work on the boats; me; SuJan- Canadian, going to mideast Asia; Masha -first OMer from Kazakhstan, going to the boats; Dana -from Romania, going with me to Moldova; Jenilea - from Canada, going to Israel

The other really good news and answer to prayer today was that there are arrangements made to take our extra luggage that is over the prescribed weight of Sky Europe. That was the one thing that I was really concerned and a bit anxious about. So - praise the Lord! We will be flying from here to Budapest on the Friday evening of next week. At our target field meeting we met the others who will be at that seminar - a group of about 20.
So, it has been a busy day but a good one. The message this evening was about the nature of God, from Isaiah 40. He is great - and He is gracious and loves us. His arm is strong to crush his enemies, but tender to hold the lambs close to his heart. We need to know this God and to trust Him to give strength to us to face whatever comes. I wish for all of you to trust our great God in whatever He is calling you. His grace is sufficient and He will complete what He has begun in your life. He loves you - and I do too.
Thank you for your prayers. Elaine, my address is Barbtherev@yahoo.ca. And anyone else who needs it, please feel free to send e-mail. Thanks so much for thinking of me - and I will keep you all in my prayers. Did I mention that deBron is beautiful? Oh... some of the guys this afternoon thought it was so beautiful (and probably had so much flour up their noses) that they jumped in the canal and went swimming. I'm sure the cows in the field on the other side must have wondered what was going on. At the evening meeting the announcement was made that there is to be no swimming in the canal, which is quite polluted. That got a laugh - the staff couldn't believe that they would ever have to make that announcement.
OK - hopefully tomorrow I will figure out the picture thing. Pray for me to find time to do that.

I'm here!!

1. Yesterday I had a 'waving committee' to see me off at the airport: Kathy Johnson and her daughter Emma drove me out. Ben came along and his girlfriend Xiomara also joined us out there. We also met up with Kathleen Wilson arriving back from Ireland,and her parents who had come to pick her up. So it was a great send-off and I managed to hold back the tears till just when we got to the security gate. Tomorrow I will hopefully gain the techno know-how to send pics from that send -off.

So here I am in Holland - a beautiful, clean, lush green neat country, just as I expected. I travelled with 5 other girls coming to the conference and everything went pretty well without a hitch. It was great having others to be with as we travelled and changed planes, etc. - and of course, I was the mom of the group as I am old enough to be any of these girls' mother. We arrived in Amsterdam very tired (all we saw of the city was the airport) and were ushered fairly promptly, along with many other OM'ers coming from different countries, onto a waiting bus.

It was a two-hour drive from there to this beautiful Christian conference centre at DeBron. What a lovely place!
It was raining a bit when we arrived, but that was ok. They fed us a hot meal, registered us, gave us some time to rest before dinner and a brief evening meeting. It was especially warming to be greeted enthusiastically by Junia and by Sue, my friends from the OM Canada office. There are 270 new recruits here from 41 different countries all over the world (e.g. Australia, Malaysia, Ukraine, South America, South Africa, etc.). We had an inspiring time of worship and a brief word of encouragement from John 15 - our need to be pruned so that we may produce fruit. Some things in our lives that are fruitless need to be put to death and things that can produce fruit need to be nurtured. Then we prayed for each other in small groups. Already I have met people from Korea, Malaysia, USA, New Zealand and people who are goint to Kazakhstane, Tajikstan, Sudan, South Africa, and many other countries. This really is amazing as you can walk around the lovely conference grounds in a very pastoral setting (with a pastoral country smell!) and hear languages from all over the world. Every person you meet the questions are 'Where are you from?' and Where are you going?' A lot of the young people are going to work on the OM ships.
My roommate is a woman from California who is working with Turning Point, a ministry to Muslims in London, England. She, like me, has come into overseas missions at a mature age. :-)

What else do I need to tell you? Oh yeah - they have set up a great internet cafe here in the conference centre and a guy named Greg helps us get set up and going. He is going to help me get my puter set up and working with wireless and I'm sure I can ask him to help me figure out how to download photos from my camera to the computer. If so, there will be pictures here tomorrow. But right now I am going to bed. More from deBron later this week...
Thank you to everyone who is praying for me and sending me notes of encouragement. There have been a few moments in the last 24 hours when the immensity of what I have done has hit with intense emotion. Pray that I will have the time with the Lord to keep everything in focus. God bless you all!

Homeless - with Wealth beyond compare

Yesterday I took the final loads of 'stuff' from my house: a load to the dump, a load to the storage unit, and a load to my son's apartment. With each load delivered I felt like a weight was lifted and I was preparing to soar. I vacuumed the empty house, put out the recycling, gave the refrigerator remains to the neighbour across the street and took one last walk-through.

I thanked the Lord for the good years we have had there and as I stood in each empty room I envisioned in my mind's eye some of the memories we made in that room. I gave thanks for my children - Josh, Ben and Marah. I prayed for the family who will come to live there.
In the evening I had dinner with my son Ben and shared a wonderful time with him all to myself. I am so thankful for my children.
Today I went into the church to say goodbye to my colleagues, particularly Peter Holmes, with whom I have worked closely for the last 8 years and who has been a wonderful mentor and a caring friend. I thank God for all that He has taught me through Peter and the people at Yorkminster Park. Whoever fills my position will be blessed to be part of such a church family.
I turned in my keys to the church and my office and walked away from the building, thankful for my years there, but certain that God is leading me forward.
And so, this week, the last farewells will be said and I will be on my way. Thank you all for your prayers. The most recent answer is this computer. I went and ordered it just last Monday and they said it might take 2 weeks. I asked the rep to put a rush on it, and I prayed for it to come in time - and here it is! So now I have my laptop and will be able to keep in touch with you all. God is good!!
Please also pray for my mother, who is having cataract surgery tomorrow. I am so glad I can be with her to see her through this time and to share some special time together.
In a worldy sense, i have nothing but in the spiritual dimension I have riches beyond compare: a Saviour who loves me, a wonderful family, and many many special friends - true wealth. Thanks be to God.

Contact information

I do hope people will stay in touch with me. You are welcome to comment on any of my posts here on the blog, or you can write me personally. My new e-mail address is barbtherev@yahoo.ca. For those of you who still enjoy putting pen to paper, my initial snail-mail address will be:
Barb Fuller
c/o Operation Mobilisation
Casuta Postala 2366
2012 Chisinau
Republic of Moldova

A place that doesn't exist

My brother drew my attention to a series being done by CBC on 'Places that don't exist'. One episode featured the Transnistria district of Moldova. Did anyone see it? It was really insightful. Here's a website that may give you more information about this Russian district of Moldova that considers itself independent but isn't recognized internationally at all. http://www.inyourpocket.com/moldova/en/

A new language...but which one?

Speaking of food, last Friday I took my daughter and her boyfriend, and my son Ben and his girlfriend to the 'Moldova Restaurant' on Dufferin St. near Steeles. It was an interesting experience and I deliberately tried a few unknown dishes - my kids did not like them and of course I don't remember what they were called. One was an eggplant with tomatoes and a dill sauce; the other was a cornmeal dumpling kind of thing (it was HUGE) served with feta cheese and sour cream. Not everything was eaten but the kids enjoyed more substantial things like cornish hen and lamb chops. Ben's girlfriend had cabbage rolls. Marah had chicken Kiev - great big portions.




That's one thing - all the portions were very generous. Somehow I'm not sure that will be the case in Moldova, poor as it is. The most interesting and puzzling thing to me was a brief conversation I had with the waitress. I wanted to know if she spoke Russian or Romanian. She spoke Russian, and she insisted that Russian is the language spoken by everyone in Moldova. That seems to be a common fallacy among people who used to live there, as I have another friend from Romania who also told me that everyone in Moldova speaks Russian. Not so - according to all the literature, and my team-mates to be. So I will continue working away with my Romanian phrase book and hope it will do me some good.
Yes, James, I started the book today - 'Playing the Moldovans' (at tennis). I haven't enjoyed a book so much for a long time - it is hilarious and informative and so much of what he says jives with what I am learning about Moldova - including the language confusion!
Thanks for the comments, my friends! Hope to hear more from lots of people.
I am now working on getting everything out of the office at the church. I said my goodbyes last Sunday - not without some tears. Yorkminster Park (www.yorkminsterpark.com) has been a wonderful church home over the last 8 years and I have been blessed with many wonderful friends there.
Some of the ladies threw a surprise farewell luncheon for me on Thursday - thought I was eating with 2 people and instead there were over a dozen who joined us and blessed me with their company and their love and laughter. Thanks, Elaine and Diane for organizing that!
I am also working on emptying my house - Marah will help me with that this weekend. And - I need to get a laptop to take with me. On this I need some wisdom and hope to call upon some of my computer savvy friends to help me know which way to go. So... things are moving along. Time with family and time with the Lord are the most precious things in these last two weeks. Thanks for your prayers.