mmm…mămăligă…(email update)

Hello all—

Well, I have been living in Moldova for one month now, and I have lots to share! Thanks to all for your prayers, thoughts, and emails that have meant so much to me.

I will begin by sharing about a recent visit to Chetrosu, a small village about 25 kilometers away from Chişinău, the city where I am living. I have been spending a lot of time with two 13-year-old twin boys at the orphanage, Costel and Ion. Their father passed away a month before they were born, so their mother was left to raise seven kids on her own! They have been going to school and living at the orphanage during the week and living with their mom on the weekends since they were small children. They are both eager to learn English and to study the Bible, so I have been purposely spending extra time with them. They recently invited me to visit their home in Chetrosu, so on Saturday I took a short bus ride to this village. What I thought was supposed to be a time of ministry to this family turned out to be ministry to me. The boys’ mother was so thankful for my presence at the school and told me that she wants both of her boys to be in my English class. They fed me mămăligă, a traditional Moldovan dish (it’s delicious!) and gave me more food than I could carry as I left. There were apples, walnuts, and many different canned fruits and vegetables, all from their garden. I started to refuse the offer, but I soon realized how much joy it brought them to be generous to me. I left Chetrosu overwhelmed by this small, struggling family that overflowed with love for me. I plan to return to visit the boys and their mother (most of their five older siblings are living in Russia) occasionally on the weekend. In addition to the English class and Bible studies they will have at the orphanage, I think visiting their home will provide much greater opportunity for deeper discipleship and ministry.

So, on to other news: here is what a typical day has looked like for me the past month. I spend my morning studying Romanian grammar and vocabulary in my apartment. Then, I go to the “centru” (center, or downtown) for a one-on-one Romanian lesson. I have actually found my tutor to be fairly strict and to have very high standards, but this is good as I am not tempted to slack off in my studying! Then after the lesson, I spend the afternoon at the orphanage playing with the kids, attempting conversations in Romanian, observing and/or helping with band rehearsals, and recently, even having some conversations with teachers. I have a group of 13-year-old guys that have really attached themselves to me (including Costel and Ion). I think I will be able to pour myself into these guys this year as they are very open and willing to learn.

I met with the orphanage director a few days ago to talk about my English and music classes. She said that I can choose the kids who will be in the class myself and that I can start the second week of November. I have also been very blessed to have a translator from CERI, named Irina, offer to help translate for the classes. Irina is very passionate about teaching English (as her own knowledge of English has helped her so much in life), so she said that she will help me in return for some help with her office workload. Additionally, Jamey (another missionary here from Rolling Hills—my Nashville church) and I will be starting a Bible study at the orphanage for students that we see want to know more of who God is. Through the English/music classes and the relationships he and I have already been building, we will be able to see which kids will be the most open to in-depth Bible study and discipleship. Additionally, I am organizing teams from several local churches to come volunteer at the orphanage by teaching anything from dental seminars to computer classes to tae kwon doe.

Another cool thing that has happened is that Irina’s brother, Slava, a 20-year-old student, is very interested in improving his English. He hopes to study in the States next year, so I am going helping him study for his TOEFL exam in return for some help translating at the orphanage. He, Irina, and their younger brother have been good friends to me. I am not sure of their family situation, but I know that their parents are no longer living and that the three of them are living in a small, one-room dorm. Pray that I might be a blessing to them as they have been to me. In addition, my host family recently adopted a girl named Maria from the orphanage where I am working. She is 16 and wants very much to learn English. So, I am tutoring her regularly and also have some other prospective private language students.

As we do all of this ministry for kids at the orphanage, in the back of my mind is always the question of what the kids will do after they leave the orphanage. As many of you know, statistics show that 70% of orphaned girls in Moldova are trafficked into prostitution, 70% of guys are arrested or join gangs, and 10% of orphans commit suicide after leaving the orphanage. Through several conversations with older guys at the orphanage, I know that many of them feel as if they have not been dealt a fair chance at life and that they will never be able to make anything of themselves. So, we have been working on several options for transitional living to walk with these kids through the transition from orphanage living to independent living. The Grace House (https://www.gracehousehope.org/) is what we have been working on for girls. We also have some other ideas brewing, especially for guys, including a facility where guys can learn a trade, such as bee-keeping, study the Bible, and be mentored through the transition into independence. I recently submitted a proposal regarding these plans to CERI and am waiting for a response.

On a personal note, I am finally feeling like I am settling well into life in Moldova. I moved into my apartment this week (until now I had been living inside my host family’s house) and am becoming very familiar with the city. From public transit to the grocery store to a peaceful park where I sometimes go to pray, Chişinău is feeling a little less foreign than it did four weeks ago. Also, I found a church this past Sunday (called Great Commission Church) that has services translated from Russian into English. I cannot say for sure if I will call this church home, but I was overwhelmed by how welcoming and open everyone was at this church. They are currently teaching exegetically through the book of Romans (solid stuff) and are very focused on serving the poor in this city as well as on building bridges to the Orthodox Christian community. For me, having a church home where I can be fed as well as serve is extremely important. So, this has been an answer to prayer.

PRAYER REQUESTS:

1) Pray that God would show me more of His heart for the poor and how He secures justice for them (Psalm 140:12). Every day I see real and devastating poverty and often wonder, as I am overwhelmed, how I can even begin to be a part of ushering in the Kingdom of God to earth. Ask that I would be bold not only in preaching the gospel with words, but also in authentically living a life of service (something that I am just beginning to learn about).

2) Pray for Costel, Ion, and the other 13-year-old-ish guys that I have been spending so much time with. Ask God to build trust in our relationships so that they might be open to all that God wants to teach them. Pray that they might know, love, follow, and obey Jesus.

3) Pray for Slava, Maria, and the other English students I will have in my class. Pray that they might learn quickly and that English might be a great help for them in securing sustainable employment. Pray that they might know more of the character of God through their lessons.

4) Pray for focus as I work to put together teams from local churches, study Romanian, teach English lessons, prepare Bible studies for the orphanage, visit kids’ homes, etc. Things are very quickly becoming quite busy, so continue to ask God to give me discernment in how to allocate my time wisely.

5) Finally, pray that I might find close friendship with a guy or two my own age here. Community is very important for me (and all people!), so I hope to find it at the church I attended yesterday or maybe some other way. I rarely feel lonely as I am always around kids, my host family, or CERI people, but I have yet to find someone my own age with whom I can deeply connect.

Well, I think this letter is long enough, but I continue to thank you all for your support. I could not be here without you!

Continue to check my blog, http://moldova-john.blogspot.com, for updates and hopefully pictures soon! I am still in the process of getting internet hooked up in my apartment, so it has been difficult to update as often as I would have liked.

Har şi pace (Grace and peace),

John