Cuvântul Întrupat

“‘Opriţi-vă şi să ştiţi că Eu sunt Dumnezeu:
Eu stăpânesc peste neamuri,
Eu stăpânesc pe pământ.’
Domnul oştirilor este cu noi.
Dumnezeul lui Iacov este un turn de scăpare pentru noi.”

“‘Be still, and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth.’
The Lord Almighty is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress.”

Psalm 46:10-11

Well, after spending five days in Romania, I am once again in Moldova, this time hoping that all living permit issues have ended! Thank you all for your prayers and encouraging emails during this confusing time.

While in Romania, I spent a few days in Bucureşti resting and reflecting after a fairly stressful week in Chişinău dealing with my living permit situation. Bucureşti is a beautiful city where I picked up quite a bit of Romanian vocabulary, attended a symphony concert, saw some of the famous sites, and read Brennan Manning’s The Ragamuffin Gospel. After my time in Bucureşti, I took a 3.5 hour train ride to Galaţi, a small town on the Prut River, which forms Romania’s border with Moldova. I visited an organization there called Cuvântul Întrupat (Word Made Flesh) that works with the poor in the community, including many street children. You can read more about this wonderful organization here: http://www.wmfromania.com/Eng/main.php. From a community center to a transitional living facility for boys, Word Made Flesh is doing many of the same things that CERI is developing here in Moldova. It was a wonderful opportunity for me to observe the projects going on there and to gain a clearer vision for what some of these things could look like for our kids here. But even more important than the work happening in Galaţi, I observed a group of Jesus-followers there who were truly seeking to serve and to live in community with the poor. Their humility was challenging and beautiful to me as I watched them entering into the lives of the children, learning from the children, caring for the children, and defending the children. To me they are an embodiment of those seeking to live lives of love and mercy, and for this I praise God (see Hosea 6:6). Here is the blog of one of the staff members of Word Made Flesh Romania: http://www.artincommunityamongthepoor.blogspot.com/

Finally, for those of you who are interested, here is an article on sex trafficking in Eastern Europe. Quite interesting and eye-opening: http://www.penguin.ca/nf/Book/BookDisplay/0,,0_9780670043125,00.html?sym=EXC