Where in the world is Moldova?

Glenn and I live very comfortably here in Budapest and can certainly find everything we need, but sometimes we think of a few things we "want", such as books, magazines and devotional materials. There are a few folks in America who have been so faithful to provide us with care packages that mean the world to us, and this past week we received a blessing from our friends, the Harryman's.


Thanks Kesha and Darin!

Kesha and Darin were good friends of ours who lived down the street from us here in BP. They returned to the States at the end of their term of service last year but promised to keep me supplied in reading materials, and have faithfully kept their word. Thank you!


What is Thunsulete? What is Therm Reservation???

One of the things I've started collecting is poor translations and funny imitations, and loved this one. We found it on a pair of gloves for Glenn, thinking they were made with Thinsulate until after we'd paid for them and Glenn looked more closely at the tag! Hee! Hee! If you know what Therm Reservation is, please let us know!


Working in the garden

It seems spring has arrived in BP with 80 degrees last Monday, but when I talked with my Dad in Marietta, he said they were expecting snow that night there in Georgia! If it isn't going to snow a lot, then I am ready for spring.


All those going to Moldova, line up!

On Tuesday Glenn and I flew to Moldova, reportedly the poorest country in Europe. The capital of Moldova is Chisinau, but we were headed "up country" for most of our visit. We visited with two of our families in Moldova and then on to Romania, which is probably the second poorest.


The Vandecars

Mike and Myra picked us up at the airport and took us to their house in Chisinau for a couple of hours while we waited for the other family to come from up country to get us. We could not go into the downtown area because of rioting. On Sunday the Communist Party "won" the majority of votes to gain control of the Parliament. They will now choose the new President. As there is much speculation of unfair voting, many are reacting with violent protests. So far the rioters have invaded and burned the Presidential Palace and the Parliament Building.



They took us to eat dinner on the outskirts of town at a place called Andy's, and it had the best pizza, calzones and lasagne we've had overseas so far. And in Moldova, of all places!


The Russell's

We spent two days up country with Nancy and Chris and their two girls. You may remember Nancy from a former blog entry: she's the one who had knee surgery in BP and we wrote NEM! (NO!) on the good knee to make sure the doctor didn't operate on the wrong knee.



The Russell's have temporarily taken in two Moldovan girls, Lilia and Elana, who are orphans. They are the sweetest girls and were a joy to be around.



There were a lot of things in Moldova that reminded Glenn and me of Ivory Coast in West Africa, such as this sign painted on the concrete wall around a yard.


Ice cream in a bag

Glenn celebrated his 54th birthday while at the Russell's house. I had brought with me the makings for his favorite cake: German chocolate. Nancy provided the candles and ice cream. In Moldova, their ice cream comes in plastic bags!


Cutting the ice cream and cake!

Chris drove us just across the border into Romania where we were met by another one of our families and with whom we spent the afternoon. I won't go into a lot of details about the specific families we have visited but ask you to pray for ALL of our families serving in these two countries. Moldova and Romania are not easy places to live.


Kind of reminded me of African engineering


Saw lots of women with skirts and head scarves


Many Romanians still use horse carts for transportation


Troy and Karla


Romanians eat a lot of soups such as meatball soup


One of the Baptist churches

One afternoon Glenn and I went with Tamara and Wes to a Youth meeting at one of the local churches in Braila. Definitely brought back memories of our days in Ivory Coast!! Glenn is standing on the porch of the church. Inside were about 10 backless wooden benches. Yes, it reminded me of Africa. Kind of choked me up.


Cile, Carmen and Tamara

Wes and Tamara work with the Roma people group, or more commonly called Gypsie's. Carmen's father is the pastor of this church. Carmen has a heart to be a preacher and a nurse but is waiting to see how God will use her desire in His service! Please pray for her!



Arriving at church on Sunday, we were greeted by a lot of Roma children, which also reminded me of Africa. The children are beautiful.


Going to house church, which is church in a house

It was Easter today in America and Hungary, but not in Romania. Romania is an Orthodox country and they follow a different calendar. Next Sunday will be Easter here and all the churches are having "clean up" days to get the church ready for next Sunday's celebration.

We went to a village worship service today with Gayle and Bob about 45 minutes outside Braila. We met in a Roma house, in a room about 10' X 12 with 14 in attendance. I "sat" on their bed.

As is typical, they called on Glenn to also bring a message so he whipped one out of his back pocket. Always ready with a timely word. He did a great job, especially on such short notice!

Women have to have their head covered, so I got to wear a scarf. Boy, did that remind me of Africa too!

We sang (well, they sang. We didn't know the words), heard a message, stood to pray, sang again, heard another message, stood again to pray, sang again, heard a third message, crawled off the bed for a third time to pray, sang, someone read from the Bible ,and then they called on Glenn to share a word. Actually, one of the young men read from Psalm 15 and then he gave a 5 minute commentary on it, and then, speaking to Glenn, said something like, "Surely you know more about this Psalm than I do, so why don't you share it with us", so shooting from the hip, he did and it was great! I was really impressed. After another song Glenn and I were asked to pray for 2 of the ladies that are physically sick and spiritually lost so all 14 of us stood-squeezed together-one last time and prayed for these women before ending.

Then, saying good-bye ("pah-chay", meaning "peace") to each one of them by kissing the women cheek to cheek and shaking hands with the men, we left. It was about an hour and 45 minutes long but also very interesting.


Gayle and Bob stand in front of property for another church


An Orthodox church-a bit bigger than our Baptist churches



We relaxed this afternoon by walking in a city park and down by the Danube River, the same river that flows through Budapest.

Tonight, we watched the 2005 Bellevue Baptist Church in Memphis, Tennessee Easter Passion play (on DVD). It was incredible! The church puts it on every year, and if you've never seen it before, it is well worth the trip to Memphis to experience it! It was a blessing for Glenn and me to be able to see it today to help us celebrate the resurrection of Christ, our Lord. Perfect way to be reminded of the meaing of Easter!!!

Tomorrow afternoon we head to Medgidia for a few days and then on to a retreat in the middle of the country, in the Carpathian Mountains. It has been a great trip and we've thoroughly enjoyed getting to know these families! We return to BP on Friday evening.