Tales from Our Fairytale: 2nd Day in Cismichioi

10:30 pm here – 2:30 pm at home

Today was our second and final day in the village, and it was definitely a blessing I’ll forever remember!

Breakfast consisted of hot dog meat and mashed potatoes – I don’t feel like I have to elaborate any on this one.

Thankfully, we didn’t have such a crazy ride to the village this morning, but I think I was a little more prepared for it.

We spent the morning at the soccer field with the local youth. There were mostly boys at first, but then 2 young girls came out, then 2 a little older, then another young girl. Before we knew it, we had a huge crowd gathered around us and every one wanted to make a shirt. Even the older guys wanted to paint once they got done playing soccer as well and ditched going to the gym with the our guys.

The creativity of the Moldovans is unmatched! Even with the translators – or I should say…ESPECIALLY the translators. They are always using their hands and taking whatever they have around them to create something beautiful.

Cyndi came over when things slowed down at the clinic and braided hair. She started with the girls from our group, but the local girls started to pick up on what she was doing and got in line. While they were sitting in front of here…with nowhere to go…we would talk with them about Christ.

I was able to share His story with Elena while she was sitting with Cyndi, and to my surprise, she had never heard about Jesus dying on the cross for our sins so that we could live with Him. I KNOW there are people out there that have never heard, but to have someone in front of you that doesn’t readily know about Christ was just eye opening. When I asked her if she wanted to make sure that she would spend an eternity in heaven and have a personal relationship with Christ, she said yes. So I lead her in a simple prayer to ask Jesus into her heart.

After running back up to the clinic and grabbing some Bibles (Elena had said she didn’t have one at home), there was a new girl sitting beside Cyndi, and I was able to talk with her about Christ as well. Svetlana wanted to have a personal relationship with Christ as well, so I was able to lead her in a prayer too.

None of us really wanted to leave for lunch, but we took off for the school. Looking back, the days are fast, but seem long. Lunch seems like it was dinner now (if that even makes sense!) And I did eat – chicken and potatoes!

We rested for about an hour after lunch under that same tree. The Rec team had invited the guys to come out at 3:00 from basketball and some of the girls ended up showing up as well. **I have noticed that the girls seem to follow the guys around. It’s much like a clique in the states where the girls get cute to impress the boys, and the boys try to act way cool but really do care what the girls think.

We all headed back over to the gym but not everyone was interested in playing, nor was there room for everyone to play! There gyms were literally the “in bound” area of a shrunk down court. And there was no a/c or any form of ventilation.

A few of us waited around outside while Bryan literally tried to FIND us kids. I got a little frustrated because I just wasn’t sure what was going on. My flexibility was a little lacking at this point and I had a bad attitude thinking it would be a waste to do anything at this point. But boy was I wrong!

The first group Bryan had talked with was 3 or 4 kids that were waiting on someone to come take them home. There were also a few adults sitting out with them. We had been waiting on Richard to get back with some materials for us to do a craft with them, but it was taking a little longer than we expected, so we headed over to get to know them. Within a few minutes of TRYING to talk with them, another woman woke up and took all but one of the kids away, which was followed by the adults heading out with the other kid that was remaining.

Defeated. I felt totally defeated at this point. Richard was on his way with materials, Bryan had gotten us a group to work with, and now we were back to nothing.

Within a few minutes, I turned around and to my surprise - there were three more children! I was so excited to see people to work with we jumped on them. We ended up making stained glass windows with them and then one of the ladies began to talk with me.

I grabbed Amy to translate for me and had a beautiful conversation that was so refreshing and full of hope. *About 10 minutes earlier, Lonnie had asked me my thoughts on the trip, and we talked about the lack of hope we had at times. You see so many sad situations of people with not much to live for and you don’t even know when you are talking to someone if there “belief” in Christ is genuine or not.

She was actually a mother of the two young kids. She had them at 41 and 43.

As we began talking, she asked what organization we were with, and once she learned we were with a church, she just lit up. She said that she is a Christian and a believer, which here is a big deal. She said the words that let me know she had a genuine relationship with Christ.

She talked about a wreck she had a while back that everyone felt she couldn’t have possibly lived through. But she kept telling everyone how God was the only reason she had made it out alive. Even the driver of the car, who was not a believer at the time, would tell people that SHE was the reason he had lived because she was praying the whole time.

She was so positive and uplifting for me and I was very encouraged by her amazing faith.

One of the last things that Dora talked with me about was how blessed she was to meet us today. She told me how she was supposed to work at the school today, but she knew that there was a group in town and she wanted to meet with us. She knew that spending some time with us would be encouraging to her. She said that God told her this morning that she would have an opportunity to meet us, but that she needed to go to work and finish what she needed to.

We met Dora as she left the school that day. God is SO good. He didn’t fail Dora and he certainly surprised me. She knew we had a children's program, so she brought her children hoping to meet us. Obviously, I cried. What a blessing, and a reminder to have the right attitude.

I did NOT want to say goodbye, but it was time for another meal! I ate, chicken and pasta.

The guys from our group put on another evangelistic service for the men of the village while all of the ladies enjoyed a “Ladies Tea.” We had a mix of younger and older ladies from the village and it was another one of those eye-opening experiences. The clothing they had on (at least the young girls) would be considered a little on the promiscuous side here, but for them, it was their very best.

It was also eye opening to see the way the guys looked at the girls, they couldn’t even take their focus off of them for the hour they were split in two groups. A few of the boys ended up coming in the building, lighting a cigarette in one of the rooms and leaving it to smell up the building, while another few guys CONTINUALLY walked back and forth by the windows of the room we were in, trying to get (and keep) the attention of the girls.

Dora came and brought me a gift from her home and it was seriously heartbreaking to say goodbye, knowing I may never see her again (until we are in heaven). I cried, again.

Tina and Irina had to go to the next village to get all set up, so Deb and her interpreter/roommate Alina walked me home. I was so tired from the long (and emotional) day, plus not knowing when the girls would be home, Alina let my hosts know that I’d be going to bed.

Breakfast...YES, Breakfast.

Soccer is the sport of choice,
and we played it every where we went.

Painting shirts as the local kids started to come out

Out of nowhere, the group was huge! Such a blessing

Paulina used her Evanga-Cube to lead some sweet girls to the Lord.
Her passion for the Lord and "no fear" attitude
(at such a young age, too) inspired me all week!