Tales from Our Fairytale: Our 1st Day in Cismichioi

11:30 pm here – 3:30 pm at home

Today has definitely been a good day. I don't know that I'll ever enjoy mealtime here (at least not without some serious help...), but other than mealtime...I enjoyed today.

I actually slept until 7:00 am!! I woke up some before then, but was never so awake I couldn’t get back to sleep. :)

We headed on our nice little walk to the church around 7:45 this morning and had breakfast at 8:00. And once we finished breakfast, we got our stuff all together to head out to the village Cismichioi - pronounced "keesh/cheesh me coi" - I definitely feared for my life on that 40 minute ride that only lasted about 20 minutes! If someone were to ask what side of the rode they drive on here, I would say "both!"

We got the medical clinic set up and headed over to the village's stadium to see if any kids were around. We also passed by the present area for the VBS - tables outside in the wind...not what we expected!

There were some kids there to play soccer so the craft and Rec team joined in. It is always fun to watch 8 year olds show off their talent to an American athlete, I believe the Rec team was humbled in today's match.

We realized there were no younger kids or girls and there was way too many of us, so Erin, Courtney, and I joined Lonnie, James, and a few of the interpreters headed back to the clinic (not a church because there is only one believer in the village) to work on the seating area outside.

Hardest work I have done in a while...we got weeds out, swept up the mess, and even helped in the destruction and rebuilding of the benches.

We walked a km (.6 mile) to a local school for lunch and team meeting.

After our meeting, the sports camp went back to the stadium and those of us that were left (not including medical...) headed out to walk through the village. I promise you we walked UP a hill that had an incline for AT LEAST a mile! I thought my heart was going to beat out of my chest.

We would simply stop and talk to people we met along the way and let them know about the clinic and our evangelistic service. We would try to just engage them in conversation and let them know we cared. It was so incredible to walk through the village and see their everyday life. All the women coming home with their hoes in hand seemed so tired and were all very old.

We got back around 6:00 and headed to the school for dinner, and then it was time for our evangelistic service. I've never been more aware of spiritual warfare than I was last night.

There were several guys that would drive back and forth on their motorcycles behind those speaking. The people of the village are very closed off and do not want to talk with any of us.

The village had an evangelistic church years ago, but the orthodox members would taunt them, throwing rocks at their car. Many of the believers were pushed out of the village.

The village also has a very high rate of domestic violence, which stems from alcoholism. It is just a depressing place to be because so many of the people live with no hope or promise of a better tomorrow.

Richard let us know that last night was HUGE for a village like this because about 30 young people from the village were there, listening to the gospel.

We were supposed to have the program at the amphitheater, but the benches were busted and covered in weeds, and the stage had glass and urine/feces covering it. One of the translators mentioned that people just "don't care to make it to the bathroom" - so it was unusable.

God was in those details though because having it where we did ended up being better. It is a hangout for the village so they came along. It is also close to a few areas that we were able to draw people in.

When we got home from the village, our host home had freshly picked strawberries with a sour cream type of thing and sugar - when you mix it together, it becomes fruit dip. I had three plates :)

I was VERY glad to get in bed; today was great but very exhausting!