One year ago, today.

I got on a plane headed to London, and then another to Johannesburg, and then another to Lilongwe, Malawi.  Tomorrow morning, I'll board a plane going to Munich and then Birmingham, and eventually end up home in Wales.  It's strange how much a place can become home in the span of one year.  But Wrexham now is home-friends, the community of churches, Just Across, the proliferation of discount stores downtown, Bellevue Park and Clwedog Trail, Erddig are all now a part of who I am.  And hopefully it will become even more of a home in the next year.

When I left Port Orchard last year, I was really struggling with the concept of what it meant to be at home anywhere I went.  But over and over again, I've sensed God saying to me that my home is where he is.  And since God is everywhere, my home is the whole world.  I may have mentioned it before, (and I apologize if I have and you remember it) but one of my favorite quotes relating to that is Mark 10:29-30 where Jesus says that anyone who goes away from friends and family for his sake and the gospel's sake will have the whole world for their father and mother and sister and brothers (along with their troubles as well).  It makes me smile, every time.

Anyways, I wanted to highlight eight of my favorite posts from this past year...and after that, sleep!

27 July, 2011- Safari

23 September, 2011- Before Everyone Gets Here

9 December, 2011- December 2011 Playlist

2 January 2012- Goals for 2012

5 March 2012- INTP

1 May 2012- Hlas (The Voice)

4 May 2012- Sitting in the Park

19 June 2012- Just who do I think I am?

 

Satisfied. Blessed. Frustrated.

Yesterday, with two day to go before we leave the country, Anna, Kristin and I spent some time talking about our time here.  I asked the question, "What three words would you use to describe how you feel about our time in Moldova?" 

My answer was satisfied, because we did many of the things that we wanted to do, like working with local churches and ministries, and learning about the culture and the language.  I'm also satisfied that we eventually found the balance between doing and being-with some weeks having too much to do and others having too little to do.

Blessed, as this is my second time to come to Moldova, and I feel so happy about that! I loved my time here in 2006, but I fell even more in love with the country and the people this time around.  There are new friends that I hope to continue to know when I leave, and friends that I've gotten to know better this time around!

Frustrated. *sigh* There are times when I long for a more settled life just so I wouldn't have to say goodbye all the time.  I wish that I had more time to invest in the people of Moldova and to understand the culture in a deeper way, and to actually have the time to learn the languages. But I don't have the time.  I return to Wales in a day!

Speaking of which, see all you folks in Wales soon!

One Week

I tend to think that I've got a pretty good imagination.  Fairy tales and other fantastic stories are my daily food.  Okay, maybe not quite that bad.  I do love imaginative stories though.  Anyways, the point is that we've only got one week left in Moldova, and I find that pretty difficult to imagine.  When I first visited Moldova in 2006, I enjoyed my time here.  Now, I've found even more to love about Moldova-the people, the culture, the food, the city.  I won't say that I don't want to leave, because I am looking forward to being home in Wales, but at the same time, I'm not looking forward to going.

This past week has been our last full week of ministry.  Next week, we're spending time evaluating our time here, enjoying the city and getting ready to go back to the UK.  So, this week has been full of recurring ministries (like English classes and Freedom home) and a few new ones.  On Wednesday evening, we spent some time with a youth group from New Life church and shared about evangelism.  I was excited for us to be able to share our stories and encourage other believers to be bold and courageous in sharing their faith.  On Thursday morning, we helped out at a local orphanage by sorting and organizing a craft cupboard.  All of us greatly enjoyed serving in such a practical way!

The photos: talking about the Engel's scale on Wednesday evening, and the finished, organized, clean cupboard!

See the full gallery on Posterous

Just who do I think I am?

“Get over yourself. Seriously.” This phrase has been repeated over and over in my mind over the last few days as I get mildly angry at friends or strangers for the simplest things. For asking a question differently than I would ask it, for not understanding what I’m trying to communicate in broken Romanian or Russian, or for speaking English to me after I’ve mimed a question for the past five minutes. That was just embarrassing.

More often than not, I’m more concerned about whether or not people like me than if I’m valuing them more than myself. I’ve become complacent in my thinking, letting myself feel smug and superior for knowing a useless piece of trivia or knowing how to communicate in a different language. But I don’t want to be like that.

Recently I read an article about the love of authority versus the authority of love. The articles talks about Jesus’ transfiguration and how the disciples hear a voice from heaven saying, “This is my son, whom I love, listen to him.” The author points out that God doesn’t say, “This is my son, a very wise teacher.An expert in moral theology. Listen to him!” or, “This is my son and I’ll be hurt and sad if you don’t listen to him.” Instead he says, “Listen to my son because I love him.”

Because I’m leading two beautiful young women on a mission trip in a foreign country, this article got me thinking. How often do I expect them to follow my lead because I have experience and have done this before? How often do I want them to take my personal advice because I’m older and wiser and have read more books than them? Or do I expect them to listen to me simply because I was appointed to the position I’m in by someone else? (The answers to those questions are currently “all the time” and “yes.”)

It shouldn’t be that way. God gave everything so that I could know that I’m loved for free, and so I can love others for free too. More often than not though, I’m stuck in my own insecurity and doubt, forgetting that I am loved without reserve and that I have the freedom to love everyone with the same abandon. While I imagine it’s going to be the journey of a lifetime, I want to learn to love others without fear and without expectation of anything in return. Even as I write this, the hope that someone will read it and think “She’s so cool and honest and I really like her,” rears its ugly head. I cannot fight myself for very long. But I hope that somehow, God will do away with my ugliness and replace it with something better. Maybe somewhere down the road, I’ll know what it means when it says, “For God so loved the world…”

For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith--that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Ephesians 3:14-19

Being in Cahul

Album of photos from Cahul on Facebook

Hmmm.  There's so many thing that I could say about our time in Cahul.  It was a breath of fresh air, we had a blast, we're so glad that we went, we wish we could have gone for longer. But sometimes, those sayings can be overused.

Last Tuesday, Anna, Kristin and I travelled south from Chisinau to Cahul.  (I felt rather smug that we were able to navigate the public transportation system and to get there without any help.  But after two months, we should be able to do that!) We went to spend time with and support Ywam Moldova which is based there. We arrived right at noon, and then had lunch with the team. After just one meal, I was so glad that we came, simply because it was nice to talk to people who I had so much in common with, in terms of our experience of missions and our values.

That evening, we also met a team from Ywam Switzerland who are doing their outreach in Moldova. They were helping to run a children's day camp at a local church by leading games and the different groups of children.  We (Anna, Kristin and I) were also going to help at the day camp, but in a slightly different way.

On Wednesday and Thursday, the three of us went to the church and prayed for the camp and the children from 9:30-12:30.  That was challenging and wonderful.  For the first half hour or so, we prayed for the normal things (paitience for leaders, safety, a good time, for God to be there) but then we had to get creative in order to concentrate.  It was wonderful to sing and read scripture and listen to God for the leaders, the children and their families. The second day was even more difficult, as we felt that we had already prayed for everything! But we were inspired to pray for faith, hope and love.  Again, we used scripture and song to be able to pray for the whole time.

Thursday evening, we helped to organize a party for a member of the Cahul team that was leaving for Switzerland for a month and for the Swiss team as they were leaving for a village on Saturday. We played games, encouraged each other, and stayed up talking until late at night.

Friday morning, Kristin shared about having hunger for God and what he's doing with Ywam Cahul.  It was encouraging and exciting to hear stories about what God has done in her life, and to pray for each other. After that, we helped to clean and organize the storage area of one of the apartments.  Our team really enjoys doing practical things, so I'm glad that we were able to help out in that way!

After lunch on Friday, we travelled back to Chisinau, happy to have gone and helped and learned some new things, but sad to be leaving new friends behind. It's nice to know that we'll probably meet some of them again.  After all, the world is rather small. :D

For some photos along with the post, check here on Facebook.  If that doesn't work, let me know and I'll add them to this post!