The following post is from CBF field personnel Mary van Rheehen and Keith Holmes.
Dear Friends,
Truly, it is better to give than to receive . . . but from time to time it’s pretty nice to receive, too. That was my experience on this recent trip to Moldova. Erika Oosterkamp and Alina Ivan joined me to coordinate an afternoon children’s program and an outreach to women in the village of Vulcanesti. Before we even arrived, we received enough seed packets to give to women with their invitations for the women’s event + enough stickers to reward every child many times over.
Once there, we received daily help from the Bethlehem Baptist Church in Vulcanesti. Several young men and women were always there to help translate from Romanian to Usari Romani, to keep order, to write children’s names on name tags, to assist (and participate) in the craft time, to help leadsinging, to clean up afterwards and prepare for the following day. Members of the church, all Romany, also helped prepare the invitations for the women and to deliver them. They donated flour, eggs, butter, and milk to make refreshments (also firewood, but we decided against the outdoor oven). Their sister church in Nisporeni provided prayer support and a volunteer.
No one but the pastor, though, walked with us through the mud, drizzle, and 55 degree (F) weather on Friday to deliver them. The locals thought we were crazy, but this is normal weather for people who have lived in Holland. We put on rubber boots and trudged. And were very well rewarded by the warm reception women–and children–gave us.
We also received encouraging words from our economic development partner, Operation Mobilisation. The coordinator was very impressed with the way the two who had received loans had so promptly repaid them. We received a promise that he and the pastor would arrange meetings with additional entrepreuners in Vulcanesti.
We were also given a peek at the chicks in a homemade incubator. The woman who shared with us lives in nicely painted two-room shack with three of her children–and the chicks. She has the walls, doors, and windows for a reasonably-sized stone house, but no roof. We prayed for her in the yard between the laundry, the chickens, the children, and the two houses. The next day, we were given a tour of the mini-palace of the richest man in the village. He showed us a photo of his eldest son, in prison somewhere in Scandinavia, and said he’d give away all his wealth, including the house, just to have that one child back.
We were also given a mini-miracle. A sister who had led a children’s program in church for people who are growing into current leadership had become “disappointed with the church.” When we visited her with the invitation to the women’s program, she seemed depressed. Small wonder–she had been caring for five of her brother’s seven children, one severely handicapped. She had passed the responsibility back to the children’s mother, but they all still seemed to live in her house. This sister did come to the women’s program on Saturday. She sat behind a pillar, and didn’t seem to participate much. But when we drove up to church on Sunday, she was standing outside, waiting for the gates to be unlocked. “A miracle!” the people in the car exclaimed, “she’s smiling!”
Consider coming with us sometime. I’ll bet you will also receive–even as you give.
Thankfully,
Mary van Rheenen and Keith Holmes