Last full day in Moldova...

We went to church Rezeni. The pastor's wife, Lydia, invited us over for lunch.

She was so dear! It was fun to give her my JOYN scarf.

Marianna served as our translator. She was AWESOME.

Her husband and daughter Anne joined us for dinner. 

It's been a great day.

Many more pictures. Many more stories to come.

I promise.

More Moldova Meanderings...

Recap of the second full day in Moldova.

This was my view a lot of the day. 

We traveled all the way down to the southern part of Moldova to a village called AI Cuza. 

The last time I drank Coca Cola I was in China.

It has been such a blessing to be on a trip like this with Amy.

This pastor is AWESOME. He is currently using Awana material as outreach in his village. He is going through various Navigator material as he is discipling the men in his church.

We ended the day eating lots of yummy pizza at Andy's Pizza.

DELICIOUS!

And gelato!

My stance on ice cream regardless of where I am is "Never No."

Meandering about Moldova

We started at an orphanage in Congaz....

Then went to a hope center in Baurci Moldoveni....

Below is my new Moldovan friend Rachel. LOVE her!

Then finished the day at a church service in Sofievca...

(this little lady reminded me of a little tator-tot Call girl who lives in Iowa)

This is Natasha. She served as our translator all day. She is a remarkable woman! 

Thoughts from today...

1. I can't think of anything more remarkable than hearing a Moldovan pastor weep over the urgency he feels to share the Gospel with all people. 
2. "Teacher" is translated "Professor." (HA, who knew that I would get a promotion just by coming to Moldova.)
3. Hospitality is alive and well in this country.
4. Hearing (and seeing) evidence of people truly giving everything they have for the sake of the Gospel is absolutely incredible.
5. The Lord is at work in this place. What a privilege to get to see it first hand.

And just for fun... Romania is on the other side of the hills behind these trees.

So close...

We made it!

Yes my friends this is a picture of my feet in Moldova.

This is a map of Moldova. We are staying in Chisinau the capital city which is the orangish blog in the middle of the country. The red arrows are pointing to the villages where we will be visiting during the next 4 days. So we will be on the move A LOT!

This is the BMI headquarters in Moldova. It's a beautiful building.

This is what we ate for dinner tonight. IT WAS DELICIOUS!

(and yes it's a picture that I originally took on my camera but then took a picture of the picture on my phone so I could blog about it...) HAHA

the class of 2014

So there's this group of students....

We started this whole gig together at the beginning of the school year last year. They being my students, me being being their teacher.

Here we are again, in the midst of another school year. This time they are juniors.

They have helped raise the bar in regard to school spirit.

They LOVE hashtags.

They LOVE their class.

They LOVE #BuffNation

AND for the icing on the cake....

A good majority of them were just inducted into National Honor Society.

To say that I am proud of them would be a HUGE understatement.

Go State!

As alumni of Kansas State University (i.e. the finest institution in the land) it is always a treat to get to spend some time back in Manhattan.

First stop = Java (or as the kids call it Bluestem..)

I love it that my dear friend from my college days actually lives and works in Manhattan.

My heart is always SO encouraged after some good quality time with EJ!

Fast forward to Saturday.

We are "old" now so our version of tailgating involves being INSIDE.

J brought the peanut butter. HAHA!

It was SO fun to get to hang out with C at the game!

LOVED getting to hang out with Lewis!

It is always FUN to watch my Cats beat the other school in Kansas.

Did I mention that we had REALLY good seats?

This gal ventured over my way at halftime.

I was SO excited to get to hug her!

Two of my dearest brothers.

I love that even though it has been far too long since we were all in college together, it is so great to get to reconnect with people who were apart of my K-State years. I love that we have kept in touch across the miles. I love that we can just pick up where we left out when we saw each other the last time. I love that these people are a part of my life. (and I love it when we are all wearing purple!)

the real need...

I have been watching the PBS documentary "Half the Sky: Turning oppression into opportunity for women worldwide." I texted some friends and told them to do the same. I watched it with some of my MNGP's. It's a reality that makes me sick. Breaks my heart. Makes me wonder what I can do, if there's even anything that I can really do....

I know that sex trafficking is real. I know that it happens here in the US and across the world. Do I understand the magnitude in which it's happening? Unfortunately no... Can I go for days without a thought crossing my mind about modern day slavery or sex trafficking? Unfortunately yes.... 

I do applaud Half the Sky for their efforts in creating awareness, in doing what they can to "save"  these girls from brothels... but the more I think about it, the more I talk about it, the bigger the knot in my stomach gets. Sure these girls are being "rescued" from brothels and such but are they actually being rescued from what we all need rescued from? Who is giving these girls really what they need? What we all need? 

Who is telling them about Jesus?

My friend Lucas said this in his sermon on Sunday.... "The ultimate goal of compassion ministry is to help meet a person’s theological needs. We want to share the gospel as we do justice and mercy in the world. All people of all religions can feed the hungry and care for the homeless but Christians are the only people with the good news of the gospel. It is the one thing we have that nobody else does. Compassion ministry is more than feeding the hungry and providing clean water. It should be holistic in nature caring for the whole person, because ultimately the most compassionate thing we can do for a person is share the gospel with them. Let me say that again, the most compassionate thing we can do for a person is share the gospel with them."