Love of Money

Imagine being so obsessed with money that you waste your life dreaming of going to a country that will probably never let you in. Imagine being so obsessed with money that you send your kids to live in an orphanage because you don't want to pay for them. Imagine being so obsessed with money that you send your 13 year old daughter out onto the streets to be a prostitute to earn money for you.

These are just a few of the stories I have heard during our time here in Moldova. Our team went to a street kids center last Saturday. When they pick up street kids or underage prostitutes, they send them to this home until they can find relatives or an orphanage to send them to. Our team did a program for the kids, played games, and sang songs with them, then we split up and just hung out with them.

Somehow I ended up in a conversation with the security guard of that home. His name was Sergei and his life dream is to move to America, get a job, get his own house and nice car...basically, the American dream. The problem is, that is the dream of almost everyone we have met here in Moldova. They all want to abandon the sinking ship here and go to greener pastures. I tried to tell Sergei that not everyone in America is rich with their own cars and houses. I told him that many of those who do have those things are not happy and contented. I told him that the road to true contentment and life does not lie in money, but in a true and living relationship with God. But his ears and his heart were closed, clogged by the love of money.

I have been amazed at how often I have seen that gleam of greed in the eyes of people here. And I am not just saying that it is an Eastern European phenomenon. I have seen that gleam in the eyes of Danes, Brits, Americans, Malaysians, and even myself when I think about what I don't have and would like to have. No wonder God talks so much about money in the Bible. No wonder the Proverbs are full of warnings against the love of money. It consumes us humans so easily. But we can't serve two masters, God and money. I may think that of course I don't serve money. I don't have a job, I live in ministry, and friends and family give generously so that we can get by. But just to see me when it looks like we don't have enough money one month...obsessed with money. Of course I need to be responsible with the money God provides, but I do not want to be someone obsessed with money. I do not want my master to be money. But what a tempting master it can be. It's much harder to let go and trust that God will provide. But that is what He calls us to over and over again. Trust Him. Lean on Him.

10 years

This past Sunday was my mom's birthday. Unfortunately, our phone here can't call internationally, so I couldn't talk to her. But August 6th is significant for another reason as well - it's my parents' anniversary. They've been married 10 years now.

10 years ago, I was nearly 12. All seven of us girls went with my parents to a local detention center where the justice of the peace was located in that particular town in North Carolina (we were on vacation there together). My dad, a father of 5 girls and a widower of 8 months at that point, married a woman he knew very well (they had been writing and talking on the phone for 5 months or so), who had lost her husband a year earlier and had two daughters. They had both put a lot of prayer into this decision and felt this was what God wanted them to do. And so our two families became one.

But it wasn't easy. Those first few years especially were a very rough ride. My parents are two VERY different people, plus they had a houseful of still-grieving young girls. The adjustment wasn't quite so hard for my youngest two sisters, but the rest of us had many struggles. I have always been a person who struggles to adjust to change and that was a massive change. But I can remember that, during the fall after they married, I realized that I was faced with a choice - join this new family or not. I made the choice to fight it out and be a part of the family, and that choice has been one of the best in my life.

These past 10 years have been very very full. New churches, new houses, new situations very often. Over and over I have witnessed my parents following God's leading into new circumstances. We took in many needy people, including 5 abandoned kids and several families (not all at the same time :) ) We made our own family traditions, different from the ones before, but good. We had many good times and many hard times. Slowly but surely, we became a family. I remember when my sister's first child, Micah, was born. It was about 2 years after my parents got married. We all stood there in the hospital and fell in love with this beautiful little baby. I don't want to say that he brought us together, because God was already doing that work, but having a little one around certainly helps. Micah is my nephew through and through even if not by blood, and I knew that from the start.

I have been very grateful these 10 years to have a mother. She has been there for me in everything, all of the many many changes of these years. She is a very wise woman and I have learned so much from her. So much. I love her very much even if she drives me crazy sometimes (like any good mother does) :)

And in the almost 4 years since I moved away from home, I have seen many huge changes happen in the lives of my parents. Following God's leading, my dad stopped being a doctor, they moved to Georgia, and my dad started taking seminary courses. As of about a month ago, my father is now ordained and they have joined staff at their church in Savannah. They have also joined an organization called Hope Force www.hopeforce.org I am so proud of them. They are amazing, godly people and I am proud to call both of them my parents.

Moldova

We have now been in Moldova for a little over a week with lots going on! Our students are doing a good job adjusting to yet another new situation and the ministry opportunities are definitely new for most of them. Our living situation took a little getting used to but we're all settled in and ready for another month of outreach!

Seriousna
The first person we met when we stepped off the bus was Sergei, our contact person here. His nickname is Seryozha, but Torben soon nicknamed him Seriousna (which means seriously) just to be funny. It makes all of the Russian speakers laugh to hear us butcher their language all the time. Which is fair enough because we laugh at their English pretty often. Anyways, Seriousna is so paranoid that it's funny. It is his first time being responsible for a missions team and he worries over us like a mother hen, always telling us to save money by turning off lights and to be careful about everything and repeating instructions to us over and over again. His wife, Ira, is very much his opposite so it's just hilarious when they are together. Seriousna doesn't speak a word of English, but Ira speaks the best English I have ever heard from an Eastern European. So cool.
Ministries
So far we have only done 2 of the 4 ministries we'll be involved with here because all attention was focused on a city-wide festival that happened here last week. We helped out where we could in the festival. There was a speaker from Kiev and many people were saved. It was a wonderful thing to see and be a part of. They also did a very good job of plugging the new believers in to local churches.
Our ministries are rather varied here and are very different from the ones we had in other locations. So far we have gone to an AIDS hospital and a drug rehabilitation center to speak to people about the gospel. This is a real challenge for the students, most of whom are used to ministering with kids, not broken and dying older people. Only a limited number of us can go each time, so I haven't been able to go yet, but those who have gone come back very moved and challenged. Tomorrow we will go to a local nursing home (don't imagine nice nursing homes there in America or Western Europe). The government here does not take good care of the older people and we have been told to expect really awful circumstances there. We'll also be working with a street kids center. I'll write more later about what those are like.
On the home front
Due to some staff changes in YWAM Kiev, Torben has been asked to be the main leader of the fall DTS this year. This is a huge responsibility and not a lot of time to plan for it. This school ends September 6 and the next starts Sept. 27. I will be helping out part time with the school, but I would like to focus on language learning and helping out some with the baby orphanage ministry.
We also bought our tickets for our trip to America and Denmark at the end of the year!!! YAY!! We'll be in America from Dec. 17 to Jan. 15 and in Denmark from Jan 16 to mid Feb. I'll get to meet my two new nephews and my sister Candice will be 7-8 months pregnant with twins!! My family is growing so quickly!

So that's life in a nutshell for us here on outreach!