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!