Traveling

So Brasov turned out to be a pretty awesome place to visit. I got a chance to spend some time with a bunch of great people from all over the globe. When I first arrived in the city, I hadn't been in the hostel for ten minutes before I was invited to go out with a group of people from Argentina and Germany. These guys had been traveling all over, and had just recently came from Istanbul, Turkey; which is where I am headed on Monday. They all admitted that so far, Istanbul had been their favorite spot - and that it had the best food. Which right now is key for me, because Moldova has been hurting in that aspect. The next day, I got a chance to go out and explore the city, go up into the mountains, see the famous "Bran Castle", and eat some awesome food all before getting back onto the bus for another ten hour ride to Chisinau. For twenty hours of travel time, I'd say it was a pretty short trip; but it was definitely a great experience that was well worth it. I have found that most of the international bus rides here are actually really cheap; equal to or less than what I would pay for a night here in Moldova. So as soon as I returned here to Chisinau that next day, I taught another English lesson here in the offices, then hopped on another overnight bus to Kiev, Ukraine.

Kiev is a bit more modern than Brasov, but it is still home to some of the world's most amazing cathedrals that have been around for centuries. I was able to spend two days in this city, exploring, eating more good food (which really almost tasted like the best food I have ever eaten, after being in Moldova all this time), and hanging out with more awesome people from all over.  The guy in the bunk next to me was actually from Denver, Colorado. Small world. My first night there in Kiev, I went out to eat with a group of people from the Hostel, including the other Colorado guy. This guy, throughout the night, made sure to give me as much grief as possible about me not "representing" Colorado because I wasn't "doing as the Ukrainians do" by downing as much vodka as possible. Last I saw of him, he was passed out in the hallway of the hostel at 3:00am, with an upcoming flight to Chicago at 5:30am, haha. He was a nice guy though. Again for twenty hours of travel time the trip was pretty short, but I definitely enjoyed myself, and I am thankful for the experience.

Only two more English classes here before I head off to Turkey! Today is one of them actually, and we are throwing a party for a couple different birthdays, and my leaving; so it should be fun! Stay posted!


Here are some pictures from my travels:

A church in Brașov, built in the early 1300's.

 Part of Downtown, Brașov

Brașov

In front of Dracula's Castle.

Bran Castle (Dracula's)

Castle Courtyard.

View of Brașov from the mountains.

Part of downtown, Kiev.

Old Russian Orthodox Church.

Pretty awesome experience! 

Love And Be Loved

Cahul Round 2

This past week in Cahul was amazing. I spent the majority of my time working with the people from New Hope Moldova. A handful of the orphans here are sponsored by people outside of Moldova. Typically, donations from sponsors contribute toward certain needs of the child, or even gifts on a birthday or Christmas. This past week, I had the opportunity to take two different kids to the market to buy some new clothes, using money from American sponsors. I had a blast. I especially enjoyed hanging out with one of the two kids because he had been one of the kids in my group from a camp this past summer. His name is Dima. It was amazing to be able to spend some time with him, and his buddy Andrei, another kid from our group this past summer. Last Thursday I also had the chance to help out with a youth group that NewHope runs for the local teenagers. As usual, I was asked to give the speech or message on the spot. I've definitely been getting some good training and experience with last minute public speaking.

Although I still have my English lesson in Chisinau on Wednesday, I have most the week to myself. I've thought about trying to explore a bit since I've been out here, but haven't yet had the chance. Kiev, Ukraine and Bucurest, Romania were two possible options, but both are far and expensive. A couple days ago, I remembered that I had researched a bit about Romania, and seen that the famous Dracula's Castle (Bran Castle) is located in a beautiful city in the mountains called, Brasov. Earlier today around 11am, I found out that there was a bus today at 12pm heading toward Brasov. Like a Moldovan, I made a last minute change of plans, and am now on the bus. The castle was built in the early 1300's and has plenty of awesome history to go along with it. If you google, "Brasov, Romania" you can find some pretty cool pictures. I'll try to take a bunch myself. It should be a pretty cool adventure. I don't know where I'll stay or how I'll get to the castle, but I know not to trust any taxi drivers. I'll be sure to let you guys know how it all goes. 

This trip does not have to do with Twilight - for real.

Love And Be Loved.

Permeate

Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.

                                                                                                               - Jesus

                                                                                                             Mark 10:43-45

Bălți

At this point it has been almost two weeks since my last post, but the time has been flying. To start, I am no longer living or teaching in Orhei. Towards the end of last week I moved out of the house I'd been staying at, and stuffed all my belongings into a closet here in the New Hope offices in Chisinau. I've been doing a lot of traveling with the crew here at NewHope, so basically I've been staying at a different place every few days. Although I am back in the town of Cahul now, I spent the majority of last week in a city called, Balti.  As an anti-trafficking organization, one of the main focuses remains heavily on the orphans. So many of the innocent girls that have fallen victim to the underground business have done so simply because they were uneducated on the subject. Also, as sad as it is, many of the girls willingly sell themselves into the business out of desperation. Because of this, NewHope (and a handful of other similar orgs. in the country) spends a great deal of time and energy in providing both an education on the issue, and hope. So for a few days or so I had the opportunity to tag along with the crew from the northern region, and visit a couple orphanages on the outskirts of Balti. Basically, we put on an assembly for the kids that includes a few games, a short movie/cartoon with a positive message, and spoken message usually about, or relating to potential. I have actually been asked to be the speaker at all the orphanages I've been to so far, which has been a pretty awesome experience! One orphanage I visited last week was in an old Moldovan village. A real old Moldovan village. I definitely felt like I went back in time a few hundred years. People were riding carriages pulled by horses, donkeys, and cows. I saw old women walking down the street carrying huge buckets of water that they had just filled up from the local well. I'm pretty sure any of these old Moldovan women could kick my ass. It's freezing outside, they just walked however far to the well, filled up two huge buckets with water, they got no gloves, they gotta' walk however far back, while carrying the water, and they seem like it's not even a big deal - or like things could be worse. Haha anyways, it was an awesome experience to be able to spend some time in a village like that.

In Moldova, Balti is known as "The Russian City." The majority of the population speaks Russian, many of them not knowing any Romanian at all. Signs, advertisements, it's almost all in Russian, which has been pretty interesting. I've been having fun trying to learn the language, which is much more difficult than Romanian; but would also be much more useful in the future. For the four nights I was there I stayed with a young couple, Anatol and Mihaiella, who through Anatol are related to my buddy Alex, who also works for NewHope. Anatol's father has a boatload of bee's on his property, so during the summer he collects a whole lot of honey. So on my last morning, the couple gave me as a gift, probably 10 pounds worth of honey. It looks nothing like honey you'd find in a store in America, I've been told thats because it's fresh and natural.... So banking on that, I've been eating a whole lot of it. I've also had people tell me that what appears to me as two year old milk, is fresh and natural....

I'm back in Cahul for the week. I'll be visiting a handful of orphanages and public schools over the next several days, so I'm pretty excited to see how it all goes. Since I am no longer living in one set place, it has been, and will be harder to access my computer easily. I'll do my best to keep you guys updated on what's happening! This trip doesn't just have to be for me! Please let me know if you want any information on how to get involved with what's going on; either here in Moldova or elsewhere! I'm glad to help.



Love And Be Loved

We've been putting these posters up all over different cities. They provide information for people who are interested in working abroad; since that is basically the number one way people become involved in human trafficking.

That's my man Joseph, pretending to be spiderman on top of the closet. He was one of the two children I lived with for two months in Orhei.

Cahul

 While volunteering at a camp out here last summer, I was put charge of a group about 10 different high school kids, all from a village called, Cahul. This past weekend, through the help of a friend I had made at the camp, I had the opportunity to visit the southern city, and see some more of the country. I ended up staying at a local pastors house, with his family. With their three wild boys, another American from Saint Louis, and myself, the place was packed out with testosterone. I felt bad for the mother, Nadia. Will, the guy from Saint Louis, was the family's first "guest - negro" as they called him. There aren't too many black people in Eastern Europe, so the locals haven't really had a chance to realize that certain terms aren't necessarily appropriate - haha. They actually refer to Will as, "negronegro", which is supposed to mean double black; since he is naturally pretty dark. Doubly black, or doubly offensive, haha I'm not really sure where the nickname lands. Will has been traveling all throughout Europe, preaching and helping out in various churches around the continent, so he's used to it by now. I feel like I did see him express a sense of relief when he met me, I must say. Anyways, I got in Saturday night, ate some more potatoes, and passed out. 

Sunday morning, I went to church with the family and watched Will give a sermon, which was awesome. After the service, I met an American missionary family from North Carolina. They had been in the country for three months, and were getting ready to head home. They invited me over for some lunch, which I was told would include cookies (chips ahoy) and coke - I wouldn't have missed it for the world. Although ff they had told me they had Sriracha, I would have sprinted to their house. Sunday night, I went with my host family to the birthday party of a local British missionary, who had lived in Cahul for a few years now, teaching English. The room was filled with people who spoke English. It was definitely nice to be able to use my own language freely again, as opposed to the caveman dialect of English that I seem to have adopted since arriving to Moldova. 

Monday morning - finally got to go to the local schools to see my boys from camp! I went to the first school to see my man chicu. Oddly enough, it was his birthday, and I had some peanut m&m's for him! We were stoked to see each other, so I think it made for a good birthday present. My guide (a woman named Nataly whom I also knew from the camp) then took me to the next school, where the rest of my buddies should have been. Unfortunately, we were told that Andrei, Dima, and Artom had decided to skip class to go to an internet cafe. I was a little sad that I didn't get a chance to see them, but at the same time I couldn't blame them. That school is known as one of the worst in the country, which was pretty apparent. Overall I had a great weekend, and a great experience outside of my normal routine. Aesthetically, Cahul is not too different from many of the other Moldovan towns. They did however have a pretty interesting Orthodox Church sitting in the middle of the city. Similar to the one shown in the background of this blog, these old traditional churches are scattered across the country, all of them painted in cool, vibrant colors. Although it's a cool sight from the outside, the inside as I found out, is creepy. As you walk in, you are welcomed by an erie, smoke filled sanctuary, with the sound of some weird, dark, deep, also creepy, hymn/chant, sung by none other than the old dude in the corner wearing a long black robe, and a strange tall black hat. I felt like I was about to be sacrificed to Satan, much less be in a place where people worship Jesus Christ. There was a sign that said no photos, and I hadn't even planned to take photos anyway, because I never think to take photos; but just because I didn't like that place, I took some photos. 

There is a chance that I might be moving to another city here in the next week or so, so I will keep you guys posted on what's happening! 

Love And Be Loved.

1 Corinthians 13:13

Eu încă mai încearcă să crească o barbă.

So far,  our new projects at the NewHope offices in Chisinau have been incredibly successful. When I hopped on the bus yesterday to head towards the capital for my second lesson, I had no idea how the day would turn out. Wednesday was my first time teaching there; so round two on Saturday would have proven whether or not the kids had actually enjoyed themselves. Thankfully, all of the same faces made their way into the room, bringing along several new friends. I didn't count, but we might have had upwards of twenty teenagers in the room; which is awesome! The students and I had each other rolling with laughter the entire time. I have been so blessed to be able to hang out and work these kids! - Since the Chisinau gang has a pretty solid grasp on the English basics, I've been having to develop some legitimate lessons; which has been both challenging and fun. It's gettin' pretty serious over here man! I've got projectors, movies, powerpoints, music, candy - being a teacher is wild! It has certainly been a great experience.

My buddy Mihai, an employee of NewHope, just recently started a youth group in that same room that I teach in. He's asked for my help during the past couple sessions, which I am thankful of; because this group is awesome. These guys here at NewHope definitely know how to run a club for the youth. We've had christian rappers, incredible musicians, and an array of quality skits and games. The kids love it. I see many of the same faces from my English class too, which is great because I now have more of an opportunity to develop a relationship with some of these kids. Mihai's youth group, is also a great opportunity for these kids to get a positive change in scenery from much of the darkness that they are exposed here in Moldova. It's amazing to be a part of all that is going on here. Now, every Tuesday for about an hour and a half, these kids can have fun together, laugh hysterically together, know that they are loved and cared for by the many different staff members at NewHope, and hopefully know about the greater love that God, the head honcho behind all of this, has to offer. 

I'm out! Stay posted.

Love and be Loved.

1 Corinthians 13:2

Russian what?

So far I'm still enjoying the Moldovan life. The weather has done a good job of keeping the temperature sub-zero; but I've made my peace with that. There are more important things at hand than how cold it is; is what I tell myself. The kids have been a blast to work with. All of them are smart, but I have been blown away by just how smart a few of them really are. At this point I can almost have a full conversation with a couple of them, which is awesome. Although, a lot of the time it's hard to get anywhere because all the kids want to see and hear about my tattoos. I'll be up at the front, writing something on the board, when all of a sudden I'm swarmed by a bunch of kids ripping back my sleeves, pulling my shirt in all kinds of directions to catch a glimpse of a tattoo. I found out about tattoos here when I first came to Moldova this past summer.  Apparently, the "art form" is seen a little differently in this culture. Everyone assumes you've been to prison. For something really, really bad. So the first time the kids saw mine popping out of my sleeve, I had some explaining to do. When they found out that I hadn't been to prison, and that I was not dangerous, I was mobbed by the whole class; so that they could all come and get a better look. So, I still get mobbed at least once during every period. In the adult class, the students seem to have found a way to restrain themselves from doing the same thing. The adult class is going really well. Those guys really have a desire to learn the language, so they are doing awesome. I'll have them get up and practice with each other in front of everyone, and they are able to have a legitimate conversation in English for probably 5+ minutes; it's amazing.

I started teaching in Chisinau, the capital city, yesterday. There is a large storage room in the NewHope offices, that my buddy Mihai and I have been working on clearing out for the past couple weeks. The place was packed, floor to ceiling, with all kinds of stuff. Mostly different donations from all over the world, that would soon be delivered to different orphanages all over the country. We finally finished that task last Saturday. Since I've been out in Orhei, the guys back at the office cleaned up the room, hung cool posters up everywhere, brought in 30 chairs, put up a whiteboard, and installed new fluorescent lights. The place looks incredible. I hopped on a bus to Chisinau yesterday morning and had my first lesson there in that room yesterday with about twenty local kids. This group is actually made up of teenagers from different public schools in the area, not orphanages. They're not as wild and reckless as the orphans, but they are still a lot of fun to be with. Classes with them will also be a lot different, considering that many of them already have a basic foundation of English. It looks like I'll have to develop some serious lessons too - It's easier when they don't know anything, because you can teach them anything and it's considered progress, you know? Haha. Also, with their basics of English, and my basics of Romanian, we are able to mix the languages and converse back and forth without any problems, which definitely makes a difference. 

So Friday evening, after my lesson with the adults, the class was heading to a local gym to play volleyball and they invited me. I'm glad I said yes, we had a blast. Everybody was terrible. At the end of the game, the guys asked me if I wanted to go with them to a Russian Bath house the following night. Not going to lie, I had my own thoughts about the idea; thoughts strong enough for me to say, "No thanks, see ya Monday!" Haha. After a few minutes of them convincing me it was nothing like the Greek Bath house I had heard about in school, or any bath house I've ever heard about, I said OK.   - Last night I went to a Russian Bath house with a bunch of dudes.  -  Turns out, it was actually really cool; and swimsuits are worn. We went as a group of eight and had the place to ourselves. The "house" consisted of an area for hanging out and eating, a sauna, a deep tub of ice cold water, some showers, and a billiards room upstairs. After that sauna, I don't know if my body will ever be the same. The place was an inferno. The guys said, "Moldavian man no problem sauna. USA afraid of Moldavian sauna." I don't know where they got that statistic, all I know is I had to stay in the sauna haha. You couldn't even open your eyes it was so hot. I don't know what that means. I've never experienced that before. The whole time we were inside, I had the feeling that there was no way that kind of heat could be beneficial for the human body. So, in an effort to counteract the damage, and maybe even to preserve the life of my future children, I was the only one to jump into and stay in the ice water tub. The guys said they were too afraid to get into the cold water - "USA man no problem cold water", I said. Over all, it was a good time! I'd go back for sure. 

Stay posted for what's next!

Love And Be Loved

Frozen

Right now its 0 Degrees, and with the windchill its -13 degrees. The sun is out. This aint no Durango, CO -13 either (Chase). Moldova is blessed to have the cold air from both the North Pole, and the Baltic Seas, blanket the country for a few weeks during every winter. It's all part of the adventure right! I remember when I first got here, Oleg mentioned the idea of heading to Istanbul first, since it's warm there right now; and I could do the second half of my trip here in Moldova when it would also be warmer. I told him no thanks, and that I actually love the winter. Actually, I love winter in Colorado. The Colorado cold isn't that bad for a few reasons: it's extremely dry, I have Sriracha, and I'm usually snowboarding. Oleg has spent plenty of time in the states, so I'm pretty sure he muttered, "your stupid" under his breath when I said I love the winter. Whatever. I'm still having a blast, and this way I get to experience all of Moldova.

The classes with the kids have been awesome. The five or six kids in the class who have been trying to learn English, have actually learned a lot! I can almost have a full conversation in English with a couple of them. For the rest of the kids, English isn't even on the radar. This class begins after their school day has already finished, so after I've taught for an hour we'll usually hang out and joke around with each other for a while. That part, is what the rest of the kids come for. Communication is pretty limited so we all spend the majority of the time scanning through the Romanian-English dictionary, finding the words we're looking for. Some of them, after recognizing an English swear word, maybe from a movie or song, will sneak over to the blackboard and take up the whole space to write the word for all to see. You can't even spell the word "it" but you can spell the F word, in past, present, and future tense, perfectly. Haha, but really they are awesome kids. I have begun to develop relationships with most of them too, which is great. As soon as I walk into the orphanage I usually have a group of kids shout my name and run up to me. The coolest part is that I know all of their names now, and I can shout their names when I see them playing soccer outside, when they should be in my class, vandalizing my chalk board or something.

In terms of actually learning English, the adults have been way more productive. I really can have a full conversation with most of them. They are an awesome group of people. Pretty much every one of them is hilarious too; which makes for a good class period.

So now, the plan for my time here has changed again. At the end of February, I will be moving to the capital city, Chisinau. I'll be taking a bus to Orhei a couple times a week to continue teaching, but I'll be living and teaching in Chisinau as well. Also, each week I will spend a couple days traveling to a different part of the country. I'll get a chance to help out with NewHopeMoldova's anti human-trafficking campaign by visiting and speaking in orphanages, public schools, and churches. I will do that unil the beginning of April, where I will then head to Istanbul, Turkey.



You guys, the people of Eastern Europe need help. Big time. A couple days ago, I was rocked when I read the testimony of a local girl who had just recently started a relationship with Jesus. She was living in Moldova, when she was offered the opportunity to go and work in a large market somewhere in Moscow. She agreed and was thrown into a van that had no plans to go to Moscow. Her destination, her new place of residence, was an abandoned hospital, filled with about 200 other innocent girls. Some of the girls there were used for prostitution, and some of the girls there were used for child bearing; with the intent to sell the child's organs on an underground market. this particular girl had been brought in for child bearing. After some time, she was kicked out of the hospital and eventually made her way back to Moldova. She ended up coming across some of the people here from NewHopeMoldova, where through  their love and care, was able to hear about Jesus - and the awesome love and care that he has to offer. As Americans, we are blessed with the access of great resources and opportunities. If anybody has any interest in lending a hand to these people, there are a million ways to do so. You can always sponsor a child, contribute toward a summer camp, fund the campaign against human-trafficking, or pray. Let me know if you want to get involved! Or also, maybe you want to come here?? Let me know and I can help you get in contact with the right people.

- Matthew 11:28


Love and Be Loved

Update!

So far, things are still going great! I am really having a blast teaching in the orphanage. However, expecting the kids to learn anything, is a different story entirely. For the most part, the classes have been really successful. The kids will get up in front of the class and practice speaking to each other in English, it's really awesome to see. I feel so blessed to be out here and to be a part of what's going on! I don't want to give you the wrong idea though... there have been a couple terrible classes. If it weren't for my little police squad of 4 or 5 of the girls in the class, I don't know what I would do. Every now and then, some of the boys in the class will start trying to be funny and impress their classmates. Really they just get loud, and yell things at the top of their lungs. Judging from the rest of the class's reaction, I get the feeling that the things that they yell are probably obscene haha - and outrageously inappropriate. I'd like to tell you guys that my patience is endless; but anybody who knows me will tell you that that's probably what I struggle with the most. So, luckily, that police squad I mentioned is always there to rescue me! It's pretty funny actually. The girls will all whip around in their seats and snap at the boys to shut up. Then they turn back to me and smile. (Hahaha) I crack up so hard every time it happens. I did tell one boy, the ring leader, one day after class that although I may not be able to speak Romanian, I can understand it. Hey - I understand the basics perfectly! I didn't lie. Anyways, the kid turned so red and got so embarrassed and said repeatedly, "Jake I sorry Jake, sorry, I sorry." BAM! Thats right! What up son! 

I have also had an awesome time teaching the adults!! I have to admit, not too much changes between childhood and, "adulthood." You still have the class clowns in a room full of thirty year olds, and you still have the teacher's pet trying to impress you and rest of the class. It's a pretty cool experience to be on this side of the classroom! 

I did finally take some pictures of the orphanage so I will go ahead and post them! Unfortunately, I have yet to take any pictures with the kids, due to the administrations attempt to prevent exploitation. I'll eventually be able to take more pictures, I just have to work on earning the trust of the Head Master. 

Stay posted.

Love And Be Loved.

Moldovan Sunset. I was planning on waiting a bit longer to try and take a better picture, but it was so cold. 

I stare at the cieling and never gaze at the stars, my perception of your power is down to nothing at all. Who am I, to you so wonderful? 

Take this doubt from my heart Lord, take this doubt from my heart. 

-Lyrics from an amazing song by Singer/Songwriter/Friend, Charlie Mann.

More Pictures

I just spent forty-five minutes writing a lot of words right here in this space for you guys to see. The internet connection dropped and I lost them all. I currently don't have enough time to re-write them. As soon as I have time again, and I have regained my spirits, I will re-write the post. In the mean time, enjoy the pictures.

 This is the girl's transition home that NewHope is building. 

 Little farmers market in Orhei, Moldova.

 The pastor's son, Joseph, and myself.

 The local pastor (whom I am staying with) Vasille. Big dude, used to be a boxer.

 Market in the capital, Chisinau.

 City center in Chisinau, Moldova.

 Joseph sledding.

Bus stop... 

First class

Alright, so last time I said that I had figured out what the final plan was. That is no longer the final plan. There is a new final plan, (like a bond job (for the construction guys)). I will now be teaching English two days a week at the orphanage, after school; to any students and teachers that have the desire to learn. I will also be teaching English two days a week at the local church here in Orhei, and two days a week back in the capital city of Chisinau. This is all subject to change at any moment. That all starts tomorrow. Today was a different day; I got to teach a class finally! I had a blast. I sat in on the first class this morning, as an assistant to the teacher. For the second class, the teacher was my assistant! It was amazing. I was so thankful throughout the entire class period because just a couple days ago the teacher confessed to me that the majority of students don't even like English and have no desire to learn the language! Haha, man, what a depressing sentence that could have been! I raise all this money, travel all this way, get so many people back home involved, and the kids don't even want to learn the freaking language?????? Honestly I really thank God on this one; because I truly remembered thinking to myself (and I do believe it was God telling me this), "Don't worry about that Jake. That will not be the case; the children will want to learn. Keep your head up, you are hear to serve the people of Moldova, so serve the people of Moldova." Today in class, probably about 95% of the kids were heavily involved in the lesson, and what was being taught. Afterwards, I went to each room throughout the school with the Assistant Director, telling all the kids that I would be there two days a week after school to teach English. Again, probably about 95% of the kids were stoked, and told the Director they wanted to come to my lessons. The Director told me that I might even have to split up the lessons. So much for not wanting to learn!

I have taken a couple more pictures of the city. I'll post them a little bit later on. I will also try to take some pictures of the orphanage, and of course the kids. I will keep you guys posted on how the next few days go!

Love and Be Loved.

Side note from my study time today: I have been going through the book of Matthew, in the Bible, for the past few weeks. Today I was reading from chapter 21 and came across something that I thought was pretty interesting. To give you an idea of what's going on: Jesus is walking back to the city of Jerusalem from a little suburb called Bethany when he sees a fig tree. He wants a fig, the tree has no figs. So he says to the tree, "May you never bear fruit again." Immediately the tree withered. When Jesus' disciples saw this, their response was, "How did the fig tree wither so quickly?" (I can see how this might be easy to scan past, as are many things in the Bible, but I couldn't believe what happened.) When I saw this, my response was, "Are you serious???" At this point in Jesus' life he has performed a large number of incredible miracles: healing many sick people, giving the blind their sight, driving out demons, feeding 4000 people with a few fish and a few loaves of bread, feeding 5000 people with even less food than before, walking on water (!), and more. Yet still, the disciples are curious as to how the little fig tree withered so quickly. Haha, please, put yourself in Jesus' shoes. How frustrating must it be for him when we continuously underestimate his abilities and power??!! Thank God Jesus is patient, merciful, and everything else that is good!  - On the contrary, how happy must he be when we acknowledge his true power, and exercise faith that knows no bounds??!! My guess... pretty happy! Haha. Just something I wanted to share with whoever cared to listen!

Finally about to start!

Alright so I have finally found out, for sure, exactly, in stone, what I will be doing here! BUT, that could change at any second. I knew I was going to be teaching English all along but I wasn't sure where or how; or for how long. So for the past few days I have been staying in the capital city, Chisinau, which has been awesome. Chisinau really is an amazing and beautiful city; so I cant complain that I have yet to depart for my final Moldovan destination, Orhei. Over the past week, I have spent the majority of my time developing long and tedious English lessons. I am not sure exactly what I was picturing when I imagined myself actually teaching; but knowing my "Chill bro, it's all good...." self, it wasn't like this! Haha, but really, it is all good. I haven't been in the classroom for 8 months now so getting back into the swing of spending long hours sitting at a desk, on a computer, making PowerPoints, exercising my brain past its usual limits, has been an adventure. An adventure well worth it of course. I'm making fun of the whole thing, but really I am ecstatic to be here; serving the children of Moldova, and serving my awesome God.

So tomorrow morning I will head toward Orhei, a smaller city about 30 minutes outside of Chisinau. I will try to take a bunch of pictures for you guys. If you google Orhei, Moldova, you will see picture after picture of a cliff with holes in it. Haha. I will not be there unfortunately. I really couldn't find any good pictures of the city online. I will be teaching there at the orphanage four days a week, in the mornings. During the day I will be doing some construction on the new girls transition home, provided by the organization I'm here under, NewHope Moldova. If you don't know, all of the orphanages in the country kick the children out once they reach the age of 16, due to lack of funding. At that point, many of the kids have nowhere to go. The transition home will provide a safe place, and community, to shelter the young girls who have just recently been kicked out of the orphanage. Yeah, that's nice. But what about all the other kids? It gets worse. Moldova is notorious for its human trafficking. This includes slave labor, sex, and even body parts (organs sold on the black market). So those kids that have no where to go when they turn 16, many of them will end up somewhere in the trafficking mix. I would like to encourage you guys to pray for these children. It's bad. Organizations like NewHope Moldova, and others, do their best to do everything they can. But unfortunately, a lot of the time, thats not enough. There is only so much we can do as humans, that's why it is so crucial that these children are prayed for. God has already done some incredible things here in Moldova. Not to mention all over the world since the beginning of time. He does have a pretty awesome rap-sheet, we'll call it, so I trust in His ability to do some awesome things. You think you feel heavy hearted for these kids? My knowledge extends to, "the kids", as a collective. God knows each and every kid by name. He knows what they like for breakfast, what their favorite memories of their parents are, what makes them happy or sad, and even the overused - how many hairs are on their head. His heart burns for these children. In Blue Like Jazz, Donald Miller says that sometimes you have to witness somebody else really love something, before you can love that same thing yourself. Well, witnessing God really love these children, has lead me to feel a love for them myself. You don't have to come to Moldova to love them. You can love them from wherever you are at right now. Again, I want to encourage you guys, pray for these kids.

Alright Im out. Ill take some pictures of Orhei and of the transition home and post them soon. I have a usb internet thing so I should be able to keep you guys posted on whats going on. Always feel free to email me or whatever if you feel called to support these kids financially or through prayer or however. God knows they need it.


Love and Be Loved

Pictures

My little room on the train. 11 hour Train ride, $3 - Not bad.

View from my current room in Chisinau, I will soon move to another city, Orhei.

Little Market

Across the street from where I am staying.

Finally here!

Arrived in Chisinau, Moldova today, January 9th. The trip has been pretty adventurous so far. Everything went very smoothly up until I got to Bucharest, Romania; where I had the pleasure of meeting possibly the best con artist in the country. My flight got in a few minutes late, causing me to miss the train to Moldova. Luckily I was greeted by a kind man who I would soon spend the next 3 hours with driving through the Romanian countryside.... I got ripped off; is what happened. I got ripped off bad and didnt even know it until today. It's all good. Ive made my peace with it at this point. No big deal. Really - its totally cool. Dont even care. Anyways, I ended up hanging out sitting at some sketchy train station for 3 hours after I left the cab. Across from about 6 men who kept looking at me as if I was a Thanksgiving turkey, and they had not eaten for a little over a month. Haha. Thank you Lord, for keeping me safe throughout the entire trip!! The train was sweet! Paid about a tenth of what I gave the cab driver, to go probably 10 times the distance. That was definitely an awesome experience; an old rickety train ride through rural Eastern Europe. I will post some pictures after I pull out this internet usb thing. I cant fit both that and my camera cord in at the same time.

It feels great to be back in Moldova. On Wednesday I will head to the city of Orhei, where I will begin teaching English at the orphanage during the day, and the church during the evening. I forgot to bring all my teaching supplies. I will also be helping to build a transition home for some of the older orphans. Oleg (the guy Im working for) told me today that he would actually like to split up my 5 or 6 months between here in Moldova and Istanbul, Turkey. Which I am definitely OK with. For a while now I have been feeling that God is trying to tell me something about Turkey. Day dreams, dreams, thoughts, flooded with Turkey. I have never been there and know nothing about the country, except that I need to go there. So I was incredibly stoked when Oleg mentioned that he would need me over there; because there had not been any discussion of that until today!

I will spend most of tomorrow with Oleg, planning out the rest of my time here. I will have more information for you guys either tomorrow night or the next day. Good news is that there is WI-FI here. So all of you who have an iphone or ipod touch can text me for free, when I am in range of wi-fi of course. If you dont have an iphone but do have a smartphone, you can download the app called, WhatsApp, and text me for free on that as well. Maybe you dont want to text me at all, thats cool too. I appreciate all the prayers and support!


Love and Be Loved