A Place Called Hope

This is my sixth trip to Moldova . . . but it is my first trip where I have said goodbye to children that I have grown to love and truly felt hope. Not that I haven't had hope that the Lord had used us in the past - I know He did and I have been so blessed to see the fruit of that over the years. And not that I haven't had hope that the children in the orphanages in Chisinau and Falesti would be o.k. somehow. But, I've never had the kind of tangible hope that I felt today as I said "la revedere" to the children and walked away. I have tangible hope today - and i realize that in some sense, that is a paradox, but it's the only way I can find to express what I saw this week.

The kids in Cahul are different - and they are different because there are good people in their schools, people who are loving and kind, who are casting visions for their future, who love the Lord and want the children to know Him as well. The kids in Cahul are different because of women like Miss Amelia, the director of the orphanage here, who wept today as she thanked us for being here and sharing the love of Christ with the children. And Miss Amelia has surrounded herself with at least 5 really, really good teachers, who ministered with us this week to the kids who came to camp. These teachers, just like Miss Amelia, are believers and are kind and strong and loving - they believe and invest in these kids and want to see God's best for them. And then there are our translators, our voices this week, who so clearly and so passionately love these children and their city. What a blessing to have them - Maya, Elena, Tania, Christina, Mariana, Lydia, Gelu, and Anatol - for the children to look up to and to invest in these children in the future.

I believe the kids in Cahul are different after this week too - it was so precious to hear them this afternoon when Jeff asked the group of 100 kids to share what they had learned. What a blessing to see them jump up and raise their hands anxious to tell . . . . and then to hear them talk about how they learned of Christ, how they learned of His love and forgiveness, how they learned of His Word . . . and of course we loved it when they shared that they loved sewing, journalism, "arta", and pizza of course. I am so thankful that God allowed us to see fruit and change at the end of the week.

Thank you for praying for us this week. God was at work and we are so thankful. It is only by the power and plan of God that we left the Cahul school and can call is a Place of Hope - in fact we wrote hope on the walls and sidewalks there in chalk - leaving a blessing on that place. Will you now join us in praying for these children and for these sweeet teachers and Miss Amelia and also for the translators - all of our new friends that we leave behind. Will you pray that they will continue to invest in each other and love each other? Will you pray for opportunities for them to minister to each other? Will you pray that the teachers and the children will get plugged into a church? (The pastors of Emmanuel Baptist took the names of each child and are going to call each one this week to invite them to church and to another camp in late July - how cool is that!). Will you pray for the teachers and Miss Amelia and the translators that they will be encouraged and will encourage each other in their faith?

Our team is now in Chisinau, resting before our big all night airport experience on Tuesday night/early Wednesday morning. As we process and debrief, I'm sure you'll hear more from us.

Gretchen