I mentioned earlier this week that we visited a Christian school sponsored by the Baptist and/or Pentecostal church (still not quite clear). This organization also provides a home for many of the children at the school. The home is just outside Chisinau and is set up in about 10 homes. House parents in each home take care of about 10 children. We also visited there. It is a very good environment for the children. Many of the children were removed from the street and placed with this organization. It is a light shining brightly in what can be a very hopeless place.
As we were touring one home, I spotted a beautiful painting of an older Modovan woman in one of the bedrooms. This really got my attention, because I love art. We were told that one of the boys at the home was the artist. He is 16 yrs. old. I surprised even myself (and especially Andy) when I blurted out if we could buy it! We were allowed to and it has already become a treasured piece to me.
Back to the school. We attended an Easter celebration service there this morning and we were so blessed. The children had worked long and hard in preparation for this and it showed (see pic above). The vice president of the school translated for us. She explained that many of the children whose parents were unbelievers were present for the program. The school provides a very good education along with extracurricular activities such as music. We spent a lot of time with the vice president, Doru. She said the center (school and children’s home) was under constant attack by the “authorities,” because they accused them of putting things in the minds of the children that weren’t very good! This is heavy burden on the center’s administration. We plan to bring back basic school supplies to them on our return trip. They were so grateful for this.
Then it was time to see Hope. She felt better this morning and enjoyed some more cheese and juice. Yes, we really must do something about her wardrobe!!! I can’t wait to put some cute clothes on her and some that actually fit. You will see her with her caregivers in one of the pics. They are so kind and it seemed to mean so much to them just to have their picture made. The children in the picture are in Hope’s group.
We left around noon and returned to the apt. However, on the way we were only with our driver who speaks some English. We stopped along the way. Andy and I both understood that we were stopping to get a sandwich. You can imagine our disappointment when we discovered that we were at the apt. manager’s office to pay for our apt. It was not that we were not planning to pay, but we were hungry! We are not sure how we both missed the translation!
We had our last visit with Hope this afternoon. We enjoyed our time outside. It was very warm, but you can’t tell it by the way they insisted on bundling Hope up! We actually could have been in shorts, but most everyone we saw today had on sweaters and/or coats. At the hearing, I wore sandals. After the hearing we were standing outside along with some of the women from the court room. They were all so concerned about my feet being cold. They told me I needed some warm winter shoes! Hope will have to get acclimated to wearing less clothes in the south. Hope was very partial to Andy today. It is such a joy to see them together. Andy has another little girl who has him wrapped around her finger! Yes, Beth, you are the other one! By the way, congratulations to TPS for defeating MA in boy’s tennis! We both handled saying goodbye to Hope very well. We do hope the time is no longer than 30 days. We plan to return when the kids get out of school around May 19th.
Afterwards, we did a little more souvenir shopping and then headed back to the apt. We are getting packed up and ready for the long trip back home. On our return trip, we leave at 8:00 am Saturday and travel to Frankfurt. From Frankfurt, we fly to Cincinnati then to Atlanta where we will drive home. We hope to be at church Sunday morning.
I included the picture of an apt. building (ours did not look like this, fortunately). There are dozens and dozens of these sad, forlorn buildings all over Chisinau. They are left over from the Communist era. They are all in major disrepair, but this is where most residents live. They are just so sad to me. There is some newly constructed apartments, but these are too expensive for the average citizen to afford. Being in Chisnau is like going back in time about 40 to 50 years ago. It is strange. Most everything is old but not in a good way as in “antique old.” There are some nice areas downtown. On our second trip, we plan to travel to a village and experience the rural life of Modovans. I am anxious to see this.
Once again, I can not adequately express our thanks to all of you who have taken this journey with us. We appreciate all of your prayers and emails so much. You all mean the world to us!
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