Moldova, Wed. August 5, 2009

Another amazing day!!!

Allison and Connie headed off to the airport and the Customs office at 8am to continue the quest for release of our 15 boxes. I have just heard much of the story and it is full of twists and turns. Even though the head of Customs for the whole country of Moldova signed off on releasing the boxes, our 2 courageous gals were told there were still more steps to be completed before they could be released. A broker needed to be hired and an invoice noting the value of each item in each box needs to be completed on a form in pencil. Allison did get inside the Cargo area of the airport where she was able to see our boxes. She said they looked great - they are in terrific shape! She was able to see what numbers were on the boxes and then was able to determine whether or not our most needed boxes were here. You guessed it - none of the boxes on our top priority list were here. They are still in Riga and there was no flight from there today.

Allison's class was handled during her absense by her translator and 2 young, teen, Moldovan helpers we have. They did fine and enjoyed the opportunity.

The rest of our team carried on with our planned lessons and activities without a hitch - except for some figety kids that challenged our discipline plan. It's amazing what can be done with a few sheets, some clothespins, a cardboard box, a few puppets and a working digital projector! We are all pretty excited about our creativity and ingenuity. My morning went very well and I especially enjoyed a very meaningful discussion with my teachers during our hour to share some Bible study and conversation. They are quite willing to talk and listen so I'm really enjoying these 5-7 gals.

Today was the day to buy an ice cream treat for each child and take those with us when we arrived back at camp late afternoon. As we loaded the ice cream, threatening black clouds broke into thunder, lightening and rain. Why not?

The lead teacher for the camp suggested we move our event into the dining room which we did. Tables were pushed back and children lined their stools in rows to be served the ice cream and then be ready for our evening "Gazebo Time". We were able to set up the sound system and the projector and hang our "fancy" screen on the windows there. There was excitement over the ice cream treats but quite good attention and participation during the program.

There is a child here whose parents are gypsies. His deceased father was a street musician and this son is very musical. Last year a brother was also at the camp who played the accordion and this boy sang. Yuri plays the trumpet so this morning played a solo for our session. He is terrific! This evening he played his trumpet along with the singing and picked things up so quickly without any music. He takes lessons from a teacher at the boarding school.

Our evening session also included a drama about Joseph and his father and 11 brothers. Peggy and John orchestrated this with their class of boys and it was quite well done.

One of the translators is new this year. Anatol plays the pan flute. He gave a performance of that and it also was wonderful. He is a very godly, humble, capable young man who has been doing youth ministry for 8 years. He's a seminary student somewhere. So we had a number of fun elements to the assembly. We would have had an Adam Raccoon power point story but the lap top decided to mall function and made that impossible.

We have all been commenting on how well things are going without the things we thought we needed. We are not a discouraged team. We are experiencing the strength and wisdom we need when we need it. The week is passing quickly and we're loving our interaction with all here.

I have had significant conversations with 2 young gals. Because of my interest in them, they have gotten quite attached to me. They hug, kiss and walk with me whenever they can. They hold my hand at days end all the way to the van. They are beautiful, sweet girls whose stories are heart breaking. Lena had never been to school due to addiction and illness issues with her parents until she was 10 years old. She is now 15 and at the top of her class in everything. She and Eureka and the teachers are being etched on my heart along with so many other sweet faces.

Some scripture was shared in a comment left yesterday and it was just what we needed as we process the delay of our boxes. But our inconvenience pales when we think of Joseph's life and the lives of so many of these children.

God instructs us to.....

"Do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded.

You need to persevere, so that when you have done the will of God,

you will receive what He has promised." Hebrews 10:35,36