Delayed Bag Arrives; Numbers Hold and Day Flies By...

Wednesday began as usual - delicious breakfast at 7:45; team devotional; load in; stop for translators at CERI office; drive 45 minutes to Criuleni.  Today we stopped for another photo op in our WE ARE TRINITY tee shirts. Hope we set the record for the farthest away from home base to wear these shirts!  

We Are Trinity (Baptist Church, Kerrville, TX)  Headed to Day Camp in Criuleni, Moldova

Large group singing...

Day Camp also unfolded as usual - large group, small group, lunch, activities and wrap-up with an ice cream treat to send the children off to their homes.  It's been a great day.  

Really good news was called to my translator when the CERI director received a call from the airport that our delayed bag had arrived.  She picked it up and we now have the things we hoped to have by week's end.  The most critical item in the box was the photo albums which we use to create a memory book for each child which includes a 4x6 copy of each lesson's memory verse slid into the book plus a photo of our team and the small group each child is in.  The photos were taken yesterday and are being developed tonight.  We'll insert those tomorrow.  The album will be part of a little bag of gifts we give them on Friday as Day Camp closes.

 

Opening large group singing as it begins...

This is Sergio and Veranica with their children, Sarah and David.  This family lives in the mission home which hosts our camp as well as Saturday children's events year round.  A lengthy conversation with Sergio today allowed me to hear his testimony and his heart for the ministry in this challenging town which has strong ties to Russian Orthodoxy.  They are making a difference in this community with their willingness to serve hospitably and graciously.  They have asked for the names of the poorest, neediest families in their area from the local government.  Now they are beginning to provide hands on help.  The family we visited yesterday has an indoor bathroom in process because this couple decided to begin that work.  With meager financial means, they are trusting the Lord and living generously with their time and energy.  We will leave unused supplies with them to help in their work and we all feel it is a very deserving spot for all that we can provide for them.
Sergio told me that the only time he heard Jesus' name when he was a child, was when people were fighting in his home.  But in his mid teens he attended a church with a friend and began to learn that Jesus was a very different kind of person than he had thought he was.  He joined the army after high school but returned to church upon his return.  He made a commitment and is living his convictions even with opposition from some family members.  This is a dear family.

After our day camp ended with the children getting another ice cream treat, our team got packed up and headed back to the Metro - large shopping center.  We needed more food for lunches tomorrow and Friday plus items which we would take to the apartment where 5 girls in the CERI program live.

Sarah renewed friendship with sisters she met on her trip here a year ago.

Our stay there included seeing their little rooms and living space as well as being served hot tea and cookies.
  

Photo op with girls and translators as we prepared to leave...

 Our strength is holding and our spirits rejoicing because we feel and experience God's presence and power.  We are all realizing that God has prepared the way and is allowing us to serve with Him.  We had just about the same number in attendance today as yesterday though nearly a dozen children came for the first time.  We have such young, competent, godly translators and they remain perky at day's end while I feel and look bedraggled!  Oh, well...

Now to prepare for tomorrow and get some sleep.  Keep praying as we're benefiting.