Tanea is going to camp!

In February 2014 I met Tanea for the first time. She lives, together with her mother, 2 minutes away from our house. It was wintertime and the snow and cold outside made Tanea stay inside already for months. Tanea was happy to meet us and after a short chat with her mom we understood that Tanea was 34 years old and she was never been able to walk. Her wheelchair was broken and this made it hard for her mother (who has some major health problems too and walks with a stick), to move Tanea around and so often she sat just the whole day in her chair in the same spot.
When we left, we promised to come back and visit them again. A few weeks ago I was able to visit Tanea again and this time we also brought her a new wheelchair. We modified the wheelchair and it was a joy to see how Tanea was sitting in her new chair.

Every year a camp is organised for people with disabilities and this year the camp will be from 25 till 31 may. For one week around 150 people with different disabilities will spend time together, make new friends and most important they will learn more about God. We told Tanea about this camp and she did not even think but said right away: yes I want to go! Please pray with us that Tanea will have a good time as probably in her life she never went to a camp. Pray that she will get to know God and that together with her mother she will enjoy the camp.

A special "blessing" this morning...

This morning as we arrived at our car, to head to church, we saw that somebody had let go of all the air in our 4  tires....mhhhh.....let's say we were blessed in a special way: a lesson of patience and forgiveness and also a reminder to not park the car outside on the street but when possible (because of the mud this is not always a possibility) in the garden....Praise the Lord that the airpumpplace is also working on Sunday!

Building Gods kingdom by breaking down a small house!

Today we went with our local team to help in the village Panasesti, about 20 km from Micleuseni. The local church has bought a piece of land with the vision of building a church here. But before this is possible the old house needed to be taken down. We gave a hand....see pictures for an impression:

It all about the way you look at it....

In the last weeks we have had every week a couple of days with rain. The result of these rainy days in Micleuseni you see in the picture: pure juicy and slippery mud!

So while walking through the mud there are always different questions and thoughts going through my mind: Is all this mud to be looked at and to be received as a blessing? Or is it oke to dislike the mud and to see this as an extra struggle and an extra challenge that is just hindering me?
Well, it is a fact that sometimes it is hard to find your way through the Moldovan mud without falling but than on the other hand, it is a good practice in keeping the balance. And walking nowadays learns you also how to pray to the point, like "Lord, keep me from falling".

So despite the extra challenges the rain brings us, we are also very happy and thankful for the rain. It is very good for Moldova, the land, the crops and not to forget: of course our small business with the beans and watermelons is doing great so far!

So yes, as many things in life, it all depends on how you look at it: is it a blessing or is it extra struggle?

Kindermishandeling in Moldavie...

Gisteren was er een reportage over kindermishandeling in Moldavie op tv. Zie hieronder voor de link naar de uitzending. Kmoet er (helaas) bij zeggen dat dit de harde werkelijkheid is die ik regelmatig om me heen zie....Het leven van heel veel kinderen in Moldavie is niet zo vrolijk maar superhard en omdat ouders zelf ook zo zijn opgevoed en vaak zonder hoop leven, is het slaan van kinderen een normale manier van opvoeden.

Kindermishandeling in MD

Onrust in Odessa

Op ongeveer 4 uur van Chisinau vandaan, net over de grens in de Oekraine ligt de stad Odessa. Dit weekend zijn de onrusten groter en groter geworden. Zie video: Onrust in Odessa

Laten we blijven bidden voor rust en vrede in de Oekraine!

A miracle in our garden!

Today it was a special day for us. many special things happened:

1 - First of all we visited 3! monasteries in 1 day with the youth from Micleuseni and Nisporeni.

2 - Secondly, we took a new team picture.

3 - Thirdly, we said good bye to our good friend Alida and her brother Tjibbe. We enjoyed their company for some days and this was nice! Thank you!

4 - But the greatest news is that our summer shower is ready! The shower season has opened!!