First off, I know what you all are thinking: FINALLY. We do apologize as we have been insanely busy but hey! We're here now, so sit back and grab a cup of tea, coffee, or your choice of beverage as we attempt to fit two weeks of adventures into one blog post.
First and foremost, we would like to thank our parents and Chino Valley Community Church for allowing us this amazing opportunity to come and learn from the beautiful country of Moldova/ Romania (we are currently in Moldova). We could never thank those who contributed enough.
So we have officially been here for two weeks. The first week was filled with jet lag and other beauties that accompany traveling across the world. However, once we were able to stay awake for a whole day, we began a journey of learning that will last for the next four months. We apologize in advance as we cannot say much about where we work or who we work with. We are involved with the organization Word Made Flesh and therefore are under strick guidlines involving what is posted on the internet. We don't want to exploit vulerable persons as that could possibly put them in danger.
We are staying in a house with two other wonderful women, one of which we work with. Here are some pictures!
Here is our kitchen
and our bedroom, which is a hall that connects the living room to the kitchen.
And here is our living room.
The first week, we took a tour around the school that we will be working in since the children were on winter break. We were also introduced to our language teacher so that we might be able to have (elementary) conversations with the kids. We do not have a translator at the school for us and must learn so that we can communicate on our own. On Sunday, we attended Jesus Salvatoro Church, or Jesus the Savior, and met the youth in the community.
This past week, we have been comuting to the school by either trolley bus or a van (much like our family's actually). That's another place our language classes must help as we have to tell the driver when to stop (opritz la semaforde ve rog!) We also met all of the kids that attend the school and not simply the ones who stay over the weekend. We have much to learn from them, as well as the full time faculty who have graciously welcomed us into their community. we are blessed to have such patient people to guide us in this journey.
During the week, we have chapel in the morning followed by language class, book study before lunch (we are currently reading "Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger" by Ronald Sider), then spend the afternoon with the kids. We are also studying the poor in scripture in order to gain a better understanding of how God defends the weak.
This has been the first full week and we are challenged daily. It will be an interesting jouney through faith, but one that both of us are willing to take and are excited about. Again, we thank all of those who have helped us get to where are whether it be through encouraging words, finacial aid, or prayer. If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to leave them below as we would love to hear from you and we will reply as soon as time allows. Please keep us in your prayers. x
-Cayley and Tsion
