A little bit of Chisinau

Last week Bela and I drove to the newest WMF field in Chisinau, Moldova. It's not far (only about 5 hours)and it was so good to see our friends again. Everyone on the team in Chisinau has spent time (some of them years) in Galati, so it was like visiting family.
This week I'll share some of the highlights of our trip and I'm going to start with a photo Bela took at the orphanage where the team is working.
As many of you know, 3 years ago when I packed up and sold my world, I thought I was heading to Moldova. I made a trip to Chisinau with John and David in 2007 and one of the places we visited was an orphanage where John had worked the previous year. In an amazing turn of events, the team is working in this same orphanage now! I say it's amazing because they didn't try and make that happen. In fact, John never even mentioned going back to this place...but, long story short, it's where they are and so evident it's where they are supposed to be.
300 kids from all over Moldova live in this place. Most have been abandoned by parents who have left to work in Italy or Spain. Some parents have died others are in jail. Most of the kids still have some sort of family living in villages that are becoming smaller and smaller as people migrate to big cities or out of the country.
The feeling I had when I entered the property was one of extreme heaviness. I know that those who work and run the orphanage really try to do their best, but it was easy to see the task they are up against. Kids getting high, kids quick to hit one another in frustration, and teens who seemed to be 'physically' involved.
Basically, in this place, there are children without parents. They have a lot of freedom. And, they've been abandoned. I can't imagine what is going on in their hearts and minds as they reach for other things and people to dull the pain they feel.
Bela took this picture of one of the stair wells at the orphanage. They are dark steps, worn through over the years. You can see the layers of paint that have been walked away as child after child wore their childhood away in those halls.
Please pray for the team working with these kids. It's a weary work, hard on the heart, hard on the hands, hard on the soul. Please pray for the kids they work with, that in the midst of so much abandonment and pain, true relationships would be forged and that these kids would come to know that God is good.