Chapter 12, in which I am back from Moldova with a ton of pictures

I must apologize for the late timing of this post in contrast to previous posts which I have written. The audience might do well, however, in taking into account a period of around two weeks during which I was on vacation in my homeland in order to partake in the attendance to the graduation of my older sister from Wheaton College. With that in mind, this post is only a little bit late.

In Moldova the team and I first went south, to the city of Paicu, where we had the pleasure of coming alongside a small congregation in their work. While we could not easily communicate always, we did have a few translators, and our time there was quite enjoyable. We had children's programs where we mostly played games as well as practical work during which we planted potatoes and hoed earth and shelled corn and other such exciting tasks.

After the first approximately week and a half, we traveled north to the town of Branesti, which ought to have all manner of accents and interesting letters within it, to work with a congregation there. Our work included assisting in cosmetic construction pertaining to the church building, putting on a few children's programs, and a slight bit of tourism to help the local economy.

The last day that we were in the country of Moldova we spent mostly in Chisinau, which again ought to have a few non-English letters, where we enjoyed some food and had an opportunity to shop a little bit.

Now, here are some pictures which may or may not have captions depending on how motivated I feel. The audience should understand that not all of these pictures were taken by myself, and they may or may not accurately portray the country and people of Moldova.

 This is the church building in the first village we were at. The sign reads, "I am the way, the truth, and the life." I know this as a result of my vast knowledge of the Romanian language.

 This is the courtyard of the first church. Not extremely interesting.

 A field. The landscape in the south is extremely flat, allowing one to see for miles.

 Kris and Mike and I split some wood one of the first days of our trip. It was extremely manly.

 This was only a beginning. By the end the wood was stacked higher than the window in the upper left hand corner.

 This building just happens to be a nursing home run by the church. I believe the full capacity is around four women. The church leaders plan to build another building for men as well as a children's home for those who are not fortunate enough to be safe with their own families.

I tried quite hard to fix one of these wheelbarrows up in order to haul wood. My attempts were in vain.

 This is the room where we partook of food three times a day, prepared by some wonderful ladies from the church. The food was absolutely delicious, although somewhat greasier than I am used to eating.

 The team with some people we visited. Another part of our work was taking packets of food and seeds to different families in the area.
 This was our extremely safe method of putting siding on the church in Branesti. I am the one taking the photograph, not one of those on the ladder. Later we made a taller ladder by nailing some pieces of wood to the bottom of the existing one. That ladder was of course also quite steady and sturdy, although it would take quite a large sum of money in order for me to agree to climb up that ladder.

 First we took the outer layer of plaster off of the stone wall surrounding the church, and then we redid the whole thing.

 Those sunglasses cost five Euros. In Moldova that is equivalent to approximately one hundred of their currency.

 Sunsets are cool.

We made a fire with some youth from the church. 

 Mixing cement was a new experience for me, and one which I can now put on my resume.

 More cementing happening in this picture.

 Kris was digging for gold but did not find any.

Here we were tourists for a little bit.

I hope you enjoyed these pictures, stay tuned for some from Bayern.