Moldova Update (For 2RC Newsletter)

My experience in Moldova was absolutely wonderful. However, if you talked to my small group you would know that a couple of days before we left I was a little hesitant about going, but the moment I was at the camp I had a total peace about being there. A few Sundays ago Rob did a great job of telling about our experiences at the camp and what a typical day looked like there so I am actually going to tell you about my experience with the two days following the camp.

I had a little bit of a different experience than everyone else because they all stayed with one of the leaders from the camp and with another person from our group. I was by myself and stayed at the parent’s house of two girls who had come to the camp. Tanya and Nellie had both come to the camp and they were both very sweet, they had also both spent time in the United States so, even though they would say otherwise, they both knew English quite well. Their mom and dad did not speak any English.
The first night I arrived at their home it was about ten o’clock at night. Prior to arriving there I had eaten the best dinner, and after not eating much of anything at the camp all week, I felt very full from eating so much at Victor’s house that night. So, I walk in their door, really just wanting to say hello and then get some sleep, and they bring into the kitchen. Sitting on the kitchen table was quite the spread of food. There was fish, coco puffs, chocolate, eggplant, green peppers, fried chicken, potatoes, and probably five other dishes that I can’t remember. The family sat at the table and watched as I somehow managed to eat another huge meal with, of course, a smile on my face.

The next afternoon I went back to my family’s home early while everyone else continued shopping and then went to have dinner together. Tanya and I walked around her village all afternoon and I saw and meet some pretty interesting people. My favorite person was this sweet old lady we bought melons from. She was selling them along the side of the road and when Tanya told her I was from America she talked to me forever. She held my face in her hands the whole time, and since she was not speaking English I had no idea what she said. Tanya told me later that she had told me about all of her family problems, how she has no money, and thanked me for buying from her.
After that we walked past Tanya’s Orthodox Church she went to and she decided that I should go see what an Orthodox Service was like. When we got to the door a woman put head covering on us and then Tanya and her had some sort of discussion about me not wearing a skirt. I heard Tanya say “American” about twenty times and we were finally let in. I wish I was really great at writing so that I could describe exactly what it looked, felt, and smelled like in there because I felt like I had just walked into a completely different world. The Priest stood behind a giant red curtain and did not face us the whole time, Tanya asked if my priest stands behind a curtain, and I said well that would be Rob and no he doesn’t.

As the service continued Tanya began to translate some of what the priest was saying to me. She was whispering this right in my ear. It’s amazing to me how even though I may not understand what people are saying, anger translates very well. And suddenly I realized there were about five women extremely angry with Tanya and me for talking. They kept pointing to this sign hanging on the wall that apparently said, “If you talk in church God will give you big problems”. At that point Tanya got angry right back, and asked them to point out where it said that in the Bible, and then told them they apparently were going to have big problems too then since they were talking to us during the service. I got very nervous and just told Tanya she could stop translating because I didn’t want everyone to keep staring at us.

As we walked home Tanya was nearly in tears because of what had just happened. When I asked if she was okay, she said “I’m so scared for what God is going to do to us, and how we will be punished”. When she said that I was so confused because it didn’t match at all what she had said to those women and I knew that Tanya had told me she was a Christian. She told me that although she had accepted Jesus as her savior, she refused to have a relationship with God. She still saw God as that strict, mean, punishing God the Orthodox Church had told her about. She felt that he would cause bad things in her life if she didn’t follow all the rules. She knew that she was wrong in thinking this, but couldn’t make herself believe otherwise. On the rest of the walk home I talked to her a lot about God being our father, the trinity, grace, and forgiveness of sins. And even though I knew she knew it I reminded her that without the cross, no matter how many rules we follow, we could never achieve perfection in God’s eyes. When we reached her home she hugged me and said, “I feel free, like I can breathe again”.