Our Last Day in Moldova

It's sad but true. Today was our last full day in Moldova. But our trip did not go out with a whimper. We were driven into town this morning by Sergei, a.k.a. Jack Bauer, our superhuman van driver. Today was our day to tour Chisinau and just hang out with some of the God's Design staff. It has only been six days here in country, but I know that I have grown to love these Moldovan brothers and sisters of ours. They are so much fun to be with and it is incredibly encouraging to see their love for each other and for their surrounding community!

We toured the Orthodox Cathedral in the heart of Downtown Moldova and spent some time walking through an outdoor market. The weather has been great, so it was nice to spend a little time walking through the city witnessing the sites and sounds of the streets and courtyards. Here is a clip we took of a gypsy man playing his fiddle on the steps of the national theater. We finished up our tour by walking through a cemetery of "contributing citizens of Moldova" and a monument to fallen WWII Soviet soldiers.

Tonight, the Meteora center (home to all of God's Design church's events) hosted a weekly meeting for young families. Our Atlanta team got to witness first hand some of the so-called fruits of our labors. There were at least 15 families that came for the first time, showing the flyers in their hands that we passed out at the park on Wednesday. The staff was excited about this, to say the least, and the crowd really seemed to connect with Andrei's sermon... though, admittedly, I couldn't understand a word of his Russian. Afterwards, we joined the entire staff for a banquet dinner at one of the nicest restaurants in Chisinau. I can't remember the last time that I laughed so much at the dinner table! The staff and our team have truly become good friends and partners and we hated to say goodbye. No doubt, we will continue to hear about the things that God is doing through God's Design in Moldova!

Eric