The Cimino Family

Okay, okay….I’ve heard from many of you that I haven’t been updating our family blog in months! I get it…you all love my writing, care about our family, and have more time to be on the computer than I do! Just kidding…I appreciate that so many of you are checking in here. Sorry I have let the site lapse. I have basically switched to Facebook for updating because I can make changes from my iPhone.
I just posted some pictures of the house. We got kitchen cabinets in yesterday and today. The island isn’t in, but it will be green like the hood in the photos. I am SO excited about the progress. Most things are turning out exactly as I’d hoped and can’t believe we are blessed enough to be able to build such a beautiful home for our family. God is so good to us! I also posted pictures of the den. There will be built-ins on either side of the fireplace, hopefully before the end of the week. We are hoping to be able to get a CO by July 21st.
I wish I could say that I will do better with my postings, but the truth is, I am in for a VERY busy fall. I accepted a contract at the Christian school where I’ve been teaching part-time to switch to full-time teaching. This really is a great opportunity because I wanted Jonathan to join me there this year as he is starting middle school. (Yes, I’m old enough to have a middle-schooler!) Our original plan was to homeschool the boys through middle school, but I am so happy with Heritage that I want them to be with me there. Zachary and Nicolas will continue to attend the magnet program through their fifth-grade year like Jonathan did.
I have been teaching 8th grade English and logic. This was a schedule of three classes, first thing in the morning, and I was finished by 11:30. This coming year, I have been asked to add 7th grade English and one section of 10th grade English to my schedule. Full-time at Heritage is teaching five of the seven periods. I will be teaching SIX! And, yes, that is FOUR different classes for which to prepare. A daunting task, to say the least. Needless-to-say, my summer has consisted of house-building and reading classic novels! During the first four weeks of summer, I read Animal Farm, The Outsiders, Billy Budd, The Red Badge of Courage, and Tom Sawyer. I am about to start The Scarlet Letter. When I try to have a “pity party,” Joe chides me by saying, “Like you wouldn’t have spent your entire summer reading anyway!” That’s true, but Twilight goes a whole lot quicker than Billy Budd!
So, I covet your prayers for our family as we finish the building process and brace ourselves for having TWO house payments! Let me hear from you, and I promise to TRY to post more than twice a year!

Framing has started on the first floor of our new home. It is really starting to get exciting. Before we had walls, I kept asking Joe if he thought all the rooms would be big enough. It is so hard to visualize when the space is chalk lines on the decking. I was really worried about his office and our bedroom. Now that there are actual walls in many places, I can start to see how the space will be, and I am feeling better about the room sizes. Not that I am looking for a mansion, but it seems like an awful lot of work and effort if we end up thinking we’d have been better off with a few feet here or there.
So far, our framer (I’m calling him “Cutch” though not to his face yet!) hasn’t complained that we’re making changes or moving windows. We did have one we needed to move, but the header was already long enough to just push the window to the other end of it. He’s got Joe figured out already and often plays good cop/bad cop with the two of us. The other day, I ran the measurements for the washing machine out to him so he could space the wall that would enclose it. He looked down at my feet and asked where my boots were. (Joe has made an edict that no Cimino will come to the work site without boots.) I looked down and back up at “Cutch” with an “oh no” expression on my face. “Don’t worry. I won’t tell him,” he replied. Sometimes I am not sure how to take our foreman, but I am pretty sure this time he was playing with me!

Okay, we are off and running (or should I say building), and it is about time! I have not been very patient through all the particulars that have to happen before something visual actually takes place on a lot. I had no idea things were so complicated. We have already had our share of set-backs, but we’re not daunted yet. Even the downturn in the economy hasn’t phased us any. God is sovereign, and we will rely on Him to take care of our needs.

Unfortunately, Joe lost his basement. It was a sad day, one I mourned for him because he was determined to be a man about it! While they were digging for rest of the space for the basement, they hit a rock ledge. Apparently this would require a rock-splitter that costs $8,000 each day to rent. They digger guys estimated two to three weeks for splitting said rocks. Joe made the executive decision that an additional $24,000 for his “man space” just wasn’t worth it. I am really proud of him. He honestly took it much better than I thought he would. He attributes my reminder that “God put the rocks there” for his ability to move on quickly and put the ordeal behind him!

It takes a LONG time to get a building permit in Decatur. Who knew? Actually, several people warned us of that fact. Step two was to get temporary power and water to the work site. After two lengthy and aggravating phone calls to the utility company, someone finally agreed to meet Joe out at the lot and get us hooked up. Well, that turned south quickly. The guy who came says the power pole was the wrong voltage (even though it was the same pole our foreman used to build the house across the street). Then, the utility folks decided to call an electrician on our behalf to make some changes. Then, they decided they had “done enough poles on that street” and “couldn’t we just mirror the house so you can share a pole with the neighbor?” Yes, they actually asked us that!

Okay, so we finally got power. Water is another story. Guys came and installed a meter, installed two to be safe, I guess! Cut out half the roots of a huge tree in order to put the water meters where they deemed would be a good spot! Joe took a bunch of pictures so when the tree falls and takes out the whole street’s power lines, they can take care of the costs, not us.

Footings were dug, inspection signed off, footings poured, and, today, block set in place. I have updated the photos to show some progress. Joe likes to go out to the lot every day to take pictures. I don’t know if he thinks I will be making a scrapbook for this process or what. It WOULD make a nice parting gift at the dissolution of the marriage ceremony should things go WAY south! Just kidding, we are actually getting along really well. Right now, all I care about is finding someone to build my kitchen cabinets without charging me an arm and a leg!

PRAY FOR US!

I am up at 2:30 (and find my undergarment secure and dry!) when my watch alarm sounds. The van will arrive out in front of the apartment at 3:00, and I am trying to be very quiet. John insisted last night on being awakened in order to help me carry my suitcase downstairs for me. I made an agreement that if he heard me getting ready to leave and woke up, he could help me, but if he slept through my departure I would be fine getting everything downstairs by myself. When I tip-toed into the kitchen to throw away some garbage, I found that John was asleep on a pallet he had made there! I guess he wanted to be sure he was awakened!
John is indeed awake and carries my bag to the elevator and then on to the van. It is a quick drive to the airport at 3:00 a.m. The airport itself is clean and bright, especially the bathroom. Our plane leaves at 4:50 and arrives in Frankfurt, Germany at 7 a.m. where we have a six-hour wait for the next flight. Most of our group walks around the terminal once we have determined which gate will eventually be ours. There is a McDonald’s that can be seen from several glass-encased walkways, but even with all the bright minds on our team, we were unable to figure out how to get to it! Stratton decided, “That McDonald’s is for the German locals. We have to immigrate to Germany in order to gain access to the McDonald’s!” We gave up and returned to a restaurant close to the gates. Several people had breakfast and all of us had coffee. I did some shopping in the duty free and found a birthday present for Zachary in a gift shop.
Finally, we have killed enough time to start getting ready to board our flight, the LONG one from Frankfurt to Cincinnati. The flight time is 9 1/2 hours! The flight was mostly a good one. Long, but good. The movie looked interesting, but my headset was one of many on the plane that didn’t work, so I gave up and did some reading. We had inquired of Scottie as to what our plan should be for this trek: do you knock yourself out and sleep the whole way, or do you try to stay awake for the whole trip? He told us he had tried it both ways and “you’re pretty much hosed either way!” So, I read for a little while then dosed a little, then ate AGAIN! The food was pretty blah, but we’re all happy to be heading home.
After another delay in Cincinnati, we finally land and greet our families in Huntsville at about 7pm. We have been up for 24 hours. All the luggage arrives safely. One-by-one families leave the airport reunited! God is so good!

I am up at 8am, slept in for a change! Mama Luba will arrive at 9am for church services at Voice of Truth followed by a picnic in the “forrest.” We have our program to present, so we try to get there early to practice the singing portion and make sure the music matches up with our plans. This is a very good thing, because their music is arranged a little differently than we had rehearsed and the first song has an additional verse that we weren’t planning on singing. As Joe would say, “Preparation is 90% of any project.”
Vatari preaches this morning as Valeri is out-of-town. The Titus team members are sprinkled among our American team for translating and direction. It is quickly time for our presentation. Scottie opens with a welcome, Vatari’s wife Christina translates for us. Em reads from Romans 15:5,6 and 13. We sing, “Shine Jesus Shine,” and then we all sit down for Mary Kate’s testimony. She does a wonderful job, speaking clearly with no nervousness evident. Mary Kate’s father, Don, shares an allegory with the message of finishing strong and keeping our eyes on our heavenly Father. We assemble again on the stairs as a team and close with “Open the Eyes of My Heart.” The congregation sings along in Russian. The church leaders present each of us with gifts, and there are fresh bunches of flowers for each of the five women on our team.
After service, we ride over to the new building the church has just purchased. This is to be the focus of the group coming from our church in three weeks. The team of 17 church members will begin the remodeling process so that they can begin meeting there on Sundays instead of in the borrowed school auditorium. We take pictures for the next team’s preparation, and Scottie makes a list of the tools they will need to bring with them. We leave the building and gather outside in a circle to pray over the church building and the church’s leaders for wisdom and discernment.
It is off to the “forrest” or park for a little picnic and playing with the pastors and their families. They have prepared a terrific meal and have grilled three kinds of meats on a bar-b-cue for us. Two groups get together another volleyball game except this time the FBC men are relieved to realize they will have an actual volleyball for play! I think their arms are still sore from hitting around a soccer ball all day yesterday. While taking a break later in the day, the pastors, mostly Maxim, ask if we will each share something about ourselves to the group. Christina, again, acts as translator. She is a really sharp woman, and her English is very polished although she admits the southern accent threw her off her game a bit!
We take turns sharing a little about our backgrounds, our families, how long we’ve been at FBC and in what capacity we serve at our church. The pastors asked many question, genuinely interested in each of us and especially interested in how our church is set up and what ministries we offer. After we all have shared, they also ask about our upcoming election! They are lighthearted, but it is also obvious that they wonder how concerned we are about the future of the country once either candidate is elected. Scottie says, “Well, now that we’ve covered both subjects you are never supposed to discuss at a party: religion and politics; who is up for more volleyball?”
We finally disperse, and I return to the apartment at 9 p.m. As soon as the van pulls up outside, John and Shusa come running across the parking lot looking for me! It is really flattering, but I must also remember that I will be picked up at 3 a.m. for our ride to the airport. Mama Luba takes me up to meet Ola. She translates for me that I won’t need any breakfast, but Ola has already purchased wrapped chocolate croissants for the trip tomorrow! Mama Luba reminds John and Shusa, who are patiently waiting for everyone else to leave so they can have my full attention, that I must get some sleep. Ola sends Shusa home, and I set about getting my bag staged for the morning. I decide to take a shower tonight, and when I am all ready for bed and step out of the bathroom, Shusa and John are sitting at the kitchen table smiling my way. I returned my toiletries to the bedroom and come and sit with them, “for just a few minutes.” More English, many questions, and then Ola comes in and scolds (I don’t understand her, but I recognize motherly scolding in any language!) them to let me get some sleep. I regretfully tell them good-bye and shuffle off to bed. Shusa calls behind me, “I miss you already!”
Even though I am exhausted, I find it difficult to sleep. You see, I forgot to bring an extra bra on this trip, so I have been washing my only one in the sink every night and hanging it up to dry for the morning. This night was no different in that I washed my undergarment in the sink, but when I got ready to climb into bed, I realized that it would only be hanging there for a few hours since we were leaving so early. The only way I saw to avoid wearing a wet bra for the whole day of travel was to “borrow” Ola’s clothes line outside my bedroom window. She had the boys socks clipped to it, so I knew it was used regularly. I found a few clothespins and hung the garment outside the window, six floors above the sidewalk.
Once I got in bed, all I could think about was, “What if I get up at 2:30 and my bra has fallen off the line.” I would have to go without an undergarment all the way home! This is what caused my sleeplessness! Finally, I crawled back out of bed, found three more pins and triple-secured the garment to the line. I returned to the bed, tucked myself in, and said a prayer that God would watch over my travel wardrobe!

The alarm went off at 7:20am, I rose and took my first hot shower since I arrived! It was lovely! Kola’s wife, Ola, made me a wonderful breakfast of fresh vegetables, fruit, green tea, and fried fish. Their son, John, acts as host because he has the best English in the family. He takes the job very seriously…greeting me warmly, offering me a hair dryer, serving me breakfast, refilling my tea before the cup is empty. A real gentleman at age twelve!
Mama Luba arrives at 8:45 to pick me up for some exploring in town and a little shopping for souvenirs for the kids. I bought really neat whistles (may regret that one later) for each of the boys (see the photo of Kim, Diane, and me with the vendor). I also bought two small oil paintings from the painter himself, both of typical scenes for Moldova. After we were finished shopping, Kim and I left with Lilly to walk down the street and explore the Orthodox church.
The church is ornate, as is typical of all Orthodox churches here. We walked around quietly because some sort of a service was going on in the left corner of the sanctuary. There was a group of four women singing chants which sounded lovely. I asked Lilly if we could sit a moment on a bench off to the side in order to listen for a bit. She nodded, we sat, then promptly were scolded by the priest and one of the choir ladies that we needed to be standing for the service. As we stood there, women were walking up to the roped off area where the priest was conducting his rituals. They would hand one of the singers folded up bills. The woman would then pass the money on to the priest who would tuck it into his lectionary. As we filed out of the church building, I asked Lilly if she knew what the money-passing was about. She replied, “They have paid for the priest’s private prayers for them or a family member.” This seemed so blatantly wrong, and my heart broke for the people who are obviously misguided in their religion.
Once we left the church, we walked a few blocks to the local McDonald’s to have a Diet Coke and wait for the whole team to assemble. Soon, we were all there and ready for our departure to the village town of Telenesti. This is where the orphanage is that we will visit all afternoon and where there is a beautiful church that has benefitted from the attention of many First Bible mission teams. It was about a two-hour drive through lovely countryside.
We arrive in the village and drive to the orphanage. It is set up with two houses side-by-side, each housing a Mama and Papa, their biological children and up to nine homeless children. The houses are really nice, some of the nicest buildings we’ve seen in the country. The house parents are both warm, smiling couples, and they seem to be so excited to share their homes with us. After touring the first house, we are directed to another large building with a huge, long table in it. We are served lunch here, another fabulous meal. After eating, the director, Alexander, tells us a little about their “feeding program.” You see, in addition to housing the homeless children, the facility cooks and serves a meal to over 100 village children EVERY DAY. When school is in session, they come straight from class to the grounds, eat a warm meal at the long tables, work on homework in one of several classrooms, and play with the children living on the grounds. Since school is not in session now, we are told that the children will be arriving around 2:00 and are expecting to meet visitors.
Once lunch is over, we toured the second house and then quickly gather all of the treats we’ve brought for the children. There is a huge bag of balloons, punchy balls, sports balls which we quickly blow up because the children are eager to play, and candy, candy, candy! Every person on our team brought candy to share and before too long, the village children are arriving. It is a sea of young, smiling faces and mostly English “thank you”s. For the next two or three hours it is nothing but serious playing! The men started with some volleyball but only had a soccer ball to use for the game. Mary bounced basketballs back-and-forth, Mary Kate played a little of everything. Diane and I played frisbee, once I figured out how to throw one! For some strange reason, I can only throw with my left hand…go figure! (See in photos of me with my Frisbee-girls)
We took a break and were treated to a short drive and a little hike to visit the Christian church. After looking around a little, we decide to practice our music for the program at church tomorrow. We still need some work! Still, I say, “Not bad!” for ten random, non-choir folks. We hike back down the hill, pile into the van, and returned to the orphanage for another tour. This time we take a look at the future projects for some blessed mission teams. The director shows us the building they are remodeling to be a computer lab! They already have the funds for eleven computers on which they will teach the children much-needed computer skills. I was thinking the whole time what a great project that would be for Joe to be a part of!
Now, we eat AGAIN! I know, it really is getting ridiculous! After supper, the children that live on the grounds sang for us. They presented us with gorgeous, hand-made cards and gifts for Papa John and Mrs. Cook and Ms. Loreen. Everyone is sad to leave, it has been a blessed day. Thinking back, I am struck by how sweet and kind the children all were. To my knowledge, there was never a fight over toys or candy, never a harsh word between siblings or friends, never a complaint about not getting enough or exactly what a child wanted. Refreshing!
We arrive back in Chisnau and Mama Luba returns me to Kola and Ola’s apartment. John is waiting for my return with his friend and neighbor, Shusa. I am really ready for bed, but it is obvious to me that they are curious and want to practice their English. We stay up late (after 10pm) talking, the three of us around Ola’s kitchen table. After using an electronic dictionary to figure out what they want to say to me in parting, the two preteens finally settle on the word “repeat.” “You want to do this again tomorrow?,” I asked. “Yes,” they are all smiles about it.

Last night was another difficult night of sleeping. I should have tried taking one half of a sleeping pill, but I didn’t think of it. Back home, it is Independance Day. Although we didn’t discuss this with our national hosts, they had a surprise planned for breakfast. We entered the dining area and found our seats, but before the oatmeal could be distributed, Costya, Luda, and Lilly had lined themselves up for a presentation. The three of them sang an original song, “Happy Independant Day!” After a few frames of this, Costya stepped forward and in a deep voice worthy of the opera sang, “America.” Then, another round of “Happy Independant Day” and Kola jumps out of the bathroom dressed as the Statue of Liberty! Our team laughed with glee as he paraded around the room with a large, plastic water tank cut into a crown on his head, holding an empty soda bottle that had been cut like a torch, and with a shower curtain tied on his shoulder like a togo! Delightful!
After breakfast we decided that since the stage was complete we should hear Masato’s devotional from the stage in the sanctuary. In his message, he discussed how glorious it will be when, once we are on the other side, we will meet someone who was baptized in the pool we built this week. This thought brought tears to my eyes as I realized why we had come all this way to help our brothers and sisters in Christ. Following this devotional, we asked Miki if she would play the piano and let our team practice the program we had planned for Sunday. She plays so beautifully, and she was very helpful in encouraging our random group of non-choir members in finding a note each of us could live with!
Our lunch was early today so that the part of our group that was heading to Moldova first could get on the road. Our dessert was vanilla ice cream cones with red, white, and blue sprinkles on them served by “Independant Day” singers! Miki had made cutwork placemats in white and blue and topped it with red, origami birds. Our team presented money to Costya to help him replace his wedding band that he lost in the Black Sea the first night we were there, and Masato presented each of our team members with a cd of Miki’s piano music. We prayed for safe travel for all of us and for minimal problems as we crossed the two borders. Em, Mary Kate, Ms. Loreen, Larry, Don, and Mary all leave in the van with Costya driving the five-hour trip to Chisnau. Diane, Scottie, Stratton, Kim, and I will leave on a 4:30 bus with Mama Luba, Luda, Lilly, and Kola as escorts.
With half the team on their way and the rest of us packed up and ready for our trip, we head to the bus station. We are there early, but soon we begin hearing announcements about our bus. Mama Luba translates the messages to mean the Ukrainian President is in town, and they have closed major roadways delaying our bus. “Please wait,” she says they keep repeating. We wait and wait. Then, we decide to pray…that the bus would not be so late that they would cancel the trip. This often happens here, we are told. The next bus is to leave at 9 p.m. About fifteen minutes after we prayed, a large, beautiful bus from Paris, France pulled in next to the slot where we were standing. With large eyes, we commented how cool that would be for God to answer our prayer with a bus as nice as this one. “No, no,” Mama Luba tells us. “The Chisnau bus is never that nice.” Not five minutes later, another double-decker bus pulls in and the announcer on the P.A. system says this is the bus for Chisnau. As we get our luggage stored below and get settled on the upper floor of the bus, none of the Titus team members can believe we will travel on a bus with air conditioning and a television/DVD player! God is so good!
After leaving an hour late and stopping at three fruit stands in Moldova (no kidding the bus driver pulled the bus over and let people get off and buy fruit!), we arrive in Chisnau after midnight. The girls take a taxi to the apartments where we will stay. Valeri (pastor of Voice of Truth) meets the guys with his van and transports them to his house where they will stay. I am the only one of our team staying by myself at the home of Kola and his family. Mama Luba takes me to the apartment to help me get settled because Ola (Kola’s wife) doesn’t speak English. At 1:00 a.m., I finally climb into bed and fall fast asleep.

We rise and greet the day, ready for work! The task before us is filling in the trench we spent two days emptying! The pipe for drainage has been installed to the approval of Victor and Scottie. The proper slope was achieved, and, after testing it with a bucket of water, everyone cheered when we heard its contents empty into the sewer “box.” We had about ten people to work on refilling the trench: all five of the American women, the three Titus ladies, and Kola and Ms. Loreen.
We raked or shoveled dirt about six inches deep into the trench, then we would take turns jumping in and tamping down the dirt with our tennis shoes. Hop out, repeat moving dirt around, jump back in, and tamp down the dirt. It took us about two hours, and we had the trench filled and mounded for settling that would occur over time.
A few of us moved to a sand pile in the church’s alleyway to move much of it out of the way of car traffic in the alley. The men were working on completing the stage this whole time. They had saws to cut the boards, but I think I heard that they burned at least one of them up in the process! Once the sand was dealt with and the men were at work in the sanctuary, Diane and I set about helping Ms. Loreen and Miki divide up the contents of our ministry bags. We left most of the clothing with Miki to distribute among the poor in their area. We consolidated the bags down to one bag for the orphanage in Telenesti on Saturday and a work bag full of tools and work gloves for the next group from our church (coming to Moldova July 27th).
Lunch today was HUGE! There was soup, mashed potatoes, breaded pork chops, salad, pizza! Unbelievable. Truly, everyone on our team brought at least ten pounds of trail mix and peanut butter crackers that, to my knowledge, we will all return to the States with or distribute among the Titus team. Immediately following lunch, our entire team washes up for our trip to town.
At 2:30 p.m. we ALL head to town, divide into groups with a Titus team member in each small group, to spread out and shop, snack, sightsee. I was with Em and our Titus leader was Kola. Em is a regular marathon runner at home and has risen early every day since our arrival to run ten miles before breakfast! So, you can say that I did a lot of walking in this trio! We even walked the 200 steps down to the Black Sea port and climbed them after looking around for a while. Em walked way ahead of me and Kola, who I had threatened if he decided to leave me on the steps. I surprised even myself when I made the whole trek without stopping to rest. About halfway up, Kola glanced my way and said, “I don’t know how you say in English, but you are ‘firm?’” “Nooooo-ho, I am sure that is not the word you are looking for,” I replied. “In shape?” I answered him, “Yes, I think that is the phrase you are searching for, but I would disagree with your usage in this context!” We laughed the rest of the way up the stairs.
Supper tonight was at the McDonald’s. Stratton had to buy mine as I had spent all my grievance (Ukrainian currency - pleasant word for money isn’t it?).

I slept much better last night and had no trouble being up and dressed by 8am for breakfast. It has been decided that since the trench is complete and Victor is in charge of bringing the drainage pipe to be installed, there isn’t a task for the ladies to work on this morning. We are encouraged by Foreman Scottie to head into town and sightsee a little and do some shopping. What woman is going to refuse this offer? And we didn’t!
Mama Luba, Lilly, and Luda (Titus International team ladies) escort Diane, Mary, Kim, Mary Kate, and me into town to check out the bazaar. While we are gone, the men continue working on the stage area in the sanctuary. The five ladies do feel a little guilty at having left the work to the men for the time being, but we still manage to shop a little and experience local life: fresh meat market, produce stands, cheese makers, and spice vendors.
We return to the church for lunch. Afterwards, the men return to work but the pipe has not been installed yet. So, the ladies set to work planning the program we’ve been asked to do at Voice of Truth church in Moldova on Sunday. They have asked for a 20-30 minute presentation from our team. The ladies pick out two songs, a Bible verse, and decide to include someone’s testimony. To our amazement, Mary Kate offers to share her testimony. This isn’t amazing because she is incapable, it is that Mary Kate is the youngest team member at 16. Imagining myself at 16 being able to compose and share a testimony for an entire church audience seems impossible. Really, all of the “older gals” on this trip have been in awe of Mary Kate. It is truly encouraging especially to the mothers in the group that we have our children in the right congregation for this kind of spiritual confidence.
This is when the day takes a turn for the worse…sewer problems. The ladies are all on the same sewer system and share pipes and drainage with the only kitchen on sight (the one that has been cranking our three hearty meals a day for about 20 people). At lunchtime, a few of us noticed that the bathtub was making a gurgling sound whenever we would flush the toilet. We shared this information with our hosts. This began a lengthy, grueling process that I am choosing not to write about in detail. All I can say is Diane and I were really concerned that all the fluffy, luxurious, American white tissue paper was going to be the cause of the problems. We stood by watching all the effort being put into the sewer system praying we wouldn’t see any white tissue float by!
Our team requested a church service this evening. Miki played the piano for us, Yuki sang “Jesus Loves Me” in Japanese, and Masato preached from the book of Nehemiah, sharing qualities for godly leadership. It was a lovely evening of worship and fellowship. When we came down from the second-floor meeting room, we found that the sewer issue had been solved. And, we were reassured that our American paperwork had nothing to do with it. Victor said that the system had been overdue for a cleaning process for ten years. Diane said, “I guess our tissue was just the icing on the cake!” To which Scottie replied, “That’s not a cake I want any part of!”

I didn’t sleep well last night. I was up at 2:30am and couldn’t get back to sleep until after 4am. Ms. Loreen warned us that the second day in-country is usually the most difficult with sleep. She knows of what she speaks!
Today, we finished the trench! Victor took a look and said, “Deeper.” Ugh! Really, it needs to be deeper? Stratton quietly comments to a small group of us, “We’re still paying for the cold war.”
The wonderful meals continue. Over lunch, Costya (a pastor at Voice of Truth in Chisnau, Moldova) explained his “parent hero” status in his country. You see, he and his wife have five children! In Moldova, you are considered a “parent hero” when you have five children. This honor comes with a medal and free dairy products for life!
After supper tonight, we head to the Black Sea for relaxation and entertainment. We managed to fit sixteen people in the 7-passenger van at our disposal. Check out the pictures under “photos.” The ride over was surprisingly smooth considering we were all crammed in the vehicle. Then, when it came time to park, Costya did a strange little u-turn, jumped a curb and slide into a great spot. Scottie commented with admiration, “Now that’s a man who knows his equipment!”