Enjoy

Anticipating this to be a longer than average post, I have developed a brilliant system or organization to allow you, the reader, to read at both your own pace and leisure. It took weeks to figure out this method. In fact, figuring out how to better organize my disjunctive thoughts is, in part, what has prevented me from updating this in such a long time. I shall divide my thoughts using a complex system of numbers which will indicate when I'll be discussing a new thought thus allowing you, the reader, to read one section at a time (if you so desire, feel free to read the entire post or more than one section. The world is your oyster.). Thank yous are not necessary.

I have been a poor blogger as of late. It is not the first time, nor is it likely to be the last. I will attempt to do better. Well then, enough of this vapid introduction, I shall move on to beguiling you with this new science of order.

1. (note that i've made the numbers bold) What have I been doing?Well, I've been doing several things lately. I am still working on furniture at the orphanage. We are currently helping Dima, Ivan and Artur find jobs (i'll try to devote more time to this later) so I am working with a new group of boys. This work has gone very smoothly and should be over in the next week or two. Putting this furniture together has consumed a great deal of time. I'll be happy to see it completed.

Helping Dima, Ivan and Artur find jobs has been really difficult. It took a while for a couple of them to realize that they do, in fact, need jobs to survive. They all have jobs now and I have been meeting with them periodically to see how they're going. I actually just got off the phone with Dima a little while ago and he told me that he likes his new job. Hopefully this one will stick. He told me it is one where he could be around a while and move up the ladder. Artur has been doing construction, as was Ivan. But it looks like Ivan will be going to driving school as opposed to sticking with construction work. After one week of working a typical Moldovan construction job he told me he wanted to drive a taxi.

Victor, Vitalle and Ruslan have worked quite well. I've enjoyed getting to work closer with these boys. I've had relationships with them but I didn't get to spend as much time with them as I am now. In a really rare move, these boys approached Jamey at camp one night after a day of work. They asked him to find out how they were doing at the job but they didn't want him to ask me directly. They wanted him to work into one of our conversations casually because they wanted to make sure they were working hard enough. What a great encouragement that was. It isn't often that these older boys from the orphanage take this kind of initiative. That is my nine to five situation.

2. I also have spent some time at the orphanage with Dorel and Raia looking at some of the needs the orphanage has in terms of property up-keep. As you can imagine, there was quite a bit of work that needs to be done. But, with the unstable state of Moldova's orphan-care policies, it is hard to determine what to do knowing that the orphanage system has the possibility of being abolished (that is something I haven't written about much, if you are more curious, let me know). There are some things that could be done now. I'll give you a short list.

• In the dorms at the orphanage, the vinyl flooring is flaking off and in desperate need of replacing. They already have the material for a few rooms but there are probably close to 100 rooms that need the floors replaced. I remember being in the orphanage one day and watching a little girl as she was sweeping up the floor, literally. It was one of those images that sticks with you for some reason.
• There are several doors that need replaced. When, I say Sneed please remember that I mean "need" and don't mean "would be nice to improve" like that space above the garage (not that there is anything wrong with improving your home [some times]).
• Some of the walls need new wall paper. The old paper is peeling off and falling down.Most of the bed rooms have no curtains or blinds.
• There are many windows that need replacing. Some of them are broken, exposing sharp edges and providing no insulation, which proves troublesome during Moldova's cold winters.
• The roof to the cafeteria is leaking, needs patching and also a new coat of tar.
• More general upkeep.

As you can see, there is plenty to do. They don't have the resources to do these themselves and get little assistance from the government on many of these things (especially with the aforementioned possible move away from an orphanage system). These things will soon be harder to fix because school starts in about a month. There is a construction team coming in the next few weeks that may be able to work on some of these things (we're still working out those details). I would love to see these things get taken care of some how. Hopefully I'll get to be a part of that.

3. I've been sick the last few days. Mainly, my throat and head have been bothering me. It seems as though I'm on the upswing though. Having throat/cold issues is not that great. Though it is true that my voice gets deeper sometimes. I like when this happens because it makes me feel manlier than I already am (yes ladies, that is possible). However, sometimes it just makes my voice sound more nasally. I don't like when this happens because it makes me sound like more of a dork than I already am (yes ladies, that is possible). Any who, I guess I rather not be sick, barry white voice heat not withstanding.

4. Wednesday, at 5:45 in the a.m. Jamey and I took Matthew and Dane to the airport as they began their journey to America (I like to say America in these types of circumstances with a sort of italian-immagrant-like accent. It makes it seem more magical.) I will miss their company. Matthew will be attending graduate school at UNC in hopes to create even smaller mp3 players and x-ray machines while Dane will be traveling to Iowa, the land of farmers' daughters (to steal a line from Zack Morris), to begin an exciting undergraduate career at Cornell.

It was a strange thing to say goodbye to both of them. They are both, in their own right, outstanding individuals and I have learned from both of them. Playing spades without them will be next to impossible, until the robots are completed that is. Though I fear that no robot or combination of robots will be able to capture the light in their collective eyes. Godspeed friends. We'll cross paths again.

5. On a similar note, I will be moving back to America on August 23rd. I think some of you already know this. For those of you who haven't heard, I'm coming home on August the 23rd. It is a few months earlier than planned. Why would be explained easiest in person but I can give the following as a brief explanation. After several weeks of prayer and seeking consultation from the Word and close friends and mentors, it became clear that the purpose God has called me here for is close to being at an end.

This is a strange thing to say because, in truth, I don't really know why He brought me here. I could look back and come up with things that God accomplished and taught me while here and say that those were the reasons, but I'm not going to do that. Many of the things He is doing, we don't see. I'm sure that there are things invisible that God does right in front of our eyes. God knows why I came here. There are tangible things, yes. But sometimes I think the stuff we can't see is probably the most beautiful. To a degree, that is grace: seeing the invisible.

All that to say, I came over with the peace of knowing He wanted me to and I feel like I'll leave with the peace of knowing He wanted me to. In time God will, like He already is, show me why.

6. Jen Gash, by way of Joe Swing, brought the following to my attention: http://www.cnn.com/2006/HEALTH/07/27/happy.world.reut/index.html
Here is a look at the complete list: http://www.le.ac.uk/pc/aw57/world/sample.html

As you can see, Moldova didn't do so well. We were 175 out of the 178 countries. In spite of the fact that this science has proven this place to be dissapressing (oh yeah!), I must say that I am still quite happy. The collective Denmark ain't got nothing on me.

In related news, I've decided that over the course of the next few years I shall live and missioneer (a word for what missionaries do) in countries 176-178, Congo Democratic, Zimbabwe and Burundi respectively, thus proving myself to be the most hardcore mission person ever. Take that Lottie Moon!

To clarify, I am joking. I don't typically make my decisions based on such criteria. My life choices are made using several 9-sided dice and very complicated algorithmic equations.

7. Now, I shall rest. Remember, I am still somewhat sick and need to sleep. Per the request of some folks here in Moldova I shall, in the near future, tell two tales of the Marshrutka: The Marshrutka Tale of the Potato of Providence & The Tale of the Understanding and Sensitive Marshrutka Passenger. Until that time, sera buna.

[On a personal note, I must say that if you have made it this far, I love you. Seriously I mean that. You've always been a good friend, anonymous reader. You're true blue. I appreciate you.]

clarification

i am not a vegan. i made an ill attempt at humor which was evidently taken seriously. i love to eat animal and things from animals, such as cheese. also, soy products i've tasted, especially soy ice cream, are unpleasing to my sensitive and sophisticated pallet.

taco bell is tasty and a friend to all diets.

scrappy-the dog formerly known as vodka- has returned home . he was gone for about a month and randomly returned one day a couple of weeks ago. to my knowledge, he was never a sandwich, sandwhich, or sand witch (i think several spellings are used. i'm not sure which one is correct but i do love the imagery of a dog-witch who dwells in some type of desert or beach or box [that is, a box with sand].)

i am leaving the beard off of my face thus exposing my collection of chins. for a brief spell -roughly 4 minutes- i was the ashamed, as opposed to proud, possesor of a mustache (please pronounce with syllable emphasis on the latter half of the word with a sort of smug tone). i took pictures and may get around to posting them some time, if i can live with the shame.

America and a Messianic Jew

First off, it is the 4th of July and I desperately covet your hamburgers and potato salads. Actually, I don’t covet them since I have become a vegan but I still wish you a happy 4th of July and shall give you one of my favorite stories of the holiday.

Some time ago some of my good friends and I were celebrating the aforementioned holiday. We were traveling towards Downtown Brentwood for some exciting firework action. It was a glorious night, not too warm, a nice breeze comforting us, full of patriotic bliss. A night such as this warrants a strict rolling-down-of-the-windows policy which we were all happy to obey.

As we pull up to a stop-light, my good friend Judson makes eye-contact with a man in an adjacent car. It was the kind of eye contact that demanded verbal engagement. We were all drawn to it. This moment was one that would be special. Call it a 6th sense if you must, but we all knew we were about to have a moment.

After little thought, Judson utters one word, proudly and boldly, to this stranger:

“America.”

Without missing a beat, the man shook his head in agreement, declaring the following:

“You’d better believe it.”

And we did, because that word stood for something. I could throw out the buzzwords but you already know them. Love it or hate it, America is a great place to live. Is it perfect?
Of course it isn’t. It is something for which it is worth being grateful.

Secondly, I feel I am long overdue in giving you an update on things here. Some of it I will be able to talk more about in the next few weeks and days and I ask you to be patient as I wait for the proper time. Some of it I can tell you about, but won’t because I’m a jerk.

I’m joking, if only a little. The homes in Gratieşti, which will serve as the transitional homes for boys and girls from the orphanage into independent life, are slowly moving along. There is some work being done on the girl’s home but the work that can be done is very minimal. Documents and paperwork is still the primary thing being done. I have no idea how long, exactly, this will take. It could be a few weeks or more. But they are moving along well and we seem to have a good company involved in the projects.

We have had a little delay in the furniture we have been building. I’ll be a little wordier on that later in the week. Right now it is just sitting, as am I. I’ve already read two and a half books this week (Into the Air by Jon Krakauer [which I absolutely was enthralled by], How to be Good by Nick Hornby [not as good as some of his other books but an enjoyable read] and Contemplative Prayer by Thomas Merton [I really like his writings on spiritual matters]. I’ve also been spending some time in the Old Testament (mainly Genesis), a place I wish I spent more time in. Hopefully we’ll get some news on the room this week. It has been nice to catch up on some reading.

Speaking of the Old Testament, I had the chance to spend some time with a Messianic Jew named Ghenadie who is an extremely talented painter from Moldova. Some friends of mine bumped into him at the national history museum and they began speaking.

It turns out that he is the president of an organization that works for spiritual renewal through the arts with the children of Moldova from a Christian perspective. They are active with the orphan population here in Chisinau. He was an amazing man and artist. For those of you who have been to Internat 2 in Chisinau and have seen the graffiti murals on the walls, you have seen one of the things his organization has done. He was an amazing man and artist.

We had the good fortune of going to his home to have a private showing of his work. As he led us into his home and studio, I was confronted with a painting of Jesus on trial in the synagogue that was about 8 feet long and 5 feet high. It was absolutely breathtaking due to its great spiritual depth and its style.

This painting was deeply personal. It had a wonderful Jewish perspective of a beautiful yet sometimes painful Christian event. He placed himself in this painting but put his back facing you, the painting’s audience, thus placing you in the theme. There was a visible dichotomy between light and darkness, heaven and hell, good and evil. It was theological and profoundly spiritual, which is hard in any form of expression to get across. I could try to describe it, but I would fail time and time again. A thousand words wouldn’t do it justice. I hope it will suffice to say that it is truly breathtaking.

He and his wife then proceeded to show us some of his other works. They were all amazing. There was one called “John” which I would love to take home. I can’t afford it though. That was what else struck me about this man. He had ideals. When asked how much he would sell his paintings for, he gave us high prices saying he knows they are high but doesn’t want to sell them because they are evangelical tools for him, especially the painting I spoke about earlier. They are ways he speaks of his “rebirth,” the only way he ever spoke about his salvation through Jesus Christ.

He doesn’t want to sell his paintings to someone who would just hang them on a wall to look pretty somewhere. They have stories to tell, deep meanings and dialogues to start about Christ. They are the way he engages a specific culture with the Gospel. How do you put a price on that?

Meeting Ghenadie was a breath of fresh air. I love seeing people who have blatantly been transformed and reborn by and in the Gospel and who express that occurrence in deeply beautiful ways. I hope to be one of those people.