Monday, August 3, 2015

Moldova Mission Trip

This summer I was had a great opportunity to join our church in a mission trip to the country of Moldova.  CrossRoads has been working with two specific areas of the country by providing building supplies for their church building and funds to purchase land.

The journey begins... headed out of Dallas on a 777... getting it loaded up to hop over the pond.  Flew to London to sightsee for a couple of days before heading to Moldova.  

Dallas direct to London... first stop, Stonehenge.  Took a four hour bus ride because traffic was so bad and it was pouring down rain the whole time.  Took three pictures and left. 

Stopped at St. Paul's cathedral... no photography allowed inside the cathedral :)

London Bridge has indeed not fallen down. 

Fun street in London. 

Stopped in Vienna, Austria on the way to Moldova - fields were all so pretty and in all directions.  

Chisinau is the capital city of Moldova and founded in 1436.  Formerly part of the Soviet Union there remains heavy Russian influence.  

The predominant religion in the country is Russian Orthodox.  The churches are beautifully constructed and plentiful throughout.   

A new Russian Orthodox church being constructed.  The inside of these churches have no seating, no place for a service, no opportunity for fellowship and no Bibles.  They have priests, icons, pictures, saint cards and lots of boxes to pay your penance.  

The priests refer to Christians as repenters (as a derogatory term) which is ironic because Scripture clearly states we are to repent.  


Dean is the missionary we have partnered with.  On the map behind are the areas they have national missionaries doing work.  The green triangle at the top of the map is an area there has been no evangelical witness for over 500 year.  

A large way to open doors in the villages is with food packages.  

Here is the church in Panasesti we were able to work with for the week.  The pastor, Petru, is in the blue shirt behind me.  

Pastor Petru's garden filled with peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers, and onions.  

Doing foundation work around the perimeter of the church.  Kenny is supervising over on the left.  

The guys working on the roof were at the very edge and not tied off to anything.  No OSHA regulations in this country.  

Petru is a pastor and a plumber.  

Large piles of dirt had been piled up in the foreground when we arrived and this shot was taken before we left.  

Larissa prepared lunch for us each day - she is Petru's wife.  

Ice cream is sold in a chub... and tastes good.  

Lozova is another village CrossRoads has been able to support.  

Restaurant and Museum we ate at our last night that serves traditional Moldovan food.  

Gig'em Bears!

Moldova produces large amounts of wine and there are many vineyards throughout.  

They also love their mayo!  Each shelf has different flavors and varieties.    

Group shot in the Munich, Germany airport on our way back to London.  

The Golden Cross pub was our last meal in London.  Went with Fish and Chips to end it like the locals would.  

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