Becoming Comfortable with Culture...

Immersed in a culture unlike our own, we are becoming more adapt to the way of life. We ride hours a week in public transportation. We walk miles a day in the city or villages. Eat weird things in the villages, and we love it. Befriend people 6000 miles away from home. Try to learn a language we have barely heard. Love on kids that we have never seen. But what amazes me is that although the conditions are different and many Americans would say they are worse, all that we do becomes more than the conditions. Its the people that we are immersed in this culture with that makes all other things seem transparent. Its not like America in many different aspects. The smell of bus exhaust and the feel of the bar in your hands as you hold on for the bumpy bus ride. The taste of different foods and hot tea every morning. Always drinking water out of a bottle, or from a village well. However, our brothers and sister are here, and they are all we need. The day escapes us faster the longer we stay and our relationship with these people and each other grow in leaps and bounds. Even tho we are only a little over a week in, I can already see the hardest part of this entire mission trip...Leaving. We have lived in the city. The wealthiest parts of Moldova, and we have also seen the poorest parts. We go from a small village house with no electricity, running water, and indoor pluming. To a 5 story mall with shops, air conditioning, and a bowling alley. Two completely different worlds within one country. At night I try to process the whole day but I fall asleep before I can make it pass lunch. Its amazing to see how God works through us without us even knowing it. Also, how God protects us and takes good care of us here. I feel we are being taught much more here than we are teaching. Although this might be a little selfish, Ill let God teach as much as He wants.

In Christ, Andrew