Landing in Chisinau, Moldova was such a strange feeling for Mike and me. We had been on a plane for 17 of the past 20 hours and should have been apprehensive about being in a strange country, but somehow we felt oddly comfortable. We were met by Andre, the secretary of the Pentecostal Union, who filled us in on a bit of history of Moldova from his family's point of view while we waited in the airport coffee shop for our friend Dale, whose flight was just a half hour later than ours. Here is some of what Andre shared with us:

Did you know Moldova is the poorest country in Europe? Neither did we, and it wasn't really evident by the airport or by the cars people drive. Our host, Andre told us a joke to illustrate the mentality of Moldovans: 3 men died and each shared the story of their death. A Frenchman explained that he inherited a vineyard and drank himself to death. An American told how he inherited a yacht and drown. A Moldovan said, "I bought a Mercedes and starved to death." He told us that the village his parents grew up in was terrorized by Russia post WWII and that his mother and her siblings were raised with the fear their parents had as children. Multitudes of people left the country in search of work, leaving entire villages desolate and even leaving their children behind to be raised by extended family and who often end up in orphanages. I looked for statistics and found that one-third of adults in Moldova work in other countries and send money to relatives to live. That's the highest percentage of any country world-wide. The money from these workers is the only thing keeping Moldova from economic collapse. Most of them work in Russia in construction. Too bad there aren't more construction projects in Moldova, then they could stay home and work...

We were united with Dale on time, and Andre had in mind to take us to a classic Moldovan restaurant. The most classic Modovan dish is Mamaliga, which is corn porridge (think polenta) with salted cheese and pork-delicious! During the drive and during lunch, Dale and Andre shared story after story of marvelous things God has done in this country primarily through a man we will meet today, Bishop Victor. The Bishop has established the only Christian school in the country and it is so successful that the president of Moldova sends public school administrators to learn from them how it's done. Through the Bishop and through donations that Dale gathers and brings over, the president of Moldova and other people in positions of authority make the way smooth for their work to get done. For example, Dale works with Wheels for the World, started by Joni Eareckson Tada, to deliver wheelchairs to poor disabled people around the world. The gift of 200 wheelchairs is much anticipated and the government wants to make it a public event. This kind of relationship has been built over many decades and the timing of having the Moldovan government so eager to support the works of Christian efforts is an opportunity that God seems to be opening up for His workers. We're listening, LORD!

The next couple of days will be filled with driving from facility to facility throughout the whole country of Moldova, which is about one-third the size of Maine, seeing firsthand what works God is doing here and listening intently for why He has Mike and me here. Please pray for these works, for the people of Moldova and for clarity, so God may be praised!