Last three days in Moldova

On Monday morning we went into Chisinau with Phil who had to go to his Romanian lesson at the language school which is very close to our Andy's office.  We arrived about 10.20 and Peter Haheu came down to meet us and show us round the office.  They have 20 people working for Amdaris in two office suites in a very nice new office building, right in the centre of the tourist area near the Cathedral and the museums and theatres.  Next door is derelict piece if land with a pair of amazingly ornate gates, chained up leading nowhere. It was nice to meet the guys, and we picked up a bottle of wine for Andy, but Peter's English was not as good as we had thought and so we decided not to wait around for them to complete their ' ISO 9001:2008 audit' and thanked them for showing us around and went off sight seeing.  We found a cafe just round the corner and then walked past the archeology and history museum and the theatres, lots of banks and looked round a sort of department store.  We went and had another coffee and something to eat in Creme de la Creme and met up with Phil after his Romanian lesson by the cathedral.   We had bought a potted chrysanthemum for Helen, not realising just how heavy it would be. Phil carried it home for us on the trolleybus and minibus back to the OM Centre. I had a 90 minute teaching session with six students on the level two of the Challenge into Missions programme in the afternoon, teaching on Servant Leadership. The question and answer session found us looking at what it meant being close to God and how the way our fathers treat us can affect how we feel about the Lord.  That evening we walked down to Matthew & Helen's.  The sun was setting and there was a lovely red sky.  Had a proper meal with vegetables carrots, cauliflower and broccoli and roast potatoes with a tasty chicken dish, followed by stewed apples from their garden and custard, real food, much appreciated! (not that we haven't really enjoyed Maria's food at the Mission Centre here.  It does tend to be quite high carb in Moldova.  I dread to think how much weight I must have put on here.). After the kids had gone to bed and we were able to have a good chat, Matthew drove us back about 9.30 pm.  The next morning the six CiM students were waiting for me to do my second teaching session with them on The Importance of Mission.  The first years arrive tomorrow and they will be leading groups over the next ten weeks,  especially when they go out to do practical work in the villages.  They seemed quite responsive to the message, looking at some of Jesus' mission statements and the great commission and finishing with lifting up our eyes to see how ripe harvest is that they would be going out into over the next few weeks.  I prayed prophetically  over each of them after the session, which they responded to well.  Some understood what I was praying and I hope that they will be able to fill in for those that didn't.  Two of the students are brother and sister, twins, from a Baptist church in the north, both have excellent English. After lunch Sandy went to help Helen who was not at all well and helped with their home schooling and played with David and James, allowing Helen to go and have a nap.  Sandy came back quite exhausted. I prepared my last message with the team Bible study tomorrow morning on Bible Meditation, and also had a nap! Tuesday evening was team prayer night where everyone eats together and then they have three to four hours of prayer - although it is more like ten minute reports with a few minutes of prayer between.  They always begin by praying for various counties if the world and this week  it was nations with a significant Hindu  population, such as Nepal and India.  After the refreshment break I shared about ABC and then they prayed very fervently for us. We are both feeling very tired so we slipped out if the PM early to get to bed.  Wednesday mornings is the team bible study.   Eight messages in eight days!  Sandy had suggested I did the session on Bible Meditation, which I prepared yesterday afternoon.  After explaining all about it I got them meditating on John 15:14-15 after which we concluded by people praying out their meditations.  Sandy had walked round to Helen's as she was still not very well, and helped the girls with their home schooling.  I read through the lecture notes for WORDplus and began putting a Keynote presentation together.  Might be able to get some more done on the plane home. Had lunch with the team and the students.  Maria had made a delicious sweet and sour chicken dish with rice that the Moldovan students found rather strange and not to their taste at all. Walked down to Matthew & Helen's for dinner and a last evening with them. Up early already packed, said our goodbyes and are now in the airport waiting our flight home. A great visit to Moldova.