Maureen, Christine, Matt, Aled, Carwyn, Alice and Katie, a group of ordinary people from Heath Evangelical Church in Cardiff, set out to Moldova to work alongside the local Christians and help run a camp at an institution for people with disabilities. Here is a day-by-day account of their experiences.

Wednesday 19 August

We have finally arrived in Chisinau, Moldova, after months of planning and an arduous twenty-hour journey from our homes in Cardiff. Anea, Liliana and sixteen year old Galina (our Moldovan hosts) warmly welcomed us into their cosy little flat about an hour ago, where we were greeted with lots of hugs, snacks and drinks. It is now half-past eleven at night and we are just about to go to bed in the sitting-room (there are no bedrooms here). We’re all too tired to think straight.

Thursday 20 August

Our team has been temporarily split up – Alice and I are staying just outside Chisinau, and the others have travelled north to Casa Matei in Sofia. I’m writing this from Casa Bucurei. It is a village house where six Christian women – trapped in a Moldovan institution for a number of years – were re-housed three years ago by a Christian charity. It’s so beautiful here, clean and spacious, with a large garden and lots of animals (chickens, ducks, rabbits, a cat, a dog and a pig). We shared a Moldovan meal with the women earlier this evening and the past couple of hours have been spent playing basketball with the children next door, which has certainly tired us out!

Friday 21 August

A busy day in Casa Bucurei, consisting of painting the ceilings! My arms and legs are aching after standing on tiptoes on precarious chairs and tables, while stretching upwards, paintbrush in hand, as high as I could. Matt, our final team member, arrived at Casa Bucurei at about eight o’clock this evening. An equally busy day for the others in Casa Matei (a similar house where five men from Badiceni have been re-housed). Aled and Carwyn put up a new fence, while Chris and Maureen helped out in the house and took the men for a walk. It was wonderful to see the men smiling and they were clearly all house-proud!

Saturday 22 August

This morning, Alice and I did some card-making with the women. While we girls were threading pretty beads onto cards, Matt spent a gruelling morning repairing fences and chopping wood in the garden. But this afternoon, while Matt went shopping with Anea, Alice and I accompanied some of the women up a steep hill to an enormous vineyard. We spent a good three hours up there, in the hot sunshine, cutting down the long grass and raking it into big piles. Our backs are aching tonight and we have blisters on our hands – but it was good to work alongside the women.
Today’s task for the others at Casa Matei was to build a duck enclosure. They had no proper materials but with a bit of imagination managed to do it. They played football in the afternoon with some local youths and the three able-bodied men – wonderful to see such interaction. Some friends from the church have just been round, and we finished our evening of fellowship with some singing.

Sunday 23 August

This morning we attended a small church in Trusen, where the women of Casa Bucurei all worship. It is wonderful and challenging to see the faith and passion of the Christians here. Matt spoke a word of encouragement about the love of God, and then Alice and I joined him at the front to sing a couple of songs. After a delicious lunch of rice, chicken and bread (no Sunday roasts here!), we spent a relaxing afternoon in Chisinau with Anea and Galina. We’re back in Anea’s flat now, and have just had our last showers until Friday. We’re leaving for the camp in Badiceni at three o’clock this morning!

In Casa Matei they heard a challenging message on ‘the fear of the Lord’ in the small church in Sofia. Afterwards, Olga (one of the carers) told them that it is only through this godly fear that she is able to be patient with the men and praise God each day for including her in His work. They had a wonderful time of prayer and singing this afternoon.     

Monday 24 August

Well, here we are in Badiceni. After a long, bumpy drive through the early hours, we reached Casa Matei in time for  breakfast. It was great to be reunited with Maureen, Chris, Aled and Carwyn. After a time of prayer, we set out for Badiceni, where we spent the morning going through the entire institution, individually giving a bottle of pop and a packet of biscuits to each inmate. You could tell that they were not accustomed to receiving gifts. I was shocked to see that some people were bed-bound and never seemed to see the light of day. The levels of care and hygiene were poor; it was distressing to see beds so tightly packed together and so many helpless, neglected people.

Tuesday 25 August

The end of a very busy day. We started bright and early, with a session of ‘gymnastics’, followed by a time of prayer. Our team is very diverse, with seven of us from Wales, a Russian-speaking family, seven Romanian-speaking Moldovans and Bakhtiiar, a young man from Kyrgyzstan who is training at the Bible college in Chisinau. There’s lots of translation in our daily Bible studies, yet it is wonderful how united we all are in Christ.
Our first organised ‘programme’ at the institution went smoothly. Soon after arriving, we sang some songs, someone gave a testimony and then Aled gave a short gospel talk. It was difficult to keep the attention of the inmates, but despite the noise and chaos, we pray that some seeds fell on good ground. After the talk, we all branched off; some of us organised the crafts, some the sports, and others took the opportunity to wander around and speak to people individually.

Wednesday 26 August

It is another gloriously starry night, and I am reminded of the opening words of Psalm 19: ‘The heavens declare the glory of God’. The beauty around us here is certainly a contrast to the hardships and chaos of the institution. It is heartbreaking to see so many people who seem to have nothing apart from the clothes they are standing in. They are crying out for love and attention in their different ways – some will hug and kiss us, and refuse to let go. Others sit alone, for hours on end, rocking back and forth on the grassy banks. Never have I seen people who are so obviously in need of God’s love and never has the gospel seemed so urgent and so real.

Thursday 27 August

Flowers made from tissue paper were a big hit with the people of Badiceni this morning! It was good to see their creativity. This evening, we went to a nearby church to present a short programme, where we sang a selection of English, Romanian and Russian hymns. It was such a blessed time of fellowship. This evening, those brave ones amongst us are going to sleep under the stars. How amazing to fall asleep looking up at God’s creation and then to awake to the sunrise the next morning.

Friday 28 August

We are now back in Chisinau (clean for the first time in five days), but our thoughts are still with the people of Badiceni. We are trusting the outcome of our futile labours to the Lord – He alone is mighty to save. This morning, after our programme, I was privileged to meet a Christian lady who has been locked in Badiceni for most of her life. Yet her testimony to the grace and forgiveness of the Lord Jesus was wonderful. Although she has received no teaching or real fellowship, she is clearly walking with the Lord. It is deeply encouraging to see that the Spirit is at work in such dark places, and we pray that she will continue to be a light to those around her.

Sunday 30 August

It feels strange to be going back home. We all feel so comfortable and at home here in Moldova. We heard a fantastic sermon on Jonah in the little church in Trusen this morning, and then Liliana took all of us, along with her seven foster children, out for lunch. When you take into account the fact that they barely have two pennies to rub together, their generosity and self-sacrifice is truly remarkable. This trip has challenged and blessed us all in so many ways, and I think we all feel that we have received much more than we have given. What a privilege it has been to serve alongside our brothers and sisters here in Moldova!

Katie Harries