2.5 Weeks Away: Retreat, Meeting, and Babysitting

Friends,

We are now only 18 days away from our departure for Moldova. We can not believe that we are so close! All of our planning is coming together and I dare say that we are all falling in love with each other, Brian, and Moldova!

Wednesday night the team went to Jill's house for our retreat. It was a great time for us to be together as a team. We played games, ate snacks, told stories, and got to spend time with our Father together. At one point we had a speed dating game that helped us get to know some fun facts about every person. Having that simple time together is an aspect that will play to our advantage once we arrive in Moldova. We welcomed in Thursday morning with homemade (Aunt Jemimah) chocolate chip pancakes and some alone time with God.

Thursday evening we had our last team meeting. We finalized our schedule and talked about most of the logistics of the trip. We included a packing list and schedule. It would be an understatement to say that we are excited for this trip. At our meeting, we discussed some of the different "programming" aspects we will be having with the Grace House Girls. Some of the nights will include: sharing our testimonies, making/serving the girls dinner, having a spa night and so much more. We will also be spending some time with the boys' equivalent of Grace House, Boys2Leaders. While with the boys we will challenge them in a game of soccer (little do they know, we have a D1 soccer player on our side!) and will then be sharing with them what it is like to respect women and take care of them. This aspect of our trip is a new component that we are thrilled about. Brian also informed us that we will have one day where we will be meeting a member of Parliament!

We are so excited to be on this journey.  Thank you for supporting all of us.

One month and Moldova Bound

Friends and family,
Welcome to our new blog. In this blog you will be able to track our team's preparation, and progress for our mission trip to Moldova. You will also be able to follow our trip while in Moldova (or after, depending on Internet access.) Feel free to share this blog with anyone who would be interested in our mission.

We are officially one month away from our departure to Moldova.  Because of flight costs we had to bump our our trip back two days; meaning that our trip is now from May 17-27. On Thursday we had our weekly meeting.  This Thursday we agreed on our fundraising babysitting night, learned about the Moldovan culture and spent time in prayer and scripture as a team. I am very pleased at the way that our girls are coming together as a team. Our Thursday night meetings have easily become one of my favorite parts of the week. This week our JMI representative and team member, Brian, got to attend and teach us some of the traditional Moldovan greetings and told us all about the culture. As he introduced us to some of the girls from the Grace House, our girl became giddy. I looked around the room only to find smiles. A few minutes later we all were practicing the language and had our notebooks out ready to learn. I can't wait to continue growing together and working with our team along with JMI. We are in prayer for our girls and the girls in Moldova. This trip is truly a blessing for all involved.

Fundraising track:

• Our team was able to make over $600 from our concession stand at Singarama.
• We will be hosting a babysitting night at Tusculum Church of Christ on May 29 from 6pm-10pm. All ages are welcome.  Minimum of $15 per child. Donations are welcome.
• Many letters have been sent to area churches on behalf of our team.  If you would like your church to receive a letter please contact Amy or April. 

Thank you for all of your prayers and support.  Pace (peace to believers).