HEY!! Does anyone even read this anymore?? HAHA! Cuz I don't! Anyways, I'm definately not in Moldova anymore. I came back July 21st and I'm starting college tomorrow!!! I'm living in Martins Mill with my awesome cousins!! I had a blast in Moldova and made a lot of friends and learned TONS more of the language, taught English galore and got into trouble I'm sure. N, just kidding. I was at an english camp for 2 weeks. We had a lot of funa nd learned MUCHO!! Right now I'm in East Texas. I have a car now given to me by my lovely grandmother. It's a nice one. Don't ask me what kind.....It's a silver one......I like it a lot!! It doesn't have a CD player though of which I hope I'm getting for my birthday (which is September 2nd). Not like one installed but just a little cheap Wal-mart one and an adapter thing so you don't need batteries. That would be nice. I got an e-mail from Sharon today. She had 2 root canals a few weeks ago and anyway now they are both infected....she says her life rocks...sounds fun to me! By the way she might come live with me sometime soon! Hopefully by next semester I'll have an apartment in Dallas. Yeah, um, my school is so small there are no dorms. So, I have to drive to Dallas (70 miles I think) every Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. FUN FUN! Yeah, I got lost today on my way home from Athens. I ended up in Eustace........If anyone reading this knows this area, please don't laugh. There's a good reason......Well, that's all the random facts of lately that I can think of. Except that I miss my cell phone!!! I ahve one now but it's one of those trac phones...those are no fun!! anyways, leave me comments!! BYE!

back in moldova

HEY! I’ve come back from the dead!! I took my SAT and scored 1170. Not so bad…..English was my strong point…math, the lowest….but it’s ok…. Now I’m back in Moldova but just until July 21st. I’m working in camps all of this month. Last week was the first one and it was AWESOME!! It was an EFNL (English For a New Life) camp. The church I go to does this program with students who want to learn English. It’s learning English through the Bible. It’s pretty cool. We also did an inductive Bible study on the book of Judges. That was cool too. Have any of you ever read that book?? It's SO BORING!!! But we learned about the traditions and customs and history that was going on and each day learning more and more about each of the Judges. It makes it much more interesting and vivid. We also learned how today is a lot like the days back then and how we can’t stand for the immorality and sin that is happening now and how not to accept it as “normal” or thinking “that’s their life, their choice”. We learned that it’s just not right and we shouldn’t allow it to be. We learned how to be leaders. GOOD leaders!! Vasile was the leader for this camp and he is also an associate pastor (correct me if I’m wrong Holy Trinity people) of the church I attend here called Holy Trinity. He’s SUCH a great teacher!!! We need more Vasiles in this world! I also met A LOT more people and practiced my Romanian A LOT!! It was cool to build more relationships and to grow closer to some of the other people who I just knew their names. It was great…I'm a little sad to be leaving now because I have so many great friends!! ok, I could go on and on but I’m tired and I don’t want this to be any longer than it already is. Wouldn’t wanna bore you!! So, Noapte Buna everyone! Love and miss ya! Leave me mssages, PLEASE!!! Tell me anything!! A random joke…a random story..a random ANYTHING!!!! Talk to you soon!! ~Christina

HEY HEY HEY!!! I'm taking the SAT early in the morning and I'm scared to death!!! I don't remember Geometry and the highest in math I ever did was Algebra 1 and that was 2 years ago....BUT, my school said all they want is to see how high my English is so they'll know what level in English to put me in. So, I'm ok in English......That could be good AND I'm not taking any math classes at the school I'm going to. Oh, the school I'm going to is The Criswell College. I went to see it and have meetings the other day and it's a really nice school and there's a Starbucks across the street and I went and visited this church I'm thinking of attending. They have services in Romanian and lots of "young people" is what he said and half the congregation doesn't speak English. I'm wondering how they are surviving.....I also learned that there are about 10,000 Romanians in Dallas!!! That's amazing!!! I'm so excited!!!! I am in the right city..... Anyways, I gotta go...Leave me comments!!! BYE! ~Christina

HEY!! I'm not even sure if ANYONE even reads this anymore but anyways I am in the States right now visiting my family for a while and also taking care of some college stuff. This is my cute little brother in his Mexico bathtub. HE'S SO CUTE!!!! Right now he thinks he's a dog and he barks all the time and follows our friend's dog around the house. He's only like 9 months old but he's so cute!! Sorry I don't blog guys......For some reason I just really don't feel like blogging when I'm in Moldova. I guess there's just too much to write about....or maybe I feel like there's nothing to write about or maybe just don't know how to explain anything. I don't know what it is. When I'm here with my family actually WANT to blog. Wierd huh??

So, I'm going back to Moldova sometime after June 3. Don't know the exact date. I've gotta get some ticket problems squared away. So, if you do read this, leave me a message and let me know what you're up to. I am really interested in yall's lives!!! I miss you guys so much and really want to know what's happening in your lives. What God's teaching you, how you've been encouraged somehow or just anything!! Tell me about your bad day or the greatest day ever!!! I'm really really interested!!! Or.........maybe I'm just nosy.....I don't know but I really do want to know!! :- ) ....So, I hope you really will!! I know I don't return e-mails either. I could make up an excuse for that one but I don't think it's good enough. I'll try.....

well, talk to you guys later!! Hope to hear from you guys soon!!!

Love,

Christina

hey my people! Sorry I'm such a lazy blogger......actually I like it but I think it's boring with no pics..........anyways, I've been asked to update....Ok, what am I doing........ Lately, just hanigng out with Shawn Pierce and teaching english........it's still really cold here but now it just rains instead of snows. Although there is still snow on the ground....unbelievable!!!! I don't think winter will EVER end!!!!!!!!! I can't wait for summer and flip-flops!! Seriously!! I miss warm weather and the sunshine.....I don't think the sun even exists anymore!! Anyway, I miss my family abunch. I'm going crazy doing this whole Moldova life thing. It's so crazy how differently we think. Sometimes I get so depressed by the way people live over here. It drives me absolutely NUTS!!! I can't imagine how they are satisfied with thier way of life! I was thinking about this the other day but someone told me that they are happy with it and it works for them. Then I started thinking, I can't change that. I can't "Americanize" them or even explain what "life is all about" the way I know it to be which seems simple and obvious to us. They also can't understand the way we live. So, I've decided instead of letting it drag me down and not understanding, I'll just keep being ignorant and asking lots of questions and just walking around being me. I don't want to think about it aymore becuse it just confuses me and I get depresed and angry. I've also found out that your words don't mean anything here, but it's your actions. Moldovans have this way of watching your every move: the way you walk, what you eat, what you wear, the way you talk (not what you say but your tone and what you do with your eyes), the way you look around, the questions you ask. They are very suspicious of everyone as if you TRYING to hurt them. This is another thing I'll never understand but it's the way it is. So, I'm understanding more and more that the only way to reach out is to live life like Jesus. They'll come to you. You can't tell them something because they won't believe it. They watch you and your life. It's like what they've told us in youth group, you can't just say you are a christian, you have to live it. Almost everyone here will tell you they are christians and that there is a God because the religion here is orthadox an they've all been baptized. The Bible even says that the demons believe in God and tremble. Basically the only thing to do is to just go about your life and watch what you say and do. When you're walking down the street, when you drop your cell phone in the mud, when you find out you just got robbed (which happens pretty often here.) I know the people are watching me. They let me know it everyday. I've been told that I smile when I walk down the street. That's not a normal thing here. I just have to let Jesus be the one they see. I have to be very careful making promises, even small ones. Trust is a hard thing to earn here. EXTREMELY HARD! This is mostly whatI've been learning here, about people. I was thinking the other day that I don't think I want to be a misionary anywhere else!!! No where long term anyway because I never want to go through this again!! I've already learned about Moldovans and it's the hardest thing. I don't want to learn another culture. I would die of stress...............I'm glad I've gone through it and still am but I never want to do it again. Other than all that sad stuff, I'm having a pretty good time. I like to go to the internatt (orphanage) every now and then and see those guys. I LOVE talking to those kids!! It's AMAZING knowing the langauge!! I'm still learnig it but they help in a lot of ways......I'm learning a lot more russian too. That's fun!! Russian is the coolest sounding language EVER!! I like to speak romanian more because it's easier but knowing that I can understand and actually make the russian sounds and get what I want is pretty cool! It's so difficult but I like it alot!! I guess that's about all........I do have to say that if I don't get some taco bell soon and a big cherry coke with sonic ice, someone will die! no, just kidding.....I would love to have that though...Do you know how long it's been since I had ice??? I don't even remember.......... I thinkI'm just blabbing now....and Shawn says it's 12:53...I gotta go.....SEE YA GUYS!! Love from Moldova, Christina

wanna see some snow?? and speak some romanian?? (or russian?)

HEEEYYY!!!!!!!! It's me and Inna again.........and we're really bored and this is like the most randomnist picture ever. ......Anyways.....tomorrow is church and I think i'm going to Holy Trinity......i've been in chisinau for like the past 3 weeks and am going back to Comrat monday or tuesday.......I have to get a shot on monday too...lots of fun!!.....Tim Bedi is here looking for a house.........for those of you who know tim bedi.....he keeps making up wierd random songs.....and we played phase 10 this morning........i'm feeling really random today.....actually i'm thinking about going back to Comrat......We have to get back in the schedule and I don't speak russian and it's stressing me out a little bit......I'm thinking about Edna and my family......that adds to it.....(Pray for Edna by the way.....she's not doing well)......She's like the sweetest lady ever!!!!!!! Ilie says hi.......he just crawled up under the table and sat by me.....He is GLUED to this thing!! (Ilie is the boy that Joe and Marilyn Swing sponser)....He wants to type something for you.......~Ilie types: " cum o mai duceţi?" Cool huh?? It means "How are y'all doing?"....Yeah......It's cool.......anyways....I guess that's all.......by the way....this picture is in the Stepenenco's front yard....It snowed like almost a foot that day or maybe the day after ....I don't know........It stayed for like 2 weeks and it's still here but now it's dirty and mushed down and EXTREMELY slippery!! Lots of fun!! The first time I fell (I can show you the exact spot by the way), I had a HUGE bruise on my knee and my arm was sore for days!!!! anyways...I think I'm gonna go down stairs and watch a TV show called 24 or something like that with the peoples hanging out here.....and Inna's making hot chocolate....SWEET!!! By the way.....I think I'm sick of snow...at least the dirty stuff and sliding around all the time.....I don't remember what it's like to walk normally and be hot.....It's really wierd....anyways..........talk to yall later!!! ..................P.S...Hello and love ya and miss ya's to Kenzi, Sharon, Marla, James, Rachel, Joshua, Jonasan-tootie, Jesse Baby, mama, daddy, Ashley Lovell, Currey Creek people...........All the groupies that I know that were just here.....That I didn't get to say BYE too!!!! Talk to ya soon!! Love, Christina

Romania!!

Hey guys!! I'm here hanging out with the kays for Christmas.......It was so good to see them!! On christmas day I played in the snow with all the kay kids and we had a blast!! Don't let Daniel NEAR snow!! He's not that sweet little boy we all know when it comes to snow! Anyways, I've already been to the place where the kays work(not allowed to say the name) a couple of times.....It's pretty neat what they are doing there. Right now they go there a couple of hours everyday and read the chronicles of Narnia. Yesturday the kids were too excited about vacation and going home and so hyped up on christmas candy that they couldn't sit still and would come in and out of the room screaming and laughing and playing.......All the kay kids are much bigger and Kristina talks like a normal person now and doesn't have that cute little baby voice anymore......She still has her cute laugh though.....The kays are excited about being here and are enjoying learning the language......They're doing pretty well with that! Keep them in your prayers! Love from Romania! ~Christina

Benjamin & Costea

Hey Everyone! These are two of our english students........The first ones I met. They have a sister too named Olea but she wasn't there the day I took the picture. They live in Dejghenja and are in the Tuesday class...I told them that they would be on here and now they're excited....They are pretty good at english and FULL of questions!!! Hope you enjoyed this! I'm going to try and put more pics of the students here for ya! Have a good day! Love from Moldova! ~Christina

HEY EVERYONE!! Happy Holidays and stuff!! Sorry I haven't updated.........Actually the reaon is that I think it's boring to read unless you have pictures to go with it.....The Moldovan connection very RARELY allows me to do that! Anyways, since "update Chrisina" people want an update. = ) So, lately I haven't been doing much....I teach English on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday and on the weekends we go to Chisinau (the capital) to just hang out and relax from village life. Oh, and it' COLD!!! You people who are coming in January, It's colder than it was last year!! Course it's not January yet but, we'll see! My friend Oxanna told me about this church called Holy Trinity...They have english services on Saturday nights for some kids who are learning english. It's SOO COOL!! It's my new youth group..I love it!! Then there's another church I go to sometimes called God's design..It's a russian church...It's like a curch for youth and they have Bible studies and then a concert.......So UN-moldovan!! The concerts are more like secular concerts in the states. I mean, there's kids EVERYWHERE smoking and drinking but it amazes me how many come to it!! There's like hundreds of Teens and college kids from all over Chisinau that go. It's AWESOME! Those of you who have been here, know what I'm talking about! The people at this church are just excepting the kids how they are unlike the rest of the christian Moldovans....they are loved there and all the God' design people are EXTREMELY friendly!! And Best of all, they are wittnessed too........It's unbelievable!! It doesn't feel like Moldova at all but then I realize that God has His eye on this country and they really are cared for! It's just so great! AND, it's a Moldovan who started all this!! He's a really neat guy....... So, this weekend sometime, I'm gonna upload a picture of 2 of our english students and tell you about them. They are SOO excited! I told them that I have this website and that they'll will be on it. So, you'll have to come back and look at that.... = ) O.k, well......I think that's all.....I'm going to Bucharest, Romania to spend Christmas with a family that used to go to our church.....I'll probably take a train so, that'll be fun.....I'll tell ya about that lata!! Talk to you guys soon!! Love and miss yall!! Christina By the way, CERI people that are coming, CAN'T WAIT TILL YOU'RE HERE!! I miss yall SOOO much! Moldova is just not the same without ya!! LATA!!

Hey! I'm in Moldova and not doing much right now. We're just hanging out for a while in Chisinau before we go to Comrat and then I'll start teaching english..... Until then...................I was with my friend Inna today and we got a little bored......Inna (eenuh) heard from her friend who heard from the pastor's daughter that if you put 2 tablespoons of instant coffee in your coke, then "it'll make you feel wierd".........So, she tried it......Here she is opening the coke getting ready to mix it up. That's her brother Sashka next to her. Anyways, afterwards, she said she was all depressed because it didn't work.....She CRACKS me up!! I have a video of her drinking it but I don't think it'll work on here. Even if it does, I don't want to try it cuz this Moldovan connection is so stinkin slow!! It took so long just to get that picture to download!!! Anyways, EVERYBODY!! Have a good day! Inna says: "You're mom goes to college!" Talk to yall soon! Sorry nothing exciting is happening to write you about!

pictures

Hey!! Just wanted to post some pics! Have a great day! By the way, I'll be using this blog in Moldova. So, if you want to know what I'm doing there, Come here. (If you click on the pics, they'll be bigger) This one is my cute brother!! I took this pic! He's so CUTE with that adorable little smile!!

And this is me, my sisters, and some friends in Sharon's room watching a movie..........

And this is me and my friend Osiel somewhere in the middle of nowhere Mexico

Tu Eres TODO-PODEROSO!........

.........Eres GRANDE y MAJESTOUSO! Tu Eres Fuerte y invecible, y no hay NADIE como Tu!! That's a song that we sang in churh today. It says You are all powerful! Your GREAT and Magnified! You are Strong and Invincible, and there is no PERSON like you! That's just the chorus but it's such a BEAUTIFUL song!! I had to write it somewhere........ So, this morning at 3:00 a.m (as the custom in Mexico) we went to our pastors house along with the youth group and sang the traditional birthday song and others that are his favorites in front of his window. Then he invited us in and we ate cake, shared some "thankful for our pastor" stories, and they made the white people sing happy birthday. It was awesome. Then he went back to sleep and we all sat on the front porch and were swallowing as much Hot sauce as we could. Actually I think they were having a blast watching us white people's eyes water up. IT WAS GREAT! Then around 5:00, we all went hom and woke up a couple of hours later for church. Actaully we had an AWESOME worship service and then ate chiken and celebrated his birthday with a few programs from the kids, everyone came to hug him, and everyone had to sing a song for him. (like the youth, the women, and then whoever else wanted. Anyways, the service........One of the pastor's sons studies music in Tampico(Mexico) and can play like every instrument EVER! So you can imagine that he's pretty good......yeah, anyway so he can't come home very often but when he does the worship services are so great because he does them. ANYWAYS, I was up all night with them watching them practice(uhh, before we went to sing at 3 in the morning), they sang all these great songs and it was like going to a concert (for me). Worship services around here are rather dull........Anyways, Wish you could have been here! It was an AWESOME DAY! Heather! You're missing out!! Love ya! Christina

"Ministry seeks to rescue potential victims of sex trafficking"

Summer camps run by Texas Baptist volunteers are the highlights of the year for many Moldovan orphans like these girls. (Photos by Marla Rushing) Ministry seeks to rescue potential victims of sex trafficking By Craig Bird Baptist Child & Family Services

CHISINAU, Moldova--Homeless teenaged girls vulnerable to victimization by the international sex slave trade are the focus of a new ministry of Children's Emergency Relief International. The Chosen for Life Project in Moldova aims to make a difference in the lives of teenage girls who are too old for the state orphanage system and are left homeless, said Steve Davis, executive director of Children's Emergency Relief International, the overseas arm of Baptist Child & Family Services. These girls are prime targets for intentionally deceptive newspaper ads that promise high-paying secretarial or nanny jobs in Europe or the Middle East--just a few of the tactics being used by the organized crime syndicates that prey on them, Davis explained. Moldova provides an estimated 60 percent of the tens of thousands of women involved in prostitution rings throughout Eastern Europe. "Chosen for Life is a transitional living program as distinguished from an independent living arrangement. It will be a residential program with a strong vocational component," Davis noted. Children's Emergency Relief International, which has worked in Moldovan orphanages since 1999, recently purchased an unfinished three-story house in Chisinau that will house 25 girls comfortably and serve as a center for another 50 who can access its services. Grace House, as the 10,000 square-foot structure is being called, is the first of what the agency envisions as a network of transition houses scattered throughout the country, linked to local Baptist churches and with ongoing relationships with Christian volunteers from the United States. Children's Emergency Relief International is involved in a campaign to raise $100,000 in response to a $50,000 challenge gift from Houston businessman David Weekley to complete and furnish the building. First Baptist Church of Huntington contributed $35,000, and Trinity Baptist Church in San Antonio gave $15,000. Several individuals also have made substantial donations. Volunteer Christina Gandy, from Curry Creek Baptist Church in Boerne, saw the complexity of the situation first hand during a Bible study at a Children's Emergency Relief International-sponsored camp this summer. During a Bible study in their cabin about Rahab the prostitute, she made the comment that prostitution was wrong. "In the United States if you said something like that in Sunday school, no one would think much about it because it wouldn't apply to their lives," she said. "But the girls started interrupting and saying things like, 'But Rahab was providing for her family' and, 'It's not wrong if you doing it for your family and if it's all you have.' They were very serious--and they were all under the age of 13. That's what broke my heart. Some of them knew what it was like to have a mother in prostitution. It was survival. It was their life." Chosen for Life intends to break that cycle. As a result of relationships developed among Children's Emergency Relief International volunteers and the girls over the past six years, the agency already has a client base of girls who are or soon will be "in desperate need of shelter and training in marketable skills," Davis explained. Another key concept of Chosen for Life is a vocational "incubator" program that will form up to three companies during a two-year cycle, where the girls, working with the agency's Moldovan staff and local Baptists as well as American volunteers, will develop their own businesses. The goal is for the teams, upon graduation, to carry on the work independently. The first such project, a sewing/quilting operation called Wonderfully Made will produce quilts and quilted products while adhering to a strict business plan. A second opportunity already has girls and boys assembling chandelier crystals for Schonbek Worldwide Lighting at an anticipated monthly salary of $150 per worker, "which in Moldova is a decent wage," Davis noted. But as promising as the vocational and educational payoffs are, it is the spiritual promise that most excites Davis. "We already have seen amazing results from the long-term sponsorships many of our volunteers have with orphans," he ex-plained. "Most of these kids have never had an adult to love them, an adult they can trust, and they respond hungrily to that. "In Chosen for Life, that type of relationship will be enhanced by professional mentorship and even more opportunities for them to see what faith in Jesus Christ means to their American friends, since part of each transition house will be housing for the volunteer teams. "Then by linking the houses to local Baptist churches, there will be natural bridges to other Moldovan believers. I just can't get the feeling out of my head and my heart that this can be a key to evangelizing the entire country as these young women learn about faith as they learn job skills and move out into society and share that faith with others."

pictures, memories

Sooo, Jen sent me these pics of us in Moldova last summer. CUTE!! Here's one of Me and a kid named Mihai. This one's on my desktop. We have to be related!! He's the only kid there that seems like my sibling. When we've been together too long, we act just like brother and sister (it's all him of course). But then, when I don't see him for at least 2 days, I MISS HIM!! Yeah, you know how it is, brothers, can't live with 'em, can't live without 'em. Here's one of Me, Jen and Emily outside the "back door" of an old monastery. Yeah! It's a cave and we're standing on the edge of a cliff! Fun Stuff!

And some cute kids from the orphanage in Faleşti. The one with the little shy smile and purple sweater is named Cristina. I hung out with her most of the time. She's SWEET!

My Hole

Sooooo, I've been watering plants at someone's house while they're out of town.....The only way to get to thier garden is to go through the house and through another door outside to the garden. Another thing, Mexican doors (if you have one) can only be opened from the inside of the building. Anyways, so I'm OUTSIDE in the garden and I accidentally shut the door.........Now I'm locked in the garden with high stucco walls all around me and NO ONE knows that I'm there! I found a piece of wire and tried to wedge it between a pice of glass and the door frame to try and unlock the window and stick my hand through to open the door. That wasn't working, so then, I thought about climbing up the clothes line post and somehow geting on the roof and then flagging someone from the road to get me out. That was a dunmb idea since the key was locked in the house and the only other windows were where I was......in the backyard! So, it was up to me to get that key out. I tried all the windows to see if they were unlocked and one was. The curious things about most windows here is that they have those bars in front of them. Kind of like jail...There's NO WAY ON EARTH ANYONE (not even a newborn baby) could fit between those bars! Well, after wandering and thinking, I decided that that was my only way out. (The bars were horizontal by the way.) Well, the one on the bottom was kind of rusted over and just a bit caved in the middle. I tried to see if my head would fit in but when I tried to pull it out my ears got stuck. After fighting with that thinking I was gonna die, I finally got out praying the whole time. So, I had the bright idea of climbing up these bars and standing on the very bottom one to see if it would bend in anymore. Then, I started jumping on it. It opend up a little more but not enough. So, I found some kind of broken shovel stick and put it between the two bars trying to lift up on the top one while pressing the bottom one down. That didn't work. So, finally, (I think in the panic mode) I tried with all my MIGHT to pull those two bars apart(I found out that when you're scared, you can do just about anything). Then I jumped on it some more, pulled some more until finally I could stick my head in and out with only slight scratching on the ears. So, before I began my dive in, I began praying and wile sticking my body in I decided to go feet first because there was a crib right in front of the window I could grab with my toes and "help" pull myself in. Praying the whole time and getting stuck in a couple of places and then kind of wiggling loose, I was in the house!! I began laughing and thanking GOD I was alive! Then I looked to make sure no one was watching..............Anyway, so, I'm alive and not stuck in a hole......THE END!

JOSH AND RACHEL!!

SPIDERMAN!! (Jonathan)

MORE PICS!!!

Hey guys!! Today it's rainy and I thought these pics looked cool........You can see the clouds on the mountains in the background........It kind of reminds me of those pictures that you see of foggy China........The first one was taken right by my dad's office........Thought you might want to know.....

JESSE BABY!

Here's some cute Jesse Baby pictures!!!

This is my brother Jonathan.........He's SOOOO CUTE!! I'll post more pics but I'm just messing with it right now...........see ya!