Just received a note from Omar Zook about his teaching marriage counseling in Moldova. It is still uncertain if he will be able to return on Saturday as he had planned because of the massive airline interruption from the Icelandic volcano. But he did send this report about the ministry.
My time here has gone very well. I am able to accomplish all that I set out to do. It's been a real blessing to get to know more students. Yesterday I talked with a young man who is planning to get married to a Russian girl. He says the class is very helpful in helping him prepare. He will be living in a city in Russia of about 60,000 and there is one Baptist church in the city of only 13 that he will be pastoring. He said the obstacles are great--a lot of drinking, immorality, etc--but God is greater. His future father-in-law is the current pastor but is in bad health and almost died. They have been praying for another pastor to take his place. When he shared his plans to be the new pastor to a member of the church, he cried and said, "you are what we have been praying for for the past few years." He is praying that his father-in-law lives a few more years so he can have someone to mentor him.
Today I had the opportunity to visit a ministry here in Chisinau called "Beginning of Life" which is for girls who have been caught up in sex trafficing or sex abuse here in Moldova as well as other countries. They have a residential program for 6 girls, provide counseling for others as well as the residents, do seminars in schools, do a bi-monthly publication, etc. I was very impressed with all they are doing and with the vision of Vladimir and Julia who are the couple directing the ministry. Julia happens to have a Masters Degree in Psychology from the university here in Chisinau. Both she and Vladimir teach at the college in the Social Services program. It was a great opportunity to talk about the need for more counseling courses here at the college which is different than the Social Services program but there could be overlap. They stated that there is a strong need for more counseling and would like to see a curriculum developed for this. It was good to get their perspective because of the kind of work they are doing and to hear from someone who has training in Psychology and is doing practice (she is the one who does the counseling at this ministry). They see first hand the breakdown of families and marriages and the social problems that exist here in Moldova.
I gave the 2nd test today. I was surprised that the students did as poorly as they did. Many did fairly well, but a number did not do very well. It's hard to tell how much it's translation difficulties, how much it's that they don't study, or that the teacher isn't making things clear enough. One thing that really surprised me is that I outlined on the white board about 5 times the different components of marriage as I was working through them. I thought this would help them to get them clearly in their mind. On the test I put them as matching. There are 10 of them. For example, Commitment is the foundation of marriage, Family of Origin is the roots of marriage, Conflict Resolution is the growth stimulant for marriage, Forgiveness is the healing balm for marriage, etc. Amazingly, more than half of the students got at least half of them wrong. They continue to give positive feedback from the course. I hope it is being meaningful and helpful.
I have been enjoying Mihai's family as usual. They are very hospitable and accept me right into the family life. They are very gracious. The children are very courteous and friendly. It makes it nice to relax here and feel at home. Plus the cooking of Lydia is terrific.
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