You Hold Me and Never Let Go

First off Happy Father's Day to all you Fathers out there, even though it's Monday here, but hey in America it's still Sunday. I thank God so much for my Father and for the way he has provided for my family. Not only did I always have anything I ever wanted or needed, but my Father raised me into a Christian home that I will forever be thankful for. He has raised me to love the Father Above. Although this has been something that has been a struggle in the past, as my love for the Lord grows now I'm so thankful for the all the truths my Father has taught me. So thanks Dad.

This has been an absolutely amazing week, filled with moments that I will always hold in my heart. New relationships have formed, and old ones continue to grow. The longer I'm in Moldova the more I realize how much God truly does have in store for me. I wouldn't be surprised if this year leads me into pursuing full time ministry. But we'll see what the Lord has in store for me.

I know my last post says we were leaving for the camp on Saturday, but we're not leaving until tomorrow now (Monday). We will be arriving with the kids on the bus, and I am so excited to get to meet them and get to know them. My specific job for the camp is to take pictures that tell stories, and then writing the stories that go with the pictures. I'm so excited to have this job because I will be able to use 2 of the skills God has blessed me with, photography and writing. Writing has always helped me in my life to cope with life's trials, so to be able to use it to tell the stories of God's work here in Moldova will be amazing.

The first American group has also arrived. It's a group of 5 from Arizona, and they will be with us at the camp helping out. I look forward to getting to know them and seeing how God uses them with the kids.

Well a decision that wasn't 100% has finally be made. I will be staying for the entire year for sure now. After getting here and being her only 2 weeks I know that this is the direction God wants to take my life. I was already preparing it before I even left America so that helped me make the final decision. Starting next week Olga (who works for the seminary and goes to KBC) will be going with me and helping me with all the steps to getting a living permit. There is a lot of steps to the process and a lot of waiting so we must start it now before my 90 days on my passport is up. I know that God will guide the process and will make it happen. I'm so excited and it has finally become real to me that Moldova will be my home for the next year.

Well that is all for now and considering it's 3:30 in the morning and we are leaving at 9:00 I should probably try to get some sleep, which means Claudette who is currently next to me in my bed asleep and snoring is going to have to move! But when I get back from camp on Saturday I know I will have plenty of stories to share and probably a few pictures. If any of you have access to Facebook there are lots of pics on there as well as videos.

Feel free to leave emails while I am gone this week bethany.a.campbell@gmail.com

Much Love and God Bless,

Bets

Dear Moldova, you are already becoming my new home

Now although Midland will always be my first home, I will gladly claim Moldova as my second. I have been here a little over a week now and I already feel God moving significantly in my life.

We have been pretty busy with different things, but mainly our Russian studies. Us 3 Americanos have been going to the seminary every morning this week for Russian lessons with our friend Allina. Although I have gotten really frustrated with the language I have made some progress with it. The biggest help so far has been when Allina has us read scripture in Russian out loud. The first day we read John chapter 15. That same day before I went to bed I read John chapters 14-17 as a challenge from a friend and I realized that chapter 15 was the same. I had read this in Russian just the same morning and didn't know what it meant, and struggled to even pronounce the words, and yet I still knew that it was the same chapter. It just showed me that God's word is the same no matter what. It doesn't matter what country you're in or what language is being spoken, God's word always stays true and faithful. This was a pretty cool realization that I know will carry on to the rest of my stay here.

So far my expectations have been exceeded. I have already been able to build some pretty great relationships here. 2 very important ones being with my roommates Angelica and Claudette. We are able to laugh and joke around, but also get serious and do what we need to. We have been doing roomie prayer before we go to bed at night and it has been a huge blessing so far. I've strived to make prayer a bigger part of my life, since none of this would be possible without prayer. I have also began to build upon past relationships started last year and begin new ones as well. I love the people here, and I feel like if you can just break the ice with someone and get through that first awkward meeting then they are the nicest people ever. This whole week we have been able to enjoy some great fellowship with our pastors from the church. This has been such a great time to just enjoy each others company outside of the church and stress of the busy schedule. Needless to say that this has been an amazing week, and I feel like each day gets better, which is a very good thing!

We are preparing for camp, we are going on Saturday to help clean everything up and get it ready for the 50 kids who will be arriving on Monday. There were only 25 kids last year, so the number doubled! I'm so excited for the camp since it's like the first big event of the summer schedule.

Well I will post one last time before I leave on Saturday, but until then hope you like the pics!

Much love and God Bless,

Bets

"For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus." Philippians 1:6 "В твердой увенности, что Начавший в вас доброе дело завершит его ко дню Христа Иисуса." Филиппийцам 1:6

Leadership Camp AKA Awesomeness!!

I haven't even been here a week yet and I already know that God is going to use me in mighty ways that only he is capable of and is going to change my life dramatically for the better.

We just arrived back from the camp today which is about an hour and a half to 2 hours from the city and our apartment. As soon as I arrived at the camp I was greeted by familiar faces. And I finally got to meet my 2 roommates Angelica and Claudette. I know that I have been praying and others have as well that we would be able to connect and get along and I don't think that is going to be a problem at all. We seemed to bond almost immediately, especially when we shared our testimonies to each other. I can feel God pulling us closer and closer together the more we get to know each other. The camp was great it was just a time to relax and spend time together before the busy summer schedule starts.

The 3 of us have also really been working on our Russian. The biggest struggle for me though is rolling my r's. I know it sounds silly but please pray that God will show me this skill soon, because without it Russian is so much more difficult! But with lots of practice hopefully I will be able to at least communicate on a basic level.

Other than that all is good! We have youth meeting tomorrow (Saturday) and of course church on Sunday. Thank you all so much for your thoughts and prayers! I couldn't do this with out God's grace and all of my prayer warriors.

more to come!

much love and God Bless,

Bethany

I Made It!!!

Well now the interesting posts can start!! The day that I have been waiting for came and past. I finally left for Moldova, and I got here safely. I'm currently in the living room of my apartment on my roommate's computer ha
I left Sunday morning from Midland and arrived Monday morning Texas time and Monday evening Moldova time. All my travels went as planned, well except for an over weight fee for my bags, but I guess that was expected.
I was greeted at the airport by 2 of the pastors from the church, Eugene and Sergei, and 2 of my friends I met last year, Vlada and Artium, who even brought me balloons (:
I was dropped off at the apartment, and let me tell you, it's AWESOME!! I will post pics soon once I can get my computer up and running. It is way more than I expected, and will be the perfect place to live while I'm here. Still trying to get settled in and used to actually having my own place though ha
Today I leave for the leadership camp. Eugene will be picking me up sometime after lunch. Everyone else that I will be working with this summer are already there and i'm very eager to go and join them!
God has been so good so far, and I have felt the power of all of your thoughts and prayers. They are all appreciated and such a blessing. I would have never of made it this far without them.
I'll return with my roommates on Friday morning, hopefully then we can figure out my computer and I hope to be able to post some pictures and video tour of the apartment.
Please pray for my health and that I will continue to get rest and adjust smoothly to the time difference. Although I slept great last night my body thinks it's the middle of the night right now since it is in Midland but here it's 11:20 in the morning. Also pray for the language barrier, that I am able to pick up some basic Russian phrases and am able to communicate. So far i've just been listening intently pretending like I know what's going on. Also pray that God will use me to glorify him and to move in the hearts of the people here. Thank you all so much.
Well I'll post again on Friday, feel free to email between now and then!
bethany.a.campbell@gmail.com
much love and God Bless, Bethany