So the first thing I noticed when I came to write this post is that everything is in English again! Before when I was in Moldova all the tabs and links and stuff would be in Romanian and I did my best to guess which button I needed, but now they're in English again and it's exciting!

So I have been home for about 3 1/2 weeks now, almost a whole month. That's really not a whole lot of time, but sure does feel like it has been longer.

The last weeks since returning back to America have been full of adjustment. Adjusting to the time difference. Adjusting to living back at home with my parents. Adjusting to the culture. Adjusting and trying to get a routine and schedule going. Adjusting to being able to understand everything everyone is saying again. Needless to say that there has been a lot of adjustments and I'm still facing many of them.

I was gone so long and was living my life in Moldova and everyone here were also living their lives, and you know a lot can change in 15 months. I was kinda caught off guard on how much different things felt. For a place that I was born and raised in and lived my whole life before moving to Moldova I thought it would a natural thing to come home and feel at home. But this time coming home, I felt like the stranger like the one moving to a foreign land. Wait I thought I already did that I just got back from a foreign land! It was an odd feeling to have.

BUT even through the hard and overwhelming adjustments, and missing my Moldovan family so much the Lord has continued to stretch me and teach me and bless me.

He just never gives up! It doesn't matter that I left Moldova and am not on the mission field there anymore, I'm on the mission field ALWAYS! He will use me just as much and even more here if I am obedient to Him. I know the Lord has so much in store for me while I am home and beyond that and I truly believe He used Moldova to help prepare me for what He has for me next. I am NOTHING without Him no matter what country I am in.

Since coming home I have picked up some of my old babysitting jobs, and have been getting involved at my church here in Midland. I have been keeping in touch with some of my Moldovans, and they seem to be doing well, busy with the new year at seminary.

A very awesome thing happened a couple weekends ago. Hellen ,who if you have been keeping up with my blog was a huge impact in my life and will forever be a sister to me, was baptized! As well as two boys Vanya and Sasha who were in Tanya and I's English/Bible class. It was so cool to see the pictures of them taking the next step in their faith. I'm so excited for them and can't wait to see what God will do with them next!

Well I promised a post after I got home so this is all I could come up with.

Blessings to everyone and thank you to everyone who was praying for my coming home!

Bethany

Well this is it!

I'm upon my last hours in Moldova. I sit on my bare bed looking at an empty room and packed suitcases. Many emotions are going through my head right now, and not really sure how to process them yet, so I have a feeling more blogs to come when I get home to the states.

I am so thankful for my last 15 months here in Moldova, and can't really even begin to describe how much they really have meant to me. This year has shaped me in so many ways, and I will forever be thankful.

Thank you God for bringing me here to Moldova and using me to bring glory to your Kingdom. I know you're not done with me yet.

Blessings,

Bethany

Next time you hear from me, I'll be in the states!!!

He Never Stops.

I come to this post broken, but in a good way. A way that I can only thank God for. The last few weeks really have been a whirlwind. We had kids camp with a team from Arizona and Montana, and then my church from Midland brought a group and did an inner city sports camp, and this week we have been preparing for the youth camp which we leave for on Saturday.

I felt the Lord working so much in my heart and life, which is partially why I haven't sat down to post because I've been trying myself to sort through all my emotions and thoughts and such.

Basically what it comes down to is I have finally said yes to something I have running away from for a while now. I kept saying, "O I'll take this year in Moldova, the Lord will show me a lot, I'll go home go to college and get a job maybe in the arts, photography or even teaching or counseling", sounds like a pretty well laid out plan right? ha well that was MY plan not God's, that's for sure. I Wonder when I will finally realize that I can't make my own plans, He rules in my life and His plans always end up being better anyways! So I am officially devoting my life to full time ministry. It's scary, confusing, exciting, and joyous all at the same time. I know that a life of full time ministry can be difficult but there's nothing else I could see myself doing than serving our Lord and Savior. All of His children are called to serve Him, but what Moldova has showed me is that I'm meant to serve Him in all I do no matter where I am, full time. I had felt this call before and always seemed to push it away, but after serving here in Moldova I don't want to push it away anymore, I must embrace this call. Things seem so much more clear now. Anything I wanted to do with my life before never felt right but I just have this feeling right in the pit of my stomach that this is right, and my heart is so heavy with Joy. I know the Lord is in this, and I'm anxious to see where He will take me next.

I went on an adventure today with a group of girls and when we were driving back to the city tonight my mind was swimming, as it had been all day, well for the last 2 weeks actually. I turned on my music to a group that was a free download off of a Christian website Come and Live, and hadn't listened through the whole album. Of course the 1st song struck me and I'm even listening to it on repeat as I write this post.

These are the lyrics that particularly struck me-

Great Awakening- Explore

"I am determined to know nothing but You, demonstrate Your truth

I am set on spending my life on You, there's nothing to lose

Can I explore the depths of Your kindness

What else could I do,

I'm moved with a love, there's nothing to lose

My mind is made up, I want to stay unglued,

living to see You move

Nothing can hold me back anymore"

I'm amazed at how many different ways God makes His ways sure to us. I have seen a lot of confirmation the last week or so and it's overwhelming and amazing.

So please pray for me as my "original" plans have taken a turn, but one that I'm excited about, because they aren't my plans anymore, they're His. I want to do this His way, not mine. I'll still be going home at the end of August, but instead of starting at Midland Community College in January as originally planned I 'm going to look into some different options, more than likely a Bible College where I can get more specific education for ministry. I know I need more knowledge in order to serve Him as best I can. It's in God's hands and we will just see what He does next!

Blessings to you all this week,

Bethany

I know where I'm going

Having been here in Moldova over a year now I feel like I'm looking through different eyes than a year ago. I leave my apartment and don't have to second guess which direction I'm supposed to go. I go to the grocery store and actually know what is in what I'm buying. I walk in the park or in the mall and see a familiar face. I feel at home when at church despite the language difference. I don't feel like I live in a foreign country anymore. Now Moldova isn't another country far away from home that I moved to for a year, it is my second home that holds a special place in my heart.

This makes me think of my relationship with God, and how I want the same things between God and I. I want to know which direction He wants me to go and not second guess Him. I want to live my life to glorify God. I want the familiar faces around me to know that God is hope and the reason for my smile. I don't want God to feel foreign to me, but my best friend, Father, and hope. I want to be close to Him, not far away. I want to know without doubt that I will be going to home to God. My real and true home is with Christ.

I love how things I notice everyday no matter how small are used by God to show me something else. I feel like even if after Moldova I go to school for 10+ years it won't compare to the what God has taught me here in Moldova.

Gearing up for camp next week these next couple of days. I will be going with the early group on Saturday to help prepare everything for the kids arrival on Monday. The American team from Arizona arrives on Saturday, so please pray for their safe arrival. I pray that God will completely surround the camp next week and the His truth will prevail.

O and we had a great 4th of July celebration on Monday. Claudette, Ashley, and I went to Irene's for home made cheeseburgers, french fries, Coke, and ice cream sundaes. It was great to spend the holiday with my Moldovan mom and my fellow American roommates. Good times in Moldova!

Much much love,

Bets

Something YOU can do!

So if you know me you know that I have many t-shirts of an organization called To Write Love On Her Arms. They are a non-profit organization who aim to present hope and find help for those who struggle with depression, addiction, self-injury, and suicide. TWLOHA exists to encourage, inform, inspire, and also to invest directly into treatment and recovery.

TWLOHA started just a few months after we lost my brother to suicide over 5 years ago, so what this organization does means a lot to me and I love seeing the difference they make. They aren't advertised as a Christian organization, but it's obvious that the Lord has used their desire to help others to make a difference.

Something you can do today if you have a Facebook account is click on the banner below and vote for them to win 250k through the Vivint Givesback Project!

Something that I really care about, so I thought I would help get the word out!

Hope everyone is having a blessed week!

Bets

Click below to vote!

to learn more about TWLOHA go here:

To Write Love On Her Arms

Humbled and Blessed

Christina (who I met last summer) and her dog Beam

Nicedia playing cards

Hellen sharing the gospel

Prayer

Hellen and Tanya sharing the gospel with the evangecubes

Showing Nadia a map of the states and where Texas is!

A group of us on the 2nd day

beautiful Nadia

Vanya!!! Love this kid

The Moldovans playing baseball

Volleyball

Basketball

Food deliveries to the elderly

Lidia Claudette and I

Artiom packing the food bags

So my time here in Moldova in general has been full of humblings moments and blessings, but I really felt that this was the theme for last week. Last week was our first project of the summer. We didn't have a team come in for this one except for Ashley's (the new intern) father. So it was up to us Moldovans! (and yes I do consider myself a Moldovan now)

We delivered food in the mornings to families that Claudette and the elderly ministry had visited before and then in the afternoons we had a sports camp at one of the nearby schools.

One of the most humbling and biggest blessings about it for me was watching Hellen. You all have heard me speak about Hellen before. Last summer she accepted Christ at the youth camp and since then I have formed a special relationship with her, as well as she has with the church and others. She helped us out for the week and was so eager and excited to do whatever she could. On Wednesday afternoon at the sports I was playing basketball with some kids when Serghei called me over and said "I need you to take pictures now, Tanya and Hellen are sharing the gospel to those kids." I was a little caught of guard, but looked over and sure enough they had a group of about 10 kids around them and were sharing the gospel using an evangecube. I immediately just got this feeling of the Holy Spirit and how it was moving through these 2 sisters. Hellen was translating Tanya's words into Romanian, but then the next day Hellen used the same cube and did it herself to another group of people! This is a girl who is the same age as me and a year ago she didn't even have a relationship with God and here she is sharing the gospel to kids and teens. Amazing and definitely one of the highlights of the week.

I could probably go on and on of all the things that happened last week, but I figured I would share some pictures. You know because they say a picture is worth a thousand words.

We have this week next week and then on the 11th we have our kids camp 2 hours away near a city called Orhei. Please pray that preparations for that go smoothly and as planned, and that God would bless that time with the kids.

God Bless to all,

Bethany

Well I made it!

It has officially been 1 year since I arrived in Moldova last summer! This past year has flown by, and the Lord has done so many things through this country and it's people in my life and in my heart. There were times when I didn't think I would make it through the year and that I wanted to go home. And then there were other times that I felt time was going too fast and I never wanted to leave.

The Lord has shown me more things about myself and other people and most importantly HIM than I could have ever imagined.

This year has truly been amazing and I will never regret it and wouldn't trade it for anything. I may be a bit behind in college, but the lessons I have learned here in Moldova aren't even comparable.

I made this video that starts with the present, pictures from just a few days ago, all the way back to a year ago when I first arrived. I hope you enjoy taking a look at this journey that God has had me on all year.

To you who are reading this and to those who are not, Thank You. The prayers, encouragement, kind words, advice, and support has been amazing and more than I could ever ask for.

God Bless to you all.

I pray that God blesses these last couple of months that I have in Moldova as much as he has blessed the last 12.

Much love,

Bethany