Is it time to go back to Moldova yet???

It was good to see my family at the airport the other night when we got back to Nashville...

This trip was so amazing, but that word doesn't even begin to describe or do justice to our week in Falesti and Chisinau. At the beginning of the trip, I felt like I wouldn't fit in with the rest of the group because I hadn't been able to go to the team meetings because I was away at school at UT Chattanooga and I was one of the youngest people on the trip. I pushed myself to become involved and make myself feel like a part of our team. I quickly realized that I had been on mission trips with some of our team members before, either to the Appalachian Mountains, Brazil, or Moldova so I was worrying about not fitting in for nothing...

Falesti now holds a very dear place in my heart. The first day we arrived I saw the most precious little girl who would by the end of our time in Falesti capture my heart. Ludmila ended up being in the group of children I was working with, and I just fell in love with her and her older sister, Aloina. Every morning when we got there, Ludmila and Aloina ran to me and gave me the biggest hug and until the time we left they clung to me. Our last day in Falesti was a hard one for me. We were singing songs with the kids, and one of the last songs we sang was "Jesus loves me." It was such a sweet moment to hear "Jesus loves me, this I know..." in Romanian and English. All of a sudden, the room quieted down a lot, and with my arms wrapped around Ludmila, I could hear her singing...I leaned down and realized that she was singing in English. It was music to my ears and to my heart. It quickly became evident to me that from now on, that the children in Falesti would be just as important to me as the children in Chisinau. Tripp and I then took the 1st and 2nd graders to do crafts and our Bible study. Ludmila sat on the front row, put her head down on her desk and cried. I went to her and tried to get her to look up at me, but she kept turning her head away from me. I felt awful because I was doing everything I could to help and comfort her but she kept crying and crying...I walked away to help some of the other children with their pictures, when she came over to me and gave me a letter. She climbed in my lap, wrapped her arms around my neck, and held on to me for the longest time. She buried her head on my shoulder and cried even more. I just sat there and held her close until we had to leave the classroom. We walked back to the auditorium, and I walked over the the stage and looked out across the room full of heaven's little bundles of joy...Ludmila had run off with her friends to play, and with tears running down my face, I began to realize that He had called me back to this country for reasons beyond measure. I sat on the stage, looking for this little girl I had grown to love but I didn't see her. Out of no where, I felt these little arms wrap around my neck and I turned around to see Ludmila. She climbed in my lap again and I held on to her as I tried to fight back tears but as soon as I noticed she was crying again, the tears began to fall even more...we said our goodbyes and I made my way to the bus. I was waiting for everyone to load up, when I felt a tug on my coat. Ludmila's older sister, Aloina pulled me down so I would be face to face with her as she gave me a big hug and a kiss on the cheek. Ludmila came running up to us, and I held on to both of them. These two little girls took me by storm, and I knew at that moment that I would see these two again...

In Chisinau, I got to spend a lot of time with Eugen and the two older boys my family sponsors...Those are moments that I will cherish for a lifetime. Eugen would hold on to me, and tell me over and over again that he loved me. Everytime I began to cry, Ivan, Dima, Vasile, Artur, Ruslan, and Denis did or said something to make me laugh because they said that if I cried they would cry too...It's moments like these that I will keep close to my heart. The night before we left, I took Eugen to his room and gave him his Christmas presents. My sister, Bekah, had made him a blanket that in the corner had a heart with his name sewn on it. When I explained to him what she had done and told him how much we loved him, a tear fell down his cheek. It was one of those moments that seems surreal and it passed by so quickly. Artur, Ivan, and Dima came to the airport to tell us bye, and somehow I managed not to cry in front of them. Needless to say, by the time I got home Thursday night, I already had e-mails from the three of them...

I haven't even been home for 48 hours, and I am already getting excited about the next trip. I would leave today if I could, for God has heavily laid the children, both young and old, on my heart. I have grown from this trip, and I know God was speaking to me the whole time. So, as I head back to Chattanooga on Monday and prepare for my second semester, I know He will be working through me on campus. I know there will be many trials and tests ahead of me, but with His love and compassion, I am not alone...I can't wait until summer until I can go back to Molodva and see, love on, and share His love with the children who will forever be in my heart...

How great is our God!
~Jessica Beasley