http://www.harvestmoldova.com Andrew & Nancy Raatz, Elissa, Natalie, Lauren. Missionaries to Moldova Thu, 13 Nov 2008 10:39:46 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en “If I were a rich man…” sang Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof. If I were a rich man, then I could be a self-supported missionary! If I were a rich man, I wouldn’t stress about support during recessions. If I were a rich man, I would not need to stare at needs ... http://www.harvestmoldova.com/archives/367 “But what can I do about it?” Those seven words have been echoing in my head lately.  An intern expressed them after describing a visit to one of our Moldovan village homes.  She was describing her visit to see Danny and Aliona, young children, raising themselves in a filthy, rustic house.  ... http://www.harvestmoldova.com/archives/345 “Fill your bathtubs, buckets and barrels.” That strange order was repeated countless times last week in our city of Chisinau.  The news was reporting that our water would be off for four days, and no one knew when it would happen.  Due to the extreme flooding, bridges were covered, houses were ... http://www.harvestmoldova.com/archives/138 Life stinks.  Literally. To be technically accurate, life stunk. Our septic tank backed up about 2 weeks ago, and we were left with an interesting dilemma.  No one knew where the tank was located. A previous owner had placed a tank in the backyard together with an elaborate drainage system.  No one ... http://www.harvestmoldova.com/archives/85 It was 5:47 am.  I really should have been sleeping.  A team from Florida had left at 3 am.  I had laid back down to sleep at 4:30 am.  The week had been extremely full, morning to night. Then something woke me up. I thought it was the neighbor chopping wood in ... http://www.harvestmoldova.com/archives/75 “Goodbye.” I am soooooooo sick of that word. We are back in Moldova finally, but during our last two months in the US, I must have said “Goodbye, see you in 2011” approximately 1,329 times (but who’s counting). We had a farewell dinner with the church and goodbye lunches with family and ... http://www.harvestmoldova.com/archives/14 The significance of the miniscule is truly enormous. One tiny word consisting of two small letters has had substantial impact on my mission and my missiology. That word? “My.” I don’t even know when that word crept into my missions vocabulary. It wasn’t always there, but its addition makes for meaningful change. For ... http://www.harvestmoldova.com/archives/13 Christmas is almost here, racing down upon us like an out-of-control train. Within 24 hours, our children will be twitching masses of excitement, dying to unwrap mysterious packages under the tree. Empty packaging will soon be strewn around the room, as I unloose the bonds that hold tiny toys, freeing ... http://www.harvestmoldova.com/archives/12 I am homesick. Last Saturday, I gazed at my photos of Moldova for the 329th time. Instead of blankly watching them, immune to their impact, I suddenly felt a tremendous feeling of homesickness grip my heart. My pictures of Moldova are not generic faces of missions, but people I know, with ... http://www.harvestmoldova.com/archives/11 Goodbye. That small word seems so final, so terminal. At the moment, I strongly dislike that word. We are once again living in the stage of ìgoodbyes.î Even though we are returning to Moldova after a year in the states, there is still a process of saying goodbye. We are closing out ... http://www.harvestmoldova.com/archives/10