Sunday May 12 was a very special day. Herb went back to bed after breakfast. Huffy went to church with Angelica and Adriana, and I went with Michael to a church in Brinza. Michael had to interpret for a special speaker who was attending the conference at Valdu Lui Isac, and was invited to preach in Brinza. We picked up Jimmy Martin from Frankfurt, Germany, formerly from Houston, Texas. Jimmy oversees English speaking church plants around the world for the Baptist Church. It didn’t take long for us to quickly connect.
The Brinza service started an hour earlier than Valdu Lui Isac, so after church there was over we came back so that Michael could attend Members Meeting at his church. We ate lunch, rested a bit, and then it was off at 4:30 for Adriana’s baptismal service. An hour of great music, and then Jimmy brought a powerful message on the Prodigal Son. An invitation was given at the end of the message, and six people responded. The Spirit was moving and tears were flowing. There was much rejoicing for the people who had responded as many of them were being prayed for for many years.
And then the baptism service. There were 10 people being baptized, mostly young people in their mid to late teens, with a middle aged lady and an older gentleman amongst them. As Jimmy and I discussed after the service, while the methods in many churches may vary, the meaning and intent was the same. It was a time of celebration, and afterward there were many flowers, hugs, pictures and blessings.
Michael and Angelica hosted a meal for friends and family afterwards at their house. There was lots of good food, and a lot of fellowship. We ate too much, stayed up too late, and fed the mosquitos too much. We all finally went to bed sometime around midnight. Michael, Herb and Huffy left for Chisinau around 2 am for the early flight. Michael returned at 8 am, we had some breakfast and then Michael went to bed to catch up on some much needed sleep while I caught up on some emails and writings.
We were not able to keep a couple of appointments we had hoped for on Monday, due to the holiday, Parents Day, where people go to the cemeteries where they been cleaning up the graves for the past week or so, to honor their ancestors, eat heartily, and drink too much. Most of the day was spent recovering from the busy schedule we had been keeping.
After supper we went to Youth Group, where I got to say goodbye to the many young people I have come to know. Michael also asked me to share with the group, so I was able to bring a message of hope and encouragement from Phil. 1:6 – that God, who has started to do a great work in your life will never stop doing that work, and will complete it in you. It seemed to be a timely word, as several youth thanked me afterward, and said they felt like I was talking directly to them.
Tuesday Michael and I visited Igor and Vera Costelaenu who we first visited on our March trip. ASM had given him money to feed a sow he hoped to re-breed to have piglets to sell and keep a couple to raise gilts. He was not able to get her re-bred, trying a number of times, and if she would settle now, the piglets would be born at a time when it would not be good to sell them. He was concerned about what he should do, wanting to be a good steward of the feed he had purchased to feed her.
I supported his desire to sell her now, and to use the feed he had purchased to feed the piglet he kept from her. He was grateful for our support, and has been using our rations and has seen significant improvement in the way his pigs are doing. The feed he purchased will be sufficient to feed the gilt until this year’s harvest, so will be a good investment in helping Igor to grow quality animals to support his family.
Igor’s horse had a healthy colt, he sold his beef calf in order to purchase some alfalfa to feed his other animals this coming year. The house he was hoping to buy to start his farming operation is no longer available, so he is in discussion with the mayor about a vacant spot in the village that would be a suitable place to put farm buildings. I continue to be impressed with Igor’s love and gift of working with animals, and will continue to keep in touch with him so that we can be of assistance to him in his future endevors.
We then visited with the manager of a large farming association in Burlacu. Petru Mihov owns 240 dairy animals, 105 which are milking, and 600 sheep. He is an agronomist who manages the 550 owner association that farms 1,800 hectares of vineyards, orchards, field crops, and seed production. Their crops, orchards and vineyards were absolutely the best I have seen at this point in all of Moldova. He is using Plant Growth Regulator technology, and we were able to communicate our understanding of cell division, shortening plant internodes, ect.
He admitted that he is not a cow man, but his Dutch genetic herd looked good, and their 15 liter/day production is respectable, but nowhere near the potential if good feed, cow comfort and other management systems are in place. We didn’t get to spend as much time talking about the dairy as I would have liked, but I am invited back this summer to talk more about how we could help him.
We then drove to Budest, where we are staying at CCI for the rest of my time in Moldova. We left early Wednesday morning for Balti, and met with the Ph.D research scientist at the Institute for the Center of Field Crop Research. Ion Boaghii has spent a number of years researching various tillage systems and cover crops. He was very knowledgeable and helpful in how we may go forward. He also may be able to help us get some experimental seeds into the country to do some plot experiments.
After that appointment we visited Nicholai in Iablona to look at the No-Till project. He had poor burndown on the cover crop. Where he had applied double amount of glyphosate he had excellent control. Apparently the product is either not as strong as indicated on the label, or there is ph issues in the water. We were able to
