Adventures WorldRace SethBarnes Sponsorship Giving

| by archiveworldraceblogs

Another great blog by my teammate April Duncan
____________________________________________________
Our ministry doesn’t have a name.  There’s no office.  There’s no website.  It’s a man with a vision and a deep intimacy with God.  It’s a man who is seen as a light by everyone in the community.  It’s a light so trusted and so strong that the community daily and willingly sends their kids to him even though his beliefs and “type” of Christianity (our type as well) is nationally recognized as a cult. 
 


Any religion in Moldova that is not Orthodox is placed on the Cult Register of the government.  In a country full of orthodoxy and a very traditional (and large) elderly population, the spirit of religion (practices replacing intimacy with Jesus) is pretty strong.  Yet, this town sees Andrei, our contact, as an honorable and compassionate guy.  The school board has backed him when others made accusations that he was teaching propaganda to his students.  The town asked him to serve as chief of police.  He’s known by most people, especially the kids, in town and highly esteemed by them.

 
Andrei’s testimony is a life of faith.   
 
Late one night God told Andrei to leave his good job in the capital and to move 4 hours north to a small town on border of Ukraine.  He resigned the next day and moved his family to a town where he found himself jobless and homeless.  He got a job that pays 25% his previous salary.  He, his wife, and his toddler son lived with the pastor until God worked another miracle for their house.  Their present landlord was looking for a Christian family to rent this house to for free.  THAT is unheard of here.  Thanks to them I’m sitting on a porch looking into a beautiful yard as I write.



BC (Before Christ) Andrei was an alcoholic.  At a party, while being drunk, another guy talked him into going to church with him.  He did.  The pastor preached on the prodigal son, and something stirred in Andrei telling him that he was this prodigal son.  He immediately gave his life to Christ.  He now runs a drug and alcohol rehab center in a small village nearby since alcoholism is a very common problem in Moldova.  



Ugh…was our first response when we were asked to kids camp again.  (And we STILL couldn’t communicate with the kids.)  However, I watched Andrei interact with the kids one day.  Instead of having an agenda full of songs, stories, lessons, prayer, and “meaningful” activities, he gave the kids anexperience.  He gave them an experience of genuine love and acceptance, which clearly goes farther than neat organized lesson plans.  It kept the kids coming back for sure.  I was reminded of the power of love.  (Huey Lewis and the News is now playing in my mind…)  The simple power of pure love that opens doors and creates opportunities that weren’t there before.  Yet his love was without agenda.  His love was for the sake of loving, for the sake of sharing the incredible love that we are all offered by God.  He loved because Jesus loved him.  That simple.  



Often we enter a ministry with an agenda.  We enter with a game plan.  We think we have the answers to lead them to Christ, to lead them to freedom, etc.  We try to walk them thru a plan or steps to get an outcome.  We forget the simple, overwhelming power of God’s love and how that simple power has changed us.  We all need love.  We were created to need love and acceptance, and the only love and acceptance that will satisfy that need comes from God.  What a simple reminder of our simple calling – to love God and to love others the way he loves us.