So we are on our 4th month now here on the
World Race. Man oh man, I cannot believe that we are almost a third of
the way finished with this 11 month long journey. Time flies whenever
you are constantly moving around from country to country, and the Lord
is just revealing Himself to you day after day. Well my team and I have
just arrived in a small country in East Europe called Moldova. If anyone is like me,
then they have never heard of the beautiful country of Moldova and
would have never even known that it existed. As soon as we arrived we
had cultural debrief with Richard Sanders, main contact for World Team
Moldova, and he explained to us a little bit about the culture and the
people here.
Full country name: Republic of Moldova
Population: A little over 4
million. About the size of my hometown Houston, Texas!
Area: 33,700 sq km
(13,143-sq mi. slightly larger than Maryland)
Capital city: Chisinau (pop.
755,140)
People: Moldovan/Romanian
78.2%, Ukrainian 8.4%, Russian 5.8%, Gagauz 4.4%, Bulgarian 1.9%, other
1.3%
Language: Moldovan (virtually the same as Romanian),
Russian, Gagauz (a Turkish dialect)
Religion: Eastern Orthodox
98.5%, Jewish 1.5%, Baptist 0.5%… and most people are Orthodox by culture
rather than by faith. So they will say that they are Christians but they
do not walk out their relationship with the Lord.
Government: Republic
President: Marian Lupo
Head of government: Prime Minister Vladimir FILAT (since 25
September 2009)
Moldova is the
smallest of the former Soviet Republics but one of the most populated.
It is currently known as the poorest country in Europe as well as the
saddest country in the entire world. After speaking to many people from
Moldova, we have seen that there is no hope for the youth and oppression
just fills the streets. After declaring independence in 1991, Moldova
has been a republic rather than part of the Soviet Union which operated
out of socialism. So they have only been free from communist reign for
10 years now. Because of this recent change, there is a huge rift
between the elderly generation and the youth. The elderly want security
and so they want to know that they will always have food on their table
and a place to stay. Communism provides this security, and so they want
to go back to the former ways of Moldova. Well the youth are growing up
and realizing that there are no jobs and that there is not really a
future here in Moldova for them. They want change, and they want
opportunity.. something that communism will not secure them. So there is
a struggle between youth and the elderly. But there is hope for
Moldova, the people are extremely hospitable and warm and friendly.
Here, they care more about relationships than anything else and they
genuinely want to get to know you and invest in you. After driving
across the country, we have seen that the entire country is covered with
vast pastures and shepherds herding their sheep everywhere. It is very
peaceful out here in the country.
This month we are working with World
Team Moldova where Richard Sanders is the head contact and he set us up
with a local church here in Vulcanesti, Moldova. We are working with the
New Life Church Pentecostal where Pastor Marin and his family have
shown us extreme hospitality and have been nothing but welcoming and
nice to our whole team! There are 33 baptized members of this church, so
it is small.. but boy do they have a HUGE heart! They have such a
passion for the Lord and to see His kingdom reign here on earth and it
is so inspiring to be welcomed into their church family and to witness
the Holy Spirit moving throughout the church!
Prayer Requests
*Please pray that my
team really becomes unified this month. That we love each other
unconditionally and learn to accept and appreciate each other’s
differences. We are living in close quarters so learning to see each
other through God’s eyes is gonna be a challenge for us this month.
*Please pray for the New Life Pentecostal
Church and Pastor Marin and his family. They have such a huge heart and a
passion, and the vision that I see for him and his church is that it
will grow and expand from 33 members to 300 members!
Richard Sanders and His family. They have given up their lives back in
America to serve the people of Moldova and you can tell that there is
exactly where God has them. I know that it is hard to leave everything
that you know and that you are comfortable with. They are serving God
and seeking His will, and doing it to the best of their abilities, so just pray for a blessing over them.
