I find no greater joy in life than seeing Gods kingdom released and people finding redemption and freedom in their lives. From casting out demons, to speaking life into someone suffering from depression and shame, to breaking off addiction. Jesus promises His followers freedom and an abundant life and that is exactly what I love seeing happen. My life was completely flipped upside down because of the radical love of our Father and He can and will do the same for any of His children who are willing to let go of the things that are enslaving them and give it all to Him. It is such a simple thing that is incredibly hard to actually do. We grow strangely comfortable in our bondage and the enemy tells us that we can’t live without our chains. While our hearts desire freedom, our flesh repeatedly tells us there is no use in trying. For this reason it takes a lot of pain and a lot of brokenness before we are ready to truly surrender ourselves to our Creator and true freedom can be found.
This past month AIM gave me the opportunity to fight for the kingdom in this way. My team and another team were literally sent to rehab for the month. We were in a “country” called Transnistria, which is technically part of Moldova, but considers itself a separate entity altogether (kinda like Texas, but run by the KGB and filled with Russian troops and mobsters).Transnistria gets most of its funding from Russia, there is a giant statue of Lennon in the middle of the “capital”, and even the grocery stores are owned by one man who apparently killed off all of the competition. There is a cold darkness in this place that seems to infect most areas of daily life. All is not lost though. God has a shining light in this community that fights daily to spread love and freedom. Tiraspol Church is that light and we had the honor of working with them for the month of March.
Tiraspol Church is a charismatic church in Transnistria’s capital city, Tiraspol. They have man projects going to share the love of God and better their community. They have an orphanage, discipleship groups, English club, youth groups, church plants, and a rehabilitation center for addicts and criminals. While we did some work in most of these ministries, our primary job was working construction alongside the guys from the rehab center. The church is building what they call a family life center, which will include their new church building, Christian run businesses, and Christian counseling. The project is being built right in front of the rehab center where we were living with the guys. Our lives became completely infused with the lives of the guys we were working with and it was such a blessing.
As we worked and lived with the guys, we quickly developed relationships with them. None of them spoke a lick of English and of course none of us spoke Russian, but that didn’t seem to matter. It turns out we didn’t really need words to communicate. Occasionally there would be someone around who could translate, but for the most part we relied on charades and the Holy Spirit. Our days were filled with jokes and laughter. The guys would join in on our team times (whether they were invited or not) and play cards with us in the evenings. Every morning we were woken up by their passionate prayers and worship. Sometimes we would even catch them praying in tongues as they worked throughout the day, and they worked tirelessly and cheerfully from sun up to sun down. These guys, whether they were drug addicts or not, were all hardened criminals, but the joy of the Lord is clearly breaking down those walls. They have all found freedom from their past or they are at least on the path to that freedom.
When we were told that we would be staying in a rehab center, I immediately started thinking of all of the ways I could use my testimony to help these men. God had delivered me from the same circumstances they were living in. I assumed that I was there to sit down with them and tell them my story and tell them all about Jesus. It turns out that there was really no way for me to talk to them at all, but they knew all about the work Christ has done in me because it was the same as the work He has done in them or was doing in them. They already knew all about Jesus. A lot of them had already been delivered and freed. God had me there to remind me that He is actively working all over the world, even in this random nonexistent country. He had me there to encourage me and give me the will to keep fighting for the kingdom. Once again, I was humbled by the realization that the people God sends me to minister to usually bless me more than I could ever bless them.
Throughout the span of the month our two teams and these men accomplished everything the church had planned for us to do and much more. It was an incredible honor to be a part of God’s work in Transnistria. Below is a video that the church put together of the construction project. As you watch the video and see how huge the building is, keep in mind that it has been built in the short span of one year solely by ex cons and World Race teams. All Praise and Glory to God! Please keep Tiraspol church and the “country” of Transnistria in your prayers as they are located only a few short miles from the conflict in Ukraine. Once again, thank you for taking the time to read my blog. Love Y’all!!!
