During the month of October, we are doing ministry in a
small town called Cornesti (pronounced Corn-ished) in a lesser known Eastern
European country called Moldova. I will be with a new team, ‘Team Chosen’, a
group of exceptionally good looking folks.
To give a down low on the setting- Moldova, or ‘dova as I
like to call it, is just about the lowest rung on the totem pole here in
Europe. The economy is non-existent and post-communist ambiance is ever
present. Old beat up cars, rundown houses, horses and buggies, etc… It feels
almost like colonial times around here because everyone is chopping fire wood
and harvesting crops before winter starts to creep in. It feels like it is
already here though.
There is no such thing as running water here. Buckets being
poured out serve this purpose… to rinse out the sink, flush the toilet and
shower. Oh, and the water is not hot, or even warm. And because of this I am
going to see postpone showering as long as possible. Day 6 so far… the funk
isn’t too bad yet.
The country is unbelievably poor, so it is not hard to
imagine that there are prevalent needs here. We are working with Vitali, the
boss man that runs a variety of projects here in ‘dova to alleviate some of
these needs. He has a strategy consists of pouring into four main issues: kids,
sewing, school, shelter. He also has a
vision to plant 30 churches in 30 years in the region.
‘Dova has more
orphans than any other country in Europe. There are officially around 25,000
but Vitali suggests that there are many more unaccounted for. Some of these
orphans are bought and trafficked in the sex slave industry. The church here in
Cornesti currently houses 15 orphans and is teaching them skills in addition to
their schooling. The older kids farm crops and animals to eat as well as sell
in the market place. They are being taught how to become self-sustaining so
they don’t have to rely on others.
Vitali sees many opportunities to become more
self-sustaining and he thinks it is very important to pursue them. He explained
the entire country needs to become more self-sustaining, because handouts only
go so far. I could not agree more. He is looking to purchase more land to cultivate,
farm, build homes for orphans and single moms and to start a beaver business.
Tommy Shierman (or Ghetto Tommy as I like to call him) from another team has invested his
own money into starting a beaver business for Vitali where they would breed and
sell beavers. Beavers are a delicacy here and they are sold for a pretty penny.
There is also a sewing program that teaches women to sew and sell clothing.
It is an honor and blessing to serve this month in a region
of the world I did not even know existed a couple of weeks ago. Just like
southern Romania last month, this country is oppressed and spiritually dark,
rampant with black magic, witchcraft and alcoholism. With the strength and
light of the Lord, it won’t be like that for long.
