August 28, 2014
The World Race provides a brief explanation of what racers can expect in Moldova: “Once a part of Romania, this former Soviet republic declared independence in 1991. Moldova, one of the poorest European countries, is riddled with a high underground crime rate. This country is vulnerable as a transit point of human trafficking. The main language spoken is Romanian (also called Moldovan) but there’s debate as to what the Moldovan ethnicity is exactly. We need people who will bring kingdom clarity and declare the peace of God over a land filled with confusion and chaos.”
I got this information from Cultures of the World: Moldova by Patricia Sheehan, operationworld.org, and humantrafficking.org.
-There is a lot of domestic violence in Moldova. As many as 200 Moldovan women are killed I family quarrels in a year. In most instances, the ones abusing them are people they love – fathers, brothers, husbands or sons. According to UNICEF studies on violence, beatings of children and women are a common practice. Continual poverty has led to a growing number of cases of child abuse. In 61% of abuse cases, it is the father who is responsible.
-“In Moldova, 27 % of women over 15 years of age have experienced violence in the home at least once, according to the 2005 Demographic and Health Survey. Out of 1,706 victims of trafficking identified and assisted in Moldova between 2000 and 2005, 10 per cent were children and 70 per cent had experienced family violence. Such violence is often a precursor to trafficking and exploitation.” (humantrafficking.org)
-Over 15,000 crimes and offenses were reported in Moldova in 1998, of which 13,000 occurred in the capital. Since then, the number of people sentenced for murder, rape, and bodily injury increased significantly. There have been a growing number of hired murders, and more cases of robbery and terrorism have been reported.
-Only half of the water Moldovans water meets drinking standards. Moldova has no system to remove chemicals and salt from the polluted water. Moldova also lacks almost any source of chemically cleaned drinking water that is within the admissible standards of hygiene.
-The Chernobyl disaster of 1986 was when a power plant in the Ukraine had an explosion and fire which released large amounts of radioactive particles into the atmosphere. The particles were spread over the USSR and Europe, including Moldova. They are still living with the repercussions today.
-Drought and economy have really decreases agricultural productivity in the past 50 years.
-About 98.5% of Moldovans belong to the Eastern Orthodox Church, a branch of Christianity. However, like Bulgaria, it more tradition than a relationship with God, and church attendance is down. Poverty has forced many pastors and up to 20,000 evangelicals to leave Moldova in recent years.
-Life expectancy is below 65 years of age.
-Tuberculosis infection is an ever-present problem for the health department. More than 2,000 Moldovans are infected with the disease annually. Doctors have attributed this to general malnutrition, which has led to low resistance to infections.
-According to Ministry of Health statistics, more than 700 cases of breast cancer are reported every year in Moldova, and a total of 500 Moldovan women die from it annually.
-80% of the population live below the poverty level, and 10% of the rural population earns less than ¼ of the poverty level. A majority of citizens cannot afford to buy fish, meat, milk, and other dairy products on a regular basis.
Please pray with me for Moldova. Against disease, sickness, poverty, and human trafficking, and that Jesus would bring his hope and truth to this nation that has had so little of either.
God bless!
Tori
