I cried leaving Moldova. Yup, its true. I was leaving behind people that I love. I was leaving behind people I had just met but were already so precious to me and my team. This didn’t make sense. How could love go so deep in such a short period of time?
The answer is simple. I found the body of Christ in Moldova. People who just radiated the love of God through their love for each other and us. Loving them was so easy, and calling them brothers and sisters didn’t sound weird.
This month my team got to serve in three different ministry locations. Each one held its own purpose, had its own beauty, and its own part of the body. We loved it because of those differences but it was also difficult because the whole month we were constantly leaving behind people that we had come to love and had loved us so well.
In Filesti is was Pastor Vasillie, his wife Olga, our translator Gicu, and the woman who cooked for us; Galina. Pastor Vasilli worked us hard, but taught us so much about hard work, obedience and faith. He kept us out till almost 8 one night at the construction site (we had gotten a late start in the day) and his wife scolded him when he brought us home about how we needed to get good meals and rest. She wanted to make sure we were well taken care of and with the help of a lady in the church Galina we were fed amazing meals the whole time we were there. Gicu, was our translator turned friend. He worked hard along side us, and fit in with the team so well. We were welcomed into homes and shown amazing hospitality.
During our three day stay in Chisnau the Campus Crusade team excitedly welcomed us in for a short period of time into their homes, lives and ministry. We jumped into going to college campuses, speaking in front of a few of the english classes, and handing out Boom Planners; an evangelism tool they use to start conversations with the students. Our team was split into three groups and hosted by a different member of the staff. Jess and I were hosted by Viorica. In the three days we were there she not only shared her home, gave up her room, and cooked for us but she shared her heart with us. She opened up about what God was teaching her through us being there, and how she came to work with Campus Crusade.
In Ungheni we encountered the body of Christ from around the world and were welcomed into what felt like a crazy family right away. Our first night we were fed dinner with a group of Romanians visiting to encourage the church, and people from Vineyard church we were there to serve with. The room was filled with conversation and energy. The meal ended with the monkey dance, and singing happy birthday to the church. We got to know a Swiss missionary couple at the church and were encouraged to hear how God had called them to Ungheni, and the vision He had given them. Most of our ministry was encouraging the people of the church. We helped shuck corn, pick grapes, put together food bags, and small construction projects. With language barriers we would laugh and make hand motions as we tried to piece together information about each other. No matter what we were doing we just felt loved and loved them back. A woman would come to the church and clean it for us. Our translator Ramina told us that this woman loved us like her own children and that is why she wanted to serve us by cleaning for us. Our final night there was the start of a conference at the church and this time there were several people from England that were there. It was so beautiful and felt so fitting to get to worship alongside them to end our time in Moldova.
I could go on and on with stories of how we were loved and served by people, when that is what we came to do for them. Let me tell you, the body of Christ is alive and well in Moldova.
