Some Thing You Need To Know

We are in Moldova!!!  We made it safe and sound and are excited to see what God is going to do this month.    My teammate Haley wrote a blog about Moldova so enjoy!!!

You are probably wondering where the heck Moldova is and what happens here… so here is a little background info:

economic situation.

Moldova is a country in Eastern Europe located between Romania and Ukraine.. It is the poorest country in Europe. It is very normal for a family to live off 40 to 60 USD a month. Majorities of Moldovans immigrate out of the country for work because the unemployment rate here is so high. Emigration is a mass phenomenon in Moldova and has a huge impact on the country’s economy. Over the past ten years Moldova has lost over 50%of its population. It is estimated that 600,000 to one million Moldovan citizens (almost 25% of the population) are working abroad, most illegally.  

sex trafficking.

A large portion of the illegal workers are the result of sex trafficking. Every day it is estimated that 3-5 individuals are trafficked from Moldova to other countries. The majority of women and girls that are trafficked come from rural areas. Over 10 percent are under 18 years old, some as young as 12 years old. Girls out of the ninth grade (the required level of completion) when coming from abusive, alcoholic, or unattended homes, as well as orphans, will look for jobs and they will most likely end up being trafficked. Sometimes families are paid money in advance through schemes and their daughters are expected to earn the advance and pay back the family’s debts.

culture / religion (essentially one thing).

Culture in Moldova stems from the Orthodox Church. Religion in Moldova is very similar to the rest of Europe. 93% of the population belongs to the national church of the country, which is the Orthodox Church. 2% of the population is protestant and the majority of the people outside the Protestant church consider Christians to be part of a sect or cult. The evangelical church here is only around ten years long and an evangelical perspective of the gospel just isn’t accepted.

government.

Moldova is one of only three countries with democratically elected communist leaders.