Coming to Moldova was yet another challenging transition. In my previous post, Glimpse of God, I mentioned how strongly connected I had become with the kids and ministry contacts in Romania. It was hard to say goodbye to my brothers Alecs, Alexe, Raul, Tavi, Daniel, Sammy, Jonathan, Madeline, and the rest of the guys at Hope Church. I left the security and strength that was built in Draganesti to venture on to the next leg of my race. The problem is that I didn't come to Ocnita with the right mindset. I will elaborate on this in a minute but before I do, let me tell you about my friend.
Last night, I had the privilege of meeting a man by the name of Alex Sanduleac. Alex is a middle aged family man who has been ministering to people his entire life. While his life experiences range from writing and conducting symphony orchestras (beginning at the age of 13) to missions work that has stretched all throughout the world, the most incredible part of his story takes place in Moldova. His faith astounds me. Planting churches here in Moldova is no easy task. Facing an overwhelming majority of nonbelievers who view Christians negatively make it all the more difficult for someone, like Alex, to form a congregation. Despite the adversity, Alex has been able to plant seven churches in the northern region of Moldova! The part of his story I want to highlight the most is that when he initially began church planting, he had a great job, nice salary, and promising future. He gave it all up for the sake of the Gospel.
While he reminisced through this chapter of his life, he told me that he could remember walking through the streets of Edinet just talking about Jesus. At ground zero, he set out to work with the youth. He went from school to school requesting a slot in the curriculum. After being turned down again and again, he came across one headmaster that obliged. The kids responded almost immediately! He said, "I can remember the teachers coming to me and asking what I did to get the kids so excited about my class? I told them to come see for themselves and they did!" More and more of the faculty began to join Alex as he went through The Gospels. Unfortunately, the principal was fired not too long after this for unrelated reasons and he had to leave. Nevertheless, he forged on!
Alex continued venturing from school to school until another agreed to his request. This was in September when the weather was still bearable. Moldova is known for having extremely cold winters where temperatures can range anywhere from zero to negative thirty degrees in the dead of winter. As it turns out, the school Alex began ministering to was the ONLY place in town that had heat! People would come to the school just to warm their cold and frozen bodies. This tiny beacon of heat led hundreds to hear God's word! The masses were introduced to Jesus and many began to truly grasp what happened on the cross. Many began to proclaim that Jesus Christ was their savior!
After hearing countless accounts of God working in Alex's life, I asked him for any advice he might have for a young new believer, like myself. He said this to me, "Believe. Always come to God as a blank page and believe." He further explained that when we spend time with God, reading God's word, we must come as a blank page. With a clear and open heart and mind, scripture begins to reveal itself to us so much more vividly. Almost as if it were tailored to the events currently playing out in our lives.
In this brief meeting with Alex, he taught me that wisdom is not gained by knowing everything. It is gained by realizing that we don't have all the answers and that some are beyond our own understanding. Have faith in the things we can't see or understand. God makes ALL things work together for our good!
While my heart and mind was still focused on Romania, I was missing out on the incredible ministry going on in Ocnita! It seems that we all have a problem with going into new situations and environments with a blank page, with an open mind. Thankfully, I have an unbelievable team and ministry host that genuinely loves and wants to see me grow. Breaking out and fully investing myself into Andrei's ministry here in Ocnita was an unbelievable experience! Praise The Lord for these people and for opening my eyes. My prayer for you is that you too may move into new seasons of your life with clear eyes and full hearts AND ALWAYS seek God's word as a blank page.
God Bless
