Ialoveni was a our last location this month. We did a lot of house to house visits to
non-believers in the community. The
Pastor we served had a huge heart for people.
His enthusiasm motivated our team to break our complacency and minister
to people. There was no
methodology. All he wanted us to do was to plainly and simply share what Jesus Christ has done in our lives. We hope that our testimonies spoke truth and
that our words struck a cord in their hearts and minds. His mission was to go to the people one at a
time. He did not want to stick to the
sole role of teaching and preaching. I
think he understands that in order to reach the community you have to be in the
community. Christ went to the people to
be with the people. Hardly was He ever
in the temple. John, the Pastor, felt
the best way to communicate to the community was to create relationships with
them. He clearly understood the notion
of fostering relationship with people than just preaching at them.
Throughout
the week, our team was given opportunities to speak in church with testimonies
and messages. On Christ’s crucifixion
about how the light of Christ is everywhere in the world (based on John
8:12). I had given this same message at
our first ministry location in Moldova,
but it had a different, stronger feel. This
time the death and resurrection were tied into this message to support Christ
proclamation of being the Light of the World.
As I spoke, the message almost took on a life of its own. The body was the same, but the tone had a greater
dept. No doubt it was Christ who spoke
exactly what He wanted and how it was to be given and received. Interestingly enough I was not nervous. Usually I hesitate in giving messages about
the birth, death, and resurrection because of magnitude of the salvation
message. To me, the salvation message is
not a light ‘subject matter’ because of the reality of it. Without it, who are we? What do we believe in if Christ’s birth,
death, and resurrection is not the center of our being?
During a
youth service God opened an opportunity to non-believer to hear about God’s
compassion. One young woman brought a
friend of hers to the program. He did
not say much, but listened intently. I
did not have a certain message written out or anything, but just went with a
small outline that I had made in our first month in Delhi, India. My life verse if Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know
the plans I have for you declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm
you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
I shared why that particular verse holds a lot of weight in my life
(with my heart surgery at 10 months of age), and how this verse has carried me
throughout my life. Yet, even though God
is a loving and caring God, I still have to reach out to Him who is benevolent. I still have to acknowledge Him and what he
has done in my life. Without the
acknowledgement of Him, a relationship with Him cannot be possible. In Psalm 145:18 it says, “The Lord is near to
all who call on Him, to all who call on Him in truth.” One thing I learned in India was that even though God
knows all things and knew who we were before we were in the womb, we still have
to call on Him. Our translator told me
it was good for that non-believer to hear my testimony because it displayed our
responsibility to God’s kindness.
God is so
faithful. I think there are times where
He “pushes” us out of our familiar box of thinking about Him and the comforts
that accompany our faith. The day before
Easter Sunday we were doing some house visits and without realizing it I left
my Bible in a church member’s car. ‘My
Bible! How could I forget it especially
right before Easter Sunday?!?!?! How
could I use someone else’s Bible? It’s
not the same! I could not possibly use
another Bible (as though the context is completely different). My notes are in it. How would I speak without them?’ Shamelessly this was actually my thinking at
the moment. Once I submitted to the fact
that I did not have my Bible, I came
to the realization that I would not be sharing my words or wise. I would be imparting what God has taught me
and the relation to the crucifixion, death, and resurrection of Christ. Because of the emphasis on this momentous
celebration, I felt like I had to have everything perfectly prepared. God has a sense of humor and a way of
allowing us to swallow our pride and just trust in Him. It is not about our works. It is about proclaiming the Gospel of Christ
Jesus and His sacrifice on the cross for all people. Who am I to determine how that looks like and
who that impacts in church? All I can do
is articulate what the Lords wants me to say and He will do the rest. With limited time, I prepared what I could
and gave it to God. Yes, it was the day
of Christ’s resurrection, but again all I could was deliver what God wanted to
say through me. I spoke along the same
lines as the what I had shared at the youth service, but added how Christ’s
death and resurrection makes it possible for Jeremiah 29:11 and Psalm 145:18 to
be true to me. That because of Christ’s
sacrifice for me I can believe in the plans God has for me, I can believe that
the Lord is near when I call on Him, and I can actually have a relationship
with the Father because of His Son. In
the end, it is all about Him.
Our time in
Moldova
came to an end fairly quickly. Each
ministry location seemed like a month in itself though. At all three sites, we were graced with
strong, wonderful Christ-rooted families, and passionate men of God. That was not a coincidence. This was our best month in terms of where we
served, our contacts and our team dynamic.
The gentle spirit of those we partnered with (and our translator) broken
the walls and the chains in our hearts and minds. Their way of life gave us an objective look
at life and forced us to look at ourselves and our unfortunate selfishness. Coming into the World Race I did not look
forward to Moldova
and hoped that it would go by quickly.
Oh how I was wrong to think that this little nation would have the
impact on myself and my teammates. We
were enamored with Moldova
as a whole. There are really no words to
translate the emotions I feel about Moldova into words. It was extraordinary month where God just
showed up. He led, we followed and it
was good. God is moving in this nation. From all our stories (in the squad), He is
moving in an amazingly, beautiful way. In
the same way I began in my Maximovca (my last blog), I will end the same
way.
So much happened in a matter of one month. God just showed up all over the place while
we were there. Blogs will not do justice
to our time in Moldova. Our time there was extremely blessed. Everything we saw happen while we were there
was in God’s control. We could see His
hand in each situation out as they happened.
Everything about this place was providential for our team and our
ministry partners. Each moment of our
time there was God-led and natural. We
were so blessed to be in Moldova. Each day, each interaction, each hug, and
each smile was a blessing.
(I will do my best to get pictures of our third location up as soon as I can. Thanks.)
