We have had a great first two weeks here in Tiraspol, Moldova. We have been teaching English classes, having English meetings in the park,helping out with youth clubs and some other outreach activities. I have also had the opportunity with a few others from team Doulos to help lead worship with the band at church on Sundays. It has been amazing and I have really enjoyed it so far. I have always wanted to do that and I had hoped I would get the opportunity to during this trip. They have two services on Sundays and the feel in the services is completely different. The first service has about 100 people and it is mostly new members. The second service has around 500 people there and it is very spiritual. The first time we performed I was so nervous. The first service went well and I was so glad that I had decided to perform with them. During the second service we all could just feel that the presence of God had come and sit in the church. We continued singing for about 45 minutes and you could just tell that the spirit of God was moving throughout the congregation. I wish everything could have been translated, we could all tell that something was going on but we were not sure what it was. We found out later that many people had received healing during that service. It was just amazing to watch it all happen from the stage. It was so good just to see that many people worship God in their own way. The church that we are working with is very passionate about how they worship God. This was the first time I had seen so many people dance for the Lord. One person from the other team that we are working with this month reminded me of how David danced before the Lord and how happy it made the Lord. It says in 2 Samuel 6:14,"And David danced before the Lord with all of his might." What would it look like if we all danced before the Lord with all of our might? The people at this church do not care what others may think when they are worshipping God. They just let go and worship him. How would things be different if we did that? I always find myself worrying about what other people will think or what they may say if I just worship God freely. In reality no one is probably even looking at me or paying attention to what I am doing. It shouldn't matter to us what others think. Our focus should be on God and giving him praise. He is so worthy of all of our praise and that is all that should matter. No that doesn't mean that we all have to dance when we worship God. It just means that we should let ourselves worship him freely every chance that we get because he deserves it. So don't be afraid to worship him in your own way. Let him know how thankful you are for all that he has done for you! Here are a few pictures from the trip so far:
Here is the church at the morning service:
Here is one of the rivers down town
Here is my friend Maria and I. I met her at one of the English meetings at the park. I have really connected with her in these last few weeks. Please pray for her. Her heart is opening up for the Lord. She has been came to the later service at church for the last two weeks.
