My team is here in Ungheni, Moldova, partnering with a sports and music ministry with Pastor Vadim. He shared his testimony with us the other day; and I want to share it with you just the way he told it to us, via our translator Victoria. Picture your typical hilarious, full of joy youth pastor, only speaking in Russian. 😉 
ny people would try to fight us, but we usually won. I was always a little smaller in stature (laughs), and had a bad attitude with guys who were stronger or bigger than me. I would challenge a fight with just about anyone and won. At the end of the conference, Billy Graham asked us to give our hearts to Jesus, to ask for forgiveness and to live a new life for the Lord. It was very difficult for me to give up my old life of fighting. I had an invitation to go and study my sport at a university and would have had a scholarship to go. I was afraid at first to leave my dream of fighting, and I knew I would have to sacrifice that if I gave my heart completely to Jesus. I had the strongest battle in my heart during that time. I felt God pulling and I heard the voice of God saying, “Come, ask for forgiveness; it is yours.” When I finally gave my heart over to Jesus, my cousin was behind me and I saw me crying. He came and congratulated me, but I was shy and didn’t really understand why he was congratulating me while I was crying!
When I came back to my church in the countryside, I was afraid to tell everyone of my new life. However, my cousin had told everyone that I repented, so they all welcomed me with cheering and hugs! Afterwards, I joined the youth group in the church, and the pastor asked me to preach! I said,
“How? I am so shy, how can I do this?” The preacher told me, “just read a story from the Bible; that is all you have to do.” So, one Sunday I read the story about the man who sowed the seeds. And, when the time came to say the prayer, I became very nervous because I heard the Lord speak to me so strongly. God was calling me to change my life and to truly do whatever He wanted me to do; to sow seeds for His Kingdom.
So, for two years I worked in a youth camp. There, I met some Bible College professors, and I felt God calling me to go to Bible College. When I was in the 10th Form, I couldn’t imagine what it would be like to play music. I was afraid to touch a guitar. I lived in a poor family; we didn’t have musical instruments. So, one summer my brother and I gathered Greek nuts, and we sold them for 300 lei’s so we could by a guitar! (That’s about 23. USD) We brought the guitar in my house, but I didn’t know what to do with it! I also bought a small guitar lesson book. I read it about 50 times, but couldn’t understand any of it!
After half a year, my cousin came and showed me what the frets on the guitar meant, and helped teach me the basics. I prayed for God to help me, because in my church we didn’t have any instruments. I really wanted to be able to lead my church in worship, because they’d only ever sang without instruments. In that half a year, I was able to play several songs, but all of the songs I could only play in ‘a’ minor! When I began to play, so many guys at the church saw my example and began giving their hearts to Jesus. God told me that He needed me to tell these guys the gospel, and other guys like them. Everything that I do, I want to do it for the Lord, to help the Lord change people’s lives. 
I finished the 11th form, and entered the Biblical college. This was also when I began dating my wife. :- ) After the 3rd year, I got to know another pastor there that really helped me seek after God’s dream for my life. My dream was to build a Christian camp in Moldova, because I knew that God speaks to people in awesome ways in places like that. However, God began to develop a new dream, that I could also just plant churches in such a way to tell people about Jesus with the same joy as the camp I had imagined. After a time, I thought, “Where should I go? What will this look like?” I was very confused and anxious. All of my relatives are now in the USA, and they sent all the documents filled out for me that I would need to come and join them in America for a better life. To some it would be tempting, but I knew that I couldn’t do it. I told them, “How could I leave my country? My people need to know the Lord, and God has called me to stay.” Most people in Moldova think that was the wrong choice, but I know it is the right thing.
God ended up leading me to the town of Ungheni. I didn’t know anything about this place when I moved here 7 years ago. A team had come here from the USA to plant a church and to evangelize, and they didn’t know anything about the city either, but we worked together to plant the church. At the same time, we met a guy who worked at a school, and we began the project there. God just put everything right in front of me. I was 
so unsure of everything before, but I didn’t have to go searching; God brought me to exactly where I needed to be.
I began ministry here with only the 300 Lei guitar at first. Then, Jackie Velasquez came a played a concert here, and she gave us her acoustic guitar! After that, I began giving lessons on the guitar as I finished Bible College. I went to Austria to complete my Masters degree. After that when I came back to Ungheni, and men began to seek me out for help. We created a band, and those guys began to teach more guys how to play, and we developed a musical school that currently has 52 students involved! We now have several electric Guitars and Jackie’s acoustic guitar, a drum set, and a keyboard in our studio for the guys to practice and perform with. Many other small bands have formed since then.
Eventually, God led me to have an outreach through sports. Through both music and sports, I knew that God had opened a lot of doors to build relationships with the
guys in the community. There are many other guys I could reach through sports that weren’t interested in music, so it opened up some new pathways to spread the love of Christ.
My wife and I were married last year, and we’re continuing to serve in Ungheni after seven years of ministry here! We have a soccer team, plus groups that meet in the park for volleyball, basketball, soccer, and Frisbee games.
Vadim is one of those guys that radiates the love, joy, and honor of Jesus Christ. People are just drawn to him! He is an amazing example of what a man of God looks like, which is highly needed in this area. Please pray that Vadim and his wife will continue to be encouraged, that they are a very bright light for the Lord in a very spiritually dark place!! Our team is LOVING our time here!
Here’s some pictures from the annual Christian Charity Cup Soccer Turnament! Vadim’s team came in 2nd, which was so much fun to be a part of with them! This was kind of a big deal for these guys who grew up not having much of anything. Most of his team is young guys who are still searching for the Lord, so it’s really cool to watch them interact on the field and be a part of something bigger than this world!
