So if you haven’t heard, I am currently in the country of Moldova. If you’re thinking that you’ve never even heard of Moldova, you’re not alone. Neither had I before finding out I was going here. If you’re wondering where the heck Moldova is, that’s ok. I’m in the dang country, and I don’t know much more other than it’s in Eastern Europe and borders Romania. And finally, if you’re thinking it sounds like a made-up country, I promise you it’s real even if it does sound like something out of Lord of the Rings.
Anyways, my team, Team Prodigal, along with Team Chosen, is in the village of Cornesti working along side a church pastored by a young man named Vitally. Vitally runs a ministry called Sinai 30; the vision is to plant 30 churches in 30 years. Vitally has a great heart that was easy to sense as he shared his story with us. It was amazing to hear how much God has done in his life and in his ministry in just five or so years of being in Cornesti. Besides running the church here in Cornesti, Vitally has also opened a shelter for orphaned children. There are currently around 10 or so children living at the shelter. It is cool to see how involved they are in the everyday tasks of the ministry; the older ones, especially, have awesome hearts for God.
Cornesti is an area that is filled with much darkness, and the protestant/evangelical church is not very welcome here. Vitally and his ministry is faced with much persecution from the Orthodox Church. Also, legalism is a huge problem here, particularly in the Pentecostal Union (think Southern Baptist Conference but with a lot less freedom) of which Vitally and his church are associated. (Actually, tomorrow (October 13), Vitally is meeting with the Bishop of the union, and Vitally might possibly be leaving the union. On the one hand, this change would allow a lot more freedom into his ministry; on the other hand, this change would possibly cause him to lose the building in which the church and the shelter are held. Please be praying for God’s hand on this situation.) Cornesti is also hit with alcoholism and black magic/demonic stuff; plus, Moldova, as a whole, has a problem of human trafficking. Vitally’s ministry, and the area of Cornesti/nation of Moldova, greatly needs your prayers. Please be praying this month as our team works along side Vitally.
Speaking of prayer, that’s one thing that we’re gonna be doing a lot of this month. Part of our ministry will be spending hours in prayer each day. It is obvious that Vitally is very big on prayer; he is constantly asking us to pray for him and the needs of the ministry/community. I’m excited about the opportunity to grow in this area. Prayer is something of which I don’t do enough, and I struggle to stay focused during long periods of prayer. I want to learn how to be still and silent before God and hear from Him more. I also think that the emphasis on prayer this month will serve as a great reminder of how dependent we are on God. Today, I had my first test of a long period of prayer during this evening’s hour long prayer sessions. During the first few minutes, I struggled to stay focused. But somewhere in those first few minutes, God took over; the next 55 minutes was an awesome time of just praying for what came to my mind and hearing from God. I’m excited about what God is going to do during these times for the rest of the month.
Besides prayer, there are several other areas of ministry we will be covering this month. For one, we will be doing different types of physical labor. The main focus will be building a beaver (actually marmot, but everyone says beaver) shelter. Yes, that’s right. A beaver shelter. Beaver meat is a delicacy here in Moldova and is the most expensive meat in the country. Restaurants pay $150 per beaver. (I promise this is true. I couldn’t make this up if I wanted to. Trust me.) Obviously, quite the profitable business. In an attempt to be self-sufficient in his ministry, Vitally will be entering the beaver business. He recently purchased about 20 beavers but needs a shelter for them. So we will be starting the construction of it this month.
We will also be doing house visits and helping out with the children’s program. Of course, these are the scheduled tasks. I’m sure there’ll be plenty of surprises along the way. I promise to keep you updated on all of the exciting adventures.
P.S. Stay tuned to the blog to hear about how I got sexually harassed by a gypsy and investigated a possible fire on a train all in one night. I also promise to have a much overdue blog about my month in Ireland up sometime this week.
