Oh my, where to even begin? It’s been a whirlwind week and a half or so. I now find myself in Moldova. Kind of. We are actually working this month in an area on the eastern edge of Moldova bordering Ukraine. This place is called Transnistria, population a few hundred thousand. It’s an area that fancies itself independent from Moldova. However, nobody except for Russia (go figure) recognizes the sovereignty of this place. It’s essentially a fake country but with very real borders, their own government, currency, military, and so on. Everything is said and written in Russian. I really feel like I’m back in Moscow, minus the lack of giant city. Transnistria is run as a communist state; though it’ll say they are democratic in hopes that other nations will recognize its independence. I think I’ve had more “you’re not in America” moments here in the past week than I have in the first three months. A trip to the local hospital 60 years behind in technology and riding in an “ambulance” that the cast of M.A.S.H. would have laughed at if you’d tried to pass that off as a stage prop pretty much woke me up to some harsh realities here.
Our translator from Moldova, an awesome guy named Peter, said that Moldova is a third world nation and in comparison Transnistria is “tenth world.” We also learned that there is a law in place here that says that any woman requiring medical attention at the hospital must FIRST go to the OBGYN before they can go to the hospital. Someone could be suffering from a heart attack or gunshot wound, but cannot go directly to the hospital. How jacked up is that? It’s a gloomy place. Literally and figuratively. There is a spiritual darkness hanging over this country filled with religious suppression (Orthodox church), superstitions, and just a feeling of hopelessness from so many people. Over 1 million people have left the country (Moldova) in recent years in search of greener pastures. A country with a population of roughly 6 million, or so I’m told. Human trafficking is a huge problem and apparently the black market for organs is alive and well here. The poor and uneducated are preyed upon for both.
While we’re in Transnistria, our ministry is working alongside the local Baptist church here in the small city of Benderi. Our focus is on the local youth, visiting members of the church who can no longer make it on their own, possibly teaching English, renovating a house, and some physical labor/yard work. We’re living in the basement of the church. Right now we’re trying to get an afterschool youth program off the ground and running. Last week we only had 2 participants. Today, we had nearly 20 youth join us in spite of bad weather. I mention the weather because it has to be kept outside. How cool!! Because Transnistria is communist, they regulate this sort of thing quite a bit, so Pastor Peter. not to be confused with Translator Peter, has warned us on what to say should any authorities come by asking questions. In a nutshell, we can tell them we are helping with church programs, but if they ask to look downstairs where we are living, we are to tell them that if they do, they will lose the blessings of the priests and it should keep them from asking any other questions. That’s just crazy sounding and sad all at the same time. This goes back to the religious suppression and superstitions.
I truly believe this place will see a revival soon though. This community. This country. These people. There are folks here seeking after God as hard as any that I’ve seen. They believe in His power and His ability to shape this nation. To remove it from the path of decay that it is currently on towards being a nation and a people which seek a personal relationship with the living God. I’m inspired by the younger generation in this church. What they do is inspire hope where it would be so easy to just give up and think that nothing could be done here. The people here are desperate for that. The roots are shallow right now, but they’re growing deeper and their reach will be great.
