The van that had caused the girl’s excitement was carrying the kitchen and camp supplies for OM Moldova’s ‘River outreach’ team, accompanied by a few OM workers. The rest of the team arrived by raft on the water a bit later that evening. The next morning, when they came to the field where they were going to lead a children’s programme, they saw that they had been eagerly awaited. A crowd of people was already gathered; not only children, but also many parents, grandparents, youth and other curious villagers.

“Ever since hearing of your arrival yesterday evening, my granddaughter has been so excited, she couldn’t wait for morning to come!” one lady said.

Another commented: “My girl didn’t want to eat breakfast; she didn’t want to lose any time coming to the field; she was so afraid of missing something.”

Though OM Moldova are blessed with a ready welcome in many places throughout Moldova, it is still tangibly stronger in these small villages along the river. Teams report that it is a truly humbling and amazing experience to witness the joy and excitement of the children, the gratitude of the parents, the openness of most local authorities—and the general thirst for God.

“We are waiting for this all year,” another woman explained on that green field in Zăluceni. “There is really nothing for the children here, and nobody comes to offer them anything like what you do.”

But the excitement about games, bouncy castle or face-painting are obviously not the only things the children are taking away from the annual programmes: These children remembered Bible verses and songs from previous years and responded to questions with a surprising understanding of gospel truths, truths that other teams had taught them in earlier years, that had obviously taken root in their hearts.

The children of Zăluceni listened and watched with wide eyes and open mouths as the team talked about the crucifixion, and afterwards used an illustration where water was turned brown and then made clear again, to explain how Jesus’ death can cleanse our sin.

While all this was going on, a team member overheard the conversation of two onlooking ladies. They were obviously paying close attention, and one seemed ready to believe the truth of it all, while the other was sceptical: “How can that be possible—dying and coming to life again? Being freed from sin? We are not able to be holy, we’re too sinful!” she commented.

“Listen, they are telling you how it’s possible: through Jesus!” the first one replied, but the other still tried to discourage her, insisting there is no way we can be clean. Right then the illustration was coming to its close and as the dirty water turned back into a clear colour, all the children gasped in amazement, but for that lady it was the last bit of confirmation she had needed: “It is true,” she exclaimed with conviction, “we can be cleansed!”

OM Moldova increasingly focus their ministry on the least reached areas of the country and seek to establish more local ministry teams—small teams of local and international workers, who live within an unreached local community for several years and help plant churches in these regions.

An older woman, Maria*, told the team she was the only believer in her home village. Every Sunday she travels to a nearby village to attend church. “It’s exhausting,” she admitted to a volunteer who measured her blood pressure on the bus.

There is no public transportation, so Maria pays someone to drive her to church. Spending between 70-100 lei (about 4-6 USD) each week for the round trip is a significant investment. “Five euros would be enough to buy bread for half a month,” OMer Ion Manoli explains. Maria was encouraged to see the Bus4Life team hard at work in her village, and she especially rejoiced in seeing a team of young Christians spreading the gospel.

The team consisted of nine individuals and included young adults enrolled in OM’s Challenge into Missions programme at the OM Moldova base. Bus4Life offers a platform that enables the students to take what they have learned in the classroom out onto the streets. Taking part in outreaches such as this is an integral part of the program.

In another village, the team met Thomas*, a 12-year-old boy who came to the bus with his mother and grandmother. The team members chatted with Thomas about his family and life in general, while his grandmother’s blood pressure was being measured.

“Have you heard of Jesus?” a team member asked the boy. Thomas shook his head. “Do you want me to tell you about him?” the team member continued. “He is very important.” Thomas agreed, and the team member pulled out a children’s Bible. He told Thomas about Jesus and what He did for mankind, and then gave Thomas the Bible as a gift.

Thomas’ mother, Natalia*, who is in her early thirties, is busy trying to make ends meet by working hard every day. She was surprised to find out that her son hadn’t recognised the name of Jesus. “I haven’t talked to him about God because I haven’t known how to do it,” she admitted. “Thank you for reminding me to talk about God with my son. I need to do it.”

Although bringing Bibles and Christian literature to communities where people would otherwise have limited or no access is an important part of the Bus4Life ministry, selling as many books as possible does not get the highest priority during outreaches.

"People in the villages don't have so much money to buy books,” Ion explains. “I'm more focused on evangelism: talking to people. Bus4Life attracts them, and they come and see the books, but it's not the main point. Outreach is the main focus. If we wanted to sell books, we would go to the city where people have more money. But there are already a number of churches there, and our goal is not to reach the reached."

*Name changed for security

Bus4Life, a ministry of OM, is a multi-functional missions centre that serves the communities of Central and Eastern Europe.

As they visited people in need, bringing food parcels as well as words of encouragement and hope, one team arrived at the home of Sonia* (26) and her daughter, Sara* (8). Recently, Sonia had lost a big part of her own family, when both her parents and a sister with a child had died in a road accident. The team found out that Sonia lives with a man who is not Sara’s father, but his family rejects them because they are of Roma (gypsy) background. Sara usually doesn’t go to school, so she can hardly read and also doesn’t seem to have a lot of friends. A lonely situation.

But when the team visited and started sharing the gospel, Sara told them about a dream she had had just a few days earlier. In that dream, she had seen Jesus, who had asked to come to her house. When she invited him in, He had made everything clean and beautiful. She had also told the dream to her mother, who at that time had laughed about it, but, in light of the team's message, started to consider its significance.

While the team was at her house, little Sara was very eager to hear more about Jesus. The visitors shared Bible stories with her, using the illustrations in a children’s Bible they had brought. As a result, Sara prayed with them, inviting Jesus not only into her house, but into her life.

Pray for Sara to grow in her faith and for her mother, Sonia, to also accept Jesus as her Saviour. Pray for families who receive food and other physical aid will also receive the hope of the gospel. Pray for God to reveal Himself to many more people, like Sara, who are ready to hear the Good News.

“The moment we said ‘amen,’ a man walked up to us and offered us to stay at his home,” they remembered.

The next day they tried to find another accommodation for part of the team. The very first place they entered was the home of an elderly lady, Eugenia, who looked at them suspiciously. But right at that time there was also a car with some young people—apparently visitors—at her home, and one of them recognised a Moldovan team member: they were from the same church in the capital, Chișinău! Even more surprisingly, this team member found out that her father, a pastor, had often been in this village years earlier, when there had been a group of believers there.

The lady’s attitude changed immediately. She opened her house to the team, and they found out she was the only believer in the village. At one time, there had been a group of eleven believers, but all the others had died or moved away from the village. So now Eugenia was the only one left—and had often prayed that God would send her more fellow believers.

The team stayed with her three nights, and every evening held an evangelistic meeting in her house. One evening, they also prepared a meal and about 50 people took up the invitation and listened to testimonies and the gospel message. As a result, about ten people gave their lives to God, among them, the man at whose house the team had spent the first night and his mother.

During one of the testimonies, another lady left with a sad face, but a team member went after her. The team member listened as she shared about her troubled life, including hunger and poverty, a violent husband and a recent suicide attempt. As the team member shared the gospel, the lady said she would need time to think about it.

The next day, the team went to her house to bring a food parcel, and she said that she had been crying all night about the things she had heard from them. From her own initiative, she asked to receive Jesus.

Now, this village once again has a small church fellowship meeting in Eugenia’s home.

In one village, an OM worker recognised one of the local ladies. They had met during a River Outreach in that region the previous summer. This time that lady, besides welcoming the food OM offered, also desired to receive a Bible, and she and the OM worker had the opportunity to talk more about how God’s Word changes lives.

“I felt led to read Philippians 4:4-7 with her about rejoicing in the Lord, giving our anxious thoughts to Him through prayer and thanksgiving, and how the peace of God will transcend all our understanding,” the OM worker shared. “When I stopped at verse seven, she continued reading until the end of the chapter. She had a great desire to read the Word of God.”

As there are no local churches to partner with in these communities, OM usually appeals to the local authorities, and, over the years, has been able to build valuable connections and partnerships with mayors and social workers. During one of OM’s visits, a mayor invited the team into his office for fellowship over a cup of tea and cookies. The team used the local town hall for handing out food parcels, gave a message to the gathered people and offered them a Bible. They had New Testaments available for whoever wanted to take one and were encouraged to see how many people desired to take not only their food parcel home with them but also the Word of God.

In one of these places, a particular woman stayed longer, waiting until the last person from her community had left the room in order to take a Bible in secret. She wanted to have her own Bible; however, she was afraid of word getting out to the priest of the Orthodox church, where she was actively involved. At the Orthodox church, the people had been instructed to not read the Bible themselves, but to only hear the messages through the priest at church. The woman's 12-year-old daughter was also enthusiastic to receive a Bible, and the next day said she had already read the first five pages. She ended up bringing the Bible to school and sharing about it with her friends.

In the village of Cobîlea, where OM has a ministry team, one lady the team visited with a food parcel also desired to have a Bible. As the team did not have any Bibles with them, one of the girls promised to bring one later, and she gave the woman her phone number. She had no possibility to go back for a day or two—and promptly received several calls from the woman, asking when she would come to bring the Bible. When it was finally delivered to her, the lady was very excited and started reading right away. A little later, the team heard she was faithfully reading three pages every day. She told them they would also have to bring a Bible for her granddaughter, who had started reading that Bible as well, and had told her grandmother, “I can’t sleep; I keep having to think about what I’ve read!”

It was a special day for OM Moldova as well. What had started with seeds of prayer many years ago and continued through short-term outreaches over the years and finally the moving of a Local Ministry Team (LMT) to the area in the autumn of 2017, was now reaching another milestone: the first visible expressions of the start of a church being planted in the village. When the team had moved to Cobîlea, located in one of the least reached areas of the country, a house was rented for some of the OM workers to live in. From the start, every Wednesday the team met in the home for prayer with Dora and a believing family that had moved to the village as workers from OM’s partnering church in the nearest town, Șoldănești, situated at the border of this unreached region. In spring it was possible to purchase the house with the thought of it being used for a future church in Cobîlea itself, and in late April the very first Sunday church meeting took place. About 30 people gathered in the living room and besides guests from the partnering church in Șoldănești, there were ten people from the village who had not been connected to any evangelical church before.

Among them was Ion*, a local young man in his twenties, whom the team had befriended over the past months. After the service he asked them: “How can I know God and get closer to Him?” The team was only too happy to talk more with him, and that night Ion dedicated his life to following Jesus. Only a few weeks later, when the team visited Ion’s home, his mother also invited Jesus into her life. She asked the team to return and help her continue to read and understand God’s Word: her home would be open to them–the first house that salvation had come to through their ministry.

* Surname not included for security reasons

OM Moldova wants to send more Local Ministry Teams to help plant churches in the least reached areas of Moldova and would appreciate prayer for the right people to be part of these teams, for God-inspired and equipped Moldovan churches and local believers to partner with, and for open doors in the communities.

The trekking team walks from village to village and it was often a challenge for participants to trust that God would provide for their needs. Most of the villages they visited had no church and no, or only a few, believers. The team was overwhelmed by the quick readiness the two women showed in serving them and the joy the visit brought to them. “This is like a church,” they said about the fellowship they enjoyed when they received the team into their homes – a fellowship they usually have to do without. It was a great encouragement for these scattered individual believers to have others come to share and worship with them and to help them reach out to their communities.

For Vlad, one of the Moldovan OM workers, the visit to this specific village brought another unexpected encouragement. Talking to the two ladies, he asked how they had come to faith and they shared how ten years ago a man had come and preached the gospel in their village. During the conversation, Vlad discovered that this man was none other than his father! Ten years ago, Vlad had left for Asia for missions and at the same time his father had done an outreach to the region of Moldova they were in. His father's outreach had resulted in these two ladies coming to faith. For ten years they had faithfully kept going. Vlad found it a huge encouragement and sign of God’s faithfulness and constant work and how His hand worked things out over long distances of time and space.

Interested in Love Moldova? Contact your local OM office for more details. 

*last name omitted for security reasons

To Moldovans the Bus4Life is a very curious sight, especially in small and remote villages. As the team visited people in the village with food parcels, the pastor took them to an elderly lady he goes to see regularly. Eighty-year-old Nina had asked him for a Bible in Russian, her native language, every time he visited her, but he had had no possibility to get one for her, though he had prayed for this need. Now, as the Bus4Life had brought much literature, including many Bibles, he could finally respond to Nina’s request. It was a great joy for the old lady, who immediately got her glasses in order to take a closer look at her precious gift, as well as for the pastor, who thus saw two of his often-repeated prayers answered through the visit of the Bus4Life.

When the Bus4Life visited Moldova in late 2017, the outreaches focused on locations where there are no, or only very small, evangelical churches. In one such village the local church consists of only three members - yet when the Bus4Life came to this place, over a hundred children and about 50 adults and youth visited the bus. About 70 New Testaments were given out to people of this village.

Everywhere the bus went, the team found open doors and hearts, as they brought joy to the children and help to the needy. It also led to many good conversations with all kinds of people - from mayors to local council members to an old man who did not believe God could forgive his many sins, but was assured Jesus had come exactly for people like him - like all of us.

In another place the bus was parked next to the local library and the team decided to offer some books as a gift. The librarian was very happy and posted a picture of the new books on their social media page, together with words of thanks and appreciation for the ministry of the Bus4Life.

Besides opening doors for ministry, the bus is also encouraging the often isolated pastors and church planters in the lesser reached areas of Moldova. As more and more people, including believers, leave the country to seek work and a better life abroad, churches suffer and remain without young people, or even without leaders. Yet there are still many devoted Moldovan pastors and believers who carry on, despite the huge challenges, with a strong faith in God’s provision for them and a deep sense of being called to bring the gospel to their own people and country. For them, too, the Bus4Life is a huge blessing - not only being a valuable tool where there are often limited resources, but also showing them they are not alone!

This was the conclusion of one Moldovan girl on the last day of Challenge into Missions (CiM), where she had been participating in the second level of the course. “Through this programme I discovered my passion for working with people who are at the margins of society,” another participant said. For OM Moldova’s workers it is always encouraging to witness the growth happening in the young Moldovans throughout the ten weeks they spend at CiM, as they grow in skills, character, confidence and understanding that God has a place in His work for each of them, as they experience Him using simple people like them to change the lives of those He puts in their path.

Throughout the training, participants spend a total of six weeks on outreaches in Moldovan villages. Whenever CiM teams return from outreach, each person has a story to tell: a situation that impacted them, someone who touched their heart, an instance where they saw God at work; the stories are as varied as the group of participants. But after one outreach in late 2017, uncommonly many participants talked about the same thing; a place that had left none of them unmoved.

The team had visited a temporary children’s home, where children could be placed for a period of up to six months. At least that was the theory – in reality many of the children had already been there several years. The home is insufficiently funded and the children were obviously lacking basic things like food and clothes. Deeply touched by the needs they saw, the CiM team decided to put together some of the little personal money they had with them. It amounted to just enough to buy each child a pair of socks. Though this did not seem much, they still went to the market to buy what they could and were very encouraged when several of the salespeople gave them additional clothes or hygiene articles for free.

The team was equally moved by the hunger for care and affection these children showed as well as the obvious joy they drew from the short visit and the love and message the team shared with them. “I will miss you very much and I will pray for you,” 15-year-old Pavel*, the oldest boy at the home, said as the team left. Earlier, this boy had shared that he would like to become a doctor but doesn’t think it was possible. “What will become of him?” a CiM participant mused. “Soon he will be thrown into adult life so very unprepared, with no help, no example to follow, no one to offer him love and tell him, ‘I believe in you; I believe in your dreams.’ Most others like him end up on the streets – or worse. Only God can change his destiny.”

One of the girls on the CiM team talked to 13-year-old Vitalina*, whose mother brought her to the home seven years ago with the promise to soon return and get her, but had never turned up again, not even to visit. In all those years, Vitalina never saw her and felt forgotten. Was it another case of alcoholism destroying a family (which happens all too often in Moldova)? Did her mother abandon her in search of a better life? Or maybe she really was planning to take back her daughter after a few months working abroad, but (as often this work is not legal) found travel too risky, or worse, fell victim to traffickers? The CiM pondered these questions but didn't have any answers. 

When the team led a programme for the children, Vitalina was very attentive and truly touched by the message. “But the most overwhelming moment for me was at the end,” the CiM student who had spent some time with Vitalina said, “when she told me ‘You are my mother!’” It was a powerful expression of how much this short time had meant to this girl, but also of the depth of her pain and loneliness.

It was exactly this combination of being exposed to utter need and experiencing how little it takes to make an impact, which awakened in the CiM students the desire to do more.

*last names omitted for security reasons

“The lady we visited was deaf; she had dried blood on her hands and face and a soda bottle holding the liquid seeping from her body,” one outreach participant shared. “Her house was in shambles and by far the worst condition we came across. During the visit, it became clear that she was facing abuse from her son and others. My heart broke immediately.”

The outreach team visiting this lady could only communicate by writing down what they wanted to say. The woman could read well and reply to them verbally but told them she had lost her hearing during a seven-month hospital stay, while being treated for tuberculosis. Even now her health did not allow her to work or take proper care of the house, a circumstance greatly aggravated by her son’s alcohol addiction and resulting violence. When the team told her they had brought her a food parcel and a Bible as gifts, she was overjoyed.

“Nobody visits me,” she said, “but you have come, even from a different country, and also brought a gift for me—a Bible, God’s Word!”

When she declared that she would start reading it right away, someone on the team reached out to open her Bible to a specific passage they wanted to show her, but the lady misunderstood the gesture. Clutching the Bible tightly to her chest she exclaimed: “No, don’t take it away again! It is mine; you gave it to me as a gift!”

When she was made to understand their purpose, however, she was very happy to read the suggested verses—and continued to ask every single team member in turn to show her another verse.

As happens every year, dozens of outreach teams went out into Moldovan villages as part of OM’s Love Moldova outreaches. They trekked, cycled or rafted to some of the least reached places of the country, sharing God’s love through running camps, building playgrounds or visiting the poor and neglected—bringing material help as well as encouragement and hope. Often the teams did not find it easy to be confronted with the harsh living conditions of the people they visited; the help they brought seemed little compared to the need. Yet again and again, they were amazed at how much a simple visit meant to these people and what appreciation was shown for the gifts of food, a Bible or prayer.

Some people hesitated to accept prayer, but only because their tradition had taught them they had to pay for it. “One lady told us she wanted to have Jesus in her heart and home but did not have enough money to pay the priest to pray for the home,” one participant explained. When these people understood the team offered to pray for them without expecting payment, and even shared that they themselves could come to God in prayer, they were very happy to accept their offer.

Many teams saw how their visits brought change. Change for the depressed lady with pain in her legs, whom the team prayed for and the next day saw feeling better and full of joy. Change for the man who was grumpy and seemed not at all interested, but as the team left was sitting there with a smile on his face, reading the Bible they had just given him. Change for the lady who told them she wanted to die, but by the end of the visit had accepted Jesus and declared that she was no longer alone and now wanted to live for Him.

At the end of the outreaches, many more similar testimonies were shared about the old, the poor and the abandoned who had been visited with a message of hope. Maybe their outward conditions had not changed that much, but inside their hearts a much more significant transformation had taken place!

This year, as the raft arrived in Buciușca, some OM workers on the team recognised 12-year-old Cristina from their stop there with the raft the previous year. Then she had been a smiling, beautiful young lady. This time the workers noticed she seemed to be very sad. When the children’s programme had finished, and the team went to their camp to have lunch before setting out on their river journey to the next village, Cristina followed them, wandering about close to the group. Finding out she had not yet eaten anything that day, the team invited her to join them for their meal.

Cristina started to share about her life with the team. When she was 6 her mother had died, and not much later her father had passed away, too. She had then been raised by her grandmother, but just two months before the team’s visit, her grandmother had also died. Now Cristina was mainly depending on herself. Sometimes she stayed with relatives, but they were not really taking care of her or even making sure she had food to eat.

The team gave her a food parcel and also some other useful gifts, including a blanket. As they shared more about God and how He could be a Father to her, Cristina could not hold back her tears. She could not stop crying, but by the end of the conversation she had asked Jesus into her heart. The team hugged her, prayed for her and gave her a New Testament. Soon the smile returned to Cristina’s face. All she had needed was some love and affection—and hope.

A few villages further down the river Catea, one of the Moldovan team members, was able to bring hope to another teenage girl.

During the team’s programme in that village, Catea told the children how she had received Jesus into her life and how He had completely changed her, brought her joy and enabled her to also bring joy to others. At the end of the programme, a teenage girl called Ionela* approached Catea, took her hand and asked, “How did you start bringing joy to others? I also want to do this!”

Catea shared more about her life, including how before knowing Jesus, in arguments with her mother, she had often threatened to commit suicide. At this, Ionela started to pour out her heart, sharing that many times she felt unloved and often thought about ending her life. She told Catea about her sick mother and that her father was working abroad in order to be able to afford the necessary medication for her mother.

“We talked about many things and I told her how much God loves her and how she can live with Him,” Catea said. “We prayed and hugged, and I encouraged her to read the Bible. She told me she had never opened up to anyone like this because she had never trusted anybody enough.”

Just before parting, they hugged again. Catea would have liked to give Ionela something as a memory but had no gift to offer. However, when she told Ionela this, the girl’s reply was simple: “You have given me Jesus in my heart!”

However, it’s also where OM has experienced God in amazing ways. Starting with a young British couple moving to the country in 1998, over the following 10-15 years, outreaches grew into a variety of relief and development projects, several missions training programmes, business, literature, church planting, arts and sports ministries. By 2010, responsibility for most ministries had passed into the hands of Moldovans and, in 2015, a Moldovan was appointed as director.

God’s love reaching the forgotten

Churches running OM’s elderly projects help the old lady who can’t afford bread, receiving a pension of 50 euros but needing 80 euros for medication; the old man who lost his house because his alcoholic son used it as security for a loan he couldn’t repay; and many other poor, helpless and utterly lonely elderly.

Most of them believe in an unapproachable God who has no personal interest in them and whose favour must be earned. If they want a priest to pray for them, they need to pay. They have never heard the gospel, never held a Bible. Many are bedridden, so God has to enter into their old, damaged, foul-smelling houses and stand at their bedsides. And He does…in His children who bring food and physical help, as well as His Word.

Many turn to this God who has not forgotten them—people like Pavel*, who admits to having considered suicide but, through OM’s project, became interested in God. He was the first of several elderly in his village that came to faith and were baptised.

OM’s projects reach out to those with disabilities—completely ignored by society, hidden away by their families and attributed no worth—or the countless children living with alcoholic parents who suffer severe neglect and abuse and are left open to exploitation.

OM helps hundreds of local churches transform their communities by caring for those forgotten by others, as well as fuelling change, for example, through business training. Believers who started businesses have offered jobs to others in their community or pass on their knowledge, like Andrei*, who, within two years, grew a beekeeping business of 120 hives and then gave away equipment and bees to three other men, whom he continues to instruct. One has already come to faith through Andrei’s friendship, example and investment.

Churches multiplying to transform their nation

This partnership with local churches and the training of national believers has always been central to OM ministry. Churches used to being receivers of foreign aid are becoming providers of hope and relief to their communities. OM encourages them to extend their vision beyond their own communities to unreached areas and beyond.

Several areas in Moldova have not a single believer within a radius of 100 kilometres. One of these is visited annually by OM’s River Adventure teams. People eagerly await the teams every summer, local authorities are supportive, children remember songs and messages they hear, and the elderly are hungry to talk about God and read the Bible.

OM cooperates with churches that have a vision to plant churches in unreached areas. Supporting such initiatives is the main purpose of OM’s small Local Ministry Teams, teams of OM workers who live in a community alongside church planters, until the new communities are able to live unaided and themselves go out and multiply.

Moldovans sharing God’s heart for the world

A central pillar of OM affecting all other ministries is the training of Moldovan believers in the Challenge into Missions (CiM) course. Hundreds of Moldovans have gone through this training and returned to their churches with new vision, skills and passion. Some have planted new churches. Many joined OM to reach their own country and the world.

“Who will go to them?” Catea* felt God ask her when she heard about the world's unreached during the CiM training. “I will go,” was her response; recently she joined OM to receive further direction and preparation. Catea had worked in Italy for 10 years and could have simply stayed abroad; instead, she joined those who have become an embodiment of the passion and vision of Moldovan followers of Jesus who, unlike many of their fellow citizens, refuse to give up on their country or seek a more comfortable way. Instead, with a passionate witness for Jesus they are determined to bring hope and transformation to their own communities, to their nation and to the ends of the earth.

Esther Hippel grew up in Austria and has worked with OM in Moldova since 2006. After living several years in Moldovan villages doing youth and children’s ministry, she is now responsible for OM Moldova’s communications department. Her passions include helping others grow deeper in faith, revealing beauty and finding God’s fingerprints in the ordinary.

A return call connected them to the same situation, but though they still could not have a conversation or find out what was the matter, they at least managed to recognise who the caller was: a poor woman from their village, who was living alone without family or friends, having hardly any income and staying in a home without water or gas and a roof that leaks when it rains. Only shortly before, their church had partnered with OM Moldova in their winter projects, providing people in need with basic necessities. This woman had been among those who had received firewood.

Concerned, the pastor and his wife decided to visit that poor home. When the woman saw them, she broke into tears again - but it soon became clear they were tears of joy.

"When I received the wood, all cut and ready, I could hardly believe that someone had done this for me!" she shared. "I lit a fire and sat down next to it; I warmed myself and watched the flames - but then I started to cry really hard. I wanted to tell someone how well I was; I wanted to thank someone!"

As she struggled to express her gratitude and her desire to also thank the local church and those who had given the aid, Maria directed her to God. Maria was telling her to thank Him - and assuring her that He was surely able to also bless in return those who had provided this help.

The woman could still hardly believe her fortune and the luxuries it now allowed her: "Tonight I will get undressed to sleep and I will even be able to wash myself," she said. For many winters she had been dressed in as many layers of clothes as she could fit on, day and night, in an attempt to keep warm; now for the first time in sixteen years she was sitting at home beside a warm fire. For 16 years she had not been able to heat her home because she couldn't afford to buy firewood - 16 years of freezing winters!

Every year OM Moldova coordinates help for many of the most vulnerable people in Moldova and every time they encounter situations that are hardly imaginable - but as they reach many communities through the local churches, or go themselves into areas that have no believers yet, they find that this desperately needed help brings true relief on a physical as well as a spiritual level. They find that the words of hope that accompany the gift of a food parcel are nourishing souls; that firewood not only warms houses but also thaws hearts - and they find it's not always a bad thing to make people cry.

Ilie was the first of his location to visit the bus, as it stopped there during its journey through a northern district of Moldova in March. Although the conversation had started on the topic of football, it soon turned to Jesus, whom Ilie knew almost nothing about.

This boy, who had been abandoned by his own father when he was just one month old, heard that God wants to be his Father. He was told about all that Jesus had done for him to make this possible and received a New Testament so he could find out more.

The team met many people who were open for conversations, people who were seeking God, people expressing the desire and need to have their lives changed, people who wanted the team to pray for them and many who bought Bibles.

In Moldova the simple sight of a big vehicle like the Bus4Life is still unusual and immediately creates curiosity. It is an attraction that draws people and helps to open doors with local authorities; it can give teams access to places without a local church and facilitate the first contact many inhabitants have with the gospel and believers.

While the children enjoy fun activities like a bouncy castle, games and a message creatively presented for their understanding, adult visitors are served with tea, coffee and biscuits while they talk with the staff or browse through the books on display. Thus young and old hear about God and can take home literature and Bibles to learn more.

There are only a few places in Moldova where you can buy Christian literature; this is why the Bus4Life is a huge blessing also for local believers, offering access to a great variety of books even in remote villages. However, most of the visitors to the bus have no connection to a church and come simply out of curiosity - but they show just as much interest in what the team has to share and in the literature on offer.

As the bus moved on from Ilie's hometown to a very small village in the area, one of the visitors was an elderly lady who was greatly interested in all the books she found on the bus. After looking at many different titles, she chose two she wanted to purchase, but said she'd have to go home to get money.

Returning a little later, she explained that there was no money at home - but she had brought 1.3 kilograms of home-made cheese, which she offered as payment. A team member bought the cheese from her, so in exchange she could get the books.

OM sells the literature at reduced prices - mostly far below purchasing costs - to make it affordable to locals in the villages, but for some it's still money they cannot easily spare. At the same time, this lady's simply offering of what she had was an encouraging sign of her desire to hear from God, and there's a high probability she will value and read the books she took home.

One of the books she bought is written in the form of God addressing the reader as a Father to his dear child. Though living in a culture that sees God as distant and impersonal, this lady - as well as Ilie and all the other seeking visitors - now have the opportunity to continue hearing personally from their Creator and Father, even after the bus has left, through the Bibles and books they purchased.

* Surname not included for security reasons

It was a visit many of them later remembered as a highlight of their outreach. “We spent a long time there,” one of them shared. “At first he seemed not open at all, he was just focused on his own misery, but after we shared our hearts the atmosphere changed.”

As the team talked about God, read from the Bible, sang songs and prayed, little by little Vladimir opened up. When they read Psalm 103 he had tears in his eyes. In the end he himself also prayed, opening his heart to receive Jesus as Lord in his life. The gloom was gone; he was smiling and laughing. You could see in his eyes and his face that he was a changed man.

Unable to provide for themselves and bitter because no one else seems to care: Vladimir is by far not the only Moldovan fitting this description. This is why visiting the poor and neglected with food parcels is a vital part of OM Moldova’s outreaches, helping to alleviate the desperate material needs many people have. At the same time the spiritual needs are just as severe, and God‘s Word brings relief to their despair and healing to their wounded souls. Prayer and the Word of God have had a powerful and liberating effect in the lives of neglected poor people visited by ‘Love Moldova’ outreach teams.

Healing hearts, not just bodies

As one team was travelling around by horse and cart, they visited a lady who had problems with her leg and could hardly walk anymore. While they shared and prayed, their words seemed to have little effect: the lady continued to appear depressed and full of self-pity.

However, the following day the team received a phone call from her. She was feeling much better and - attributing it to their prayer for her health - invited the team to visit once more. Returning to the home, the team found she had gathered all her family, including her adult daughters and her son-in-law, and their attitudes had changed completely: they were extremely grateful and very open to hearing the gospel.

Going to the river to pray

The River Outreach teams visit areas that have no local evangelical churches, no believers, no other witness throughout the year - but even though teams stop by just once a year, they see fruit.

One river-team visited a lady who had been met by another team the previous year and at that time had been given a Bible. When the visitors asked her about the icons on her walls, she explained that following the practice of the Orthodox Church, she faithfully prayed to these icons every day, looking for hope and answers. This was a perfect opportunity for the team to share about Jesus: that He is our hope and salvation and that He wants to hear from us Himself - directly and personally - in prayer.

The lady was very open and started to ask many questions about different parts of the Bible. It was clear that she had been doing a lot of reading since receiving this Bible a year before, and the team was very encouraged to see how hungry she was to learn more.

Prayer and the Word of God have a powerful and liberating effect. As the teams found this to be true, they were also able to trust God where no fruit could yet be seen, believing His promise that His Word would not return empty - whether this would be seen immediately, after one day, after one year or maybe only beyond time.

*Last name omitted for privacy reasons

As the team entered a poorly furnished apartment, they found three children with their mother, who quickly sent them to put on better clothes for the visitors. They recognised the children as having been at their programme the previous day, where the youngest, a four-year-old girl called Ariadna*, had caught their attention by her restlessness, being unable to concentrate or integrate with the other children and appearing to have some type of cognitive disability.

Now, her home situation helped provide them with an explanation for her behaviour: while preparing for this visit the team members had been told that the father was a heavy alcoholic and that the mother, too, often liked to drink.

Ariadna immediately started to inspect the food parcel the visitors had brought. Finding some washing powder and soap on top, she pressed them against her face to enjoy the fresh smell. After sitting like this for a while, she proceeded to examine the rest of the content. “Mum, Dad!“ she commented on most things she pulled out - basic products like flour or rice - and was excited when she also found a toy in there. “Ariadna!” she exclaimed, staking her claim to the toy.

Meanwhile the older of her two brothers, 13-year-old Andrian*, was sitting on the bed with a bandaged leg: he had badly cut himself with a scythe while working in the fields. Since there was a nurse among the visiting team, she had a look at the wound. While she was talking, Andrian caught a few English words he understood and commented on them. “You are a clever boy!” was the team member’s intuitive response - having no idea she had hit a crucial subject for the boy.

His eyes grew wide and he turned to his mother: “Did you hear? Everyone says I am stupid, but she called me clever!” he said almost unbelievingly. Sometime later during the visit - without any context - he was speaking to himself once more: “They said I am clever!” When the team decided to offer him a children's Bible, Andrian was overjoyed about the gift. He immediately started to read out loud - slowly, haltingly, but with determination.

It is possible he has a learning disability, but maybe it is only the lack of possibilities and support that prevents him from keeping up at school. “Now I have enough to read until school starts again,” he said excitedly. Very likely he possesses no other book - nothing to help him practice his reading skills, nothing to broaden his mind and develop his imagination. What his visitors could give to him did not seem like much: only a children's Bible, and one encouraging sentence - and yet the team saw these simple gifts held empowerment and potential for change.

The team was then privileged to see a first glimpse of this possible change at their next children's programme: while on the first day of their day camp Andrian had stood out because of his disruptive behaviour, making trouble or using swearwords, after the team's visit to his family he was a changed person.

They saw him listening very attentively, raising his hand at all the questions, eager to participate and to be helpful. A team member talked to him about what he would like to become and was surprised to find he had a specific job in mind and was also talking about getting further education. She encouraged him that this was possible, that there were many examples of people who made something of their lives despite coming from poor or difficult circumstances.

While children like Andrian often simply follow their parents' example of a destructive lifestyle, this boy started to dream and believe in something better. Nothing in his circumstances had changed during these few days, but there was a transformation more significant than circumstances: he had caught hope!

*last name omitted for security reasons

Esther: What are your responsibilities in OM Moldova?

Oxana: I manage some of the social projects in the relief department and am also responsible for several of our Elderly Care projects and Day Centres for children. Besides these, I am part of a project called the ‘Freedom Climb’ with the goal of helping vulnerable girls, and I am praying about how I can do more in this area.

Esther: How do OM Moldova’s relief projects meet physical and spiritual needs?

Oxana: As we provide material help we have the joy of knowing that it goes where there is a real need, and we pray that as this aid enters homes, it does so together with the Word of God. Many of the people who receive help ask why the believers are doing this for them and say they feel a relief from their hardships when we come and talk about God. What impacts them most is the fact that they are not forgotten - it means a lot to them that someone entered their house to help them and they no longer feel left alone in their situation. In an environment marked by corruption, where the state does not care for them and they feel forgotten by people, they recognise that God is thinking about them. It is the prayer, compassion and love that accompany these projects that truly make the difference.

Esther: Please tell us more about the Freedom Climb you are preparing for!

Oxana: Though the main activity is climbing a mountain, it is not really about the climb; it’s more a symbolic act of love for people affected by human trafficking. The main goal is raising funds, building relationships and making connections that will help support projects addressing this issue. I will go as a representative of Moldova to share about our ministry among vulnerable girls, about their situations and what God is already doing here; praying that through all this, God will open more doors for this ministry.

Esther: You wanted to participate already this past summer - what happened?

Oxana: I did not receive a visa for the United States, where this particular Climb took place, so I couldn’t participate. When I was at the embassy to apply for the visa, I was prepared to explain my purpose and share about the ministry, but they only kept asking me about my brother who lives in the US, probably fearing I was planning to remain there. But I am happy that in September 2017 I will have the chance to participate in another Climb in Peru.

Esther: After this disappointment, what motivated you to keep going?

Oxana: Coming back from the embassy I was truly very discouraged, but God told me to be courageous, to take heart and not give up. I have seen the hearts, the tears and the pain of the girls who are at our camps. These girls need God’s love; they need these moments at the camps - that’s why I keep on. There were still many times of discouragement later on, but every time God reminded me of what He told me that first moment and so every time I decide anew to go on.

Esther: Why is this ministry for vulnerable girls so strongly on your heart?

Oxana: What motivates me most is my own experience, coming from the same situation these girls’ grow up in, having lived the same nightmares they live. I have suffered much psychologically and emotionally. I understand these young people who are ashamed of their family, of their home situation, of the way they themselves are, and who do not feel they are people equal to others and made by God in a wonderful way. I myself lived with the thought that I am not good enough, and now I want to be an instrument to help them. God has worked wonderful changes in my own life and family, and I want to tell others that this is possible.

Esther: What made the difference in your own life?

Oxana: When God entered my life He changed me, but also made me a door through which His blessing extended to the rest of my family. At that time I had been living in the capital for several years, but God motivated me to return to my family and I lived with them for another ten years. During this time everything changed. My brother turned to God. My father - who used to be an alcoholic - has not been drinking at all for the past 11 years and has changed completely. He is more sensitive and no longer the harsh, crude, violent man he had been. There are still challenges; my parents do not know God yet, their relationship is not easy and my mother is still very much hurt by all she has gone through at my father’s hands. But there have been so many changes and I continue to pray for them - and this is what I also want to tell the girls: Change is possible, and this change can start with them. It is not enough for them to just pray for their parents and wait for the parents to change, if they themselves are not changed - but if they allow God to change them, He can also bring change through them.

Esther: How have you yourself changed through your ministry and your time with OM?

Oxana: I am still in the process of change, but I have become much more open and communicative. I also used to think that missionaries must be exceptional people with special gifts, but at OM I experienced that I was useful and accepted the way I am; I was given second chances and the opportunity to learn, to discover myself, to develop and grow - in ministry, in vision and as a child of God.

Esther: What would you want people to see in you or say about you?

Oxana: When they look at me I’d like them to see a person of God who has a heart for people and for God’s work. I want God’s will, the fear of God and God’s love to be visible in my life; to be a person with God’s Spirit and to leave fruit behind me. I would also like people to see me as courageous and strong. I want to lead a deep and rich life - so that when I am old, I can write a book about it which will be glorifying to God and helpful to build up others who need courage.

Esther: Is there anything else you would like to share?

Oxana: In order to participate in the Freedom Climb, I need to raise finances - funds which will then be used for our ministry. These camps are so important, and I would love us to be able to add more days, to have more time to discuss with the girls and give them a bit more time in this environment where they are safe and loved. I would like to ask people to pray for this and also to consider if they can contribute with a financial gift.

Check http://www.thefreedomchallenge.com for more information about OM’s global movement of passionate women dedicated to freeing oppressed and enslaved women and children all around the world. Oxana and another Moldovan OM worker, Anastasia Belousova, are preparing to take part in the 2017 Peru Freedom Climb. For more information about how to support them, contact OM Moldova.

This is true in a special way for Andrei Șoiliță, a 26-year-old inhabitant of that village, as these bees literally provide his livelihood and are also God’s tool of using this young man for His kingdom.

Andrei grew up in a believing family, where he also developed his own personal faith. At age 13 he started to become interested in beekeeping and after finishing school decided to learn this profession and make it his source of income. Starting humbly with one single beehive, within two years he succeeded in growing this into a real business of 120 hives.

This is also how he became connected with OM Moldova, as he applied to OM’s B4T (Business for Transformation) initiative, which offers training, consultation and loans to Moldovans who want to start their own business. Many Moldovans who contact B4T possess the necessary skills in a certain field of activity and the motivation to turn this into a business to be able to provide for their families, but have no knowledge about business matters, managing money, legal requirements and the like, while also lacking the funds to get started. This is where B4T helps them, as the training courses teach more about the financial and administrative side of business and also offer the possibility to receive small loans.

Andrei received a loan which helped him replace old hives with new ones, thus becoming more efficient in his business, which allows him to provide for his growing young family. Recently he and his wife had their second child, and are raising their two small children as well as seeking to serve God in their community.

Andrei was considering how he could bless others through his business. When he renewed his equipment, he decided to give away part of it, along with some of his bees, to three other men whom he also began to instruct—passing on the knowledge he had acquired through his education, the B4T training and his experience.

Through his generosity and investment, these three men became Andrei’s friends, whom he continued to mentor and witness to by his words and life. One of them started attending Andrei’s church and after a while came to faith himself.

Blessings have multiplied in this village, as the church has grown and more people have obtained the means to make a living - all because of one young man, who received help and was willing to invest and share it, letting it flow over into others’ lives in love and generosity.

The young believers also experienced this as they went out into villages in small teams throughout the country to practise what they had learnt. It was not always easy for them - being challenged to leave their comfort zone, trying new things, and boldly stepping out with the good news - but they found it deeply rewarding: Not only could they be messengers of joy and salvation for others, but they themselves received joy. They were strengthened in their faith as they saw God honour their trust and use their efforts.

A chance meeting on the road

One participant shared about their encounter with an elderly couple: Meeting them on the road, the team offered to help them carry some bags and as a consequence were invited into their home. After listening to the couple share about their life and hardships, they started to talk about God and eternal life.

“I sensed that I had to pray for them and invite them to receive Jesus, but I also felt I didn’t have the frankness and courage to do it,” the team member shared. “But God gave me victory in my inward struggle and they both received Jesus in their hearts. This experience greatly strengthened my faith and I understood much better how important it is to listen to God’s prompting and allow Him to use me.”

Visiting the sick

Catea*, another CiM student, approached an older woman who had brought her granddaughter to a children’s programme the team was running. As Catea tried to initiate a conversation, the woman said she had to return to her husband who was lying at home, sick with cancer. Catea asked if during their stay in the village, the team could visit this couple to pray for him. The woman agreed and a few days later the CiM team went on that visit, during which both husband and wife turned to faith in God.

“We saw tears in their eyes and a true desire to entrust themselves to God,” Catea shared. “After this we also prayed for healing for the husband. God has not changed; His power is still the same, so we believe He can do much more than we imagine.

A child of God

God’s readiness to answer prayer was also the crucial point of Nicu’s* testimony about this outreach. Nicu was involved in leading youth meetings in the evenings and one time a very drunk young man turned up. In that state he was not able to take anything in, but Nicu challenged him to come again the next evening. He told him to be sober then, because there was something very important he had to tell him.

The young man really came to the next youth meeting and listened as the team was singing and sharing testimonies. In the end they offered to pray about anything the young people had on their hearts and the young man asked for prayer for his mother who was in hospital. When they had prayed and Nicu spontaneously embraced him, the young man started to cry, pulled Nicu aside and told him: “I want to be like you!”

Nicu explained that the difference in his own life is Jesus, and that he needs to receive Jesus in his heart and confess his sins. Not yet sure about this, the young man went home, but he decided to also pray himself, asking God that his mother would be able to come home the next day. The following day his mother really was released from the hospital and when she arrived home, the young man immediately set off to find Nicu. With tears in his eyes he declared to Nicu that God really exists and that he wants to confess his sins and become a child of God.

Throughout the ten weeks of this CiM course, the participants shared the gospel with hundreds of children and adults and saw seeds sown as well as fruit being grown for God’s kingdom. But what may be even more important, these young Moldovan believers saw God use them, and as they return to their own villages and churches, they go with a strengthened faith and trust in a God who acts and with a readiness to be at his disposal, listening out for his voice and prompting. Their ten-week mission experience is over now, but hopefully for many of them their lives’ mission is just about to start.

*Surname not included for security reasons

Hundreds of visitors came to the bus, enjoyed coffee, bought Bibles and Christian literature and shared about their lives. A total of 500 children attended the children’s programs. The OM team was able to pray with many. Please read on for some of their stories:

Not by words… but by God’s spirit

The team was doing a children’s program next to the bus in one of the villages. People were soon gathering and some visited inside. A team member initiated a conversation with a man dressed in filthy clothes; and after making him a cup of coffee they started to talk. The man shared about his life and how his 16-year-old son had passed away in a car accident. He was angry at God and at the world, and bitterly stated: “Some people have everything, while others have nothing.”

The OMers shared about the love of Jesus, but the man said in no uncertain terms that they would never be able to convince him. He did, however, allow them to pray. As they prayed, the Holy Spirit touched the man and he started to cry like a child and gave his life to Jesus.

Let the children come

In every village the OM team experienced the same situation: The children gathered round the bus and the team played games with them. Afterwards the children were invited inside for a gospel presentation and many responded by inviting Jesus into their lives.

Pray for these children to grow in their relationship with Jesus and for the witness they may be to their parents and other family members.

New life

Christian music played over the loudspeakers and drew people in from another village.

When two women and a man entered the bus, OM team members made coffee and began to share the gospel. The three paid very close attention to what they heard, hushing the children who were making noise. They really wanted to hear the message being shared and all three gave their lives to Jesus! The man asked for a Bible, saying he wanted to start a new life. He left with a smile on his face and the Bible under his arm.

Please pray for these new believers to grow in their faith. Pray also for the OM teams ministering through Bus4Life in several countries, and for driver Esa Tuuri, working long days and carrying much responsibility. 

“My dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labour in the Lord is not in vain”. 1.Corinthians 15:58 (NIV)

In one of the villages Alina Pascari, a member of the OM team, overheard a boy tell his friend the story of the crucifixion. Soon she realised there was a problem with little Mihai’s* narration: it finished with Jesus being crucified and the boy seemed to have no idea that Jesus’ death was not the end of the story. At this point Alina joined the conversation, indicating that the story was not complete without taking it on to the resurrection.

Mihai was surprised at the mention of it. “Resurrection? What resurrection?” he asked. The idea confused him just as much as Alina’s description of the grave–he couldn't imagine someone being put in a rock cave covered with a big stone.

Alina used an illustrated children's Bible to explain everything again and then gave the Bible to Mihai as a gift. As soon as he held it in his hands, he began to look at the pictures and to read it together with his friend. When he came to the image of Jesus on the cross, his face saddened, but Alina encouraged him to continue to the following pages.

Reading about the resurrection and ascension his eyes began to shine, as Alina’s words were confirmed and Mihai began to understand the bigger picture of Jesus’ mission of salvation.

“I have often asked myself who Jesus is,” the boy said, and as he learnt more he also expressed an eagerness to share his discoveries with his family by reading to them from his new Bible.

During their travels the team on the Bus4Life talked to many people and brought joy to numerous children through games and activities. But this was one of their highlights, one of the most valuable expressions of joy: A nine-year-old boy who was so happy to finally know about Jesus and to have his own Bible where he could read about Him.

In mid-April, about 50 boys from OM’s day centres all over Moldova came to Chișinău for a weekend where they had fun and fellowship, but above all, gained a new perspective on what it means to be a ‘real man’. Many were surprised to find out there are different definitions of a ‘real man’—and that God’s perspective is very different from that of the world around them.

Like all the children who are cared for in OM Moldova’s day centres, these boys come from some of the most desperate backgrounds in the country, marked by poverty and severe neglect.

In 2014 OM Moldova started a ministry for girls who are reaching adolescence and are at a high risk of becoming victims of human trafficking or other forms of exploitation. However, this conference was the first step of extending this ministry to also reach out to boys.

Many of these boys grow up without a father, or without any parents at all, while others have fathers who set a bad example including alcoholism and violence. The examples they’re surrounded by teach them that a real man is tough and able to do what he wants—usually associated with smoking, drinking and various forms of criminal activity. They’re also taught that authority and respect are gained by harshness, violence and putting others down.

If nothing intervenes and changes their perspective, many of these boys will grow into men who go to prison because crime seems desirable (or simply their only option). Those who follow the promise of a construction job abroad may find that at the end of all their hard labour, their pay is being withheld. Some may even become the future human traffickers and make their living by exploiting others.

So at this conference, the simple presence of godly leaders who live a different example was immensely valuable. The same was true of the activities, which helped to build the boys’ self-image and show them they can experience success without harming others.

On the first day, one leader noticed a boy who seemed very shy and quiet and hardly ate anything. Later, when the whole group went bowling, this boy changed. He did well at the game and this seemed to give him confidence beyond just that activity. For the rest of the conference he was much more open, he smiled a lot and obviously enjoyed the time.

Geese and eagles

The boys were offered teaching on many aspects of manhood. A doctor explained good hygiene practices and what happens in their bodies; in other sessions they looked at various examples from the Bible, like Moses and David, to identify characteristics God desires in men.

They also began to understand the importance of taking responsibility for their own lives and that their fate is not bound by the experience in their own families. For example, just because their family never ate together, it does not mean that when they have a family they cannot share meals and develop good family traditions. If their father drinks and beats other family members, they are not bound to become the same as him. They also learned that friends have a big influence, and to surround themselves with people who will have a positive impact on their development. These were just some of the areas where they were encouraged to take initiative and responsibility, starting with a changed attitude.

One speaker used the comparison between a goose and an eagle. Any Moldovan child knows how geese are raised in the village: from the time they hatch, they get fed and taken care of by their owner and have a very easy life—but one that is very restrained, locked into a confined space, depending on somebody else and destined to be eaten. An eagle has to work much harder to hunt its own food or grow and protect its family, but in exchange it can soar high in the sky and enjoy freedom. It was a picture many of the boys found helpful and inspiring: “I want to be an eagle, not a goose!” was a desire repeatedly expressed in their times of discussion and evaluation.

Found by the true Father

The boys were not only taught God's good purpose for them as men, but many also believed in God's love for them and listened to His call to follow Him through believing in Jesus.

At the end of the last meeting, after sharing about what they had learnt and liked, all the boys formed a circle and the leaders went from person to person praying over them individually. One OM worker, who had been unsure about his usefulness because of his limited knowledge of the language, remembers this as the most powerful and impacting time of the conference.

“In a room of 49 boys and eight to ten godly men praying over them, you could begin to feel God’s Spirit strong and present,” he shared. “As we ended this time, I knew for sure this was my ‘why’ for the conference: Even with the language barriers I was able to understand these boys’ needs and could pray to God, asking Him to intervene in their lives.”

Another leader was very encouraged about the small group he was responsible for, seeing that at their last meeting all eight of them understood and responded to the call to repent and be cleansed from their sins. Two of them even began to cry, but despite their visible emotion they stood up to request prayer. Of the eight boys in that group, only three had any parents, but that weekend they were found by their eternally loving and faithful Father.

Pray that these boys and others that attend OM Muldova's day centres would experience the love of Christ and be made into the kind of men God wants them to be. 

It was a milder winter than usual, but in Moldova it is still too cold to go without heating. Those most affected are families who struggle to make ends meet and often live in old, damaged houses. Older houses are not insulated and sometimes have walls that are cracked, doors that don’t close properly, floors that are simply covered earth, and windows made of single glass or even just a makeshift plastic covering.

Every year OM Moldova helps hundreds of the most needy families and elderly with firewood to help them get through the cold season. However, at times OM and partnering churches also encounter obstacles delaying the help they desire to give. Sometimes the necessary finances don’t come in time, and this year the mild winter proved a challenge because of the scarcity of firewood. The ground did not freeze but stayed soft and muddy, not allowing tractors or heavy trucks to enter the forests to cut or transport wood.

In one place the OM team was delivering firewood in February. It might have seemed a bit late in the season, but they found that God had led them to exactly the right people at precisely the right time. At the beginning of winter, these families had acquired what they could with their own means, but now they were starting to run out.

Lilia*, a young mother, had wood left for about one week; another told the team she had only enough for one more day and the next family showed them the pile of 10-15 small pieces of chopped wood that was all they had left, enough for maybe a day or two.

Since she didn’t have enough wood, Maria*, an elderly lady, had been using some walnut shells to make a small fire. The team was very happy to know that after their visit Maria would be able to properly heat her house with a good wood fire again.

All these people were really thankful for the gift received, accepting it as a provision from God at the exact time of their need - and at that time they didn’t yet know that it would stay chilly unusually long, with slight snowfalls even at the end of March. The OM team could not have foreseen this, but God made sure that help came perfectly timed.

* last names omitted for privacy reasons

However, his outlook on life began to change one day when he was hobbling down the road on his crutches and was met by a woman from the local evangelical church. The woman worked in the elderly care centre run by OM Moldova through this church, and she decided that Vasile should benefit from the project.

Now five days a week a hot meal is brought to Vasile, easing his physical need as well as his loneliness - and making him wonder why he is being treated with such care.

“I have spoken with him about the love of God; he listens with pleasure, asks many questions and we are happy that we included him in the project,” the woman shared. Vasile himself feels the same way: “I like this church; the people there care for others whom nobody else cares about,” he said.

The elderly care centre in Porumbești is a relatively young one, having been started in May 2014, but it has already helped to bring huge changes to the lives of the poor and neglected elderly it serves, as well as the surrounding society. The workers emphasise that in all they do they strive to please God, not aim to impress people, but they are nevertheless aware that they are being watched. They can see how this work is making people favourably disposed towards the believers and ‘their’ God.The village community appreciates what they are doing and recognises it as something good - and much more so those who receive warm food five times a week, who are lonely, abandoned and often also sick and bedridden.

It is often said that older people find it harder to change their worldview - and therefore also more rarely come to faith - but that doesn’t seem to be the case in Porumbești, at least not among those receiving provisions through the elderly care project.

“I am grateful that there are people with a fear of God who show such kindness. I have joy in this hot meal which is given with great love,” said Tudor*, a 63-year-old widower whose children are working abroad to survive. As with Vasile and many others, the care he received excited an interest in God.

However, whereas Vasile is still discussing and asking questions about God, Tudor has gone further: “I have been coming to church for a year now and I realised that I need to make a commitment to God,” he shared. “On the first of November I did so through baptism. I love Jesus because I have understood how much he loves me. I love the church and I feel that there is something new within me; a new relationship with people and with my Heavenly Father who cares for me.”

He was not the first to take this step of faith. Earlier in the year the small church had already celebrated the baptism of another: Pavel* had been suffering loneliness, poverty and physical limitations, and just like Vasile he had questioned the sense of life - until unexpected hope came to him.

“I am now 56 years old, but my sufferings and loneliness made me look like an old man,” he shared. “I have a sickness in my legs and have to move around with the help of crutches. After my wife’s death, I had very dark thoughts and considered suicide, but God had mercy on me. Through this project I heard that God cares about me.”

Not only did Pavel decide to go on with life, but through coming to faith he completely changed, and through baptism desired to publicly proclaim the source of this change. Today this once suicidal man joyfully declares: “I am a child of God; life has received a purpose!”

*last names omitted for privacy reasons

Esther: Please share about your journey to faith.
 

Ion: I grew up in an orthodox family, but in practice there was no talk of God. When I was about 13 years old, I heard from a friend at school that a football team would be started in the village. It was a team of OM Moldova's Next Generation ministry, but I didn't know anything about it then - I was simply enthusiastic about playing football. I was impressed by the trainer, seeing he was a good and dedicated man. After the first few training sessions we were asked to learn John 3:16. I wasn't interested in learning Bible verses and only wanted to play football, but I chose to submit - and this verse has played an important role in my life. Our trainer also invited us to church and because he was a man I admired, I followed his invitation. When I first attended Sunday school, I didn't feel comfortable because the smaller children knew a lot more than I did. But when I started going to youth meetings, I enjoyed it very much and soon got actively involved. God was working in me, and my friends told me my behaviour had changed - but I was afraid to openly commit to God; I feared that my friends would laugh at me. One day together with my church I went to see a drama about heaven and hell. Watching it, I was appalled to realise how Satan is mocking and using people, but was touched by Jesus’ warm welcome of his ‘faithful servants’. My heart cried out to God, truly understanding which of the two I wanted to be, and when after a concluding message the speaker urged us not to put off our decision, I followed the call.

Esther: What kind of ministry is strongest on your heart?
 

Ion: Even before joining OM I started to do football trainings, so when I joined the OM team, I really wanted to be part of their sports ministry. I was able to participate in several of their sports events, but because of the needs in the team, I was assigned to the training department as my main responsibility.  I was really impressed by the way the 'Challenge into Missions' course was run: not seeing the participants as receivers but preparing them to go themselves. Helping lead this programme I learned a lot and now I am more excited about this kind of ministry - motivating and equipping other young believers. Through our prayer evenings at OM I also developed a vision for the needs of the world, and now I am working towards equipping myself for global missions.

Esther: How has your view of missions changed?
 

Ion: I used to think that mission was something for people who don't have anything to do and who have a lot of money, which they don't know how to spend. Basically I thought only rich people can do missions. Joining OM I started to see things differently; with time I understood that these people have a vision and calling, a deep passion and love for people who are lost. It is this desire that then leads to accepting challenges like raising finances - taking the initiative myself to find the money I need.

Esther: Having led many outreach teams, what do you think is the benefit for local churches - what does OM contribute that the Moldovan Church couldn't or wouldn't do alone?
 

Ion: An outreach team can remind the church of their need to be involved in the community: the need to do evangelism, to work with children or bring relief. A team revives the church’s sense of calling and helps to keep their fire burning. The local church gets involved with the team and this often leads them to ask “What are we doing? This team comes to do what we should be doing ourselves.” They are encouraged to continue the work when the team leaves.

In addition to outreach teams, OM Moldova is a huge blessing through their different projects that bring material help, because these enable the church to get access to the hearts of those who are hungry. And through all this, people find God: Travelling with outreach teams I have seen many people come to faith - young people just as much as elderly.
What I especially appreciate about OM Moldova is that they are putting themselves under the churches; in their entire ministry it is always the local church that is emphasised, not OM itself.

Ester: What are the encouragements and challenges in your work?
 

Ion: One of the biggest encouragements for me is seeing the smiles on children's faces; also knowing that the work is not in vain - seeing growth, development, and people coming to faith. I also appreciate our prayer evenings, which God uses a lot to speak to me, and mature relationships with friends in OM.
 

The biggest challenge is my financial support, especially knowing how to communicate this need to others.

Esther: What do you expect for your time on the Logos Hope?
 

Ion: I want God to speak to me regarding His plan for me for the next years and for my life, and maybe to show me a specific country. I expect to be better equipped for world missions and want to learn more how to communicate with others about God. But I am flexible: I‘ll joyfully do whatever I can - even if I have to clean toilets for two months.

Esther: Is there anything else you would like to tell us?
 

Ion: Listen to what is in your heart and then take action towards your vision! If you have a vision, you can reach it, but you need to take initiative. After coming to faith I really wanted to get involved in my church, but couldn't, so I prayed a lot for it and actively sought possibilities where I could learn. This is how I came to take part in 'Challenge into Missions' - and all that followed from it.

The day centres give them hope for a chance to break out of this lifestyle: introducing them to God and allowing them to experience respect and love, and even get an education. At times this ministry extends hope even to their parents: hope that they, too, can change; that God can work miracles in their lives.

From heartbreak to hope

Dana* and her siblings attend one of OM’s day centres. When an outreach team stayed in her village over the summer, they visited Dana’s home along with Viorel Cebotari, the local pastor and day centre leader. Galina Duda, one of OM Moldova’s relief workers, described the visit as an extremely miserable experience.

When they arrived, they found a police officer and the local social worker in the yard and the children’s mother Tania* slouched on the threshold of the house. Tania was unable to move properly or even walk because of excessive drinking. A quick look through the window revealed that neither the house nor her four children received any care.

Galina recalls feeling angry with the pathetic figure sitting there - in a terrible physical state and careless of the suffering she was causing her children. It seemed a hopeless case, but despite their feelings, the visitors decided to pray for this situation.

The children were removed and taken to a state home and the legal process was started to take parental rights away from Tania and her husband, who was in prison. However, whether through the prayers or the loss of her children or both, Tania was roused from her stupor.

Tania turned up at the church and asked them to pray for her because she did not want to drink any more. She had already stayed ‘dry’ for two weeks, but felt vulnerable because neighbours and even her father kept inviting her to drink. She sought the support of the local believers and of their God - the God whom her children talked about at the day centre and the God who had worked a similar miracle in the pastor of this church. It was well-known in the village that Pastor Viorel had himself been an alcoholic and criminal before God completely changed his life.

Tania started regularly attending church and came to a true faith. Her life changed. She did not drink anymore and cleaned and refurbished her house. She soon looked much healthier, so much that Galina found it difficult to recognize her as being the same person she had seen a few months earlier.

Viorel, who owns some greenhouses, began to give Tania paid work as often as he could, knowing her need for an income as well as having something useful to do. Tania also started taking small day jobs in the village to earn money. The mayor and social worker noticed the change and they began to talk about getting Tania’s rights to her children back.

A Long road home

There were still many challenges ahead. Because Tania’s husband had suffered from tuberculosis, the children were tested for similar diseases. Doctors found a shadow on young Dana’s lungs and the girl was transferred to a special hospital in the capital, Chișinău, where she had to stay for two months.

It was a difficult time for Dana, who felt lonely and scared, and also had complications with her appendix. It was hard on Tania too, who had no way to visit her daughter in the hospital. Tania appealed to Galina for support, and she went to visit Dana after the operation on her appendix. When the girl saw Galina, tears streamed down her face. She had woken up alone in a different place, and was immensely grateful to see a kind and familiar face.

In just one month Dana gained 10kg - partly because of medication, but also because she had been so underfed before. The meal at the day centre was the only food she had been receiving. Finally after two months, all scans and tests were clear and she was able to leave the hospital.

Then a new problem arose: Dana wanted to go home to her mother, but the children’s home would not agree to release her and her siblings. Under pressure from the home, the mayor also withdrew his former support of a reunion with their mother.

The children were miserable, crying to go home, and Tania kept coming to Viorel, crying as well. Viorel called Galina to ask for prayer.

The local church prayed, the OM team prayed, and just a few days later the mayor himself approached Tania. He had to go to Chișinău for a seminar and offered to take Tania with him so she could pick up Dana and take her home. What joy this brought to the family and what encouragement to those who had prayed!

Some challenges still remain: Tania’s father, who owns the house they live in, still drinks and can cause problems. The legal process concerning the parental rights is still unresolved. But Tania and many others have been encouraged that God is a God who hears prayer and who has the power to change even the most hopeless situations.

* last names omitted for security reasons

OM: Can you share how you decided to give your life to God?

Petru Castraveț: In 1995, I was in Romania and in prison, though innocent of my accused crime. On the contrary, I had actually saved a man’s life. Feeling this was not fair, I started crying out to God and reading the Bible. I understood that even though I was not guilty in this case, I was still a sinner.

Many things spoke to me from the Bible, especially 1 Peter 3:17 that says it is better to suffer for doing good than for doing evil. I understood and believed that God had a plan for why I was in prison.

After one year and 10 months in prison, I heard from God through Acts 26:17-18, as if this was a personal calling for me. I thought, “God, where can you be sending me to? I am locked up in prison!”

However, three days later, completely unexpectedly, I was released and told to go home. I did not have money for the journey but, as a confirmation that God had called me, I told God I wouldn’t ask anyone for money but wanted Him to provide for the journey. Several people offered me money for this purpose.

When I arrived home I was eager to share the Gospel with the people around me. First my sister became a believer, then my wife, and also some friends. Today we have a small church in my village.

OM: You have been involved in planting a church. Can you tell us about this process?

Petru: Right after my return from prison, several people came to faith, but there was also great opposition. For our first baptism we had nine people, but half of them at the last moment changed their mind. With time the people in the village got more used to our group of believers. As my family grew I had less time and energy, and there were also discouragements, but although I felt I could now do less for the church, I was still determined to go ahead.

Today we have 12 church members in the village, though more believers have come from our village who later moved away. Last year God blessed us with the possibility to buy a piece of land and start building on it. We are already having our church meetings inside the new building.

OM: As you look back on difficult times, like the time in prison, have you seen God use it for good later on?

Petru: Even when I was in prison, I experienced this. I was reading the story of Joseph—how God put him through experiences, including prison, to save his family and people. I started to dream about a meeting of believers in my home and to pray for a church in my village. There were also other people whom God touched through my experience. One man in the prison told me, “It is for my sake that you came to this prison!”

This past summer on one outreach I shared my testimony at the local church where we were staying. Afterwards, a lady approached me and shared that her son has been in prison for 12 years. She said my story gave her hope that there is also still a chance that he will find God.

OM: You have received many short-term outreach teams in Pănășești. What difference do these teams make for the local church?

Petru: These teams have had a huge impact! Because of them we can help people in practical ways. One lady, after we had helped clean her house, said that when we built our building, she would come to church meetings there—and she has already come several times.

One of the biggest blessings was building a playground at the kindergarten. People were grateful for this, but it also motivated them to do something themselves. Today this playground is bigger than what we built as a start. This project opened many doors for us and changed the way people perceived and received us. Today we also have open doors at a second kindergarten and the school. People are usually surprised that these groups come to help without asking to be paid.

OM: What is the best way to reach a Moldovan for God?

Petru: This is varied and, of course, depends on the person. But it is hard to try to tell them something if they don’t have any food to eat. In the many desperate situations, material help is very welcome and helps open people’s hearts. On the other hand, onlookers who are not in such need themselves often misinterpret it, accusing us of trying to “buy” these people. I’ve met many such accusations and even threats, but these encouraged me to understand why I am doing what I am doing, to test my motivation, and in the end made me decide to go ahead and not fear.

OM: What have you learnt from working with believers from different countries?

Petru: I often find that foreigners are brought up to be more respectful than we are. Another habit I like is that they smile at people, even people they don’t know, using it like a greeting.

In Moldova if someone smiles at you, you start to wonder what he wants from you. But I saw this is very encouraging and lifts up your spirit. Other things I learnt have to do with organising your time or being faithful in your responsibilities—to take your commitment seriously and follow through with it.

OM: How has God encouraged you?

Petru: He continues to provide for us. There are lots of needs around our house, and we have seven children who need to be clothed and fed—but we see how God provides for us. We’ve had experiences where we remained without flour or oil, and the next day someone brought us these things without having known about our need.

There are some people in OM who are like parents to us. God called us into ministry; we do what He has entrusted us with and believe that He will not leave us, just as He has never left us in the past.

OM: How can we pray for you?

Petru: Pray that we can be parents who set a good example and can lead our children on God’s way. I appreciate prayer for our village, and that we can be a light there, and I want to thank God for the church in Strășeni that has sent and supported us. Finally, pray for our work together with the other members of OM. We are older than many of them and want to be useful for them, too.

The football ministry regularly exposes hundreds of teenage boys all over Moldova to the Gospel, as believing trainers meet with and invest in football teams comprised of local boys from their villages. Besides organising championships and other special events, OM Moldova offers instruction for the trainers and regularly visits the teams.

In July one of these visits took OM worker Stanislav* to the village of Brînza in the south of Moldova. The team in Brînza faced some problems: Though they were good at football, their future as a team was uncertain because the young man who had coached the team had moved away after getting married, leaving the ministry with no one to continue training, discipling and investing in the boys.

The local church in Brînza has few young people—most Moldovan youth leave the country to seek work abroad—and many of the older members regard sport as a sin, rather than an instrument to be used for God’s kingdom. The team couldn’t find anyone willing to take over the responsibility.

However, when Stanislav brought the boys together for a training session during his visit, he found that the team had appointed another trainer, the 29-year-old physical education teacher at the local school.

The teacher joined the training, but when it was interrupted so that Stanislav could share a Gospel message, the teacher expressed disapproval, saying they had come to play football, not talk about God. He walked away from the group, but as Stanislav shared, the coach gradually returned to hear what Stanislav had to say.

At the end of the summer, OM Moldova held an annual football camp for 140 boys, a highlight of the year for teams around the country. The team from Brînza also participated, along with their trainer.

Stanislav was impressed by the trainer and the team. They were the most disciplined of the teams and kept their space the cleanest, he said. But the most encouraging aspect to Stanislav was the trainer’s interest in the Bible studies.

While others napped or skipped a session, the trainer actively participated in the Bible studies, examining the Word of God and answering questions. At the end of the camp he happily accepted a gift of a Bible.

Please pray that this coach would recognise his need for God and mature in faith. Please pray that these boys would grow closer to God through the work of OM Moldova and their Christian football coaches.

*Last name omitted for security reasons

“Pray that we would have a house to live in,” another girl wrote. Others expressed their longing for hope and joy instead of fear and loneliness—not only for themselves but also for their struggling families.

Requests such as, “Pray that my mother would smile. She has only tears and pain,” reflected the reality of broken homes as much as requests like, “I want God to make my mother stop drinking”, and, “Pray that my mother would come home. She has been gone for five years. I don’t know where she is.”

The 102 girls, ages 9-14, who participated in OM Moldova’s summer camp for vulnerable girls, came from OM Moldova’s day centres and are some of the most vulnerable in the country.

OM workers know that several girls they work with at the day centres have, in the past, been exploited, abused and even trafficked. Participants at the camp included 11-year-old Anna*, who raises her two small siblings and takes care of their house, sometimes working in the fields to earn money, because their mother drinks and often doesn’t come home for days.

Then there’s Natasha* and Aliona*, half-sisters who are who are the result of their mother being raped. Now they live with several adult relatives who are all alcoholics.

Most girls who participated in the camp feel neglected and unwanted, and many of them, even as young as nine, admitted that they had considered or even attempted suicide.

“Why am I alive? Why doesn’t my mother love me? Why does she drink so much? Why can’t I be like everyone else?” 14-year-old Lena*, sobbed. She had lost her arm and leg at age three because she had been locked inside her house by her alcoholic mother when a fire broke out in her mother’s absence—a fire that also killed her infant sister.

“It would have been better if I had died in the fire than to live like this,” she concluded.

One hundred and two girls and 102 heart-breaking stories. But, also, 102 lives that God created with love and for a purpose.

The camp theme this year was “He makes all things new”. Some of the Moldovan leaders had come from similar backgrounds and shared powerful personal testimonies of how God had radically changed their lives, encouraging the girls that nothing is impossible for God and praying that He would work in their lives and families, too.

Besides time to relax and have fun through games, crafts and sports, the camp hosted sessions and discussions on topics like “Healthy and Unhealthy Relationships” or “How to Set and Reach Goals”.

At the beginning of the camp every girl received a Bible, and every evening there was a Bible lesson, during which the girls practiced using their new gifts. They talked about how they could understand God’s love as a Father, even when their own fathers weren’t loving.

There was also a special time of prayer for alcoholic parents. At one point during the camp, a male leader, who was with his family, apologised on behalf of these girls’ fathers, and all men, who had in some way abused them or had not been there for them.

“I’m sorry for when he comes home drunk,” he said. “I’m sorry if he doesn’t provide for you. I’m sorry if there’s violence in your house. I’m sorry if your father deserted you.”

He offered a hug to those who had never received one from their own fathers, or had never felt accepted and valued by them. Many girls sobbed as he embraced them and reassured them that God, their Father, is good and kind.

“Throughout the camp, it was beautiful to watch the girls open up to the leaders, to one another, and to God,” said an OM Moldova team member. “Many girls stood to declare Jesus as Lord of their lives for the very first time. On the last evening they had the chance to confess sins by writing them on pieces of paper and then burning them at a bonfire, illustrating the forgiveness of God—the God who can also make them new.”

Of course, the true challenge for the girls is at home, where everything around them tells them they have neither worth nor a future.

How will it be for Maria*, whose 14-year-old sister was trafficked a year ago, and who herself was raped by those same traffickers and promised a job with them if she develops well over the next few years?

Will she believe it when this is presented to her as her best option for earning money? Will she buy into the lie that she is dirty and of no value? Or will she be able to hold on to the truth she heard at camp and embrace a different view of herself: forgiven, clean and made for a beautiful for purpose?

Another event for vulnerable girls will take place in November. OM Moldova is also making plans to start a similar ministry amongst boys who grow up in difficult circumstances and are at risk to be either exploited or to become future traffickers who exploit others.

Please pray for the girls who attended camp as they struggle to find and live out a new identity in Christ, while still facing abuse and pressures to submit to a destructive lifestyle. Pray for the development of the OM ministry to vulnerable boys and girls in Moldova.  

*Name changed

This was the most frequent response when this summer’s Love Moldova participants were asked about the highlight of their outreach. Teams had gone out into villages throughout Moldova, where over 250 participants shared God’s love in word and deed to young and old. As with every year, an important part of these outreaches was the day camps and other children’s programmes the teams led.

Children in Moldovan villages usually work hard helping at home, and many of them live in poverty and neglect, sometimes having to take responsibility for siblings and whole households at far too young of an age. These day camps are a welcome break, providing an environment where the children are safe, receive food, are loved and have the chance to simply be children, playing and enjoying themselves.

“I played with a little boy. He was very thankful, although it was only [with] a balloon,” one participant shared. Many other outreach participants also experienced how much joy they could bring with seemingly small things.

Sara *, from the UK, was part of a trekking team that walked from village to village, holding a children’s programme in each place they visited.

“Țipova was the most deprived village we stayed at,” she said, “and some of the mothers thanked us for doing the programme. The village school had shut down recently, meaning the children had to travel to school to the next village, and the parents appreciated the fact that the programme was in the village.”

Throughout the visits the team had kept most of their material to use in the following places, but knowing that their outreach was drawing to its end with just one village to visit remaining, they were touched by the poverty of the place and decided to give away what they could. They prepared little gift packets—paper cones filled with pens, stickers, coloured paper and sweets—which they gave to the children after the programme.

Manuel*, a participant from Switzerland, remembers the first child he handed a gift. The boy reached to choose one item out of the packet, while Manuel tried to explain that he should take the entire cone.

“I’ll never forget his face when he realised that the whole cone was for him,” Manuel shared. “His eyes opened wide, and I could feel the happiness and thankfulness in them. He was so surprised that this was all for him.”

On a different outreach OM worker Beverley Richards remembers a moment in a village where the initial reception had not been as welcoming. Already that morning the orthodox priest and his wife had tried to stop them from holding a programme, and a slightly drunk and furious father had taken his children away from the group.

So, when another man approached them, the team members waited in apprehension.

“We weren’t really sure what this little old man would do,” Beverley recalls. “However, he merrily joined in our game of ‘sleeping lions’, lying down and keeping still with all the children who also tried to remain still whilst giggling. I was delighted when he told me that we were most welcome and should come again, that the children were obviously having a great time and it was good for them to have fun. He said that there were too few visitors to his village and that he was happy to see his grandchild hanging out with us.”

In most places parents and authorities were happy to see the teams, and certainly wherever they went they always experienced an enthusiastic welcome from the children, who were eager to play but also open to listen to the message the teams brought.

“They were excited to come back each day, bringing their friends, too,” one participant said about the children in Crăsnășeni. “They wanted to play games, but after the games they were receptive to our message, they wanted to sit still and learn about God.”

In this village Beverley spoke to a few of the children after each programme to ask them about what they had done and heard, and she was impressed by their ability to retain the information and explain what they had learnt about God.

One 10-year-old boy had accompanied his older brother to the teenagers’ meeting, where they had talked about the parable of the lost son. Beverley had not expected him to understand much, but was surprised by his response.

“The older son had a right to be angry,” he concluded. “But if I had been him, I would have been happy to see my brother because I would have missed him so much.”

It reminded Beverley that in Moldova—where most people have family members living abroad—children often see stories from a different perspective, but it also encouraged her to know that they were truly engaging with what they heard.

Hundreds of children participated in OM Moldova’s day camps this summer, and hundreds of children heard Gospel truths. Please pray that these truths will lead them to a true knowledge of God.

*Full name not included for security reasons

This summer one team especially experienced how they were an answer to the prayers of local believers. For several years OM Moldova has hosted river outreaches, where teams travel on a self-built rafts to visit villages along the river Nistru. Though these outreaches mostly concentrate on the northeastern part of Moldova—the least-reached area of the country—this year one of the teams travelled the river downstream, farther south than any of the river teams had yet travelled, ending their journey in Vadul lui Voda, which is where they met Lena and Sergiu Bîrlad.

Lena and Sergiu Bîrlad, a Christian couple, are members of an evangelical church in Moldova’s capital, Chișinău. Until recently they lived in Vadul lui Voda, a small town on the banks of the river Nistru, a 25-minute drive from Chișinău. It is a place well known to Moldovans and a popular area for tourism, but there is no evangelical church in the town.

For the last three years, Lena and Sergiu have worked to bring God’s Word to the people living there by starting a small Bible study group in their home, visiting elderly people and organising different events—at the same time building relationships with the mayor and local police who give permission for these events.

This summer once more they approached the mayor for his approval to hold a children’s programme in the town. Everything was agreed upon and the date set for 10 July, but then a problem appeared. In previous summers the youth group of their church in Chișinău had helped Lena and Sergiu with these children’s programmes, but now they learnt that during the time agreed upon with the authorities the youth group would be away at a camp.

What were they supposed to do? In a letter Lena sent to OM Moldova later on, she described their experience.

“For several weeks, together with my husband, we prayed that God would give us wisdom to know what to do,” Lena wrote. “On the Tuesday of the last week we were again on our knees in prayer, and I cried out to God: ‘Lord, you know the work we want to do; you know that people need to hear about you; you know everything, but we are asking you for a miracle because we don’t have anybody to do this children’s programme. Send us somebody to help! I don’t know who or how, but I trust in you.’”

She recounted that the following day she received a phone call from Igor Bostănică, leader of OM Moldova’s training & outreach ministries. “He told me OM had an upcoming outreach along the river Nistru and that they planned to also visit Vadul lui Voda—arriving there on 10 July. I didn’t have words to thank God for the amazing way in which He had worked!

“And He did even more than we expected: The team stayed on until the 11, so we could actually do two days of outreach.”

About 100 children attended the programme. While the children played, the leaders chatted with their parents. On the second day, they visited families who were in need of practical help.

“These people were really moved and amazed by the help given them and the Word shared with them,” recalled Lena. “These experiences convinced them that God cares about them and sees their need. Four of them are now regularly coming to church with us, already for the third month.”

Lena and Sergiu, who now live in Chișinău, drive to Vadul lui Voda twice every Sunday to pick up the people for church and bring them back after the service. But they still dream that one day the people will have their own church, and that their town will not only be known as a holiday destination for physical rest, but become a place where souls find their rest in God.

Praise God for answering Lena and Sergiu Bîrlad’s prayers. Pray that a church will be established in Vadul lui Voda. For more information about OM outreaches in Moldova, visit the website here.

When outreach teams visit needy families or the elderly, they often experience gratitude in response. The lonely elderly simply appreciate that someone has thought of them and burst into tears at receiving a hug. People feel better receiving prayer and thank God for the physical help brought by the team. They are open to hearing more about this God who motivated strangers to care about them.

However, on this particular visit the local pastor monopolized the conversation, and the older woman continued to speak as well. It seemed impossible for the team members to join in the conversation, and Claudia grew increasingly disappointed.

The old lady mentioned that she recently had her toes amputated due to suffering from diabetes. During their visit, the team noticed that the wound on her foot had not healed. One of the short-term participants on Claudia’s team works in an elderly home and knows how to treat feet. After their first visit, this participant asked to visit this woman and help her.

The pastor arranged another visit, and this time they brought with them everything they would need to treat the lady’s foot. However, when they offered this help to her, the lady refused. At first the team member was disappointed, but then she noticed the atmosphere in the room was different from the first time—very positive and open.

One team member shared how he decided to follow Jesus. The team explained how to start a relationship with God. The old lady’s husband didn’t grasp all of what was said—he’s had multiple strokes and suffered from memory lapses during the conversation—but even he realised something special was happening and wanted the team to pray. The older lady listened with great attention, and at the end of the visit they prayed together and she received Jesus as her Lord and Saviour.

The team had wanted to take care of this old lady’s feet, but God took care of her heart.

In February 2007 this young football-enthusiastic Moldovan had joined OM Moldova to develop their sports ministry. By 2009 his future seemed bright; found capable and trustworthy in his work and character, Eugen had been made part of the leadership team of OM Moldova and married his great love, Dana.

However, Dana was diagnosed with leukemia and, after one year battling the sickness, she died in March 2012. Eugen’s world fell apart.

Three years later, at the end of March 2015, Eugen was appointed as the new field leader of OM Moldova. He is a man with strong faith, deep love for God and honest concern for people—a man whose greatest desire is to reflect Jesus in his life and to encourage others to do the same. Here he shares about faith, leadership and why, despite personal tragedy, he still leans on God.

OM: Of the many things you have been involved in during your past eight years with OM, what has given you the most satisfaction?

Eugen: I get most satisfaction when I am on outreaches—seeing the way God can use a team that puts itself at His disposal and how the Word of God bears fruit. For this reason, summer is always the highlight of the year for me.

OM: How has it been for you to step into your new responsibility as field leader of OM Moldova?

Eugen: It is exciting to see that God has called me to this, but sometimes I am also feeling a bit worried—how everything will work out, how together with the team I will manage this transition from one period to another. There have been ups and downs, but it is great to see God’s hand with me.

OM: What excites you about OM Moldova and where would you like it to grow?

Eugen: It excites me to see a healthy team that is ready to do anything for God—this gives me strength. For the future, I want OM Moldova to grow from a field that has been receiving missionaries to also be one that increasingly sends them. I want to see our 20by2020* vision fulfilled.

OM: What do you find challenging about being responsible for a huge ministry, as well as a team of many people?

Eugen: I think I could accept it if the work suffers, but not if people suffer along with it. I consider that my biggest responsibility is for people. I am convinced that if we have a team of successful and fulfilled people, a successful ministry will follow from this. In practice, though, it is very easy to get too caught up in all the requirements of ministry and neglect this.

OM: What motivates you to get out of bed in the morning?

Eugen: What really gives me joy and motivation is hearing stories of transformed lives—and how OM can be part of this transformational work that God is doing. This makes it worth getting up and doing what I do, even if it is hard, even if there are challenges; I am motivated to make a difference.

OM: Three years ago you lost your wife, Dana, after one year of sickness. What helped you most through that period?

Eugen: It was faith that kept me going! God gave me what I needed to hear through His Word, and I was held up by friends who surrounded me, people’s prayers and the grace of God.

I still miss her so much and the pain does indeed come, but I keep reminding myself that there is someone invisible next to me who feels together with me, and His name is Jesus. Also, I remind myself of heaven—that it’s worth living my life for Him and one day I’ll be with Him.

OM: How was it to pray fervently over a long time for Dana’s healing, and to know many others prayed, and then have to tell them she’d passed away?

Eugen: Honestly, in the beginning, I felt that I had failed in my faith. I had tried so hard to believe with all my heart that God could heal her! So, at that moment, it felt like having failed a class.

But the way God spoke to me about His love after this showed me that I hadn’t failed, that Christians are not sheltered from pain in this world, that this is something He is taking me through.

Even though this was not what I had wanted or prayed for, I had a deep conviction that God is good. This helped me very much—not just for myself, but also when talking to others who maybe found it even harder to accept what had happened.

OM: How easy or hard is it for you now to expect answers to prayer?

Eugen: If something similar would happen to me again, I would again pray and believe with all my heart. God is and remains a great God, and if He didn’t do it for Dana, He can still do it for someone else. I can continue to have a vision, knowing that I have a God who is alive, who is the same today, yesterday and forever and in whom I can have absolute trust.

OM: What would you tell someone else who is in a dark place and doesn’t understand God?

Eugen: When pain hits, when you experience a loss, tragedy or trial in your life, you arrive at a fork in the road where you have only two paths to choose from: to reject the God who didn’t answer, or to entrust myself to Him and believe that He is in control, even if I don’t understand how this is possible or why it happened. I would tell someone who finds himself in that place to choose the second option! It is worth it! Don’t give up faith!

OM: How has this experience changed you?

Eugen: After God took Dana, I felt more loved by Him than ever before in my life, and I loved Him more than I had ever done before; but how this happened—you have to ask Him! What also grew was my faith in an invisible God—a God whom I can’t see and have not audibly heard, but who nevertheless touches me, whose love I can see so clearly and who does speak to me in my heart.

He reassured me I can do this through the faith He has given me. I am also better able to understand people who go through similar experiences; I know what loss and pain mean, and I know better how to help: what they need and don’t need. The most important thing you can do for them is to be there for them; give a hug if you’re present, pray for them—and there’s no need to talk a lot. What they definitely don’t need are sermons and solutions, comments like “God is forming you” or questions if maybe there is some hidden sin.

OM: Which person from the Bible can you most identify with?

Eugen: My favourite character is Joseph, because of his integrity and the way he reflected God in his life. His example helps me as I aim to reflect God in my life—for example, the way he replied to Pharaoh: “I cannot do it, but God will give you an answer”.

Of course, there are also others who set an example by showing the same attitude, like Daniel and his friends.

OM: What would be the most encouraging thing you would like others to say about you and see in you?

Eugen: Two characteristics I want to be known for are integrity and faithfulness in all that I am and do.

OM: How can people pray for you?

Eugen: I want to lead by example! I especially need wisdom, humility and a close walk with God—pray for these three to characterise my life!

Pray also for the leaders we still need in OM Moldova to continue the ministry and for the new initiatives we are currently preparing for: the building of the Doulos sports centre and the launch of our Missions Discipleship Training MDTe³.

*In 2013 OM Moldova articulated the vision to send 20 Moldovans into global missions by the year 2020.

One year after launching their activity with an Easter show, OM Moldova’s puppet ministry again put together an Easter programme for children. For two weeks in mid-April—the Orthodox Easter celebrated in Moldova usually falls on a later date than the Western holiday—they toured OM’s day centres around the country, bringing the Easter message to the children at these centres, as well as others who were invited to join from nearby schools and communities.

The OM team found they needed flexibility to adapt to each place, as the settings varied significantly. The spacious facilities of the church in Nisporeni held about 100 children. But the team faced a small challenge in Albinetul Nou, where the puppet stage alone filled half of the room, and the ceiling was so low that the back scene had to be lowered in order for the children to see more than just the top of Pilate’s head as he questioned Jesus.

Eighteen children resolutely squeezed into the remaining space, and the team changed the show to something that required less movement. But the children still didn’t exercise restraint in jumping around as they enthusiastically sang “Jesus is alive”.

Independent of room size or number of viewers, the children enjoyed the games, songs and quiz, a gift of chocolates and, of course, the main element of the programme: a 20-minute puppet show.

This year the OM team, with the help of the puppets, told the biblical account of Easter. The weeping cockerel told about the distressing scenes he had witnessed: How Jesus, the man who had always helped people and had never done wrong, had been brought in by soldiers as a prisoner, and how one of his best friends, Peter, had been so frightened he had denied knowing Jesus.

From there the story unfolded as the puppets illustrated the events of Jesus’ trial before Pilate to the disciples’ bewilderment at the empty grave, to the moment Mary, Peter, John and their friends—even Thomas—were convinced that Jesus is alive.

Even the cockerel, though still shocked by the events, was happy in the end, explaining that he, too, had understood that Jesus is alive. More than that, the cockerel explained that through Jesus’ death and resurrection it is possible to have forgiveness and eternal life.

Many of the children would have heard at least part of the Easter story before, but seeing it presented in this way brought the events alive for them. After one programme the team asked a few of the children what character they had liked the best, and why. It became clear that the children were touched by having seen hope and joy after pain.

Ludmila, 13, said she liked the character of Mary, “because she didn’t know He was alive, and after three days she was so happy to see Him again.”

David, 12, was touched by the transformation from sadness to joy that events had brought to the story-telling cockerel.

Usually the OM workers don’t permit the children to handle the puppets, but on this occasion these girls and boys, after a short instruction, were allowed to give life to their favourite character and have their picture taken with the puppet.

The children’s shining eyes testified to how special they felt in that moment. Most of them live in hardship, neglect and poverty. The OM team knew this was an afternoon the children would not easily forget.  

Please pray that these children remember that no matter what their lives hold, beyond all pain and injustice, there is eternal hope in Jesus.

For the B4T workers, every Moldovan they can help to make their own living is a success, but even for them, Mihai’s story is a special encouragement. He would be considered one of the least likely candidates for success, because Mihai is an orphan.

If there is one group of people in Moldova that people think are set up for failure, it is those who grow up in the state orphanages. In many of these orphanages, children don’t receive much love, care or nurturing and might never see a good example or healthy relationship. They are looked down upon by their peers and given an inferior education. So, when they get kicked out of the orphanage at age 16 with no money, nothing to call their own and no profession, they try to survive the way they have learnt to: using violence, crime or their body.

According to New Horizons for Children in Eastern Europe, less than 50 per cent of the orphan population will live to see their twentieth birthday. Without intervention, upon leaving the orphanage, 60 per cent of girls will end up in prostitution, 70 per cent of boys will be on the streets or in jail and 15 per cent will commit suicide within the first two years on their own.*

So how did Mihai break out of this seemingly hopeless situation? While he was still in the orphanage, Mission without Borders (whose work in Moldova includes a special emphasis on the orphanages, bringing material help and organising programmes or summer camps for the children) came to Mihai’s orphanage to offer the older children elementary training in different professions. There, Mihai learned the basics of bee-keeping and, when he left the orphanage, he decided to try his hand at this profession.

He managed to buy a few old and broken beehives from an elderly man in his village, repaired them, multiplied the bees and made his first honey. However, though he showed initiative and a mind for business, it was not yet a sustainable project—but Mihai’s efforts had not gone unnoticed.

Another man from Mihai's village was successfully running a business with greenhouses that he had started through OM’s B4T programme. Seeing Mihai’s potential, he recommended him for the same training and, in February 2015, Mihai attended a start-up business course at OM Moldova.

The business plan he presented at the end of the three-day training qualified him for a loan, which he used to buy 20 new hives with families of bees, as well as other equipment. These purchases and his newly acquired knowledge of general business matters allowed him to turn his project into a business, which allows his family to live on the profits.

Mihai plans to grow his business to 100 hives in the next few years. The B4T workers are also confident of his success, having seen that he is teachable as well as able to make his own decisions. As they are planning to host a special training in apiculture, inviting several beekeepers to receive further training in their specific field of activity, Mihai is definitely on their invitation list.

More than being just a personal success story, Mihai is an encouraging example of the way God guides and provides for an individual, using different people and organisations at exactly the right time to turn around the fate of an outcast, enabling him to be a successful and active member of society and a passionate worker for God’s kingdom.

*http://nhfc.org, accessed on 22 May 2015  

There, in the north eastern part of Moldova, lies the most unreached region of the country. Within 100 kilometres there are no evangelical churches and no believers. It is for this reason that this area is on the hearts of OM Moldova workers.  

For several years OM Moldova has reached out to these villages through their River Adventure outreaches each summer.

The river Nistru winds through the quiet Moldovan countryside. Finding its course through hills and fields, it carries outreach teams on rafts to villages nestled on the rivers’ banks—villages that are out of the way for travellers on the country’s roads.

It has encouraged the inhabitants of these villages to be sought out by the teams, who share their joy in Christ as they lead children’s programmes, visit people in their homes, distribute Christian literature and share the Gospel.

The river teams’ visits have become expected and eagerly awaited, and they mark a highlight of the year for the villagers, not only for the children, who enthusiastically join the games, songs and other activities and listen to stories from the Bible, but also for teenagers, parents and teachers who gather to watch and listen to the Gospel messages.

Seeking to extend their reach beyond the summer visits, OM returned to the region at the beginning of 2015, bringing food parcels and firewood to the neediest people, while also sharing the Gospel and giving away Bibles.

In winter, the needs were more visible, as the people are unemployed and struggle to provide for themselves. The elderly often live in poverty and hopelessness.

This impression was shared by a few young Moldovan girls who had just joined the OM team and helped to distribute aid. But they were also encouraged by the opportunities: “We saw how people were hungry, not only for food, but also for the Word of God,” they shared.

One elderly lady they brought a food parcel to told them she had had nothing to eat and, as best as she knew how, had prayed to God. She said that God had sent them in response to her prayer.

“These people in a way believe in God and believe that He can help them,” one of the girls concluded. “But I understood that we need to tell them how they can know Him personally.”

Through these social projects OM also started building relationships with local authorities, as mayors and social workers gave permission for the teams to be there and pointed them to the places of greatest need.

Very often the officials accompanied the team on their visits and thus also heard the message of the Gospel, sometimes even taking the initiative to start conversations about faith.

In one village the mayor went with the team on visits to homes in the village. He’d introduce the visitors as “the people of God” and then told them to share about their faith with the people they had come to help.

“We hope that also in future this cooperation will continue; it will be a great gain for the inhabitants of the villages in this community,” one of the mayor’s offices wrote to OM after the completion of the project.

A team member later received a message from a young man they had brought firewood to and whose inability to walk makes him dependent on others’ help.

“I thank you with all of my heart,” he wrote. “I was amazed at the fact that people like you exist, who take care of persons like me.”

OM Moldova is encouraged by the openness and positive response from the communities, but they realise the ministry is basic, limited to only occasional visits. Though these occasional visits have produced more fruit than OM had expected, the team dreams of establishing permanent work in the area.    

OM hopes to start a local team in the region that would live and work in the villages. It is not an easy prospect for anybody, as it requires pioneering effort and a clear sense of calling from God. But OM Moldova knows that God can put this burden on His peoples’ hearts.

As this year’s Love Moldova summer outreaches start soon, please pray for the teams that will visit this region again. Pray also for more permanent follow-up plan to be put in place. Pray that believers with a heart for this region would be willing to live among these people and bring God’s transformation and hope to those who desperately need Christ.

Alina had just returned from leading an outreach team as part of OM Moldova’s Challenge into Missions (CiM) programme. As she shared with the OM team at their prayer evening, Alina bustled with excitement, yet still seemed hardly able to believe what had happened.

The CiM participants had spent their first 10 days of the programme at the OM base, studying the Bible and learning about ways to share the Gospel. As they prepared to go on their first outreach, preachers had encouraged them to pray for big things.

One team headed to Basarabeasca, a small town in the southern part of Moldova. On the drive there, the team was excited, expecting God to work through them. Afterward, they admitted that the fruit had far exceeded their expectations, though the outreach turned out very differently from what they had imagined.

They had prepared a programme, but as soon as the team arrived in the small town, they learnt from the local pastor, whom they were partnering with, that their plans would change.  

They would be visiting families—bringing food or other material help and sharing about God—and the majority of those visited would be Roma people.

When they first heard they would visit gypsy families, emotions in the team were mixed. Agnesa was one of the CiM participants who admitted to having had prejudices.

“I thought they would reject us and that they are all thieves,” she said, but she was surprised to see the families receive them with joy and invite the team into their homes.

Not only did they open their homes, but also their hearts. They listened with interest to what the team said and responded to their invitation to attend the local church.

“Every day we visited families,” Alina recalled. “And every evening those same families whom we had visited came to the church—and repented.”

It was a pattern that repeated throughout the week: The team would visit a family, and that family would come to the church, and at the church they’d open their hearts to God.

The response seemed strange to the team, but it excited and motivated them. “Let’s go visit more families,” they’d say.

“I was amazed to see that every day people were giving their lives to God,” Agnesa shared. “They were praying and crying, and I saw in them a joy about having received Jesus in their hearts.”

Among the new believers were also several young men, who worked alongside the team with enthusiasm. At the end of that week, when the team moved on to another place, one of the young men accompanied them to the next village and stayed with them for the duration of their visit.

The church in Basarabeasca appreciated the support they had received. “Don’t you want to stay another week?” they suggested to the team.

Obviously they were excited about what God had done, but as the team left, they also seemed worried. “What are we going to do with all these new people?” they asked.

The church appeared to be overwhelmed by the beautiful but challenging task of following up with and discipling their new brothers and sisters in Christ. After all, when the team had arrived, the church had only had about 15 members. Just one week later, up to 20 new believers had been added.

Praise God that so many people came to know the Lord in Basarabeasca! Pray that this local pastor and the church will be equipped and strengthened to disciple the new believers.

This happened just before the start of OM Moldova’s annual winter relief projects, a timely confirmation of just how desperately needed this help is. As the relief workers distributed food, firewood and clothes over the following months, they encountered many more desperate situations - as well as a huge amount of gratitude.

On one occasion, they visited a single mother of six children whose own mother had recently died. The last of her savings had gone towards the funeral, and now, this lady was both grieving her loss and feeling desperate about how to provide for her children. It's difficult to describe the children’s excitement when they received warm clothes, while the mother almost burst into tears of joy at being given what she was no longer able to purchase. She had been depressed, thinking that nobody cared about her, but through this incident, she realised that God cares, knows our needs and responds.

Laurentiu is the youngest of four children and the right age to be going to kindergarten, but his family couldn’t pay for it. Luckily, the mayor helped to find the necessary finances for Laurentiu to attend, but there was still another problem: he didn’t have shoes or decent clothing. This family was also included in OM Moldova's clothes project, so now Laurentiu can finally go to the kindergarten. He and his three siblings have also started to come to the local church’s Sunday School.

Two years ago, Silvia started to attend church with her six children, but her ex-husband threatened to make trouble for them if they ever went again. After this, Silvia returned to her heavy drinking habit. Now, the oldest two girls have left home, but there are still four children to care for, and money is always short. The family used to have a horse but, in autumn, sold it to have enough money for school supplies and shoes. These children worry about what they will wear, what they will eat and whether or not they will have firewood to stay warm. One of the children said that, at night, she cannot sleep because she worries so much. There was obvious relief and joy in their eyes when the OM team told them the gifts the family would receive.

Though the individual people and their stories differ widely, the huge need is common to all of them. This winter, in total, 900 children were given warm clothes, 350 families received firewood and 1100 monthly food parcels supported the poorest of the poor.

As Galina, a Moldovan OM worker, was looking through thank-you letters they had received, one caught her eye: A woman shared how a food parcel had been given to her right before the New Year, which in Moldova is celebrated more abundantly than Christmas, and she gave thanks that, with this help, she had been able to cook a meal for this special occasion.

“I was ashamed when I thought of my own New Year’s meal,” Galina shared. “What product had I used that could be found in these food parcels? They contain very basic things like flour, rice or canned food.”

She said it made her realise how blessed she herself was and how bitter the need is for many others. Yet what a joy and privilege to be able to bring help.

Please pray for the families who received aid from OM Moldova, that the Lord would be softening their hearts to the Gospel because of the practical help.

OM: Looking back at 20 years of ministry, what do you consider to be the most important development in OM Moldova?

Matthew: After three years of church planting in a local setting, the decision was made to start a national ministry, focusing on mobilising others rather than just doing things ourselves. This decision has very much affected what OM Moldova is today. Since then, around 600 people have gone through the Challenge into Missions training, and this programme has become the heart of OM Moldova: mobilising Moldovans into mission, and equipping and enabling them to do ministry.

OM: What has been OM Moldova’s contribution in the country?

Matthew: I think our ministry has been exciting and cutting edge. Maybe we have helped the Church to dream and grow in reaching out to their communities. Something else God has used OM Moldova for, though it has not been our express purpose, was helping to build bridges between denominations, opening believers’ eyes to see that they have brothers and sisters in other branches of evangelical faith.

OM: Was there anything you wanted to do that failed?

Matthew: Five years ago we had the vision to start a ministry in the northeast of Moldova, an area that has no churches or believers. We still see that there is a harvest; we want to see churches planted there, but we find nobody ready to go, so this is still an unreached area. We hope that in five years it will not be the same.

OM: What changes have you observed in Moldova over 20 years?

Matthew & Helen: When we first came there were only locally produced and seasonal products in the shops or marketplace. We could only buy meat on Sundays; there were few Western cars on the streets—but lots of police checkpoints on the roads where everybody got stopped. All this has changed. There has been some economic development, especially in Chisinau, but many villages stayed the same or have become further run down. We’ve also seen so many people leave the country!

As for the churches, in the 90s there was a very explosive growth and real spiritual hunger. This has eased off, and now there is even a slight decline in the number of evangelicals. Today, materialism is a huge obstacle that churches and believers learn to confront.

OM: How have you personally changed?

Matthew & Helen: There are, of course, a number of traits and habits we took on; for example, we had to adapt our driving style—and I am afraid not all of them are positive.

We probably also grew more conservative in our worship and understanding of church. Through the orthodox and conservative tradition here, we have learnt more about the holiness of God and about reverence. We have appreciated being able to learn from the West about God as a loving Father and from the culture here about God the Holy Judge. As we embrace both, maybe we have a more accurate understanding of God. We have certainly grown in our understanding of God by living in this culture.

OM: Helen, how was it to change from being a pioneer missionary to a full-time mother?

Helen: After the birth of our first child I was still involved quite a lot, but then the change came very quickly. Sometimes it is hard; you don’t always feel like you’re a missionary, and I think nothing can really prepare you for home schooling! But I know this is also for a season and that God has called me to this now. I still try to take opportunities to be involved in outreaches and other team activities.

OM: Matthew, what gave you the most joy or satisfaction in your role as field leader?

Matthew: My biggest joy has been seeing Moldovans take senior leadership positions in OM and now take over the field leadership. From the time we moved to Chisinau and started a national team, the goal was to see Moldovans discipled, coached, equipped and grow as leaders—and that’s what has increasingly happened. It was also great to see so many Moldovans go through the Challenge into Missions course and go on to serve with their churches or with OM, in and outside of Moldova.

OM: Matthew, what will be your responsibilities in the future?

Matthew: I will continue my role as a regional leader in OM Europe, overseeing the area of Eastern Europe and helping these fields—especially Russia, Ukraine, Romania and Moldova—continue to mobilise and equip Eastern European Christians for local and world missions.

OM: What do you think will be the biggest challenge for you personally in the near future?

Matthew: Thinking of OM Moldova, there is a sense of sadness and loss, as well as satisfaction and fulfilment. It feels like we have conceived, given birth to and raised a child that needed much care and attention. But now there is a sense that OM Moldova is no longer a child; it has reached maturity and is becoming independent. We feel at peace that this is the right time for OM Moldova and for us. By God’s grace, something has been established that we believe will continue to make a difference in Moldova.

OM: What do you foresee as one of the next big challenges OM Moldova will face?

Matthew: The building of the Doulos sports and outreach centre is a huge project that’s on the horizon. We believe it will be a strategic tool for churches to reach the next generation, but we are still awaiting building permission, followed by the construction phase, and then recruiting for and running it.

Another challenge will be to ensure that the training programmes continue to develop and remain relevant to the youth of the 21st century. The new mission-discipleship programme MDTe³, that is planned to be launched in 2015, could be a cutting-edge, relevant programme.

OM: Anything you’d like to add?

Matthew & Helen: Whatever we might be called to in the future, we’ll always consider it an enormous privilege to have been involved in the ministry in Moldova from the very beginning. We consider ourselves blessed to have had gifted, capable people whom God sent to work with us. It has been exciting and rewarding to be involved and encouraging to see how the ministry developed.

Just 25 years ago in Moldova (then part of the Soviet Union), Bibles were forbidden, and people risked their freedom and lives smuggling Bibles or secretly printing them in the country. Today, there is freedom in Moldova, but still, for many of its people, the Bible remains unknown—often not because of a lack of interest but because of a lack of availability.

Seeing that, among the population, the Bible is generally highly respected and valued but not easily accessible, OM Moldova’s literature department made it a priority to make Bibles available at affordable prices and is continually amazed at the huge demand. They also offer many good books, but time and again, they experience that no title attracts as much interest as the Bible.

When OM’s relief workers visit the elderly and the poor with material help, they too find that, often, a Bible is a much-appreciated gift. However, they also repeatedly encounter one problem: What about those who have never learnt to read or those whose eyesight is failing with age or sickness?

Audio recordings of Scripture are not widely available. Even if they were, it would mainly profit the young generation living in the developed capital, those who have computers and smartphones, and not the old, the bedridden and the blind who are left to themselves somewhere in the villages and often don’t know where their next meal will come from.

In a recent project, OM’s literature ministry sought to meet this need by providing audio Bibles on easy-to-use portable players, which were given to people who have no other way of reading the Bible. One of them is Ion, a 43-year-old man who has been blind and lame since age seven.

In 2014, his brother, who had taken care of him, died and thus left Ion without anyone to look after him. The local church that runs one of OM’s elderly care centres included him in their project, offering food, care and fellowship.

During a recent visit by the team, Ion received Jesus as his Saviour; he now attends church in his wheelchair and wants to be baptised. The audio Bible he received gives him the means to engage with the Word of God and to grow in his new faith.

Another man among those who received an audio Bible was Mihail, who has no personal faith yet but loves to discuss with the local believers who visit him. He is an intelligent man who studied all his life and claims to have read every book in the library when he was younger. But now, at age 85, he has become helpless. For a period of time, Mihail lived with his daughter, his only remaining relative, in Donetsk, Ukraine, but when the war started there, he returned to Moldova.

His eyesight began to fail, and after a fall, he remained unable to walk. It is difficult for a man like Mihail to stay in bed all day, unable to read and without anybody to talk to. He considers the audio Bible a blessing, as it gives him something to do and think about.

Please pray that this blessing grows into a true encounter with God, as He reveals Himself to Mihail and others in Moldova through His Word.

Whenever the bus approaches a new village, the first challenge is finding a suitable space to park. This is not always easy; OM Moldova has seen the bus get stuck in the mud or enter a village backwards, so that it can get back out again.  

The drivers regularly amaze their co-workers by manoeuvring the huge vehicle around tight corners and through narrow passages that many would avoid even in a normal car.

When the bus is parked, the team knows the procedure for setting everything up: Books are unpacked and arranged on the shelves; tables and chairs are put out; water is found; electricity is connected; the bouncy castle is inflated; and the trampoline is set up. Then the action begins, and usually a crowd of onlookers has already gathered.

“When people first see the bus, they are curious,” shares one OM worker. “It is bigger and looks different from any bus they have seen, and also has a foreign number plate, so they want to know what it’s all about.”

The bus gets the attention of people who might otherwise pass by, and it also offers the space to invite them in for a cup of tea or a conversation.

During the recent Bus4Life outreach in November 2014, 16-year-old Sergiu stopped by out of curiosity and ended up talking about how to have peace and a relationship with God. Before leaving the bus he bought himself a Bible from the collection of books the Bus4Life offers.

Even if people don’t buy anything from the book exposition, the books provide an easy conversation starter, and sometimes a book title can spark a deep discussion about a subject the visitor had not thought about before entering the bus.

God’s love for children and parents

During November’s outreach, the largest group of visitors were, as usual, children who participated in the programmes organised by the Bus4Life team. When asked what the children enjoyed most, a worker replied, “I think the team, because the team members were being friends for the children and showed them that they are valued and accepted just as they are.”

But of course the children were also excited about the bus, which is a big asset for the children’s ministry too. “[The bus] is especially handy when we have many children,” one team member explained. “We can split them in groups, and while one group is playing games outside, another group can have a Bible lesson inside. In addition, we can also show them films.”

He explained that with the bus, the team is more mobile, they have electricity, and, not least, the bus gives them the possibility to bring larger equipment, like the bouncy castle and trampoline.

While the bouncy castle is a huge attraction for the children, it also provides access to their parents. In November, as queues formed, a team member talked with a father who was waiting in line with his son. The discussion turned to the subject of abortion and God’s perspective on life. The man, who was the local pastor’s brother, admitted that he had been going to church and reading the Bible, but he had been drawn back into the “way of the world”.

The Bus4Life team member clearly explained the Gospel and God’s love to the man and challenged him to give his life to God and return to the church.

Joy breaks down barriers

The combination of the bus, bouncy castle, trampoline and music is effective, not only to attract people but to also create an atmosphere of joy.

Because these things aren’t usually offered in the villages, it is something special for the locals. With the event comes a spirit of celebration, which is then associated with the local church that hosts the team.   

Team members found the local church to be hospitable, and the pastor eager to help people, but the church has limited resources and members are often faced with distrust and prejudice by society.

The recent visit of the Bus4Life helped to break down these barriers.

“Because of the bus, people see the evangelical church with different eyes,” a worker said. Workers viewed this as one of the most important outcomes of the outreach, as it opened doors for the local church for further ministry after the bus left.   

By the end of the 12-day outreach, four villages and about 500 people of all ages were reached. Over 120 books and Bibles were sold or given away. But workers know that value is not measured in numbers. Rather, if one child understood his value in God’s eyes, or one adult started to read the Bible, or one community let go of its prejudice against the local church, then much has been done.    

Praise God for the ministry of Bus4Life. Pray that its presence and message would have a lasting impact in the lives and communities it visited.

Johanna had never had children of her own, but she had married and lived happily with a man who had a son from a previous marriage. Several years ago the husband died, and Johanna lost all hope.

"I'm so lonely," she cried. "I have no one. No one cares about me. No one knows if I live or die."

Johanna lived in an old, broken-down house on the edge of the village. Many of her neighbours had left the country to find work; those who remained drank a lot and couldn't help care for her.

Fortunately, the local church knew her situation and included Johanna in their daily feeding programme. Johanna was grateful for the food, as she lived in great poverty, but perhaps the greater gift the church provided was dignity and friendship.

One day, Johanna's stepson decided to sell the house she was living in. He kicked her out with nowhere for her to go.

Johanna prayed to the God the ladies at the church were always telling her about. She cried out to Him for help.

Within hours she discovered that there was an old apartment free on the village’s main street. With the church's help, she moved her few belongings and three chickens into her new place.

Johanna now lives in the centre of the village and is happy she can look out her windows and watch people walk by. The stores are within walking distance, and she knows that if something happened to her she could get help. Best of all, the house is only two doors down from the church that has brought her food for months.

Johanna has attended the church regularly since she moved. She has made friends and enjoys the singing. Now, Johanna has found a reason to smile. She's no longer known as “the crying lady”.

OM Moldova’s Elderly Care Centres are run by local churches in villages all over Moldova. They not only provide warm meals but give friendship and dignity to people who feel lonely, forgotten and worthless, and they point them to God. For more information about the ministry of OM Moldova, check out the news page here.

Thus starts the introduction of Missionary, Me?, a recently published book by OM Moldova Field Leader Matthew Skirton.

At the time Matthew had these thoughts, he might have declared you insane if you had told him what would follow: That he would pioneer a ministry in Eastern Europe and by late 2014 would be looking for a successor to take over his responsibility after leading OM Moldova for two decades.

With the hand-over of leadership planned for early 2015, Matthew’s book comes at a time of transition for OM Moldova, providing an opportunity for the ministry to reflect on how it all began and to celebrate 20 years of God’s work through OM Moldova.

The call to Moldova

Though the first full-time OM team was established in Moldova in 1998, ministry had started a few years earlier, and Matthew considers the birth of OM Moldova to be in autumn 1994.

Looking at its vast and successful ministry today, it is hard to imagine that just 20 years ago OM Moldova was not only non-existent but also not even in OM’s plans.

In the 1970s and 80s, OM had smuggled Bibles and Christian literature to the area that was then part of the Soviet Union, but since Moldova’s declaration of independence in 1991, little has been known about the country other than a rumour of extreme poverty and a reputation of being a “bandit, mafia country” that was dangerous to visit.

OM had no ministry in the country and was not thinking about starting one, but God has his own plan.

Matthew and his wife, Helen, clearly remember a watershed moment in their lives in October 1994. At that time Matthew was travelling through Romania, on his first visit to Eastern Europe, to distribute literature.

“As we drove along beside a river I looked on the map and saw that we were driving very close to the former Soviet Republic of Moldova. There was something exciting and fascinating about the mysterious country that I could see just across the river, and when we stopped for lunch I wondered what it would be like to go there,” Matthew describes in his book.

“Before we set off again, we decided to pray for Moldova – this ‘unknown country’ that was literally a stone’s throw away across the river. I prayed what I considered to be a reasonable prayer of blessing for the country and that God would strengthen believers and his Church there. Then Karin began to pray. She prayed for Moldova generally and then she finished her prayer with ‘and Lord please would you send Matthew and Helen there as missionaries one day.’

 “Where had that come from? Surprised, amused, intrigued and somewhat nervous I asked her why she had prayed in this way. She just smiled and shrugged and from that moment I could not get this strange, mysterious new country of Moldova out of my mind.

“After two weeks of travelling, we arrived back in Austria and I had two things on my mind. Firstly I wrote to Helen and said that I felt God may be calling us to Moldova. Secondly I spoke to the OM leaders and asked what OM was doing in Moldova and whether I could take a trip there.
Helen shared my excitement about Moldova - the OM leaders did not.

“I can understand why the mission leaders did not seem to share my enthusiasm for beginning a ministry in this new country. Here was a naive 22-year-old new recruit, who had just joined the team and been given responsibility for literature distribution in Romania talking about starting some sort of OM ministry in a new country. OM teams in all the other Eastern European countries were understaffed and so the thought of starting a new work in a new country was probably not so sensible. Anyway – who was this young inexperienced British guy who had only just joined OM?”

As the saying goes, the rest is history.

More than imagined

Today “this British guy”, though no longer so young and inexperienced, is preparing a successor to lead a team of over 50 adults. Though relatively large, the team is not sufficient for the vast number of OM ministries in Moldova.  

The ministries include various training programmes; an emphasis on growing Moldovan nationals to be leaders within OM Moldova; long- and short-term outreaches using creative means like the Bus4Life or river rafting; evangelism and discipleship through sports, arts and literature; and a huge variety of relief and development projects that help the most vulnerable and equip Moldovans to change their own situations.

All of the ministries are implemented in close partnership with local churches, following OM Moldova’s vision of “Helping place mission at the heart of the church and the church at the heart of the community.”

Thousands of people have been blessed, comforted, challenged or equipped; many among them have literally been saved from death – physically and spiritually. Who could have imagined this 20 years ago, when a young British guy stood at a river’s shore and listened to a friend’s simple but bold prayer? Who but our God “who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine…” (Eph.3:20; NIV)?

Praise God for all He has done in Moldova over the last 20 years, and please pray for OM Moldova in the current period of transition.

The book Missionary, Me? by Matthew Skirton is available as an e-book on Amazon: internationally or in the UK. For more information about the work of OM in Moldova, check out the news page here. For opportunities to serve with OM Moldova, check out the listings here.

This was the question the OM team, based in Micleușeni in central Moldova, was confronted with as they started their ministry in late 2013.

For some years already a local OM team had been based in the nearby town of Nisporeni, and OM workers had regularly visited Micleușeni, supporting Pastor Nicu of the evangelical church in the village.

As his small church grew in their efforts to reach out to several other villages in the area, OM sent a new team, this time directly to Micleușeni, to support the growing ministry.

Besides regular programmes for children, youth ministry and visits to the elderly, the team was also called upon to help plant churches in the nearby villages of Huzum and Lozova.

Looking for ways to do this, they found they could successfully plant spiritual seeds by giving out actual seeds, like vegetable seeds and seed potatoes, along with other practical items like food or clothing.

Seeds planted in Lozovo

As they started ministry in Lozova, the team found only three believers, who had been meeting together since the previous summer.

At that time OM Moldova was running their annual winter clothes project, so one of the team’s first activities was to buy clothes for 26 children from socially vulnerable families in Lozova and invite them and their families to a church service, at the end of which they would receive the clothes.

On that Sunday the small house was full – about 15 families were present, including some who had not been invited.

As other winter projects followed, the believers became known in the village, the team was given permission to do a programme in the kindergarten, and villagers started forming opinions about these people of a faith strange.

Over the following weeks, about 15 adults regularly attended the Sunday church services, and several of them requested a Bible.

However, by the end of winter the Orthodox priest had also become aware of the new movement. He spoke against the believers, warning people that if they went to the services of this “sect”, they would not be buried by the Orthodox Church, which, in the understanding of these people, equalled losing their ticket to heaven.

The team tried to visit families who had attended the church, including those who had stopped attending, but they would never know what to expect.

One family they visited had no longer attended church for many weeks, but every time the team visited, the family earnestly searched for truth and peace.

On the other hand, while visiting another family who had previously received help at the church, the team members were shouted at and told to go and “take their God with them”.

Still the team continued on the path they had started, visiting, talking with and blessing people. As spring arrived, vegetable seeds and seed potatoes were given to those in need. In summer, the children and youth enjoyed camps and excursions.

A year has passed since the team started working in Lozovo, and though there is still prejudice and suspicion, there is also acceptance, faith and hunger for God.

Despite setbacks and apprehensions that people would only come when they’d receive something, the church fills up every Sunday with 15-20 adults and about 10 children – actually too many for the small building.

Recently they added a room, and the believers are looking for a bigger house they can purchase and use as a church.

At the end of November 2014, two fellowship groups started meeting in homes to study the basic elements of faith. Some villagers may be ashamed to attend church but still want to hear about God – for them a fellowship group is an ideal stepping stone.

Seeds planted in Huzum

In Huzum, the story was similar, though the work started with a water well.

For years people had felt their village had been abandoned – people suffered from poverty, inadequate provisions and had only one well in the village with clean water, which often dried up in the summer.

When Pastor Nicu arranged for the construction of a new well in 2012, many villagers said that for the first time in their lives they felt they were not forgotten.

Over the following months OM’s various relief projects reached the people, and as a result many inhabitants of Huzum started attending the church in Micleușeni, though it was an hour away by foot.

One lady attended the church for the first time after receiving a food parcel the previous week. She listened eagerly, and when given the chance to speak, she expressed her gratitude for the well, which she uses every day, and for the help provided.

Only one thing she found lacking, which she voiced with the agreement of others present: “We‘d like to have a church in Huzum!”

Today Huzum has its own evangelical church, as well as a day centre for neglected children. The work is still plentiful and more workers are needed, but there is also a harvest among these people, who no longer feel forgotten.

For more information about the work in Moldova, visit the news page here. For information about opportunities to serve with OM in Moldova, click here.

You are blindfolded, but still you sense that the room you are pushed into is only dimly lit. Harsh voices shout in a language you don’t understand.

Suddenly you are pushed against a wall and your hands forced above your head. In broken English, a strongly accented voice demands to know: “Are you a Christian?”

A multitude of thoughts rush through your head. You know this is not reality, only a simulation, and yet it feels terribly real, making you hesitate in your answer.

During OM Moldova’s Challenge into Missions (CiM) training course, activities like this are used to simulate situations in which Christian workers in foreign countries might find themselves.  

At this year’s CiM, the simulation provoked many emotions in the participants. Some of the young participants were shaken, others thoughtful, some upset or even angry. Yet whether they approved of the exercise or not, no one remained indifferent, and for the rest of the day participants could be heard discussing various issues that had surfaced.

Some were surprised at their own reactions when under stress. Others were filled with respect and concern for believers for whom experiences like this, or worse, are a reality. Others, who may have been confident in his or her faithfulness, might afterward wonder how he or she would react when pressured.

Many participants had not been aware of how freely they shared personal information online and were shocked at how easy it was for a stranger to access data about them on the Internet.

The exercise also included positive scenarios, like being guests of a family of another culture and language. Afterward, the activities were evaluated and participants debriefed.  

The goal of CiM is to encourage and equip the participants to take their place in God’s mission. Yet none of them should be left unaware of the dangers and challenges involved.

Among the participants are several who will return to serve in their home churches, while others might go abroad.  

Mobilising Moldovans is one of the goals of OM Moldova. For Moldovans it often is a foreign idea to think of themselves as potential missionaries, yet when they do, they usually are willing to go to the harder places. OM helps them go open-eyed and well prepared.

A new vision and how to get there

In 2013 OM Moldova verbalised their vision to send 20 Moldovans to serve in missions globally by the year 2020, and the CiM programme is an important tool to achieve this.

On arrival, Moldovan participants often have no clear idea what missions is, but throughout the course they understand both the need and the possibilities.

Rahim*, the first Moldovan sent through the 20 by 2020 initiative, shared that he had long had a heart for missions, but only at CiM did he understand that it is possible for Moldovans, for him, to go.

His experience demonstrates that a lot needs to happen for OM’s vision to become reality, not only in individual lives but also in the Moldovan churches, where Rahim identified three main areas of necessary growth:

1) Understanding the need: Since Moldova is poor and on the receiving side of much ministry, churches are often not aware of the many places in the world that face even bigger needs and difficulties.

2) Understanding the possibilities: In the minds of most Moldovan Christians, missions is something done by the West, and they often need help to understand that they, too, can become involved.

3) Understanding the responsibility: Moldovan churches have little experience in sending missionaries to the mission field and do not understand what this involves. Even if a Moldovan is ready to go and his church agrees to send him, a great danger exists once he’s on the field that he will become discouraged because his church does not follow up with him, feeling that their part in the process is finished once he’s left. Churches must be made aware of their missionaries’ needs and their responsibility to contact, encourage and support him.

God uses the shadows of the past

These changes do not happen in a day, but OM Moldova works to mobilise the Church through close relations with local churches, training programmes like CiM, and people like Rahim, who burn with a passion for missions they long to pass on.

It is beautiful for OM Moldova to see the eagerness and excitement of Moldovans who have understood not only that they can do something, but that they actually might be better equipped than workers from the West.

This is true especially for Moldovans going to Central Asia. Because of their shared history in the Soviet Union, Moldovans arrive in these countries already with a common language (Russian) and a fairly similar way of thinking, while they also face fewer restrictions than Western workers regarding residency and work permits.

Thus, even a dark period of Moldova’s history, when a communist regime wanted to erase God, is now bearing fruit.

Or as Rahim puts it, “It is not by chance that Moldova is the way it is; God has a purpose and knows how He wants to use its history and its particularities!”

*Name changed

I recently discovered a special kind of smile: A smile that is the rarest, but most beautiful smile on earth; a smile that lets time stand still; a smile that seems to make you understand why God created the world.

I had the privilege to see one of these rare smiles during my stay in Moldova. It was late in the evening when we visited a poor family. They had three children and a fourth on the way. We were invited to join their simple dinner. The electricity had gone out, so everything was illuminated by candlelight.

After dinner I felt I should go to the oldest child: a 10-year-old boy who was handicapped. There was hardly a part of his body that seemed to be the way it was supposed to be. In addition, he was having problems breathing and could not speak. As I stepped to the bed he was lying in, I felt pain in my heart, seeing his small, skinny and distorted body.

A tear ran down my face as I bent down to him and gently touched his rawboned shoulder. I did not know what exactly I wanted to do, but suddenly the boy turned with all his strength and looked directly into my eyes. He seemed to examine me for a little while as if to find out why I was crying. Then he did something I’ll never forget: He smiled.

At that moment time stood still for me. This boy who suffered so much, whose body was twisted and crippled, who could not even breathe without difficulties – this boy smiled at me with the most gentle and peaceful smile I’ve ever seen. Tears ran all over my face. At this moment his smile was the most beautiful smile on earth. I couldn’t help crying. I just had to, yet that smile comforted me.

At that moment roles were switched. I was crying about the injustice and suffering in this world, and the boy, who actually suffered from all that I was crying about, comforted me with his smile. All doubts about God that I could have had were swept away in this moment. I just had to believe that there was a God, as I saw God through this boy.

Two weeks later I found out that he had died. Peacefully, without struggling, he just stopped breathing. It broke my heart, but I remembered his smile, which I am going to keep in my heart forever. God called him home, and now he is smiling in heaven for eternity with the Creator of smiles.

* Last name omitted on request

As members of the village church stood at the rusty gate, it was not so much the damaged buildings they saw behind it that would trigger this thought, but what they knew about the inhabitants. Many times the local social workers had tried to talk to this family, but every time those workers had approached the house, the parents had come out with clubs and axes to drive them away.

Yet truly the situation was desperate: both parents were alcoholics and had not only let their house get in a terrible state, but also their children suffered from neglect. So at one point, having received material help from OM Moldova, the church decided to offer some of that help to this family.

The village had previously partnered with OM Moldova in their relief and development projects and in 2013 they had given goats to needy families - a project aimed at helping people as well as motivating the recipients to action. The goats would provide milk and cheese and in time have young, but the owners would need to work to take care of them.

At that time this particular family had not seemed a suitable candidate - why would you entrust an animal to someone who doesn't take care of his house or even his children? However, the family was included in later projects and what followed amazed the church workers.

From the moment the church started visiting them, the family began to take care of their house. They cleaned it, even painted the walls, and also started weeding and planting their garden. At every visit the church members shared about Jesus and the change he wants to bring in everybody’s life and as a result the family began to read the Bible. Soon they started to regularly meet their visitors with questions about what they had read in the Bible but had not understood. The church’s message of possible change and a second chance was also illustrated in practice when one day the visitors came with a special gift - a new-born goat. How was this possible?

When the church had given away the goats the year before, they had entered a special agreement with the recipients. When these goats would have their young, the families would pass on one goat kid to another needy family. So it was possible that now, a year later, this family got their chance. What a great way of multiplying a blessing! Without further expenses, more people profited from the previous project, while at the same time last year’s recipients had the chance to learn that it is a blessing to give and help others - and even though they gave away something valuable, they still remained with more than they had before.

Throughout the year OM Moldova’s ‘Relief & Development’ department is helping people and equipping them to help themselves. As the cold season has arrived, they are busy coordinating various winter projects - providing firewood, winter clothes and food parcels to those who struggle to survive this harsh season. Please pray that this help reaches those who most desperately need it and that it will also open their eyes and hearts to God. Pray also for the administrative and financial needs behind those projects and maybe consider contributing with a donation.

When one of these teams visited an elderly care home in a village, the first impression for many of the outreach participants was being shocked by the conditions, which in their home countries would have been unacceptable.

They soon realized that for the elderly, the loneliness was felt to be even worse than the poor health care system. This made the team’s visit all the more precious to them. The elderly had the rare blessing of being listened to and also heard the team members tell them about God’s love and concern for them.

As the team members were singing and praying for them, almost all the old people ended up crying. While some were tears of joy and others of despair, the visit and message obviously impacted those lonely elderly more than the team had expected. “Who knows, we may have been their first visitors in years,” Kelsey, a team member from Canada, mused and concluded: “Never underestimate the power of your presence!”

It wasn’t only a divine appointment for the elderly. Vera*, the care worker on duty, shared that she should have been off work at that time but had been forced to change shift. The team's visit turned out to be the encouragement she had needed to draw close to God again, after having grown away from him in previous months. In the end she testified that God had changed her shift so that she would be present when the team came.

*Name changed

This thought might have crossed the minds of a few of the 155 boys at the recent summer camp organised by OM Moldova’s Next Generation sports ministry as they looked at the study manual they received upon arrival. After all, these 14 teams had come to a football camp and expected to play football and compete to qualify for the final championship.

In this they were not disappointed, as the main part of each day was dedicated to sports activities and football matches. However, each morning and evening the boys entered a different world as they dug into the Bible and studied the life of Jonah.

Every morning they individually completed a lesson in their manuals, which was followed by a group discussion in their teams, led by their trainers. In the evenings the teams presented short dramas based on the morning’s study.

It was a concept that the OM Next Generation workers had already found to be successful the previous year. In this way the trainers – believers who throughout the year lead football teams comprised of boys from their villages – were given quality time with their teams away from home to strengthen relationships and make disciples.

In that way the boys not just listened to someone preach but looked into the Word of God themselves. The questions in the manual helped them apply the principles to their lives, and they also had the chance to discuss their findings with others.

They soon found that the story of Jonah was more relevant to their lives than they might have thought, as they reflected on disobedience and ways that people run or hide from God, but also discovered how God’s grace and love still pursue even those who have failed.

When, towards the end of the camp, there was a call to repentance, about 100 boys raised their hands. The watched out for the boys on their teams so that back home they could personally follow-up with those who responded.

Seeing the boys’ positive attitude to the message encouraged the leaders, and they saw the openness to God’s Word confirmed in the life of one of the boys.

At the end of last year’s camp Victor had been impressed by what he had learnt about sin and forgiveness. At that time the leaders had given him a Bible as a gift. This year they were surprised and encouraged to learn that over the last year Victor had read through the entire Bible.

Praise God for moving in the lives of boys in Moldova. Pray that these boys will continue to grow in faith at home.

They hadn’t eaten – but that, too, was normal. Like thousands of other Moldovan children, they were growing up without parents. While some children are abandoned, usually by alcoholic parents, a huge number of children have been left in the care of grandparents or neighbours because their parents have left the country to find work abroad.

So, with only their grandfather responsible for them, Slavic and Vlad spent most days like this, hanging out on the street. Nothing suggested that this day would be any different.

However, everything changed when Slavic suddenly heard the sound of a car approaching. A van stopped on the street nearby and a group of foreigners got out. They didn’t seem to be aware of the small pair of eyes following them, and they entered the yard of a tiny house where Slavic knew a poor family lived.

Slavic was curious: It did not happen often that visitors went to this house, and especially not foreigners or a big group. How would so many people even fit in the little house?

The member of the group who had been driving the van probably thought the same because he stayed behind, Slavic reasoned. As Slavic watched this unusually tall man, the man suddenly noticed the boy and walked over to him.

The man was OM worker Spiridon Cozaru, who for that week was leading a team of foreigners as part of OM’s Love Moldova summer outreaches. While the team visited with the poor family, he talked to Slavic and Vlad, who had joined them.

Spiridon soon understood the desperate situation of these two brothers, as they explained about their grandfather. Their appearance, old clothes and dirty faces told the tale, as well as the answer Slavic gave to the question of what he liked most about kindergarten: Without hesitation he replied, “We get food there!”

When the rest of the team finished their visit with the family, Spiridon explained the case to them and they decided to take these two boys to give them new clothes, food to eat, a children’s Bible and a food parcel to take home. They also took them along to their children’s programme, part of a week-long day camp they were running in the town.

The next day the boys came to the programme on their own initiative. They were clean and wore the new clothes, and their eyes shined as they played games, listened to the story and ate food.

While it is a joy for OM workers to see any child enjoy the camps they organise in the Moldovan villages, cases like this are especially rewarding. Many of the children who attend come from difficult backgrounds and lack basic necessities like food, clothes and protection from violence – not to mention love, attention and the chance to simply play.

At the camps, they receive these things and hear about God, who loves them, provides for them and remains with them even when the team leaves. Often it is through the children that this message also reaches their homes.

Several times when teams have visited needy families or the elderly, they found that a child or grandchild of those families had attended their programmes and had shared what they had experienced.

“She keeps singing the songs you taught her,” one mother said. “He has told us everything you did these days,” another mother shared, who was interrupted by the grandmother who obviously thought this too vague: “He keeps talking about God.”

In the case of Slavic and Vlad, the team informed the local pastor about the situation of the boys and asked if the church would check on them regularly and do what they can to take care of them.

It was hard for the OM team to leave the boys behind in their situation, but they trust that the boys will remember this time and that God will continue working in their lives.

Please pray that the truths the boys heard at the camp will comfort them and change their lives, and maybe also the life of their grandfather.