Hi from freezing cold Moldova! We arrived at night into Chisinau last week without any contacts or accommodation and God totally led the way to this local Baptist church. Chad (the other leader) and I were coming by train from Budapest where we met with one of the founders of Not For Sale. We had sent the students ahead of us by car from Romania and were to meet with them in the train station. When they arrived we were really happy to see them, but we realised that we still didn't have any place to stay that night and no contacts either. As we all sat in the vehicles in the train parking lot we were just thankful we were all together again. Some of the students decided that they wanted to go and look for the YMCA that we saw on the map and check it out for accommodation. As they left we sent out emails to supporters to pray right now for open doors (literally).
An hour passed and the students arrived back with positively giddy with excitement and beaming smiles. After they settled down a bit...they began to tell us the crazy story of how God provided. As they prayed before they left one of the students, Charlene, heard God say, 'Bread of Life.' They arrived at the area where the YMCA was supposed to be and nothing was there, I think it was a P.O. Box or something ridiculous like that, but they were not phased and pressed on. They realised there was Internet in the area and decided to search if there was a 'Bread of Life Church.' Nothing came up in Moldova, but through some random clicking they found a pdf. file that was from a church called 'Light of the World.' At the bottom was two phone numbers and they called the first one and it didn't get them anywhere. So they called the second and heavy Russian sounding gentlemen answered. He was blown away and could not believe that we had found his number and wanted to know how we had discovered it. He spoke little English, but could speak Romanian and Russian. Through some translation we told him who we were and at the end of the conversation his words were, 'You come here.' Meaning his church.
They have been wonderful about getting us connected to the country from the get go. We have been working with a house for children thrown out of the orphanage system at 16, with a human trafficking program that runs a rehabilitation facility for women rescued from the sex industry, with an 'old peoples orphanage', a prison integration centre, a burns hospital, a Central Asian student English college, about 6 local churches and more!!!! Seriously I never imagined in a million years that God would use me as one of two leaders on a team of 25 that has been involved in so much ministry. We have seen a number of people come to know God, more return to faith and many encouraged and emboldened by the story of faith that God is continuing to write through this outreach.
A lot people in Moldova are lost in a 'face culture' that blinds them from seeing the blessings of their country. They have a lot of corruption, there has been no President for three years, and the unemployment is amazingly high. Moldavians want to leave there nation and will take any opportunity to jump ship that they can get. But after all of that, I have seen their love for foreigners, the love for their community, and love for the land that has been blessed to them.
In general, the students are amazing and many want to go into full-time ministry after this outreach which is the real outcome of this time. We head back to Herrnhut via Slovakia for a quick debrief next Friday and its really weighing on me how special this time has been and how much we have seen God move in this time. I had to give up my little piece of home in Herrnhut, my room, as I couldn't afford to pay rent on it while I was away and I wanted to be able to contribute as much to the team as possible. I will be sleeping on friends floors as I once again try to head up creation of a full size professional magazine in 2 weeks. All of us are exhausted but it is so exciting to see the finished result and to realise what an amazing tool print media is to reach a wide audience.
After we get the magazine into print, we head out on a tour of churches for 10 days to share first hand with people and to call more into missions. I don't know where I will be yet but we'll see what God wants to do. After DTS graduation on the 24th of March I will make my way over to Australia for the first time in nearly 4 years!! Crazy to think about it that way. I'm really looking forward to some time with family and connecting with churches.
Thanks so much for all your prayer and support.
A lot people in Moldova are lost in a 'face culture' that blinds them from seeing the blessings of their country. They have a lot of corruption, there has been no President for three years, and the unemployment is amazingly high. Moldavians want to leave there nation and will take any opportunity to jump ship that they can get. But after all of that, I have seen their love for foreigners, the love for their community, and love for the land that has been blessed to them.
In general, the students are amazing and many want to go into full-time ministry after this outreach which is the real outcome of this time. We head back to Herrnhut via Slovakia for a quick debrief next Friday and its really weighing on me how special this time has been and how much we have seen God move in this time. I had to give up my little piece of home in Herrnhut, my room, as I couldn't afford to pay rent on it while I was away and I wanted to be able to contribute as much to the team as possible. I will be sleeping on friends floors as I once again try to head up creation of a full size professional magazine in 2 weeks. All of us are exhausted but it is so exciting to see the finished result and to realise what an amazing tool print media is to reach a wide audience.
After we get the magazine into print, we head out on a tour of churches for 10 days to share first hand with people and to call more into missions. I don't know where I will be yet but we'll see what God wants to do. After DTS graduation on the 24th of March I will make my way over to Australia for the first time in nearly 4 years!! Crazy to think about it that way. I'm really looking forward to some time with family and connecting with churches.
Thanks so much for all your prayer and support.
This video is from one of the ministries that we are investing a lot of our time in. It is an incredible privilege to work with these girls and to come alongside them as they find a new future in relationship with Jesus. I have so much more to say about them and will try and write more soon. Stella's Voice
Another ministry we are working with is Beginning of Life. They run a rehabilitation center for rescued women and publish an educational magazine which they distribute through an anti-trafficking program in local schools. They reach an estimated 16, 000 students with this crucial message every year.
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