Transnistria

We had the awesome opportunity to go to Transnistria this past Saturday. This fragment of Moldova has been on my heart since the beginning of the year. It is controlled by Russian military and all we had heard was that it was very, very difficult to get in. We are very lucky to have made friends here with an amazing English teacher, Nina who is actually from the capital of Transnistria. She was willing to go with us and serve as guide and translator. With her help we got through the 3 checkpoints into the country, only paying a minimum fee for registering the car. 

Once in Transnistria we were all taken aback by the atmosphere of the place. There had obviously been  more money put into infrastructure and development than in the rest of Moldova and there was so few people in the streets and apartments. It is well known that this place is a hot spot for corruption and black market activity. There is a lot of secrecy and fear and there is very little information about how this separatist state operates. 

Transnistria needs some pretty intense prayer:

-For reunification with Moldova
-For corruption to cease
-For the people to live in freedom and security
-For missionaries and people within the church to have influence

For more info: http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/05/22/transnistrian-time-slip/

All photos by Sean Rogers