The Fertile Soil of Moldova: Moldova, Republic of

Country Profile

The Fertile Soil of Moldova

Moldova, Republic of | Debbie Meroff

Sandwiched between Romania and Ukraine, Moldova is the second smallest of the former Soviet republics. It’s also the poorest country in Europe. 30% of residents, approximately 1 million men, women and children, live in absolute poverty.

But Moldova has at least one important factor in its favour: its soil is fertile. Claiming one of the highest percentages of arable land in the world, the country’s rich, black earth supports a wide range of crops and vineyards.

On a spiritual level, this republic has also opened itself to the good seed of the gospel after 70 years of a repressive communist regime. Although Russian Orthodox traditions retain a firm grip and the domes of Orthodox churches are prominent in every town and village, many Moldovans hunger to know what it is to have the joy of the Lord in their everyday lives.

In 1996 OMers Matthew and Helen Skirton led the first international outreach team into Moldova. Among the hundreds of young people they visited in schools was 15-year-old Tamara. She listened, prayed and believed. The seed fell into fertile soil.

When the teenager announced that she’d become a Christian, her family threw her out. In 2000 Tamara joined OM’s first “Challenge Into Mission” training and stayed on to serve in other parts of her country. But as time passed she felt increasingly certain that God’s mission for her was at home. Tamara obeyed, and in the years that followed started ministries to destitute children and old people not only in her own village but surrounding villages. In the process she planted the first church. A white building now stands in the isolated countryside like a lighthouse, a community centre drawing both young and old to the Source of life.

Tamara’s is only one of many harvest stories that could be told about OM’s efforts in Moldova.

“Living in a local village mission situation when we first came helped to establish a relationship and trust,” reflects Matthew about those pioneering years. “I can remember walking into the bishop’s office with mud-covered boots. He laughed and said, ‘Matthew, you’re more Moldovan that I am, look at you!’”

OM was careful from the first to win the confidence of the country’s leading evangelical denominations. “Every single ministry is under the authority of the church,” Matthew confirms. “We have top people from both Baptist and Pentecostal unions on our board.”

Honouring relationships with leaders has resulted in firm partnerships with local churches which, in turn, are willing to send their young people to OM for training and service. The team is currently comprised of 24 Moldovans and 14 foreigners; 70% of field workers are Moldovans and they oversee relief and development, micro-business projects, transformational ministries and next-generation sports departments.

The “Challenge Into Missions (CiM)” programme lies at the heart of OM’s ministry. Twice a year, 45 to 50 men and women recommended by their pastors arrive at the mission base in Chisenau for ten weeks of intensive mission exposure. Six of those weeks are actually spent on outreach teams, working alongside local fellowships in all sorts of ministries. Participants who take the level two course become team leaders; others may elect to stay for a year of service, called the “Delta” plan. Over 300 Moldovans have benefitted from this excellent training, some choosing to join OM more permanently or else serving in their home churches.

In addition to equipping Moldovans for ministry inside Moldova, OM has kept an average of four men and women on other fields each year. Matthew Skirton reckons they’ve just scratched the surface.

To boost awareness and encourage churches to send missionaries, OM is making good books available through CiM teams and conferences, and sending out a free monthly prayer bulletin. The bulletins—in Russian and Romanian, and sometimes including tips for creative ways to use them—reach over 550 church groups, pastors and other individuals. Interceding for other nations is a relatively new concept for Moldovan Christians, who have so long been burdened by their own problems, but more and more are catching the vision.

OM Moldova abounds with creative ideas for increasing the future harvest. The number of hands available and funds to carry all the work out are limited, true. But as long as the rich soil of Moldova continues to bear much fruit, how can they stop planting? As Matthew and Helen maintain, with a smile, “To help the churches make a difference in their communities, we need to dream big dreams!”