Team Moldova

September 01, 2002 | Written By Focus International

Team Moldova began as Team Kosovo, but God changed their plans and lead them instead to the little-known country of Moldova. Moldova is situated in Eastern Europe between Romania and Ukraine. The Moldova team partnered with a Euroteam to work with a local church in the town of Capriana. They knocked down walls, tore off the roof, and dug holes (and dug holes, and dug more holes) for foundations necessary to build a second floor balcony on the church.

The team was inspired by the faith of the people they worked alongside and who opened their homes to feed and house them for the two-and-a-half week stay. The majority of the country is Eastern Orthodox, a denomination that sees Baptists as part of a cult. The entire team was in awe of the joy and life in these peoples" faith, and how they passionately witnessed to all around them about Christ even through their own persecution. Bonnie Frank felt the people in Moldova, "are a true picture of boldness for Christ in the midst of pressure and persecution from the traditional religion."

"We were so blessed to come to a place where God was already working, and we got to see at least one life changed towards Christ while we were there," said Aaron Rietkerk about the team's interactions with Theodore, a local musician. "One of my favorite parts was watching the people of Capriana walk around with no emotion. But when we interacted with them, it was like they came to life. I felt the whole village was a little different from the time we got there to the time we left," said Romick.