The following journal is in chronological order starting from the bottom so that the most recent post is on top. Pictures have been added to most every entry. To see the full picture click on the thumbnails. Read about what God is up to in Moldova. God has opened doors to allow the Gospel to be proclaimed and the church strengthened in eastern Europe.
9/7/2006, Thursday
God has been very good to us. As we closed the teaching today with the Q&A session Mark challenged the students and faculty to make a list of 4-5 areas in their lives that they need to change and to then prioritize them and work on them one at a time. The students were very kind to us and seemed to be encouraged by what they had learned. We gave everyone a copy of The Christian Counsellor's Manual by Jay Adams which they were assigned to read. In addition they have several written assignments that will require them to assimilate and apply the information to their own lives as well as practice applying the information to a practical case.
We have met with the leadership of the Baptist Union and the College of Theology and Education. Both have invited us to come back next year. At this point we are all in agreement that a three year plan seems to be best. Of course we will have to discuss that with our church leadership team and get congregational approval, but the potential to impact central asia is amazing.
For more details on the impact this place has on Central Asia see Mark Dutton, Bob Smith or David Selvey. We can't post all the details on the webste for safety reasons.
Dear God, Thank you for allowing us the wonderful privilege to take the principles of your Word to a people who are hungry to have it taught to them. Thank you for the impact that your Word has had on the lives of people in Moldova these last two weeks and for the impact that can be multiplied throughout central asia. Lord, we don't know all of what you are doing, but we want to thank you for letting us see what you are doing in Moldova and for letting us be a part of it. Please help us to continue to gear up for greater effectiveness in global ministry.
We are scheduled to leave Moldova at 7:15 Friday morning local time. That will be just after midnight in Indiana. Please pray for our safe return and for the seeds we have planted to grow and be fruitful.
9/6/2006, Wednesday
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The students, both Romanian speaking and Russian speaking, are taking an active role and ask a lot of questions. With students from Muslim countries this is a tremendous opportunity to impact their cultures and families. Some of the testimonies we heard in the Q & A session today were:
. . . I learned what is wrong with the secular psychology I have learned through the schools I have attended. I now understand that God's word has the answers to life's problems and it will help me in my counseling.
. . . I am glad to learn that it is a good thing for a man to have a wife, that God does not want man to live alone.
. . . I can now give people hope through the word of God.
. . . I am learning how to interpret experience according to God's word instead of culture.
9/5/2006, Tuesday
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The interest of the students is high. We have learned that with the students that have arrived since Saturday there are 22 people groups represented in the student body. People like Valeriu , Serghei and Mihai seem to be on the go all the time. When I asked if their schedules are always so full Brother Mihai answered, "Of course. We are pastors." These men work from morning till night seven days a week and are always available to help solve problems. They have told us they are very grateful for what they have learned about principles of Biblical Counseling. They see God's Word as sufficient for godly living and solving problems and have a strong desire to see that take root in their country.
Lord, forgive us for our inattentiveness to what is going on in other parts of the world and for being so slow to take action. Help us to minister well to our brothers in Moldova.
9/4/2006, Monday
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We began the modular course in the College of Theology and Education today. There were about 140 students and 40 faculty. The sessions went well but the chapel in which we meet has poor ventilation and it gets very stuffy. Pray that the students will be able to remain attentive throughout the day.
Mark kept everyone alert with his squirrel hunting joke. The sessions ran from 8am till 6pm with a couple of breaks and an hour for lunch. After the sessions they fed us a great supper and we then went to our respective homes for fellowship with our hosts before turning in for the night.
We teach in English which is then simultaneously translated into Romanian in the room and into Russian by way of headsets.
9/3/2006, Sunday
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David attended Jesus the Savior Church with Brother Ghiletchi. In the first service at 8am David gave a greeting to the church on behalf of Faith Baptist Church and delivered a short message. Brother Bill Tully delivered a greeting in the second service. Gabriella Murphy from Faith Baptist Church is visiting her mother here and was in the second service.
Brother Mihai is the dean of the Bible College and is also the pastor of a local church. Mark is staying with him and preached in his church this morning. Brother Serghei is the president of the Bible College and also a local pastor. Doc Smith is staying in his home and preached in his church this morning.
David went with Brother Valeriu and his wife, Marina, to attend the dedication service of a new church building for a church started by a Korean missionary. There were about 80 people present, a good crowd. They built the the structure in a new development and here they construct the buildings first, then the roads so it was interesting getting to the building. The service lasted 2.5 hours with several speakers. David only spoke for about 7 minutes. We thought we were leaving at 5:30 to go to Jesus the Savior Church after the service concluded but Brother Joshua informed us that the ladies of his church had been preparing food for a dinner for two days. Needless to say, we stayed for dinner. It was a good time of fellowship and a joy to get to know this dear couple that lives a simple lifestyle and seems dedicated to serving our Lord. They have been in Moldova 10 years and have two children, 14 and 12. Their children were born in Moscow and Bucharest and speak Romanian as their first language and Korean as a second language. We hope to see them in Track 1 next year.
Classes start tomorrow in the College and we will be teaching 8am-6pm. Please pray for God to bless our teachers with wisdom and strength and to bless the students with understanding and stamina to sit and listen so long. We only have four days to teach and then its back to the USA on Friday.
I'll try to have some pictures available by Monday night or Tuesday morning.
Dear God, thank you for our church family that faithfully prays for us. Thank you for giving us the opportunity to reach out to a people that are hungry for more teaching from your word.
9/2/2006, Saturday
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Today, in spite of cool tempuratures and rain, we attended the opening day for the College of Theology and Education. It was held outdoors in a campground east of Chisinau on the Niestra River. The event started about 10am with several rounds of volleyball between students and teachers. At noon we moved indoors for a ceremony where students were welcomed and faculty was presented. Mark Dutton delivered a greeting to the group on behalf of our team and Faith Baptist Church. There were 11 countries and 17 nationalities represented among the student body. Many of these students will be going back into their own cultures to plant churches and help strengthen the ministries of the local churches there.
What a marvelous opportunity God has given to Faith Baptist Church to share the principles of Biblical Counseling with the world.
God, never in my wildest dreams would I have thought that we could be involved in a ministry that could reach so many countries and so many people groups at one time. Thank you for the privilege of serving this way and please help us to handle this responsibility in a way that will please you and bring glory to you and your Son, Jesus Chirst.
9/1/2006, Friday
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Steve got away on his flight out of Moldova this morning on time.
This is the last day of the conference. Nearly everyone has stayed for the entire conference. Mark Dutton and Bob Smith are teaching the last sessions this morning.
Everything went well this morning. God enabled Bob and Mark to get through a lot a material in a short period of time. Lunch was great as always. After the meal Brother Valeriu said some kind words about our team and gave us gifts on behalf of the conference attendees and the Baptist Union. We were able to provide 2 books for each person that attended the conference so they picked up those after lunch, too.
Many people came by to personally thank us for ministering the word of God to them. One mature pastor of told me, “We are used to people coming in saying a few words and then going out. Then the teaching goes flat. We have never had anyone come with plans to return and see how we are doing and give us more teaching. This is wonderful!”
Thank you Lord for your wisdom and for the example you gave us in the apostle Paul in the book of Acts!
We were the last to leave the camp and we got back to Chisinau, the capitol about 3:15pm (8:15am EDT). Bob Smith is staying with Brother Serghei Mark Dutton is staying with Brother Mihai and David Selvey is staying with Brother Valeriu.
Saturday we will attend the opening ceremony of the Bible College. Then Sunday we will be in the churches of our hosts. Monday we start the modular course in the Bible College. That will be translated into Russian and Romanian.
Please pray for us as we minister God’s word and as we plan for the future with these dear brothers and sisters.
8/31/2006, Thursday
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Another good day of teaching and fellowship. These folks like to sing and laugh and joke. They have a wonderful sense of humor and are such a joy to be around. I met with a pastor after lunch today to discuss how we might be able to help them set up a local church model of counseling. They are wanting the counseling DVDs that we have produced so that they study them and so they can share them with the other pastors in their region.
8/30/2006, Wednesday
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Everything is really starting to move smoothly now. They are going to be exposed to a comparison of secular psychology theories to the Bible. The people have started getting really involved and interacting in the classes.
As wide as we believed the impact of this conference could be, I can now say that the potential impact exceeds even what we had thought and hoped for! We have at least the following groups represented here.
· Romanian speaking peoples of Moldova
· Russian speaking peoples of Moldova
· A Moldovan missionary to Siberia who will return to Siberia
· Gagauz peoples – These are Turkish speaking people who have settled in Moldova. They are known for sending missionaries to Turkey because of the common language and ethnicity.
· In the Bible College the potential audience will be even broader as it is an international school.
The people are soaking up the teaching like sponges. They are hungry for the spiritual meat of the Word. They are asking tough and thought provoking questions. The people start some of the sessions with spontaneous singing. One person will start singing and the whole group joins in. It is a beautiful sound, more so because they are lifting their hearts and voices to God in praise. Their prayers are meaningful, too, with lots of thanksgiving in spite of how little they have.
The camp facility is adequate but the men are separated from the women. I wonder if God would allow us to provide a conference in a nice facility that would be a special get away for those in ministry. That would double the cost of the facility, but it would be such a treat for these pastors and their wives that I think it would be worth it.
8/29/2006, Tuesday
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We have access to the internet through a very slow dial-up connection on a computer in which all the menus are in Russian. That’s a challenge! It took me 25 minutes to log on and send two emails. I'll update the web journal when I get back to the city.
The teaching is going very well. Adjustments have been made in the accommodations, the interpretation, the schedule, and the teaching to adapt to the circumstances and the culture. The people are listening very intently and asking all the right questions.
It rained all morning today, but the sun came out in the afternoon and it warmed up. We went for a walk after supper to the nearby village, about 15 minutes walk one-way.
Today a man arrived from Siberia. He said he heard of the conference from someone in St. Petersburg, Russia and he had to come to see what it is all about and for fellowship. He flew 8 hours and then traveled an uncertain distance by land. He had pictures of a snow covered wasteland where he serves as a missionary from Moldova.
God, Thank you for the opportunity and the tremendous privilege to be part of such a ministry!
8/28/06, Monday
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Our first day at the camp was interesting. One of the buses bringing about 40 people from another part of the country broke down. We got started late due to a number of factors. Everyone made it safely to the camp and we made up the time in the first few sessions. The people are responding very well. They have some great questions that indicate they are processing the information and looking for ways to apply the principles from God's word to their lives and ministries. Pray for everyone to stay healthy and for us to minister in a way that is pleasing to God.
8/27/06, Sunday
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We had a wonderful day in the Lord as each of us preached in separate churches today where the services were all over 2 hours long and had up to three sermons! Two services were in Russian and two in Romanian. We each had lunch with our respective pastors and enjoyed a good time of fellowship in the Lord. A former high-ranking officer in the KGB gave testeimony today of having "repente" last week. Pray for Sergei as he starts his new life in Christ.
Bob Smith writes the following about his experience this morning. The service started with a message by a missionary with some singing. Everybody then went outside for a baptism in the outdoor baptismal which was surrounded by cut flowers. During the introductory remarks it started raining so we went inside for those to finish. Each girl was asked if this was her decision, no one was forcing her to do this and she had accepted Christ as savior. Then back outside for the baptismal. There we re three young women each dressed in white dressed with a white covering. After the baptism we went inside for the rest of the service.
They have a special Lord’s Supper for the newly baptized people. The pastor and the missionary broke a small loaf of bread then took that and a chalice to the girls and first gave the bread to each one. The girls were seated on the platform were all could see them. A number of songs were given a lady with electronic accompaniment. She had sung a number of times before that with one of them in English. Then each girl and the pastor drank from the chalice. During the service each girl prayed. Following this people brought gifts to the girls which included many flowers. Then it was time for me to speak.
I had been warned it would be a long service so when the clock reached 11:40 I had not spoken I knew that was true. Before I spoke the pastor explained to the people this was both their morning and evening serviced so we were in no hurry. There were a number of things they would be doing after I was done. He had told be to take 30 to 40 minutes but they try to be done around noon or some later. If the service goes longer that is no problem. He is a bivocational pastor who supports himself with keeping bees and selling the honey. He also physically is building his third church. He has been a deacon for 30 years and didn’t want to be pastor but the people kept asking him so he did 15 years earlier. When I was to start to speak the time was 11:57. The last I looked at my watch near the end was 12:18. Following me they sang happy birthday to every one who had an August birthday, prayed for 1st grade children, took the offering then received greetings from churches the congregation had visited. The service was over at 12:50.
They set up tables outside, took a number of the church benches outside and then we had dinner. I had not know it was going to be like this so I had no hat, had forgotten to put on sun block and did not have my sunglasses. We were in the sun about 2 hours, enough for me to get a slight sunburn on the top of my head. The dinner was cheese, tomatoes, peppers, chicken, potatoes, cabbage salad, bread and watermelon for dessert. It was all delicious but I ate light because we were told we would eat again back at the college campus. We stood in the sun until the pastor could take us back to Chisinau. I also forgot to take my camera for which I was sorry all morning.
Today is the 15th anniversary of Moldova's independence from the former Soviet Union. We were able to observe some of the celebrations of their freedom from Soviet oppression. It was an interesting opportunity to see some of the Moldovan history and culture.
8/26/2006
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Steve and Doc Smith arrived safely about 30 minutes late today. We will all be preaching in different churches Sunday morning. The services start about 9am Moldova Time and 2am EDT. Please pray for us as we share God's word. Because of translation we have half the normal time to deliver our messages. Also pray that God will keep us healthy.
Tomorrow is also Independence Day in Moldova. They will be celebrating their independence from the Soviet Union. We may investigate the celebrations if we are not too tired.
8/25/06
Mark and David had a great trip to Moldova, arriving in Chisinau on time. They had supper in the home of Brother Valeriu Ghiltechi, President of the Baptist Union. Valeriu's wife, Marina, prepared a great meal. Mark and David will pick up Steve and Bob at the airport Saturday afternoon (morning in Lafayette).
8/24/06
Pray for:
- Pastor Dutton and David Selvey as they travel today and tomorrow.
- Pray for Pastor Viars and Bob Smith as they travel tomorrow and Saturday.
- Pray for the team as they will be ministering in at least four different churches on Sunday.
- Pray for the Moldovans who will be traveling Monday to the conference and for the team as they begin teaching.
8/16/06
Only 8 days until our team leaves for Moldova. Pastor Mark Dutton and David Selvey will be departing 8/24 and arriving in Moldova Friday, 8/25. Pastor Steve Viars and Bob Smith will be departing 8/25 and arriving in Moldova Saturday, 8/26. Bill and Naty Tully, our missionaries in Romania will be joining them to teach in a Biblical Counselor Training Conference for about 200 pastors, church leaders and wives. Pastor Viars will return at the end of the first week and the rest of the team will be involved in teaching a modular course on Biblical Counseling to about 170 in the College of Theology and Education. The team will post messages on this page over the next two weeks to keep you updated on what is happening so check back often. For more info and links on this trip go to Moldova Ministry2006.