Volunteers’ love encourages Moldovan women

Posted: 12/26/06

Volunteers’ love encourages Moldovan women

Dressed in a borrowed winter coat, a Texas Baptist volunteer slowly approached a family working outdoors. They watched her curiously. She obviously was a stranger to their village but had a warm and loving face that made them want to stop and chat.

Susan Edwards of Dallas flashed a smile. Caught off-guard, the family smiled back. There’s not much to smile about in this small, central European country. Moldova is one of the poorest countries in Europe. In villages outside of the capital, Chisinau, unemployment is well over 90 percent. Most survive like this family, from food grown in their yard.

A kiss on each side of the face is one way Moldovans express their love and gratitude. Bea Mesquias receives a “thank you” for sharing her life stories at the national Women’s Ministry Conference.

Without a common spoken language between them, Edwards simply patted the woman’s hand and pulled out a Russian Bible. With the simple gesture, she offered this family a chance to find a reason to smile.

Edwards, along with five other Texas volunteers, spent a week offering hope and encouragement to Moldovan women through an ongoing International Initiatives partnership between Woman’s Missionary Union and the Moldova Baptist Union.

WMU’s International Initiatives provides an avenue for volunteers to travel beyond borders to share their passion for Christ around the world.

Other team members were Rita Odom of Longview, Jerri Warren of Texarkana, Lori Hudson of Skidmore, Bea Mesquias of Harlingen and Debra McCammon of Mesquite. The Texas women visited villages, homes and churches and taught classes at a national Women’s Ministry Conference. For many on the team, it was their first trip outside North America.

“It’s one thing to read about other cultures, another thing to do it as a tourist. But it’s an entirely different thing to do it all as an ambassador of Christ,” Edwards said as an elderly woman grabbed her, enthusiastically kissing both cheeks, thanking her for the Bible she just received.

Just down the road from Edwards, Mesquias spoke in the village’s Baptist church. She described the importance of discipleship and growing in Christ’s Word. The women in her audience listened intently.

Often during Soviet Union rule, evangelical Christians were not allowed to freely worship in groups. All believers could do was pray. “They could take away our worship time as a group,” Olga Mocan said. “But, they could never take away our individual prayer time. That’s why prayer remains so important to us today – our Christian heritage was built on prayer.”

Close to 1,000 women from across Moldova attended the national Women’s Ministry Conference in Chisinau that the volunteers taught. Many of the Moldovan women told stories of the years when their church services were forced underground and they had no Bibles. Others told stories of their new-found faith and asked the volunteers to pray for unbelieving family members.

“These women are so hungry for discipleship,” Mesquias said. “We told stories from our own lives and of how God sustained us. It was amazing how our stories related to things these women are going through right now.”

Mesquias, a veteran missions volunteer, was touched by the gratitude and love the Moldovan women showed the Texans. After the workshops, the women hugged and kissed the volunteers and expressed their thanks. Through interpreters, the Americans learned the testimonies and stories of the women. They prayed and cried with many.

“This is one of the poorest places I’ve ever been. The people have nothing,” Mesquias said. “Yet, to show their appreciation for teaching the Bible, these women pulled all of their resources and fed us three and four course meals. They literally gave everything they had.”

Prayer is a heartfelt and emotional time of pouring one’s heart out to God in Moldova. Prayer time can last for a very long time as believers thank God for their blessings, ask for Him to take care of the sick, and intercede for the nations.

Debra McCammon, Texas WMU missions growth consultant, smiled as she watched the volunteers interacting. She knew the volunteer team experienced God in a totally new way, in a different part of the world.

“When our team went to the villages and met the people, went into homes and saw where the women from the national conference lived – that’s when this trip started making a lasting impact on us,” she said. “The spark for missions and for sharing Christ’s love was more than ignited – it caught fire. It’s amazing how God took women who are not professional missionaries and used them for His glory.”

McCammon said worshipping with women from another culture and country is an indescribable experience. Language doesn’t matter. Christ’s love unites.

Sitting in the back of the church, a woman in a traditional headscarf that signified she is married couldn’t agree more. After hugging and thanking a volunteer, the woman pointed to a young woman singing on stage. She pantomimed to let her know this college student was her daughter.

“She love Jesus,” the smiling mother said in broken English as she pointed to her daughter and then to heaven. “Me too!”

For more information about WMU’s International Initiatives program, visit www.wmu.com/volunteerconnection or call (800) 345-7437.

For more information about Moldova and Central and Eastern Europe, visit http://hope4cee.org/index.htm.

Around 1,000 women attended the national Women’s Ministry Conference in Chisinau, Moldova. Texas volunteer Jerri Warren (from Texarkana) receives a hug of thanks from a Moldovan woman after teaching a workshop on prayer journaling. A team of six Texas women spent a week in November working specifically with Moldovan women.