This blog was written in Moldova, in October
What if I told you that I had a secret Barbie closet within one of my closets? That if you pulled back the sliding, wooden slatted doors from the center, wedged yourself through the hanging shoe rack and hangers full of clothes, you would find a tiny white door? Upon further investigation, you could open the tiny door, hunch under its arches, and step into a magical place, otherwise known as my barbie closet? Me and my childhood best friend Lindsay would spend our summers sweating in that room playing with our dolls and pretending we were in Narnia. These childhood memories rushed into my head like a flood as curious Jessica leaned out the window and peered across the gas-station looking border into what may seem to be a real country. No, it actually is a fake country. It's called Transnistria, its a 'town' in Moldova, and it has been trying with all its little might to be a real live country since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1992.
You see, when the Soviet Union fell, Transnistria wanted to take its allegiance with Russia, thus seceding from Moldova. So this rebel fraction of Moldova launched a civil war against its own country (Moldova) and has come to a stand still...for the past twenty years. They have their own currency, rubles, that is only recognized in Transnistria and their own "kind of" president. They have their own border crossing, (which looks like an old gas station) their own police force, and no viable way to prove to anyone that they are actually a real country, because, well, they just aren't. My teammate Stacey put it best when she said, "Its kind of like when you were a child and you built a couch cushion fort in your living room and claimed it as 'your land.'" But you had enough sense to realize that you couldn't secede from your own house without permission from your parents. Transnistria doesn't have permission to secede from his parents either (Moldova), but they continue to act as though their fort counts as a real live place.
Knowing that our God has a great sense of humor, this is the place he has chosen for my team, Walking Third, to serve this month! We are staying in the Northern providence of Moldova in a quaint little heated church that is set high up on a hill. Every other day we all load up in the church van and travel across the border to this imaginary chasm of a country, basically a sect of land within Moldova. Only on the World Race would you do ministry in your childhood memory of a cushion fort!
On a more serious note, the ministry we are set up with this month is totally right up my ally. We are living and working at Pastor Andrew Mineev's church with a strong focus on evangelism. Andrew is only 25, is married and has a beautiful baby boy, and is lighting this little town on fire with his passion to reach his people for the Kingdom. There are a small group of children who come every afternoon to the church who we feed and minister to, along with just give our love. We've been working with a drugs and alcohol rehabilitation center, preaching, and ministering in the local community. The cold winter air hasn't kept us out of the streets of Transnistria to meet with youth and share the love of Christ! Although it seems as though this month is flying by, I know God has divine purpose for my team being here. Oh, and we also got to celebrate the 602th birthday of a country that doesn't exist at a festival called fortress day. This is my life!
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