The face of a child lighting up when receiving love is one of the greatest images burned into my heart during my time while on a missions trip in Moldova. The humble prayers of an elderly couple genuinely committing their lives to follow Christ for the first time perhaps  after years of living to please God on their own also loom large in my mind. The reality is that many come to Christ before the age of 18. Seeing such a sweet moment of grace before my eyes excites me and reminds me of the hope available to every man, no matter their age or phase of life. To see a team of joyful Christ-followers serve in one accord for the purpose of spreading the good news of Christ, after much planning, many meetings, lots of prayer, fundraising, and more prayer reminds me of the attitude of the first Christians as they began a fledgling church in Jerusalem after the coming of the Holy Spirit.  Every person on the team has a story to tell. So many lives touched. so many hearts of ours broken and melded with the hearts of Moldova.

The Church of Filadelfia in Anenii Noi proclaims the love of Christ to those in their context, unselfishly, and with much sacrifice. With vision of reaching the souls of a community steeped in tradition, Pastor Igor Seremet leads a faithful flock to seeing God do great things in their midst like caring for the poor through a food bag delivery ministry, reaching the teens through a weekly teen worship service, reaching those who don’t speak their language by providing interpretation in their services and even having the vision to develop several mission points within their community, along with a currently newly planted church in Herbovitz, that is pastored by a missionary whom Filadelfia has trained and sponsored and sent out. My eyes are wide open to the people of Aneeni Noi and the faithful gathered at Filadelfia. Pray for Igor, his wife Mariana, their children Teo, Marco, and two other kids of who’s names I didn’t get. Pray for their church, that God would continue to do great things in their midst, as well as the many churches in the United States who are sending many teams their way to come along side them for the work of the kingdom. Pray for Pastor Igor, that he may continue to be strengthened and encouraged in his ministry. Pray for Pavel and his wife Lydia, and their  toyoung son Alberto, who are courageously leading the teen ministry at Filadelifa. Pray for others like Tatiana and Dianka, who are also vested in spreading the hope of Christ to those who need him.