North Carolina Baptists have made the clarion call to mobilize churches within their state to partner with the Moldovan Baptist Union to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ through strategic partnerships over the next three years. 
The Need Is indeed Great According to the Joshua Project, the population of Moldova numbers close to 96.7 percent non-evangelical. The primary religion is Orthodox, equaling 73 percent of the population. Within the Baptist community, the Union of Christian Evangelical Baptist Churches of Moldova is the largest Baptist body, with 490 churches and mission points divided into nine regions.
We are partnering with Pastor Igor Seremet of Baptist Biserica Filidelfia and are so excited to be sending a team to Moldova consisting of high school, college, adult, and senior adults. This is the second year of a three year partnership to Moldova and this is a wonderful opportunity to help a church that seeks to have a local impact with a global reach. 
The Southside team continues effort in raising funds The second trip for the team will cost approximately $2,500 per member. Several fundraisers are scheduled including a BBQ, a Yard Sale, Candy sales, and generous support from family and friends like YOU! If you received a support letter last year from me, you will be getting one soon in the mail. If not, I’d love you to join me this year! Read on to learn how you can help! Thank you!
We will be ministering in Anenii Noi, Moldova, and surrounding villages. On this trip, we will be involved in several different ministries: working with children in rural and urban neighborhoods, assisting a local church plant in Moldova through neighborhood VBS (Vacation Bible School). We will also be offering an English as a Second Language Course (ESL) that focuses on basic English using the Bible. During the week we will be visiting nearby homes and distributing bags of food as a way of opening a door to share the gospel and communicate God’s love through the local church in Moldova there, Filadelphia Baptist Church. Please pray for our team as they travel and prepare in 2014!
For those of you who have supported this ministry in the past, thank you so much! A church 5,000 miles away is so grateful for your help, though you may have never met. I’m also grateful for your faithfulness in praying and sending me via your support. Without you I could not do it.
My dream is to take my entire family with me to Moldova. I am planning on offsetting their cost as much as possible. Your help in sending me will also help my wife and my son experience a missions trip for the first time. I’m so humbled for the opportunity to serve God with my entire family should He see fit to provide that opportunity! It will be a teachable moment that will deeply impact all of our hearts as we grow closer to God’s heart for the nations.
The specific ways that you can be a part of my experience are through prayer and financial support. Pray that the people in the villages of Moldova we come in contact with will feel God’s love through us and that we will make an impact in their lives. Pray also for Pastor Igor and Filadelphia Baptist Church that they would continue to see fruit from the many teams partnering with them. Also, pray for the many needs of Moldova that I have expressed above. I need to raise $2,500.00 by my deadline, June 1st, 2014. If you feel led to give, no amount is too small and is greatly appreciated! Please make a check out to Southside Baptist Church, and put “Moldova-Derik” in the memo to sponsor my goal specifically or just “Moldova” to sponsor our team. Mail to Southside Baptist Church 3320 S. College Road, Wilmington, NC 28412. If you can’t give at this time, please pray for our team’s efforts. Thank you so much for taking time to read and please continue to pray for us and our team! God Bless you , Derik
Just a Few Thoughts... 