Moldova (MNN) — Meet some of the heroes of the Christian faith: pastors’ wives in Moldova.
Eric Mock with Slavic Gospel Association was recently in Moldova with his wife, Christy. Together, they led a conference to strengthen local pastors and their wives.
“These ladies are central to the body life of the church, central to investing in families, central to caring for the heart of these men as they serve and preach and teach in their churches,” says Mock. “Yet very often the men are getting together and meeting with others and [are] encouraged in different ways — in ways that these ladies don’t get a chance to be.”
Christy Mock spoke with the women about how to keep their hearts centered on Christ amid changing seasons of life.
“It was a wonderful opportunity to minister to these ladies to encourage their hearts, to strengthen them in the ministry that God has raised them up to do,” says Mock.
Children’s ministry in Moldova (Photo courtesy of SGA)
They met women like Natalia, who, with her husband, adopted eight children and serves in children’s and family ministry. Natalia says their family motto is “Together we are stronger, and with God before us, nothing is impossible.”
“A lot of the pastors and ladies in Moldova are a part of churches that may only have 10 to 15 people. Many meet in homes rather than actual buildings,” says Mock. “They continue, in the middle of the poverty and the small nature of the church, to be encouraged and strengthened to care for their family as well as care for the church.”
Moldova is one of the poorest countries in Europe. Situated between Romania and Ukraine, it has a complex history of being part of Russia, “Greater Romania,” and the Soviet Union at different times before gaining independence in 1991. Mock describes the country’s spiritual climate as “confused.”
“There in the middle of Moldova, we have the modernism of technology, where many people are telecommuting. You have the history of the oppression over Soviet-enforced atheism. And then you also have these churches beginning to reach out with the gospel,” he says. “I would say even with the number of churches that are there, a broad number of the population is relatively much like Europe and not really searching for the gospel.”
Moldova also hosts many Ukrainian refugees and faces political uncertainty about the future. Pray for church leaders as they shepherd people through different thoughts and fears. Pray that churches will continue to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ with great clarity. You can visit SGA’s website here to see and support the work they do alongside Moldovan believers.
“We support them in training and equipping their pastors and leaders in biblical training, as well as supporting village pastors, and then helping them even with summer camps this summer,” says Mock. “[We’re] hoping to help them in a profound way.”
Header photo: Natalia’s family (Photo courtesy of SGA).
