Moldova 2009

This morning we had the privelege to hear and learn from the pastor of the Baptist church in Cahul. He informed us on how he went about planting numerous churches in Moldova. As we sat and listened he shared with us some of the experiences, struggles and even mistakes that he made in the process of planting new churches. So...here's the story! I will try to point out the major events and take you on a journey of what it looks like to plant a church.

Some time in 1998 he moved from Romania to Cahul, Moldova.
In this time he started a prayer group in a small village outside of Cahul.
At first it was just him and 5 little old ladies and every Wendesday and Friday he would speak to them something he had prepared.After a while many other people began to join the prayer group. During this time the pastor became good friends with one of the men from the group and began to disciple him. The prayer group started getting so big that they began to meet inside a local kindergarden school. Around the year 2000 a church was planted in this village and the man that he had been discipling took over the church.

After this he wanted to start another bible study in Cahul itself simular to the one he started in the nearby village. He began to have meetings also in a local kindergarden in Cahul. He then made posters and flyers and posted them around the city. The next meeting after the posters were placed, around 100 students attended and 24 of the recieved Christ. Sadly, he said, many did not return. He shared that the reason for this was that they weren't prepared to disciple and train them.

Some nuggets:
What would you do over?

Start with a team in the very begining! He started by himself.
Have a least 3 people on your team to start with.
Be prepared to disciple and train the people.
Each year invest in 1 new person to disciple.
Meet weekly with your team.
Serve the person you are discipling and don't be bossy
Get involved in thier lives, not just have a bible study once a week.

What was the most difficult thing about planting?

Because he was by himself, he couldn't and didn't do discipleship. For this reason many people did not come back.

Current prayer points for the church and staff:

Please pray that all of his team right now would eventually have 1 disciple, and that they would be committed to learn and be discipled.
Pray for the youth ministry. For new ideas and creative ways to reach out to a new generation. They need more guidence from God on how to do the youth ministry in the future.

This church in Cahul is fairly new and just now getting on its feet. So please pray that God would help them stay strong, united and to have pateince and perseverence.