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Most recent update: Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Moldova 2007
From reports by Michael Piper and Moldovan MCF President Eduard Rosca
Moldova, squeezed between Romania and the Ukraine, is one of the smallest and poorest countries in Europe, but in MCF terms it is highly significant. This is primarily because of the dynamism of retired Air Force pilot Eduard Rosca and his wife Mariana who, with the strong support of Accts MMI Team Leader Rainer Thorun, have worked tirelessly at developing an effective MCF. It may also be influenced by the fact that as a former part of the Soviet Union,
Moldova is still under strong Russian influence, with a disproportionate number of Russian troops based there. In the course of his ministry, Eduard identified a serious need for ministry to married couples, possibly because the poverty and material aspirations of Moldovan people conspire to take up so much time in earning money that little time is left to sustain relationships, and the divorce rate is high. So for the 3rd year running,
Eduard and Mariana set up a weekend programme in early September for military and police married couples, asking Rainer and Karin, along with Michael and Sue Piper, to provide support. Eduard and Mariana worked tirelessly to contact many couples. About 17 couples joined the event and many more wanted to come but were prevented by their duties. They clearly all appreciated the programme, and during a demanding week of ministry after the seminar, Rainer and Karin learned from several of them what a considerable impact the programme had had on their marriages.
Rainer reports: 'It was a very blessed conference and on the last day the non-believing parents of Mariana came. With the other couples, they renewed their vow of marriage and agreed to be blessed and prayed for! In the evaluation sheet the participants filled in they expressed how helpful it was, and how much they had learned for their own marriage and family.
Eduard reports that a few came this year as observers not really getting involved but to see how the Seminar was run and what it involved. Some of the people had never contemplated entering an evangelical church, thinking that it was bad to go there. However, they came to the Seminar and they enjoyed it. We taught the following themes: God our loving Father; Marriage how the loving God intends it; Communication; Using Resources efficiently in the family; Resolving conflicts; Romantic love; Service with renewing of wedding vows. We also had a lot of music, BBQ, time for surprises, men made gifts for their wives and vice versa, poems, games, video presentations, movies etc.
The seminar room was nicely decorated and created an interesting and helpful environment. Participants comments included:
• “You helped me to change my character. I started to look with different eyes to my husband, we became closer to one another. It appeared more harmony, I started to love my husband more than usual. I promise you that I’ll be a good and a loving wife.” (Wife of a policeman) • “I liked these spiritual songs … I received answers to many questions of mine. I understood where I must change myself, so that we’ll have a happy marriage. Most of all I liked the preaching on Sunday and also Resources, how we must do bookkeeping of family finances.” (Elena) • “Everything was super! Not so often it is possible to hear such information as Sue and Michael gave us, sharing things from their personal life. Not many people have courage to speak about them. I learned also to praise my husband, to admire him and also how to educate my children about money making. (Anastasia) • “It helped me to be more honest with my wife, to communicate with my wife all the questions, also to share with her what happened with me during the day. I understood that my wife is the real friend of my life. I really liked the theme Resources. I understood that we must hide nothing from one another”. (Alexandru)
