Reaching Moldova

In our desire to see new churches planted in these little reached regions of Moldova, a crucial role is played by our Local Ministry Teams. These are small teams that come alongside local church planters and live within the local community, serving and reaching out to its people, thus supporting the church planting initiative in its very first stages. Unlike short-term outreach teams, these local teams stay for a few years, thus enabling them to build true relationships with the local people and keep a ministry running while there is not yet a core group of local believers. Moldovan churches do have the desire to reach their country, but often lack workers and resources themselves, so when they do send a church planter, they can usually not provide him with a team or resources. We help by coming alongside them until a small community of believers has been established and can continue by themselves under the leadership of the church planter, who remains when our local team withdraws. In several locations, churches are also being planted by OM workers who are Moldovan nationals and remain actively involved in their native regions while also getting involved in OM’s other ministries.

We also offer a variety of projects, especially in the area of relief and development, which - in the context of such church planting initiatives - can be used as outreach resources by meeting some of the desperate physical needs present in every Moldovan community. This can mean bringing a daily hot meal to elderly who have no-one else to care for them, offering firewood or warm clothes during the harsh winter months, providing a family with seeds to grow their own vegetables, or running a Day Centre for the most vulnerable children of these communities. People are truly grateful to receive much needed help, but also very curious about the reason, which provides workers with many opportunities to share the gospel.

These projects not only care for people in a holistic way - meeting both spiritual and physical needs - but also help to provide an entrance into new places, as they open doors with local authorities and impact the whole watching community.

Churches we have partnered with in the past testify that most new churches they have been able to plant were started through such relief projects. We believe that also in the future these remain a valuable tool for reaching the regions of the country that still have no communities of believers.