A Summary of Our Trip

Moldova April 7 to April 25, 2008

Traveling to a foreign country to teach the word of God is an opportunity with some challenges but great rewards. On April 7, 2008 six of us (Connie and Steve Niemeier, Sid Latham, John Smith, and Ernestine and Daniel Byers) left JFK airport for Chisinau, Moldova. John Smith had been several times, Steve once, Sid, Connie, Ernestine and myself had never been. Our goal was to work with Christians in Moldova to strengthen and encourage them and to make contacts with unbelievers to present the gospel to them. We knew of four congregations and had made contact with them prior to the trip.

When we arrived and completed our arrangements we split up into three groups of two to work with the four congregations. Connie and Ernestine traveled approximately 70 miles north of Chisinau to Balti. They spent four days with a congregation comprised of ladies. This was a great act of faith on the part of Connie and Ernestine since they had never met any of the ladies, could not speak their language, would live in local housing, and eat whatever food that was available. With all these challenges their greatest concern was the teaching that they were going to be doing at Balti. To facilitate the studies, arrangements had been made for a translator named Diana to be available for the classes. She is a very capable young lady and provided the spoken communication at Balti. The success of these four days was truly amazing. Connie and Ernestine were able to make friendships with the ladies quicker and in ways that no men teachers could have. The two of them set before the ladies examples of Christian love and cooperation, giving them valuable lessons on how to get along in Christ. The ladies at Balti demonstrated their appreciation through acts of love and kindness for Connie and Ernestine. In addition the Christians at Balti the translator Diana developed a respect for them and agreed to a private Bible study which resulted in her being baptized.

While the ladies were at Balti, Sid and John spent time studying and encouraging the Christians in Chisinau. Steve and I traveled to Bendari and Tiraspol to study with the Christians in these two cities. I was greatly encouraged by the willingness of individuals to meet at times that we had available. In our studies we primarily focused on the independent responsibility of each congregation to Christ and the need for each member to become an active part of the congregation. Their response to the scriptures was with respect and conviction. The congregation at Bendari made the determination that they would cease being controlled by an outside congregation which was determining who could speak in their assemblies. This decision was made with the knowledge that their preacher Alexander would probably lose his support and that they would lose their place of assembly. One observation for those who travel in other countries where there are congregations of Christians is that we must respect congregational independence and ask each congregation for permission to speak. Alexander the preacher demonstrated a love for God that is admirable. We came to love him as a teacher and translator. It is great when your translator can give you the scripture reference when you are looking for it. The church in Tiraspol has a knowledgeable Bible teacher in Vasily who demonstrated an interest in knowing the scriptures and in sharing them with others. We were able to spend some time discussing how to teach the gospel to unbelievers; however I believe that it would be good for future teams to spend more time on this and allocate time for going with the Christians to teach.

After four days of work with individual congregations we all returned to Chisinau for the Bible Conference. The conference was time spent in Bible teaching and relationship building. There was great benefit in bringing the Christians together from the four cities. The Christians who are few in number sometimes feel like Elijah, “they are alone”. Being together for the studies gave them the opportunity to see that there are other Christians in Moldova who are dealing with the same problems as they. It also gave them an opportunity to build love for each other. For those of us who were teachers it gave us the opportunity to reach greater numbers in a shorter period of time. One thing that seemed to help with the conference was that we had gone to the individual congregations prior to the conference and had become acquainted with the Christians. When the conference and teaching started we were familiar with each other creating interaction which improved the teaching. A highlight of the conference was the question and answer session that was conducted each day. Many thoughtful questions were asked. John, Steve and Sid did an excellent job of responding to the questions with answers from the scriptures. Seeing Steve baptize Ira from Bendari in water that was over his head was also a great moment.

In addition to the work among the Christians we were able make contacts with others. We are greatly indebted to Ira and Anna for their efforts in setting up appointments with the orphanage and the university. We were able to meet with the two groups because each of them has credibility from previous work that they have done. Ira volunteers at the orphanage regularly teaching bible classes. We were well received by the administrator, given a tour of the facilities and given an opportunity to teach a class to the children. Connie and Ernestine presented two lessons while Ira translated. The response of the children to Ira demonstrated that she is doing a good work at the orphanage. The children also were very attentive to the lessons even though we intruded on supper time a few minutes. Visiting the orphanage was difficult because our hearts were broken. As expected we encountered some Good Samaritan needs and were able to address some of them. However I believe that it is important that we go back and check as the Samaritan did. Our primary goal will always be to teach the gospel but we cannot forget to be a Samaritan.

Anna was able to arrange for us to speak to students studying English at the University Pedagogica. Two classes of students studying English were assembled for a cultural exchange with some “English” speaking Americans. We introduced ourselves and told the students why we were in Moldova. Following that we invited questions from the students hoping for questions about God. It was then that the teacher wrote on the board the word Beelzebub. This was all that was needed to start an excellent discussion that lasted for our allotted time period. Following the discussion one student requested a copy of the English bible which we were able to give to her a few days later. This was a great opportunity to sow the seed.

We owe a great thank you to two Christians in Chisinau named Serghei. Both of these individuals meet us at the airport on arrival and delivered us to the airport at 5:00 in the morning on departure. Serghei Vinocurovs is married to Ira. They have two beautiful little girls. Serghei V transported us in his van, translated for us at Balti, and he and Ira welcomed us into their home and showed us their love. He teaches in Balti and Chisinau when needed. He and Ira have a love for people and helping others.

Serghei Corcimaru is married to Anna. They have two beautiful children, a girl and a boy. Sirghei preaches for the church at Chisinau and travels to Balti, Tiraspol and Bendari to teach. He made most of the arrangements for the Bible Conference, translated in Chisinau and made sure that we had all the things that we needed while in Moldova. He and Anna had us in their home and showed us great hospitality. Sirghei C is very knowledgeable in the scriptures has a commitment to God and is a trustworthy servant of the Lord.

I am grateful for the opportunity to have been part of such a capable team; Ernestine, Connie, Steve, John and Sid. The team worked together with the same goals from the beginning, prayed regularly and helped each other. For individuals thinking about traveling to a foreign country, find a team, define your goals, trust in the Lord, and go.

Daniel Byers

From My Perspective
By Steve Niemeier

When I was asked my John Smith to accompany him to Moldova in 2006 I had very mixed emotions. He had asked before and I put him off for what was probably nothing more than fear. Yet, as I look back on that trip it was one of the highlights of my life. I thought it would be the only trip that I would go on oversees to teach the gospel. However, much like Jeremiah the burning was great within me to visit my brothers and sisters in Moldova once again.
The decision was made to go back and participate in the 2008 Bible Lectureship/Conference. John having some health issues was not able to make a trip in 2007 and there was some question whether he would be able to go in 2008. However, even though I had only been once I felt that we could assemble a team to work together and accomplish our goals. The goals were simple,
1. Spread the seed of the word of God.
2. Try to edify a congregation made up entirely of ladies by having two experience ladies from the US to go and work with them.
3. Using these same ladies talents to teach children’s classes and to assist in training some ladies to become teachers themselves.
4. Edify the local congregations in Chisinau, Balti and Tiraspol.
5. Study with the congregation in Bendari and try to reason with them to remove themselves from an unscriptural sponsoring church arrangement with an US institutional congregation.
6. Teach some classes at the Universities and the orphanage.
7. Try to make new contacts and conduct private studies as much as possible.
8. Assist in giving Serghei Corcimaru a well-deserved break.

The task was made easier when John asked if he could assist in the planning and hopefully accompany us on the trip. We then took on the task of assembling a team of qualified teachers to help us accomplish the goals that we had set. How fortunate we were to secure the individuals that we did. Daniel Byers an elder with the Fayette congregation in the Lexington, KY area and his wife Ernestine agreed to be a part of the effort. Sid Latham working with the congregation in Bargersville, IN agreed to work with us on this trip. Connie Niemeier agreed to go and do what she could to assist.
The team was complete. We had been blessed with the two experienced ladies we needed. We were fortunate to have the great talent of Sid and Daniel. John Smith was enjoying better health. It seemed the Lord was certainly blessing our efforts and the trip was not even under way as of yet.
Next was the task of planning the lessons and then assigning them. The whole team was involved and all did a great job in preparing the lessons. While the preparations were under way we faced the devaluing of the US dollar and that was a major concern for us. However, our US brethren met this obstacle and blessed us with the funds to make the trip.
The trip produced more increase than any of us could have anticipated. It is amazing the increase God can give when proper planting and water is administered. Two conversions --- one directly because of the efforts of Ernestine and Connie, one a young lady from Bendari who studied with several but was encouraged by Alexander and Serghei C., and a whole congregation who repented of their unscriptural oversight. One of the best if not the best class at one of the universities, a great Bible conference with break out sessions for both men and women, and many studies with all the congregations in Moldova.
Seventy-one lessons presented publicly in 16 days not counting some private studies and hours of talking with members, non-members and one another about the gospel of Christ and the work in Moldova. The team was excellent, no words can describe their dedication, love and concern for the cause of Christ in Moldova and the brothers and sisters there. We shared both tears of joy and sorrow and yet the one thing that stands out most to me is the sharing of brotherly and sisterly love in Christ to accomplish the work we needed to do.
I want to express my sincere thanks to Connie, Ernestine, John, Sid, and Daniel for their energy and dedication to the task. I want to extend my deepest gratitude to the US brothers and sisters who gave financially for this endeavor to occur and for all who prayed for our safety and our efforts on this trip. I would like to say a special thank-you to the members of the congregation at Greenwood where Connie and I attend for supporting us abundantly to make this trip. However, none of this would be possible if were not for God our Creator and the One who loved us enough to send His Son for us. This is the common thread that binds our brothers and sisters in Moldova with those of us in the USA who are also joint heirs with them in Chirst.