Bus4Life in Moldova

Places visited: Burlacu, Spicoasa, Rumeantev, Costangalia, Cantemir, Leova

Date of visit: 13 April – 29 April 2012 Number of visitors: 430 children, 180 Teenagers and 130 Adults

Number of books sold: 47 Bibles, 22 Children’s Bibles, 160 other books At the weekend the Bus4Life arrived, Moldova was getting ready for the biggest celebration of the year: Easter. When generally asking around, many different answers were given to the question: “What is Easter about?” A wide range of replies included: “eating nice food”, “spending time with family and friends” or “Jesus went to heaven at Easter” and many other replies. A few people actually replied in a correct way and knew that Easter is about Jesus Christ who rose from the death after being crucified for our sin. During the last two weeks many people who entered the bus or passed by were challenged to think about the meaning of Easter and how this affects their lives. “I need a pair of glasses.” On the second day of Easter the bus was parked in the middle of the village Burlacau. The weather was nice and many people from the village went for a walk. The team working with the bus invited all the people to come and have a look inside the bus. Unfortunately many people refused and moved on. One lady around 50 years old walked towards the bus and entered the bus with the traditional Easter

greeting: “Christ is risen!” On the first book shelves, the Bibles were exposed and she picked up a Cyrillic Bible. Looking through it she concluded that she really needed a pair of glasses. But she said: “I am buying this Bible now because for a long time I have had the desire to have a Bible but every time when I want to by a Bible, I don’t have money or I am not in a place where I can buy a Bible. And besides that I am sure that by the time I get myself some glasses, I don’t have any money for buying a Bible anymore. I will buy a Bible now and hopefully soon I will get some glasses”.

“We are not forgotten!” One of the villages we visited was described by the pastor as a forgotten village and maybe not even worth to be visited, but as we arrived in the village we saw how the children came running towards the bus. We hardly got the chance to park the bus and also some older ladies came up to the bus to see what it was all about. At the end all the children of the village came to the program and about half of the adults in the village stayed the whole time until the bus left. Everybody very attentively listened to the songs, the testimonies, the sketch board and the message of hope that was shared. Over 20 Bibles were sold and many people kept repeating: “This is so special for us. You came to visit our v illage. We are not forgotten!”

God speaks to his lost children Costangalia is a village where God was working in a special way. A lot of young people visited us at the bus and among them were many who had been Christians at an earlier time. They admitted to us that, although they had really liked the life of a believer, now they found it hard to return. Tudor, a young man of 20 years told us how he really wanted to be a faithful believer but didn’t know if he could be forgiven anymore because since falling away he had committed many sins. We told him that our Father is waiting for him all the time and reminded him of the parable of the prodigal son; that there is greater joy about one sinner who returns than a thousand righteous. (Pavel, MD)

“We will go and we will tell others!” When we went to Leova with the Bus4Life, the church there was not big, about 30 members. The youth group consisted of three people, but when our team came, a few more young people who were not believers also came along, so that in total we had eight young people. For three days we spent time with them and had programmes and fellowship. They got very attached to us but the most amazing thing we saw when we were saying goodbye. These young people who had come and got to know God during this time now came and told us: “You are leaving Leova, but we will organize youth meetings and we will go and will tell about God and that only through Jesus you can be saved.” (Anna, MD)

Spiridon Cozaru Bus4Life Project Coordinator - OM Moldova

Email: spiridon.cozaru@om.org

If you wish to support the Bus4Life project,

please contact your local OM office and make a note on your donation “Bus4Life in Moldova".