We arrived home Monday night and I spent Tuesday in meetings with our staff. As I tried to report on the trip, these are the main things I kept saying…
The believers in Moldova are gracious and humble people. Over and over again they said, “thank you for coming so far to visit our country” and “we have never had anything like this before.” As I observed their hunger and desire to hear and welcome the Word of God, I thought of what Paul said about the Thessalonians and how they welcomed the Word (I Thess. 2:13).
Oppression from the years of communist rule is still evident. The dark clouds of hopelessness linger in the air competing with flickers of freedom– especially in the eyes of the young people and young adults.
And there are many young adults. We were pleasantly surprised by the large number of young pastors and church leaders who attended our conference. And, Saturday night, as we stopped by a shopping center downtown, we were surrounded by thousands of young adults. All of this together moved us to pray for a movement of the Gospel in the next generation.
Finally, we experienced unity among the churches and believers. The Leadership Team for our conference invited many different churches and denominations to attend. It was truly a Great Commission conference…composed of Great Commission Christians.
We made a lot of new friends who have already written emails and become friends on Facebook. We look forward to hearing about the work of God in Moldova for many years to come….
Pastor Al Gilbert 