College of Theology and Education 2

Thursday, September 6, 2007

Thursday came in a hurry. It seemed as though we were just getting to know some of the students and just beginning to connect when the end came. After our Q&A session at the end of the day, the student body made several presentations to show their appreciation for our ministry to them. Then we distributed Theology of Christian Counseling by Jay Adams and You Can Trust God by Jerry Bridges. We had some of Jay’s books in Russian left over from last year so we were able to make them available to the new students. The students were very grateful for the books.

We spent nearly an hour after with personal conversations and taking pictures with students. What a tremendous time of fellowship!

After we left the college we all went to the Ghiletchi home for a cookout and table tennis tournament. Mark Dutton was the champion! Brother Jon Miron from the Baptist Union was there with his family. He has been through tracks one and two. We are hoping he can attend the conference in Lafayette in February 2008.

College of Theology and Education

Biblical Counselor Training modular course for students of the College of Theology and Education in Chisinau, Moldova

Monday - Wednesday, September 3-5, 2007

We conducted sessions for track one and track two at the college. For track two we had simultaneous interpretation into Romanian and Russian. Those listeners who preferred Romanian listened with wireless headsets.
Track one was divided into two classrooms for the new students, one in Russian and the other in Romanian. We taught four sessions a day followed by a Question and Answer session before supper.
The college is deliberately “missionary” in nature providing scholarships to many students from other countries who are unable to pay for the education. As a result many of the students had to miss sessions for government-required medical screenings, English tests, etc. We may change the schedule next year to have the modular course the second week of school instead of the first.
Some of the testimonies of the students were incredible. One young lady said that she had heard of the College of Theology and Education in Chisinau four years ago. She prayed that God would allow her to attend and would provide a way for her to do so. After four years of prayer God took her to CTE in Chisinau! She gives God the glory for providing for her to attend the college and wants to learn all that she can before she returns home to minister among the large number of orphans in her country.
It was only about a 15 minute walk from the campus to downtown Chisinau so we had opportunities when we were not teaching to walk into the city and take a look around. That was the only exercise we got this week.
We stayed in the homes of Valeriu Ghiletchi and Mihai Melancea. It was nice to stay with the families but it seems we might have connected better with the students if we had stayed on campus with them to be accessible in the evenings.

Moldova 2007 Journal 9

Sunday, September 2, 2007

Sunday morning we each went to separate churches to preach the Word. Mark preached in the church in Vadul lui Sac, Bob preached in the church in Colibash, and David preached in the church in Brinza. The people were very warm in all three churches receiving us with appreciation and love. What a joy to fellowship with believers in other cultures. It still amazes me the immediate fellowship and bond that a believer can experience when meeting believers of other cultures who speak other languages. The common bond in Christ supersedes all the cultural and linguistic barriers.
Sunday afternoon we made the trip back to Chisinau. On the way we stopped to see the iron curtain, part of which is still in place between Moldova and Romania. The area between the actual barbed-wire fence and the river was maintained smooth with loose soil or sand during the times of the Soviet Union so that footprints would show very easily and prominently. There were guard towers every few hundred yards as well. Now all we see is the fence, but we are told that the border is patrolled pretty seriously since Romania is part of the European Union and Moldova is not.
Mark and Keri slipped one foot through the fence so they could say they had been in Romania!

Moldova 2007 Journal 8

After the conference, Pastor Mark Dutton, his daughter Keri, Dr. Bob Smith, Bill and Naty Tully, and David Selvey made the 3 hour trip to southern Moldova to spend the weekend in the homes of a local pastor and youth minister.
Mark and Keri and the Tullies stayed in the home of Andrei and Lydia Ciobanu, Naty Tully’s parents. Brother Andrei is the pastor of the local church in Vadul lui Sac. Bob Smith and David Selvey stayed in the home of Misha and Angelica Caraivan. Brother Misha is the youth minister in the church in Vadul lui Sac.

Saturday, September 1, 2007

Saturday we visited Pastor Anatol at his church in the university town of Cahul. Brother Anatol is leading a congregation primarily comprised of university students. They are currently renting three different locations to house their ministries. One is their meeting place for holding services, another is a location where they teach computer literacy using it as a opportunity for evangelism, and a third is used for teaching martial arts and other sports as an outreach ministry. They have a building currently under construction.

We also had occasion to watch a regional championship soccer game that was held in the local village “stadium.”
Mark and Keri took some time to play volleyball with some of the local church people.

Moldova 2007 Journal 7

Friday, August 31, 2007

Today is a special day. It is the last day of the conference and it is also Keri Dutton’s 16th birthday. Someone tipped off the Moldovans that it was Keri’s birthday so a group came to our building very early and piled balloons outside Mark and Keri’s door. When Keri got up and opened her door the group sang happy birthday in Romanian and then in English. They also gave her a couple of gifts. It was lots of fun and created a memory that I think Keri will carry for years to come.
We held our last classes in the morning closing out the conference with lunch together. At the morning break there was yet another surprise for Keri. The kitchen staff prepared a birthday cake for her with 16 candles and presented it to her with all 270 people in the dining hall. The group then sang happy birthday to her in several languages, including English. Then they prayed for Keri thanking God for what He is doing in her life and asking God’s guidance and blessing on her life.
After lunch the conference attendees were all given the opportunity to receive two books. Because of the generous donations of believers in US churches we were able to have Theology of Christian Counseling by Jay Adams and You Can Trust God by Jerry Bridges printed in Romanian. These two books were give to each family unit that attended the conference. We were also able to give each of the women a deodorant sample and a scarf. They were very grateful for the gifts.

Moldova 2007 Journal 6

Thursday the weather turned a bit cool and rainy so we had to make adjustments and move the chapel group into the dining area and move the other outside group into the common area on the third floor of the administration building. It was cozy, but nice.
The food is excellent, not fancy or exotic, but always fresh. There are always fresh tomatoes and cucumbers. There is little meat in the diet this week, but there is cheese. In the evenings we are served a hot beverage and a snack after the Q&A time. We have many opportunities to counsel, too. The difficulty is that we may only have opportunity for one in-depth conversation with a person who wants to know how to help a family in which the husband has been a tyrant and has beaten his daughter or a sister who has taken on the responsibility of raising her two brothers who consistently sneak off to the local internet café to view pornography.
The sin problems in Moldova are the same as in the US. It may have a different exterior and may be demonstrated in various fashions, but the heart issues are exactly the same. The wonderful thing about this is that the God of the universe understands all this and has given us principles in His Word that are applicable to all men everywhere.
The people there love to sing and sometimes we would hear a group somewhere in the camp singing up until midnight. It is not unusual for a group who is talking to spontaneously break out in songs of praise to the Lord.
Each evening we had a 2 ½ hours break for supper and recreation. Optional activities included running, walking, volleyball, swimming, soccer and basketball. Volleyball seemed to be the most popular sport.
Thursday night we had a special time in the chapel after the Q&A time. We sang several songs in Romanian and Russian – I guess I should say, “They sang.” We listened to the beautiful sound. We watched a video collage of things that went on during the week at the camp. The folks really seemed to enjoy that. Then they gave each of our team members a gift and expressed their appreciation for our coming. The asked us to convey our thanks to the believers in the US who sacrificed and prayed to make the conference possible. For some in ministry there, this is the highlight of their year!
Thursday night Pastor Steve Viars and Dr. Dan Wickert returned to Chisinau with Brother Valeriu Ghiletchi to get a few hours sleep before leaving for the airport at 2AM to begin the trip back home.

Moldova 2007 Journal 5

Tuesday – Thursday, August 28-30, 2007

The classes are going well. Some adjustments have to be made for problems in translation and logistics. It is helpful to have Keri along to take care of some of the little things that come up. She jumped right in to help in the kitchen and worked there to help serve each meal.
We try to leave 10-15 minutes at the end of each session for questions though we are not always successful in doing that. Most of the questions are very good.

One group meets in the open-air chapel. Another group meets in the basement of the cafeteria building. A third group meets in a room on the ground floor of the administration building. The fourth group meets outside in an area designed for campfires sings, etc.

How Great Thou Art - Moldova

Moldova 2007 Journal 4

Monday, August 27, 2007

We drove about ½ hour to the campground for the Biblical Counselor Training Conference on the Niestre River. The river separates Russian occupied Transdniestria from the rest of Moldova.
It was a joyous time to see faces of folks who were in the conference last year and to see new people coming to learn about Biblical Counseling. Nearly 90% of those who attended the conference last year for track one returned this year for track two! We had as close to an equal number of folks in track one this year.
The camp holds 250 and we had a total of 270 come to the conference! We had to ask that those who lived in the nearby capital of Chisinau commute back and forth each day and sleep in their homes.
Praise God for the funds to be in a camp that has more capacity, is cleaner, better equipped and closer to the capital city of Chisinau.
Because some understand only Russian and others only Romanian we had two classes for each of the two tracks, one interpreted in Russian and the other interpreted in Romanian. Our interpreters worked hard as we taught four 90 minute sessions daily followed by a one hour question and answer period after supper each evening. I believe the Sunday, August 26, 2007
We all ministered the Word of God in local churches Sunday morning. Steve preached in Brother Ghiletchi’s church, one of the largest evangelical churches in Moldova. Mark preached for Brother Mihai Melancea in his church. Dan and Bob preached for brother Sergei Namesnic and David preached in a small church plant that Virgil and Ana are leading.
We spent the rest of the day preparing for the pastors’ conference scheduled to begin Monday.
interpreters had to work harder than we did!
We were glad that Brother Valeriu Ghiletchi taught the first two sessions in Romanian.

Moldova 2007 Journal 3

Sunday, August 26, 2007

We all ministered the Word of God in local churches Sunday morning. Steve preached in Brother Ghiletchi’s church, one of the largest evangelical churches in Moldova. Mark preached for Brother Mihai Melancea in his church. Dan and Bob preached for brother Sergei Namesnic and David preached in a small church plant that Virgil and Ana are leading.
We spent the rest of the day preparing for the pastors’ conference scheduled to begin Monday.

Moldova 2007 Journal 2

Saturday, August 25, 2007

Saturday we had the pleasure of touring downtown Chisinau with Virgil and Ana. Virgil works at the Baptist Union and pastors a local church and Ana works for Child Evangelism Fellowship. We had a great time of fellowship and had lunch at a typical Moldovan restaurant with Virgil and Ana.
Saturday evening we went to the airport with Virgil and Ana to pick up Pastor Steve Viars, Dr. Bob Smith, and Dr. Dan Wickert. Our luggage also arrived and we were able to get that! They had no problems on their trip and were able to see some sites in Mainz, Germany. Pastor Viars said that was the result of “clean living.” Dan and Bob went to the home of Sergei Namesnic. He is the president of the College of Theology and Education and pastors a local church. Steve went to the Ghiletchi home with David.

Moldova 2007 Journal 1

Biblical Counselor Training Conference in Vadul lui Voda, Moldova

Thursday, August 23, 2007 – Friday, August 24, 2007

Pastor Mark Dutton, his daughter, Keri, and David Selvey flew out of Indianapolis at 1:45pm arriving in Charlotte, NC at 3:15pm. Our connecting flight to Frankfurt, Germany was scheduled to depart at 4:30pm. We boarded on time but because of mechanical problems we sat on the plane for 4 hours, at which time they allowed us to deplane and get a bite to eat. We finally left at 10:30pm, a six hour delay.
We had hoped to visit Mainz, Germany during our 8-hour layover in Frankfurt but we arrived in Frankfurt only 2 ½ hours before our connecting flight to Moldova so we stayed in the airport.
We arrived in Moldova on schedule at 6:20pm Friday, nearly 22 hours after leaving Indianapolis. We were glad we packed our clothes, toiletries and notes in our carry-on luggage as our checked bags did not arrive with us.
Mark and Keri were taken to the home of Mihai and Lydia Melancea for the weekend. Mihai is the dean of the College of Theology and Education and a local pastor. David went to the home of Valeriu and Marina Ghiletchi. Valeriu is the president of the Baptist Union of Moldova.