Care4Moldova

Care4Moldova is an Act4You project raising funds for the ministries of the Baptist Church in Gotesti, a village in Moldova.

Moldova is a small country between Ukraine and Romania. It is the poorest country in Europe. Life is hard with few jobs available. Many people leave in search of paid work in other countries. Amongst those who remain, alcoholism and domestic abuse are common, as well as high rates of trafficking of women and girls. Parents who move abroad to find work often leave their children with elderly grandparents, who struggle to survive on meagre pensions.

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The Baptist Church in Gotesti village serves the community in many practical ways. The church is led by a Moldovan couple, Pastor Ruslan and Larisa Telpiz.

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They and other church members show God’s love and share the gospel, while visiting elderly, sick and disabled people and poor families, providing food parcels, cooked meals, winter fuel and other aid.

Other ministries of the church include youth work and sports training combined with Bible studies.

The church also runs a Day Care Centre, which is attended by 60 socially vulnerable children aged 7-15 years. They come from families where the parents are very poor and/or are alcoholics or the parents are working abroad. Many of the children have difficult home lives, with domestic abuse, neglect and lack of discipline being prevalent.

The Day Care Centre, located in the church building, is an after-school sanctuary where mature Christian teachers provide help with schoolwork, Bible stories, food, games, mentoring and counselling in a caring and supportive environment. Larisa and two other church members teach and mentor the children; another church member cooks meals for them.

This is a highly effective ministry, which makes a real difference in the lives of the children and it is well regarded by the local community. Seeds of faith sown at a young age and support from Christians as role models give the children a strong foundation for their future lives.

Ruslan says: “Through this work, the children learn the Word of God, are fed and cared for, receive a good education, mentoring and counselling. Through these children, the Word of God also reaches their homes – to their parents, grandparents, brothers and sisters”

For further details please e-mail: care4moldova@gmail.com

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If you would like to support Mary’s Act4You project, please donate through Links, using the reference ‘Care 4 Moldova 3123’. Thank you.