FAITHFUL OBSERVATIONS: Mission in Moldova

By BOB SHILLINGSTAD

Special to the Press

Devin Weeks wrote an introductory article in October about Majs. Don and Ronda Gilger as new directors of the Kroc Center after the retirement of Majs. Ben and JoAnn Markham. When my wife and I interviewed the Markhams in September, Maj. Ben told us about the Gilgers. He said that when they get settled in you need to interview them about their time in Moldova and we had that interview this last week.

The Gilgers did not grow up in The Salvation Army but were invited by a friend to attend a Sunday worship meeting in Spokane over 40 years ago. Its spirit and mission both intrigued and inspired them.

Don and Ronda have been in Salvation Army ministry for the past 35 years. They had ministered primarily in the western United States and their last stateside assignment was in California, where Don and Ronda were appointed in areas of programming and international projects at the organization’s Territorial Headquarters.

They were asked to serve in Moldova one sunny day in September 2015 and found themelves stepping off an airplane, ready to serve, only 32 days later. Immersed in a new culture and given such love by the people, they found that falling in love with the country and the work would be a work of the heart. Culture shock would be replaced by passion and teamwork as they learned the languages and entered into the mission of The Salvation Army.

Moldova is small enough that most people need to Google it to find out where it is, let alone learn about its history. We had a lot of questions about their years in this country.

Tell us about Moldova. Where is it located and what is the history of the country?

Moldova is located in eastern Europe, bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the east. The capital city is Chisinau, where we lived, and is a city of about 630,000 people. Moldova was independent for several hundred years after WWI, was a part of Romania and then became part of the Soviet Union after 1940. In 1991 with the breakup of the Soviet Union, Moldova again had its independence after decades of Communist rule. Today Moldova is an independent republic struggling to decide its own future. The struggle of the people combined with immigration of 1 in 4 adults leaving the country, lack of work, trafficking, poor health care and impure water have left it the poorest nation in Europe.

What were your responsibilities in Moldova with the Salvation Army?

Ronda was the Divisional Commander overseeing 16 Salvation Army (Armata Salvarii) units and churches. The Salvation Army has a 20-year history in Moldova. Additionally, 46 international aid projects were administered along with the training and development of the officers (leaders) of each unit (churches in action). Don was the Business Administrator looking over the finances, accounting and developing key staff in each of the Eastern Europe Territories (four countries: Ukraine, Moldova, Romania and Georgia). Just working with all the different currencies is dizzying; but these were foundational to building solid relationships of ministry and service in Eastern Europe for the future.

We worked with local pastors, donors, ambassadors, community officials and anyone we could gather together to join the officers locally to see life-changing skills classes, programs and ministries in prisons, orphanages and institutions where people are so often forgotten. We visited villages with our Mobile Medical Clinic layering in seven physicians’ specialties and caring for those most impacted by poverty. We worked with legal systems (with little success) and found ourselves on the street reaching out to form a connection with the over 40,000 children on the streets and those trapped in sex trafficking.

You mentioned the poverty and that this is the poorest country in Europe. Can you expand on this?

The minimum wage is about $6 a day. The average monthly salary is $298 — less than a third of Romania next door. While one can sit in a café and sip on a cappuccino, it is evident once you look past the Opera House and see the poverty. Daily we were fighting to set plans in place to improve conditions of our local units who inspired us over and over again. Such spirit. The conditions of about half of the corps/churches we saw upon our arrival mirrored that of their neighborhoods. Not all had indoor toilets, and yet to focus on what they do not have would lessen the truth of these Christian leaders’ spirit and commitment to changing their country. Every day they are pouring into the people of their communities because tomorrow depends on it. While only two of our pastors owned a car, it did not hinder them from stepping outside the office and riding their bikes, taking the bus, or walking to where the need was. Truly we have never been so inspired in all our lives.

There is a different perspective on immigration and migration when your family is hungry and there is no opportunity — and no hope for a better tomorrow. Out of a population of 3.5 million, 1 million are working outside the country and sending back remittances and sadly many young girls are trapped in trafficking, while men work in the mines of Russia with passports taken from them. Organ sales, such as kidneys which are sold on the medical black market, are the unspoken way that one can earn up to $1,500 as a means for their family to survive. It surprised us that the Chinese began opening two factories because labor is less expensive in Moldova than in China.

These situations are nothing new for the Salvation Army. Doing some background for this article I found that some historians noted that the work of the Army in England in the late 1800s may have prevented a revolution. The poverty in England was hard to imagine and there was the famous Armstrong case in 1885 where the Salvation Army exposed sex trafficking in England and brought about major changes.

These are still serious problems around the world. Human trafficking was one of those issues that is still so unresolved. Even when Moldovan girls made it back home to their country, they would find themselves charged with breaking the law as “sex trade workiers” and “traffickers” themselves. They were seen as bad girls who were making their own choices for which there are legal consequences. We visited them weekly in Rusca Prison where those with children under 3 keep their babies and toddlers with them in their rooms. We would look at social media in the west and see events such as 5Ks or education regarding trafficking as well as production of materials so that those in the west could understand the problem. Almost no money made it to Moldova where the need was so great. There was irony in this fact … While there we translated “Brave” journals and developed this program to teach self-worth, life skills and to address safe migration and trafficking. These resources were created for both Russian and Romanian speaking young women, and some of our proudest work. The Salvation Army local leaders fight the daily fight and reach out to the lost and the broken. They are everywhere.

•••

Bob Shillingstad is a regular Press contributor. Email Bob: bjshill@mac.com