Everything is Fine Here

    Today I was at my Romanian language lesson and learned something deeper than just about how to communicate verbally.  It was a special time with Olga, our new Romanian Language Teacher, because she shared some profound insight about her own people.  We were just having a normal conversation in Romanian and then she said, "People here in Moldova..." and when I heard this, my ears perked up and I began writing some things down. 
    The main insight I took away from today about the people of Moldova is one of the ways they were affected by Communism.  She stated that they were taught to just look past problems because this is what they saw modeled by the leadership.  "Yes" was the simple answer that the authorities expected and no questions were to be raised about any problems.  There was also a negative perspective about outside influences.  This was especially true when it came to the influences of the West.  This perception was strongly held by the elderly, which are highly respected in this culture.
    Today, even though the Communist system is gone with the past, this unrealistic mindset is still engrained in many of the people here, especially in the retired folks.  The difficult part about idealism is going through change in the midst of trying to become a successful and independent Republic in a changing world that is filled with problems.  They have always been taught to look past problems and just say yes to whatever the authorities say is good and right, which leads to always doing the same things you have been doing.  I recently heard a good definition of insanity: "insanity is doing the same thing over and over again expecting something to change".  Added to this false sense of reality is a sense of skepticism that was instilled in their thinking about ALL outside influences being negative versus the mindset of taking what is good and leaving the rest alone.  One example Olga gave was her Aunt telling her that computers are from Satan and are evil and should not be used.  Olga laughs about it now, but her aunt will not use a computer to this day, because deep down she believes that outside influences are bad.
    What implications does this have for us as we mentor church planters and equip them to have multiplying churches?  TRUST  It was a fresh reminder that establishing trust now is so foundational to everything God wants to do through us in the future.  We have sensed God doing this in many different ways, and we ask that you would continue to pray about ways we could establish trust with the church planters so that they will not see God's work as a negative outside influence from the West, but something that He is showing them from Heaven.