Sergei [photo: UBS/Dag Smemo WR413/4 MOL07DJ-100]
MOLDOVA — Outside the door of the assembly hall, after the distribution of Bibles by the Bible Society, a group of boys with New Testaments in their hands are waiting in the spring sunshine to go and have lunch.
At the beginning of the service they were all told that any who did not want their photos taken could simply cover their faces when the camera was pointed at them. Sergei was one who took up the offer. Now, though, he is willing – even eager– to talk to the visitors. He is asked if he is a believer. “I’ve tried to believe…” he says, sounding doubtful and pulling a face. “Perhaps it’s not for me.” He develops his theme by saying that when he has tried to talk to God he has not heard God reply. “How long until you get out of here?” we ask. His answer comes as a shock. “Ten years,” he says. Either prison sentences are severe in Moldova compared with Western Europe, or he committed some particularly heinous crime. “Do you believe in magic?” a visitor asks him. “Yes,” he replies. “But not in Jesus?” “No!” he says derisively. Then he adds, a little sheepishly, “Ah! How did you guess?” “Try the Gospel of Mark,” we suggest. “It’s fast-moving – like a newspaper story!” “Perhaps I will,” he says. But now it is time to go and have lunch. And running off down the steps, clutching his copy of the New Testament, he turns back to give a cheerful wave. If he tries talking to God again, at least he will have plenty of time to wait for an answer.
(WR 413/4 - 07.07)[2 photos]