Valeriu Macari [photo: UBS/Dag
Smemo WR413/7 MOL07DJ-33]
MOLDOVA — We are introduced to Valeriu Macari in a bustling street in Chisinau, opposite one of the numerous branches of the American restaurant chain Andy’s Pizza.
Valeriu greets us outside a row of florists’ shops, one of which, it turns out, he owns. On this flower-laden pavement he tells us the story of standing up for his faith as a Protestant Christian when the only stream of Christianity granted any favours by the Soviets was the Orthodox Church.
Childhood friends
Valeriu and Anton Placinta, the Director of the Interconfessional Bible Society of Moldova, grew up in neighbouring villages and have been friends since childhood. Valeriu, too, is a Baptist. “I always have been!” he declares. But under a Soviet regime, this was not as straightforward as it might sound. His faith came under fire constantly. Obliged to join Komsomol, the youth wing of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, he was also taught Darwin’s theory of evolution at school – in contrast to the teaching about Creation that he had learned from the Bible. Later when he was a student at Technical School, the teachers continued trying to persuade him his Christian beliefs were wrong and that he should drop them. “It was the job of the Director especially,” he says, “to force others not to believe in God.” But the young Valeriu had been baptised, he sang in the Baptist church choir and he clung tenaciously to the rock of his conviction. While he was serving his statutory two years of military service, his Divisional commander warned him that unless he joined Komsomol, he would face a period of duty in Afghanistan, where from 1979 until 1989 Soviet troops were propping up the regimes first of Babrak Karmal and later Najibullah again various factions of Mujahideen. Even in the face of that threat, though, his response remained robust. “I shan’t be lost – even there!” he retorted. The threats proved hollow, even so, for his military service was spent mainly in Ukraine. His story of official oppression illustrates an experience common to all Christians who dared to worship openly during Soviet times.
Special unit
“A friend I had met in the army told me that he and his friends had been assigned by the KGB to a special unit where they signed an agreement undertaking to spy on the Christian believers in the ranks of the Army. “In the army I was always aware of people watching me,” he says, in a matter-of-fact way. Anton Placinta agrees. He remembers how, during his own military service in Hungary, he and another Christian who worked in radio operations would spend off-duty hours listening to a Christian radio station – strictly in secret, for fear of being caught. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, Valeriu’s ex-army friend is one of many who now commend him for his bravery back then in openly facing down the authorities. These days, although the Orthodox Church still occupies the privileged position among the Churches, his life as a civilian Baptist is easier. He has gasheated greenhouses full of roses and employs two people. Singing praise to God is still his joy and he proudly proffers a copy of a CD of Christian music recorded by the four-strong group called Blajenstvo – their name means ‘Bliss’ – that he has formed with his wife Evelyn – a talented songwriter – and two friends. The group are popular among Protestant Christians and are often invited to sing in churches and at weddings – one of the best Christian groups in Moldova, in the opinion of many.
(WR 413/7 - 07.07)[5 photos]