A remarkable Christian revival has been taking place in a Russian-controlled enclave of the former Soviet republic of Moldova, a tiny country of two and a half million people that is wedged between Ukraine and Romania. The enclave of Transnistria is an even smaller sliver of land between the Dniester River and the Ukrainian border.
More than two decades ago, Ukrainian pastor Yuriy Semenyuk and his wife Oxana felt called by God to move to Transnistria despite the hostility from the Russian community. Gangsters tried to kill him and kidnap his children. He and his initially small group of followers were constantly harassed, some had their homes destroyed by fire. Today, their evangelical Church of Christ Saviour has the biggest congregation in the enclave.
Hundreds of worshippers pack the church on Sundays. There are regular baptisms and miraculous healings. The church runs a School of Life jointly with CBN’s Orphan’s Promise charity — teaching a wide range of skills such as cooking, computer literacy and discipleship.
As the Soviet Union collapsed in the early 1990s, Transnistria broke away from Moldova to establish its own government, currency, and statehood. While it’s not officially recognised by the international community, the breakaway territory became economically, politically, and militarily dependent on the Kremlin. Russia has about 2,000 troops stationed there.
Very few foreign journalists are allowed into Transnistria, but Christian network CBN News was recently given rare access to the territory. The news crew had to negotiate several Russian checkpoints to reach the enclave’s capital Tiraspol where a huge statue of Lenin still stands in the town square.
There, they met Pastor Yuriy who told them how the Lord put a burden on his heart to move his family to the volatile region in the year 2000. “In my heart, I really love people, that is my passion to serve people. I love God and I wanted to do something for Him all my life. God told me: Yuriy, I need you in one place. Its name is Transnistria.”
The first seven years were incredibly difficult. “I was targeted by some people from the government, policemen, KGB, and gangsters. The worst of course was from the gangsters because they tried to kill me, they tried to kidnap my children. Once I was kidnapped, but praise God, God let me escape,” he recalled.
Despite the ongoing threats, he continued to openly share the Gospel, even in areas controlled by the gangs. “Some of the gangsters became Christian, they became evangelical, their wives became evangelical, so their bosses hated this, so that’s why they tried to stop us,” he explained.
Pastor Yuriy told the CBN News team: “We have had an unbelievable revival. We are still alive 24 years later on the mission field, we are still alive! Each morning, I wake up, I say to myself, Yuriy, you are still alive, and you have one more day to preach the Gospel, one more day to do something for God’s Kingdom.”
He says the secret to his church’s growth is simple: “We love God, we try to be very obedient to His Word and to His Spirit, and because we love people, we do whatever is possible to help people.”
Baptisms are a regular occurrence, and during the week, the Church of Christ Saviour holds several youth programs for different age groups. There’s also a ministry for parents, a street ministry and evangelistic rallies held throughout the enclave.
“For the School of Life we use the basement rooms and the children can hear what’s happening on the first floor when they have youth meetings, teenager’s ministry, Sunday ministry, and because of that sound, they start joining, they start coming to the sanctuary and they join the church and after a while their parents join the church, so by that relationship with [CBN’s] Orphan’s Promise we are expanding the Kingdom of God,” the pastor revealed.
While the majority of Transnistria’s residents would rather be part of Russia, many fear they could soon be caught up in the current war. But Pastor Yuriy Semenyuk and his church will be staying: “We know our calling. God told us to preach the Gospel and make disciples, so nothing changes, war, or no war, doesn’t matter what kind of situation we face around us, we have the same calling all the time.”
Photo – Facebook – Pastor Yuriy Semenyuk (2020)
