Valeriu Ghiletchi
God By Valeriu Ghiletchi
During the time of the Soviet Union, Christians had no status in Moldova. This never settled well with me. I always knew that Christians have something unique to offer to the society. In my youth I had a dream to get involved in the political life of the country, to bring the Light of the Gospel to the highest ranking officials.
Moldova gained its independence following the breakup of the
Soviet Union in 1991. In 1998, when the opportunity to run for the parliament in Moldova presented itself, I prayed to God for His will to come. He clearly spoke to me by opening the door and telling me to go through it. The word of God written in Joshua motivated me: “I will give you every place where you set your foot.” Joshua himself represented a great leadership example. I knew I had to follow. I realized then that Christians had to fight for God’s glory in every area of life, including the political sphere. The very beginning of the parliamentary session involved a very heated discussion around the law for religious freedom, specifically an article forbidding proselytism. The Council of Europe asked us to either remove this article or to give a clear definition of its meaning. The pressure from the Orthodox Church was colossal. They wanted people’s right to convert to another religion forbidden by law (the Orthodox Church represents roughly 93 percent of the Moldovan population). If this were to happen, we would have encountered great barriers in preaching the Gospel. As a member of the Committee for Human Rights and Religious Freedom, I helped bring leaders of different religious groups together to discuss this issue. As a result of this roundtable and other debates, the parliament defined proselytizing as using force and violence when trying to convert people to another religion. This was acceptable to us since we do not use force or violence in preaching the Gospel. One other accomplishment of that first Parliament found its inspiration in a trip I took to the USA. After being invited to participate at the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington, DC, I was motivated to start a prayer group in the Moldovan Parliament. A group of members of parliament would meet on a regular basis to have breakfast and study the Word of God. A while later one
OPENING POLITICAL DOORS
of the MPs came to know God with his entire family, while another MP’s wife and son joined our church. Testimonies like these, were clear examples that Christians should be involved in public service. For the next eight years Moldova faced rough economic
times under communist rule. Moldova’s history is similar to Israel’s history in that it took God one night to take Israel out of Egypt, but then it took God 40 years to take Egypt out of them. Moldova has been an independent country for 20 years but unfortunately, it is still fighting the syndrome of wanting to go back to the Soviet Union. In 2009, after being out of the political life for a while I felt God opening another door. I decided to run again, and God granted another victory. Personally, this parliamentary session was characterized by
a focus on promoting moral and spiritual values in the public sphere. I advocated for instituting a national Family Day, which the Parliament did. Thus, on May 15 of every year the country celebrates the national Family Day. I succeeded also in promoting an evangelical curriculum for religion that is taught in public schools. Political life is not without challenges. One of the
challenges was when the parliament, at the recommendation of the European Union, decided to adopt an antidiscrimination bill that would grant equal rights to sexual minorities. I was the only one from our political group that voted against this
piece of legislation. Despite its adoption, together with a group of Christian lawyers we managed to amend it to protect families, child adoption, churches and theological schools. Over the last four years God also gave me the chance to be involved with the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE). Being among some of the most influential politicians of the European continent, there was an opportunity to once again promote Christian values, advocate for religious freedom in European countries and adjacent areas in Morocco and countries in the Middle East. In the fall of 2011, a written declaration in support of the Iranian Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani was registered. Recently, PACE adopted a resolution based on the report that I presented, “Fighting child sex tourism.” Now I am working on another important report titled “Tackling intolerance with a special view to Christianity.”
(Continued on next page) JULY/SEPTEMBER 2013 7
Being among some of the most influential politicians of the European continent, there was an opportunity to once again promote Christian values, advocate for religious freedom in European countries and countries in the Middle East.
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