Chris Elston in Slovakia and Moldova

 Chris Elston, formerly a teacher at Christ Church School, is a member of Christ Church and a regular visitor when on leave.
He served many years with Scripture Union in Slovakia and while there set up his own school for teaching English as a foreign language in Kosice. His aims were to provide excellence in teaching and to help students hear the call of God in their lives. He held weekly Bible studies in his flat.
In recent years, Chris has been teaching in Moldova. He is also involved with, and assists, a school at a church in Tiraspol in the unrecognised state of Transnistria (on the territory of Moldova), and still visits Slovakia once a year.
 
MOLDOVA – THE ENGLISH SCHOOL: I began this school and have led it since 2009. The school is based at Emanuel Church in Cahul, south Moldova. At our peak in 2019, we had 440 students enrolled with seven teachers, both locals and native speakers that God had sent from the UK and US. The loss of our foreign teachers in the last two years has meant that the number of students for whom we can provide English classes has halved.
We are now in transition. I am stepping back from leadership in September to allow the local teachers to assume collegial responsibility for the running of the school, with the assistance of our able administrator. I will continue in the background as adviser and associate teacher. My own classes in the autumn semester are going to be online. I wait on the Lord to see where He has for me to be based. There are several possibilities. The photograph shows students at an award of certificates ceremony:

SLOVAKIA: In June I was in Slovakia, where I taught between 1994 and 2014. I visited old friends and students, staying at my former church.
I am thankful to God for many opportunities of ministry. It was especially gratifying to come alongside and befriend refugees from the bombarded east of the Ukraine. Through God’s amazing working of circumstances and His overcoming of hindrances, I was able to show them the brilliant 2019 film of Pilgrim’s Progress. God spoke to say that He responds to those who call upon Him in distress and will lead them to the Celestial City.
This photograph shows me bringing a message at a local fellowship:
TRANSNISTRIA: In God’s goodness, a joyful part of my mission is to be involved with the church in Tiraspol, the capital of Transnistria.
Transnistria is an unrecognised state sitting mostly on the left bank of the River Dniester on the territory of Moldova. It is sustained by Russia.
Through the church’s missionary allocation, we give towards their compassion ministry.
Pastor Yuriy wrote in June:
I want to thank you and the church for your prayers for us. We feel this support.
Despite the yellow code in the country, people’s fears and the risks, the team and I decided to continue to carry out all projects and ministries directed at reaching people for God.

Recently, we managed to hold a big evangelistic day on the birthday of the church.  We are 27 years old!  We were visited by 975 adults and children.  

My wife Oksana and her assistants baked a big cake of 250 pounds.
Each guest was able to hear the gospel and enjoy a piece of cake.  It was a specially blessed time.  And it was also a great joy for us that the Ukrainian refugees attended our services.  Some of them come to us from distant settlements.  And we believe that even more new people will join the church.
We also continue to care for poor people and refugee families.  I am grateful for your help to us in this. Please convey our thanks to your church for their part in this God’s work. Here is a photograph of the church, the team who baked the cake and its distribution to those who came to celebrate: I am conveying a further gift to the church at the end of the summer. I need wisdom and to hear the voice of God clearly about whether I should go in person.
MOLDOVA – ANTI-TRAFFICKING AND UKRAINIAN REFUGEES: Christ Church, from the missionary allocation, has been helping support the Transformation Project, in particular the running of family homes for vulnerable children. The Transformation Project’s primary calling is to rescue at-risk girls from sex trafficking and secondly to reach out to children and teenagers with the Gospel through camps. 
We are seeking the Lord for His plans for our second house, whether perhaps it should become a home where at-risk teenage girls can live and be taught skills such as dress-making, bread-making, information technology, to provide them with prospects of a secure job. This second house has recently used to host Ukrainian refugees, another ministry the church has been given.
This photograph shows our two houses for vulnerable children (before the gardens were planted) 

 

Christ Church Representative:   Indrani Balachandran