Authorities in Bendery (Tighina) in eastern Moldova have begun action to shut down a street library run by local Baptists. According to an April 29 report from Forum 18 News Service, police have confiscated the books and detained the three Christians running the library on two occasions in the past month. Each time, Vyacheslav Bachu, Vladimir Boligar and Dmitry Masterov were detained and questioned about the internal life of their unregistered church. They were later released, but the books were kept without explanation. A similar library in the village of Krasnoe was raided in January but the books have since been returned.
The Baptists belong to the International Council of Churches of Evangelical Christians/Baptists, which rejects state registration on principle, having seen the abuses of registration during the former Soviet Union.
Pray that the ministry of these and other believers throughout Moldova will continue to flourish, in spite of the opposition they face.
