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| 7 Aug 2007: At our first farewell from EET |
Today, I want to pay tribute to Major Andrei Cojucari, who was promoted to glory last Wednesday night. When we met him and his wife, Lilia for the first time in 2004, they were newly commissioned officers. The first question we asked, was:
“How did you come to faith?”.
It was so moving to hear their testimonies. Their children, Andrei Jnr. and Elena, had been invited to children-activities and had found Jesus, and shared their stories with their parents. When the parents saw the change in the children, they started to go to meetings, and soon after they received Christ, became soldiers and a new chapter of their life had started.
Through the years, Andrei and I have had many conversations. If you had witnessed one of these, you would have been puzzled if you didn’t know a little bit about Moldova; Andrei spoke Romanian and I Russian. Simply because he understood Russian, but preferred not to speak it, whilst I understood enough Romanian to be able to answer back in my broken Russian. We could speak about practical matters (– like building-matters – see picture), spiritual matters as well as personal matters.
Andrei also informed me about his serious illness when we met on officers’ retreat by Lacul Rosu in September 2017. I laid my hands on him and we prayed together. Since then we were able to visit him and Lilia in Iasi when he underwent treatment. The visits included talks and prayers, with the emotional mix of despair and hope.
In the last visit we made, Andrei had finished his treatment, and was hopeful, but also thankful, because he had been able to lead one of the other patients to Christ. This was an elderly man from a nearby village, a man who had been receiving palliative care for four years, and the doctors couldn’t understand that he was still alive. After Andrei had prayed with him, the old man said: “This is the first time in my life, someone has prayed for me!” – one week later, the old man died in peace.
This says something about God’s kingdom, God’s timing, and a lot about Andrei’s heart for others, also when he was fighting for his own life. Andrei left a ‘footprint’ in many, including me, now he also can rest in peace. And I pray for comfort for Lilia, Andrei Jnr and Elena and her family!
It was so moving to hear their testimonies. Their children, Andrei Jnr. and Elena, had been invited to children-activities and had found Jesus, and shared their stories with their parents. When the parents saw the change in the children, they started to go to meetings, and soon after they received Christ, became soldiers and a new chapter of their life had started.
Through the years, Andrei and I have had many conversations. If you had witnessed one of these, you would have been puzzled if you didn’t know a little bit about Moldova; Andrei spoke Romanian and I Russian. Simply because he understood Russian, but preferred not to speak it, whilst I understood enough Romanian to be able to answer back in my broken Russian. We could speak about practical matters (– like building-matters – see picture), spiritual matters as well as personal matters.
Andrei also informed me about his serious illness when we met on officers’ retreat by Lacul Rosu in September 2017. I laid my hands on him and we prayed together. Since then we were able to visit him and Lilia in Iasi when he underwent treatment. The visits included talks and prayers, with the emotional mix of despair and hope.
In the last visit we made, Andrei had finished his treatment, and was hopeful, but also thankful, because he had been able to lead one of the other patients to Christ. This was an elderly man from a nearby village, a man who had been receiving palliative care for four years, and the doctors couldn’t understand that he was still alive. After Andrei had prayed with him, the old man said: “This is the first time in my life, someone has prayed for me!” – one week later, the old man died in peace.
This says something about God’s kingdom, God’s timing, and a lot about Andrei’s heart for others, also when he was fighting for his own life. Andrei left a ‘footprint’ in many, including me, now he also can rest in peace. And I pray for comfort for Lilia, Andrei Jnr and Elena and her family!
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