1st Moldovan Parliamentarian Prayer Breakfast

On the 28th of August, the 1st Moldovan Parliamentarian Prayer Breakfast took place. In total, 10 Members of the Parliament of Moldova from 3 different parties participated (the Moldovan parliament has 101 MPs) as well as an MP from Canada and representatives from the Canadian Christian Embassy. I addressed the participants on be half of the ECPM and expressed the importance of parliamentary prayer groups all over Europe (see my message here) and read a message from the Ecumenical Prayer Group from the Romanian Parliament addressed to the participants of the 1st Moldovan Prayer Group. It was a good and friendly atmosphere with personal messages based on the love of Jesus and the Holy Scriptures. It was encouraging to see the open and personal message also of the participants and to see that the principles of Jesus unites politicians of different parties. I was impressed by MP Valeriu Ghilețchi (Moldovan MP and member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe) who organized and chaired this important event. At the end all the MPs present agreed to meet each other regularly as a prayer group in the Moldovan Parliament. Also touching was that today, one day after the celebration of the 21s anniversary of the independence of the Republic of Moldova, the former president of the parliament who signed this declaration explained the importance of values like human dignity as the basis for society and politics.

Please read my address on behalf of the ECPM below 

 

Chișinău , 28th August 2012

“Every thinking man, when he thinks, realizes that the teachings of the Bible are so interwoven and entwined with our whole civic and social life that it would be literally impossible for us to figure ourselves what that life would be if these standards were removed. We would lose almost all the standards by which we now judge both public and private morals; all the standards which we, with more or less resolution, strive to raise ourselves.”Theodore RooseveltHonorable Members of the Moldovan Parliament,
Distinguished participants, dear friends,

It is with great joy and honor that I accepted your invitation to attend the first edition of the Prayer Breakfast in the Moldovan Parliament, an important milestone that symbolizes the desire to engrave the importance of faith and Christian values upon political activity.

Annually, members of legislatures, diplomats, government officials and presidents around the world join with other leaders in sharing in the spirit of friendship through prayer and thanksgiving at similar events in more than 130 countries. Gatherings such as the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington DC, the birth place of the prayer breakfast movement, and the European Prayer Breakfast in the European Parliament in Brussels are wonderful occasions when we can set aside our differences and seek to build and strengthen relationships through our love for God and care for one another. I therefore commend this great initiative in the Moldovan Parliament and applaud your desire to deepen the spiritual life and moral fiber of the people through a leadership led by God.

At this extremely challenging time for Europe and the world in general, ECPM believes that a return to the recognition of Biblical principles in the public field is primordial. Christian leaders can and should thus play a guiding role as they draw attention to core principles that represent the solution to the moral and economic crisis we face today. In this respect, I believe that many of our activities and endeavors aim towards the same goals and the need for cooperation between Christians on the European political field has never been greater.

On behalf of European Christian Political Movement, please accept our best wishes for a fruitful event and a thriving spirit of faith among the people of Moldova.

Leo van Doesburg
External Affairs Manager
European Christian Political Movement (E.C.P.M.)