One Musician Makes a Difference!

We Christians fall into a trap of thinking, "What difference can I make?" Your friends and colleagues are longing to know the Living God, whether or not they are aware of this deep need. Read this article to discover how Christ can make a difference through one willing musician.

"Sleepers, Awake!" Share the love of Jesus Christ. His love through you will draw others to Him!"

God's Miracle Among Musicians in Moldova

(Provided by TUNE in, Publication by Crescendo)

In the course of the just finished Crescendo Festival in the Republic of Moldova, I met one of the organisers, Alexandru Sanduleac (photo). He told an unbelievable story which can encourage us to expect great things from God. Alexandru, you began many years ago with a little Bible group of musicians... A: That was in 1992, at the Conservatory in Chisinau, the capital city. We used material from the “Precept inductive Bible Study”. At the beginning, only a few came. But every week we invited new students, and in this way the group grew in two years to 45 participants. Of these musicians, only three were originally Christians. But, as time went on, all came to faith. Now some of them began to form their own groups. I conducted the studies in Romanian, and now there were soon groups in Russian, the second language in our country. Then the movement spread to the Music College, where students prepared for the conservatory. There, too, dozens became Christians and joined the church to which we belonged. And how did your work continue? A: I began with prayer meetings in the Conservatory. Every morning, students came together for a full hour of prayer before teaching started. Did I hear correctly? A full hour every morning? A: Exactly. We were excited to be joined now by musicians who belonged to the Orthodox, Pentecostal, Baptist or Adventist churches. We prayed for each other and for the school. One fruit of this work was that in northern Moldova, where my wife comes from and where some these musicians later moved to, a Church of our own was founded. In this town there was not a single Protestant church. Then we held Bible courses in the local government school. After a festival lasting two days, in which the music students gave many concerts, a Church of our own came into being. With a very short time, 700 people joined us and were baptised. And it went further: similar congregations were founded in 50 other places. So this means that ultimately, from a group of musicians, 50 churches resulted?! How do you explain this awakening? A: Really, at the beginning it was very easy for me, for I lived in the Conservatory’s student residence and was thus able to invite many colleagues to the Bible study group. So you were a musician yourself? Please tell us a little about it... A: In my youth, I have to say, I was already seen as one of the most promising musicians in the country. My instrument was the horn, and at an early stage people predicted a great career for me. Correspondingly, my studies also went very well. But then I suddenly had health problems with my lips and suddenly what took the most important place in my life, namely my music and career, was suddenly called into question. Everything was shattered, and in retrospect I have to say that this idol had to be knocked off its pedestal. A little later, however, I changed direction and study choral conducting. Back to the Bible and prayer meetings in Chinsinau: Was it possible for you to organize them without problems? A: No, one day the very strict director of the conservatory burst into one of our evening meetings in which more than 40 music students were reading the Bible. He had had no idea about this and went into a rage. Then he forbade us to hold these meetings. Later, however, his son became a Christian. And the astonishing thing is that, while we are having this conversation, this former director is sitting in the next room having an evening meal with our friends and telling jokes. In the last few years, he has noticed how Christians selflessly contribute to the culture of our country, and in this way he has become, so to speak, our friend. What would you say is the successful recipe for a spiritual awakening among musicians and artists in general? A: Ultimately, it is God’s grace. But it is good if we count on God and trust that in his working. On this basis, I simply repeatedly invited my fellow students to Bible studies or gave them Bibles. Recently I received a letter from a former student who now lives in Kazakhstan. She wrote that I gave her a New Testament back then, and that she became a Christian by reading it. One never knows what will grow when we sow the seed. Alexandru, thank you for this encouragement! Text: Beat Rink / Translation: Bill Buchanan