Drunks, Gypsies and Baptists

"Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world." James 1:27

"You know what the old joke is about Posta Vecia, right?"  Nodding our heads "no", he continued, "there are only three types you'll find in Posta Vecia - drunks, gypsies and Baptists." I had to start laughing, because these are my kind of people, but then quickly added "that's a compliment for Baptist missions, right?"

Posta Vecia is a region in Chisinau, the capital city of Moldova.  Seven years ago, when I first heard that we might send a group to go on a mission trip to Moldova, I was game, as I thought they meant a region in Mexico, my home away from home!  Wow, at 25 did I have a lot to learn...  In studying about the country, I quickly determined it is a simple, heavily agricultural country with industrious, hard-working people, brought up in the no-nonsense tradition of the old Soviet bloc.  A Moldovan proverb says "life was worth living if you built a house, brought up a son, planted a tree and dug a well".  This idyllic lifestyle was quickly brought into true focus when I began reading more deeply about the country and the difficulties experienced there.

My husband went on our church's first mission trip to Moldova at the urging of our dear friend and former pastor Gary Long.  Here are some facts about Moldova that I have learned: it's best known feature is that its the poorest country in Eastern Europe, where up to 30% of its population migrate to other countries for work.  Another outstanding characteristic of Moldova its its nickname "the kidney donor capital of the world", earned due to the extraordinary number of folks who sell their organs in order to survive another year.  And what do you think happens when adults leave the country?  The so-called "lost generation" leaves their children behind, as wards of the ever-so-poor state, to scrap for food and clothes, sleeping on 50 year old cot mattresses, as they try to raise themselves among thousands of others, in the heart of the orphanages that dot the countryside.  All the while knowing that when they grow too old to live at the orphanage (age 16 or so), they will be out on the street to fend for themselves, without family or education, at risk of being captured for trafficking within weeks of their new-found freedom.

What's left to sell when your parents are gone, or their optional organs have all been farmed out?  Cheap sex and slave labor.  One of the hottest markets in the world, the human trafficking trade has rocked Moldova to the core.  The levels of forced prostitution of young women and forced labor of children on farms who come from this tiny country make it the primary country of origin in Europe for victims of human trafficking.  Suffice it to say, these kids are in grave danger.

For almost a decade, folks at my church have given mercilessly of themselves, their time, money, efforts and hearts to bring aid to these high-risk children through an organization directed by Steve Davis, called Justice and Mercy International (JMI).  The worst day that my children are afforded here in the States simply does not compare in any form or fashion to the absolute best day for a child living at the Falesti orphanage in northern Moldova.  Our kids have three squares, goodnight hugs and kisses, clean beds, freedom to play, laugh, run.  And this is just the beginning.  They usually also have several pairs of shoes, at least one bike, a Wii, a DS, and now that new DSi, too.  Throw in some knowledge of God, mixed in with trust, security, and basic needs met, and you've pretty much got our American kids summed up in a nutshell.

Steve Davis, Director of JMI reviewing the latest information on Moldova with 

Toni Hill-Kennedy, WMBC Moldova Mission Team 

We've gone back year after year, either in person or through donations of much needed supplies, as a part of our commitment to serving those in need in places foreign to us.    This journey has been life-changing for many people on both sides of the ocean.  Many in our congregation financially support the kids in the orphanages and still more support the young adults living in the transitional living homes.  This year we won't send the team we've been preparing, due in part to schedules and in other part to concerns about the trip logistics, and I cannot help but feel saddened.  This is not a summer trip we "should go to", its a life-giving experience that we "need".

The challenging affair that is Moldova is that its never the same.  It's a third world country, not a well-planned resort style community.  The government continues to meddle, the corruption of the guards flourishes, the directors of the summer camps change, and the rules for accessing the kids are always different.  These things can make it harder to plan the perfect mission trip, and harder to have all the exact details in place before take off.  The thing that never changes, folks, is that the kids need us.  There is never a shortage of work to do in Moldova, even if the agenda isn't finalized and remains far from perfect.  These boys and girls need so badly to see a flicker of the light of hope in a country without any.  They need to experience love, perhaps knowing it for the first time, through the compassion of a stranger who comes to visit.  A stranger who thinks they are coming to build a bed, or teach a camp lesson, or rouse up a game of soccer.  But I know the hidden truth about a trip like this - that a certain heart was forever changed while playing defense on a soccer field in the midst of an orphanage in Moldova.

"It is God to whom and with whom we travel, and while He is the End of our journey, He is also at every stopping place." Elizabeth Elliot

Ordering every minute of our day, planning each step along the journey and making sure everything is perfectly reduced to writing leaves out one big thing: The God Factor.  We have to remember, the plan part is all God's anyway.  It's His redemptive mission, He has just invited us along for the ride.  And have you ever noticed that God sometimes wants different things for your life than you want for yourself?

Our part of the work as we prepare to go on a mission trip is to make the journey into our own heart.  Stopping intentionally throughout our days to be with God through the practices of reading the Word, solitude and private prayer.  Learning to have faith and to be flexible - or as my mother always said to "trust the process".  Not at all like my mother implored, I often find myself guilty of selfish behavior- running out the door, speeding off to the next obligation on my agenda, so busy that I don't stop to reflect on what I'm actually doing and who I might impact along the way.  Sometimes my lack of faith leads me to doubt if I'm really making a difference at all, as I consider marking through things on my calendar with big red X marks to cull them from my "to-do" list.  In these moments, instead of humbling myself and placing my trust in God, I am leaving God out of the picture and choosing to guide my own way.  In tough times, when it seems that things aren't going right, I am tempted to give up without even consulting Him if I don't think things will work out according to my plan.

The first thing we do in tough times is the most important thing.  It shows where and in whom our faith lies.  The thing is, it's easy to let our thoughts and feelings grow to take over and tangle up our life, wrapping around like a boa constrictor and strangling the spirit out of us.  Part of following Christ involves shedding that old boa constrictor skin, and casting off those old ways of being.  This shedding is only possible through God's grace.  This spiritual transformation journey we're on is a continuous and lifelong process, and I believe that taking the nature of a servant to humanity lies at the heart of it all.  If we don't get out of our own head and our own issues - out of SELF, we never will be able to truly see the needs, hurts and heart of OTHER.  

Richard Foster, in his book Celebration of Discipline reminds us that "self-righteous service is affected by moods and whims.  It can serve only when there is 'feeling' to serve.  Ill health or inadequate sleep controls the desire to serve.  True service ministers simply and faithfully because there is a need."  I love that - 'because there is a need', not because I wanted to help with a need, or because a need sounded good to me, just plain and simple - ministering because a need exists.  And this is the cool part - because the needs are great out there, we are all standing, right this very moment, knee-deep in some sort of mission field.  This part means we can take heart that God's call on our lives can and will impact the world for good.  There is a great big, broken world out there waiting for us to open the deepest door to our heart, and allow ourselves to be moved by all the cracks in the world that let the light of God shine through.

"In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps." Proverbs 16:9

We may at times feebly fret around, hurriedly making our plans, worrying about our preparedness - but God...  God already has the plan of action.  We need only respond to His calling us - voluntarily, gratefully and with pure heart- and be ready to bear his grace to others.  He calls us as servants (Matt 20:25-28), priests (1 Pet 2:4-9) and friends (John 15:14-15).  In the midst of the business of your life when God calls you into action on this journey, and don't doubt for a second that he won't - what is the first thing you will do?