The name Razboieni is a name I will never forget. It is the name of the poorest neighborhood in our city of ministry this month; Pitesti.
Our ministry…to be light in a dark and hopeless place.
This month we encountered a group of children that have seen more darkness in their young lives then I even want to think about. We were given the details of their lives by the people we came along side; the people that have been pouring into these kids lives for years. Here are a few things that we were told:
- There are many people in their neighborhood that have been involved in sex trafficking and prostitution, some being their own parents and siblings. Many of the girls will be encouraged by their parents to go into prostitution because it is a way to make money and pay the bills.
- Violence is normal event and is share like the score of a football game. It is exciting to be the first one to share the news with other people. “A father was stabbed by his son at the bus stop because he wouldn’t give him money!”
- Sometimes the children that are most challenging and require the most patience go home to a mother with mental health issues that render her unable to take care of her 7 year old son leaving the son to take care of himself.
- Alcoholic, abusive and absentee fathers are a normal thing.
- Many of the kids smoke by the time they are 7-8 years old.
So what did we do?
We got to love these kids. We got to play soccer, dance, and color. We got to make bracelets. We got to go into their schools to visit their English classes. We got to give out hug after hug after hug. We got to love them.
Towards the end of the month I found myself starting to wonder about what this was doing. How does a group of 6 Americans showing up for a month and playing with them bring God’s Kingdom to Razboieni? It is something that many world race teams wonder at the end of ministry months since there are times we don’t get to see the results of ministry, the results aren’t as tangible as tearing down a house.
Honestly, I don’t know. I am learning to see the beauty of that. I don’t know how God is going to use this past month in those kids lives but I trust that my God has a plan, and that He is working all things together for good.
You want to know something else. It could be one kid. We could spend 11 months on the World Race, one month is Pitesti, we could have spent our time fundraising, you all could have given us thousands of dollars for one kid to experience the Fathers love and have their life radically changed. To the Father, one child, one person is worth ALL of that, and then some.
