I am definitely a dreamer. I can see it come out in me each time I pick up a book. When I read I place myself in the position of my favorite character and let my imagination run wild. Sometimes I am Scarlett O'Hara promising dances at the county picnic and other times I am Ginny Weasley fighting fiercely to gain respect from my overprotective, magical siblings. It's not that I actually believe I can jet back to the civil war era or that my Hogwart's letter is currently lost in the mail, it's the fact that my life has possibilites. I have the priviledge of hoping and dreaming. I think that most of you reading my blogs have that too.
Imagine for a second that you didn't have that privilege . Imagine knowing that the best you could get wasn't all that much. How frustrating would it be to know that you were limited to something far less appealing than what you wanted? I'm not sure if I could still be a dreamer in those conditions. Could you?
That is the sad reality here in Moldova. We work with a group of 15-20 children on a daily basis and each day when we ask them what they learned at school they respond with “Nothing”- that is if they attended at all. It's as if their teacher's don't see the point in educating them because they feel it's a waste of time. We ask them what they want to do when they grow up and they say things like “work on cars” or “work in a restaurant”. I have yet to hear even one single child say a doctor or a lawyer. We are constantly hearing stories about people being laid off or let go from their jobs . Students are graduating from university and finding that there is literally no where hiring. None of the people we meet have any desire to stay in Moldova and they are confused by the concept of the girls on my team missing their homes. In this country, home holds no sentimental value. “Opportunity” isn't a word they're familiar with unless it is the opportunity to get out. Given the chance, anyone would leave and never look back.
Guys, I am in EASTERN EUROPE. Hopelessness is waiting around every corner and oozing out of every crack and I am still in EUROPE. I can't tell you how disheartening this is for me. It is only going to get worse. I am only going to see WORSE than this. I know that with each new low that I see there will only be more to come. The truth is, I am unprepared. I am unprepared but I have absolutely NO idea how to even begin to ready myself. I want nothing more than to bring hope to the hopeless but how can I when I don't even know what being hopeless feels like?
So this is where prayer comes in. This is one of the many times this year that we're going to need a little divine intervention. Pray that my team will be able to communicate the hope and the joy of a life in Christ to people who've never experienced those things before. The silly dreams I draw from my novels are nothing compared to the kinds of dreams that God can stir up in His children. Pray that we can show these people a God who is a lot more appealing than a flirtatious southern belle. That we can show them a God who is far more powerful then any Hogwarts magic. Pray that they can see through our over privileged, American exteriors and into our hopeful hearts. We want to show them the God who sees their wildest dreams and gives them more. My team named ourselves RADIANT for a reason. We believe God's light can shine brighter in places like this and we'd love it if you all would join us in praying for fire.
