I
remember when I was in the process of getting ready for the race, one of my
thoughts was will I actually be able to make a difference. Month two and I am finding that my team and I
are making more of a difference than I realized. We have been working at Jubilee for the last couple
of weeks. It is a home with disabled
adult women and the women range from high functioning to low functioning. Some have physical and mental handicaps, while
others are emotionally traumatized.
I am
more of a practical thinker which in some ways is good and others bad. It is bad because going into ministry
settings I am continually thinking how am I going to affect people’s lives in
the long run. This is hard as although, the Race is a long
term mission trip we are seen as short term missionaries with ministry contacts
we are working with. So to make all
these random thoughts make sense I am finding that investing in people’s lives
even if it is only for a short time is better than not investing at all.
I got
to see this first hand with the women of Jubilee. One girl in particular stands out in my mind.
I first saw Vandana rocking on a couch to blaring music in a room with only a
few couches and a table. Vandana would have been considered one of the lower
functioning girls. She was scared to be
touched at first and didn’t make eye contact. Our teams just started pouring
love on this girl rubbing her hands and back engaging her in our activities.
She
started painting with us and even made a bracelet. I noticed she wasn’t rocking as much and
started smiling more. Our last day as we
were saying our goodbyes I held her hand
and she was so excited she couldn’t contain it. She was laughing and jumping up
and down. I thought to myself this is
why I am here, for a moment like this.
If I didn’t experience anything else on the whole rest of the Race I
would be content to know that my time with Vandana made her smile again. I don’t
know what her future holds but I do know that God loves her dearly and will
continue to bring people to invest in her life. I know that many people may
look over Vandana and not see or care to see her need to just be loved, but God
sees even the sparrows and the meek inherit His kingdom so I know he has good things for her.
I am
thankful that God is teaching me to live and love for today. I want to see radical change in all the lives
I come across. I am finding I am not
always involved in the end result but I am involved in the process. That thought takes a lot of the pressure off
when I know God just wants me to love people well and He will do the rest.
Please
pray for the women of Jubilee and the Bale family. The Bales have recently moved to Romania to
invest their lives at Jubilee. They are
wonderful people and I am so glad to have met them.
I leave
for Ireland in 3 days and will not have access to internet often so the updates
may be less frequent. Love and blessings
to all.
