Yesterday I got to go into Kiev with my team! We got to sit in a coffee shop, browse a market shop where I bought a cheap ring that turns my finger green, and eat TGI Fridays! It was a nice little treat to have! On the long drive back to camp I was listening in to some conversation. I heard some heartbreaking info about the Ukraine. The orphan rate is extremely high here. Around ninth grade many are sent to trade schools where most drop out within six months because they are behind educationally, don’t have money for food, or the life skills to cope. 60 % of orphan males end up in the prison system for petty theft or in some type of detention center type stuff. Most females end up in prostitution within the first year. Some end up committing suicide. There is also a huge alcohol problem in this country. And while social services have good hearts, they often don’t have the funds needed to remove children from bad homes. Let’s not even begin with some of the devastating history of this country.
My heart breaks for the Ukraine. My heart breaks for the four orphans that are staying here. There are three boys and one girl. They are between seven and fifteen and because of different circumstances are staying here for the summer. But I don’t want to just feel bad. This isn’t a sad commercial I can pass over. This is real.
And I’m tired…
I’m tired of Christians being known for what we are against. We need to be about what God is for! God is about love! God is about helping those in need! And I’m not just talking physical needs there! Our God’s heart is for the widow, the orphan, the broken! He is about redemption! He is about restoration! He is about forgiveness! He is for joy, grace, and abundant life (though that may look different than we think)! He is a God that wants to cast out fear, anxiety, and lies!
I know I don’t even know a smidgen of all the issues in this country. I know there is pain all over this world. But I can’t remain ignorant. I can’t live a life that only revolves around my well being. I’m not sure what God will call me to after the race but my prayer today is that it is about what God is for!
“Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free and break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry to bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked to cover him, and not to hide yourself from your own flesh?” Isaiah 58:6-7
Jeremiah’s Hope is the organization I am working with! They are about God’s work! They are about the orphans and the broken! If you feel led I ask you to check out the website. jeremiahshope.org
