Romania called to my heart 9 months ago amidst the transition from high school to college.
My future stood before me, open, a blank piece of paper ready to be turned into something more and I threw my hands in the air asking God what He wanted me to make of it. In the surrender God whispered a purpose into my life: to love, not in thought, or in word, but in action. At the same time, I was falling in love with a book, a musical, a story, and a race. The Hunchback of Notre Dame introduced me to the plight of the Roma people, the Gypsies, and in the 200 years since Hugo wrote his novel and 500 years since the story was set, little to nothing has changed for them. They are still outcasts of society, they still live in poverty, and many don't have the necessary resources to care for their children. I began researching Romanian orphanages and I was awakened to the suffering of abandoned children whose needs were not met. And, even the few children whose basic needs for food and hygiene were met, were not held or nurtured. I learned how the ill treatment of children under communist rule during the 70s and 80s led to a hopeless cycle of abandonment, neglect, abuse, sickness, drug use, and poverty that continues today. The weight of a child growing up unloved... that made my heart sink. And multiplied by the estimated 500,000 children that grew up in communist orphanages... it's too vast a number to understand. 500,000 children made in God's image by His hands that may never hear or experience His love. And what could I do? Could I go? I could go... In Luke 12:48 Jesus says, "From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked." I have been given all that I need and more. I have been blessed with a loving family, an education, incredible friends, and most of all, the surmounting love and grace of Jesus Christ. And how can I not share this? And what do these children need from me? To be fed, cared for, held, played with, and through it all shown Christ's love. God could use me. To be used by the creator of the universe, to be a window through which His light could be shared, to be a vessel of His love, that is a privilege greater than any other. Katie Davis, author of her memoir Kisses From Katie, writes, "The place God calls us to is the place where your deep gladness and the world's deep hunger meet". Communicating love, that is my deepest gladness. When I get the chance to hold another and let them know they are cared for, that troubles will pass, that God is in control, that is my deepest gladness. And to know that there are children longing for that love, hungering to be held and that I could be the one to hold them... It is a perfect puzzle piece fitting in an imperfect world. I want to devote my life to learning the depth and width and length and height of Christ's love and to sharing that love with others. I want everyday of my life to reflect that love, even just to one person, no matter where I am: on campus, at home, or in Romania. As my mission trip to Romania approaches I continue to hold my life up to God. Use me Lord, I pray, let me write love across each page of this life and on the hearts of others.
4 Comments
|
AuthorI'm Julia Christine, a 19 year old girl with a passion to serve and worship God with my life. ArchivesCategories |