Tuesday, December 06, 2005

Lots of Needs

The past two times I have been out on the street with our team have been really hard. There are immense needs and my heart is broken about this and I am kind of questioning God about this and knowing that I need to get some perspective concerning the suffering that I am faced with here. I know it is not so bad as other places but it is still hard, especially because the people that are suffering have become my friends.

Pray for Anca, she is a girl who is almost 18 and our team got her to come off the street because she was going to die very soon from Hepatitus B if she did not. She stayed in a shelter for more than a month and a half, but just last night we met her on the street. She has lost her chance to be in the shelter now and doesn't even want to go back. If she starts drinking or using glue her health with deteriorate very quickly. She wants to be in the street because of her boyfriend and probably because of the freedom she has there. Costel and her really love each other and want to be together but they are keeping each other in the street. Please pray for God to work in these two. They are so precious and it is hard to see them living this life that will eventually kill them.

Last night we also met with Elena, one of my favorite girls on the street. She is 16, but she seems just like a little girl to me. She shakes from using too much glue, and last night she was badly beaten. From what I have heard some guys from the neighborhood make some sport of beating the kids in the street and that is what they did to Elena. Its aweful and now the boys that we minister to there in the street are ready for revenge and had a knife and 2x4's ready for action. Its a bit scary and so sad. I am seeing more and more what the reality of the street really is and I guess it is hitting me a bit hard. But I want to be strong here and not let all these bad things destroy my hope for the kids.

You can also pray for Daniel and Adrian, two guys from the street who we were helping to get to a rehab center. Neither one of them made it there after some problems, but we hope that its just a matter of timing and eventually they will make it there. As a team we need a lot of wisdom in knowing how much to help and how much to leave up to the kids. But we want to keep these guys in prayer so that they will keep thinking of leaving the street and not give up. We also hope our relationships with them will stay strong.

I could go on and on about each kid and the needs that they have but I think this is enough for now. There are broader needs, such as for the girls home to be completed and for God to call the right people with a vision for this work. I have been thinking a lot about my involvement with this as it seems I am the only one here with a vision for this. What does God want me to do? How can I be a part of this and what will that mean for my future? So, I could use prayer for this, and prayer that the house at least will be finished soon! It is taking so long and there is such a need for a safe place for girls in the night.

Please pray for Eugenia, an old woman with an incredibly big heart who we visit regularly. She is having a huge financial problem and is not sure what she can do. She is desperate and needs an answer soon about what to do.

Wow, I've given you enough stuff to pray for an hour! :) no, but I hope this isn't too much. These are some of the needs and I am so blessed to know that people back home and everywhere can be lifting these things up. Lastly, please pray for my language learning. I am looking into going to a language school for a week or so, but it is very expensive and very far away so I am not sure what I will do. I am learning more and more every day but it would be helpful to take some time out to focus just on language, and then I will be so happy because I will be able to speak with the people we are working with! yeah!

In just a couple weeks our base will take a holiday for about three weeks for Christmas and the new year. I will be traveling to visit friends and have Christmas with my roommate in her family's gypsy village. I am really looking forward to it and also to some rest and time away.

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"All that is not the love of God has no meaning for me. I can truthfully say that I have no interest in anything but the love of God which is in Christ Jesus. If God wants it to, my life will be useful through my word and witness. If He wants it to, my life will bear fruit through my prayers and sacrifices. But the usefulness of my life is His concern, not mine. It would be indecent of me to worry about that."
- Dominique Voillaume
(From "The Signature of Jesus" by Brennan Manning)