Last weekend, I heard the story of a young Moldovan orphan who was rescued from a life of hardship and most likely the sex trade:
“I was one of three girls rescued and taken to Stella’s House…I recently talked to one of the girls who wasn’t rescued. She ended up working as a prostitute. At Christmas, I spent the day with my new family at Stella’s House. The girl told me that she was used by men 95 times that day…”
In a moment, the large auditorium went absolutely silent. But, my mind kept screaming two horrible words: 95 times…95 times…95 times…95 times… 95 times…95 times…
I felt sick. Immediately, physically sick.
I knew that she was telling the truth – but I didn’t want to hear it. When we hear truths that wreck our world as it exists, our inclination is to turn our eyes away and cover our ears. It’s like a desperate attempt to maintain a faux and fleeting ignorance. Perhaps we cannot relate, but most often the reality is that we do not want to relate. Sure, our lives might be a mess, but we still like looking through the rest of the world in Pinterest-colored classes where things are lovely, coordinated and clean.
Yet, I needed to hear that young woman tell the story of the realities that I did not know – God sent her to share that realities that I could not bear to see or hear – because I needed to see and hear them. God used those stories to open my heart to an even greater degree than what I thought possible.
As one of 10,000 people at CedarCreek.tv last weekend viewing the images of orphanages in Moldova defied our Westernized logic. I know many people were thinking those young ladies MUST be exaggerating. Thoughts such as: Could it really be that bad? Then, others were battling what I like to call the “Heart/Head War”:
“Stay calm,” warns our Mind. “Don’t get too riled up. It can’t be as bad as what they say it is. It can’t be…”
“But, what if it is?!” screams our Heart, before it asks the scariest question of all: “How can I help?”
What if we all valiantly fight the urge to un-see that which makes us uncomfortable? And what if we choose to walk into someone else’s nightmare in order to bring them hope?
CedarCreek.tv Arts Pastor Jason Tucker and the young ladies from Stella’s Voice in a group selfie. Those smiles are brought to you courtesy of the love and financial support of many people around the world. You can make a difference!
Here’s what I discovered this weekend…when we don’t try to “un-see” the horror and we open ourselves to being a part of the solution, God will tell us what He wants us to do. Most of us won’t be called to leave our homes and move oversees – but some could be called to do that. Some of us might be able to take a missions trip over to Moldova to work at a summer camp or serve at a transitional home – but most of us won’t.
Yet, there is one thing we can all do. And it’s the one thing we don’t want to do: GIVE.
Could it be that God put us here in the United States of America specifically so that we could leverage living in the land of prosperity and break off a small bit of that so that others in the world could have a chance? And based on what we saw this weekend, anything you are willing to give will make a difference. Anything.
Action steps:
1. If you didn’t see our weekend service, you can watch it here: cedarcreek.aspireonemedia.com/647/0/12010
2. Pray! If your heart is stirred to help the people in Moldova or people hurting in other areas, like our community, God will open the doors so that you can help.
3. Give. There’s no way around this. Think about it this way: If you give $50 this month will you remember that money a month from now? Probably not. But, will it make a difference far beyond what you would have used it for? Yep. Guaranteed.
