Dear friends,
I am finding that winter and summer in Galati are literally as different as night and day. During the winter I spent much of my time indoors trying to stay warm. Playing soccer with the street kids on ice was very amusing, and often with only just a few boys, since the rest were somewhere trying to keep warm. But now that the summer weather has hit, the number of kids living and working on the streets has doubled!
I am beginning to spend more time getting to know these new faces, build trust and hear their stories. The particular group of kids that I have come to know have a trash bin at their main hang-out spot. Actually, it's not just where they hang out, but also where many of them live. When I stopped by today, a puffy-eyed boy climbed down from the roof of an adjacent store where he had been sleeping. Another boy lay on a discarded mattress that was covered by a dirty orange blanket. As I chatted with them, a pregnant teen girl climbed into the nearby trash bin to look for valuables – cardboard boxes, egg crates, scraps of food, or anything worth re-using.
As I was about to leave, another girl came by who I've known for awhile. She explained that her three week-old baby was doing better now, home from the hospital where he had stayed for a week after his birth, weighing only three pounds. She made me promise to take a picture of her and her new infant so that she could send a copy to her boyfriend who is serving Romania's mandatory year of military service.
I'm not sure if it's possible to explain my relationship with these youth. I don't know what draws me to them. I find myself among them without fear, without disgust, without despair. If I were put in their circumstances of broken and abusive families, abandonment, or death of parents, I would be totally crushed. I don't know how I would survive.
But faith lives in the hearts of these broken ones. The young mother who I spoke with today told me that she prayed for an easy birth and God answered that prayer. Then she explained her fear and dismay upon discovering that the baby was underweight and unhealthy. But she prayed again and after a week he was strong and able to go home to stay with her and her mother.
Whenever I spend time with these youth, I always ask God to give me an open heart to receive and learn from them and not assume that I am the only one capable of giving. During a trip to Bucharest I met a young boy in the subway station who was cradling a puppy while asking for money. I stopped and asked him about his puppy. He explained that he had just rescued “Linda” from an evil man who was trying to drown her in the river. “Look, her fur is still wet.” Mercy and compassion, not just violence, lives in the hearts of broken street children.
Thank you for opening your heart to learn from these children along with me and for carrying the burden of holding me and them before the Father in prayer. Your prayers are a vital part of the ministry of Word Made Flesh.
Please keep me in prayer during this month of July. The first week I will be in the States, standing as maid of honor in the wedding of two dear friends, Tom and Jenny (Pinkus) Milligan. I return to Romania on July 6th and head to summer camp the next day! I will probably be part of the leadership team for two weeks of camp – one for street kids and another for the younger aged children living in group homes (ages 5-12). In addition, it looks like I will be receiving my first Servant team after all. Two young women have signed up for the fall so I will be welcoming them sometime in mid-August. I covet your prayers during these very busy summer months.
With love,
Rachel in Romania
Please note the change in zip code for my mailing address:
Rachel Simons
OP 6 CP 256
Galati, 800.760
Romania