January 2008
Good news! This month I'm moving into an apartment with Ana. The McAvaddy family returned to the States on December 23 and kindly left us all their furniture and household appliances. We plan to move in on January 7, when I get back from New Hampshire and Ana returns from visiting her sister in Brasov, a beautiful city nestled in Romania's Carpathian Mountains. I anticipate that our time of rest with family during the holidays will bring refreshment and energy to begin the next semester of school and ministry (Ana is in her first year as a full-time student, studying journalism, as well as full-time with Word Made Flesh Romania). Praise God with me that He has provided this place for us, just a five-minute walk from our Community Center, the Valley House.
This month I want to share a reflection that I wrote back in the summer after shopping for a house fan because I was melting from the heat. Now it's January and we're chilling with the ice and snow. But regardless of the weather change, this reflection is relevant because around the holidays I constantly run into children begging outside of restaurants, shopping malls, supermarkets and at stop-lights. They know that people tend to give more in December, so they bear the cold, stomp their feet to keep from freezing, and stand for hours outside of places that attract shoppers.
The weight of poverty is felt so deeply this time of year, and the lines are drawn between those who can shop and those who are left on the margins, outside the window looking in. Yesterday as I waited at the bus stop in below freezing weather, I watched some children I know doing their dance outside the pastry shop door… dancing to keep their feet from freezing. One of the boys had courage to step inside the door for a few brief moments of warmth before getting scolded to "keep out!". As you read the reflection below, please pray for those who are marginalized and left out. Pray for God's kingdom of peace and equity to come on earth as it is in heaven.
My sincerest thanks for those of you who so faithfully read my letters, pray for me, send me monthly support, and write to me. Sometimes I wonder if anyone reads these letters, and then I get a note from someone unexpectedly. So please let me know if you are one of those people I haven't heard from in awhile, but you enjoy receiving my letters. And if you'd like to discontinue receiving them, or switch to email, please let me know this as well.
Blessings to each one,
Rachel
What a day that will be!
Today I went to Kaufland, one of the new super markets in town, to get a fan. I promised myself not to buy anything except the fan, but the deals were too good and I wound up spending 13 lei (about $6 USD) without even finding a fan. That's the way it works in these mega stores. The enticing urge to buy is overwhelming.
Later on, I was reminded of that verse in Isaiah where God says, "Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come buy and eat! Come, buy wine and mild without money and without cost."(Is. 55:1).
What an incredible invitation and amazing statement about God's economy. In the kingdom of heaven, everyone has equal access to all that they need for life and living; and not just the basic necessities. God invites everyone to buy wine and milk (symbols of luxury) at absolutely no cost. How lavish is our generous Heavenly Father!
I can't help but think about my walk through the grocery store today. What a different experience it would have been for me if there were no price tags. What if everything were free? What if I just walked through the place, picked out anything that looked good to me, filled a couple bags and walked home without paying a single penny?
It's hard to imagine. Especially since my experience in the grocery store today was marked by a sinking feeling that I was being conned into buying items I didn't need as well as the eerie sense of being watched by someone on the hidden cameras placed all throughout the store to catch shoplifters.
Will there be supermarkets in heaven? If there are, I can't wait to go shopping with my friends who have never dreamed of entering a grocery store, but rather stand outside and beg change from those who have the means to confidently enter and exit through those laser-sensor automatic sliding doors.
Come BUY AND EAT! Says the Lord. Come buy wine and milk WITHOUT MONEY and WITHOUT COST.
What a day that will be! And what a party when "the Lord Almighty will prepare a feast of rich food for all peoples"(Is. 26:6). I can't wait for that day when Jesus will dine with us at a magnificent banquet for all peoples, where no one has to pay to enter and all will be satisfied.
rachelingalati@gmail.com O.P 6 C.P. 256, Galati, 800.760,Romania
www.wmfromania.com