January 2011
The kingdom of this world
Is become
The kingdom of our Lord, and of His Christ
Today I cried at this phrase in Handel’s Messiah. These words, powerfully sung, strike me this year. Instead of uniformly robed choirs, images of the whitewashed concrete dorms dusted with snow come to mind. I think of walks with kids from their dorm to the cafeteria: a hurried, loud, and chaotic place to eat. Pictures of upturned faces wanting love and haunted eyes with so many questions flood my memory. I hear sound bytes of little girls exclaiming over painted nails and lip gloss while wearing coats that no longer zip or button correctly. The discrepancy over what is now and what is to be is overwhelming.
Last week our kids stood in front of a group of 9th grade students visiting from a different school. After introductions, our group of 18 kids sang and handed out greeting cards they made for the guests. The visiting students brought a movie to watch, and then played with our kids for at least an hour. The most wonderful part of the whole evening was watching these 9th graders from comfortable families in Chişinău play UNO and color pictures with our kids from the orphanage. As connections were made, walls and assumptions began to crumble. The visiting students brought gifts for our kids, but the best part of their evening was definitely playing together. It was beautiful. Some of the young women from the visiting class even came back this week to volunteer.
With all the chaos and the stress that comes with the unknown, I am reminded today that these words put to music by George Handel are as much a promise of what is to come as they are an invitation to live as though the words are reality now. An encouragement to continue to be present with the kids at the orphanage, because although their reality seems to be anything but the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ – He has not abandoned them and has promised to bring redemption.
Thank you so much for your prayers for the children of the orphanage and for our team. Please especially keep John and his new wife Rachel in your prayers as they begin married life together in the States! Whoo hoo! We look forward to welcoming them back to Moldova in April!
Much love,
Annie
“The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ,
and he will reign for ever and ever.” (Revelation 11:15).