Hard Stuff

 This weekend I met a girl who was visiting the church I attend. For this post, we'll call her Molly. Molly lives in a nearby town in  government funded refugee housing. She is 21 years old, and comes from Rwanda. Her parents died when she was three, she was raised by a family that mistreated her. Later, Molly was told her grandmother was still alive, and she went and lived with her grandmother until the grandmother died a year and a half later, and she was alone again.
 All this time Molly was battling health issues herself. The Rwandan doctors diagnosed her with leukemia and gave her less than a year to live. Molly told me everyday for six months she woke up thinking it could be her last. After six months, she figured they must be wrong. When France granted her refugee status, the French doctors took her off the leukemia medicines and are now working on finding out what is wrong. She is still very weak and sick.
 How do I respond to stories like these? This girl is 21 and has had a life similar to that of Job. I know I will encounter more seemingly overwhelming heartbreak and need as I live and work in Africa- and I realize that I need to have a kind of plan so I don't just wallow in other people's misery until Jesus comes back. That doesn't seem like it would paint a very attractive picture to non-believers seeking the Kingdom!
So here is what I hope to do with Molly and future situations:
~Pray!
~Figure out what I can do, and do it
~Realize that I won't be able to fix everything
~Remember that God IS in control and DOES have a plan for Molly's life, and we don't know it right now, but that doesn't mean he doesn't know the plan!
~Use this amazing young woman's story to remind me of how incredibly God has blessed me, and help me remember that to those much has been given, much is expected.

France needs Jesus!! (and so does the rest of the world)

Well, here I am again, awake at an abnormal hour due to a weak moment and a can of Coca-Cola this afternoon.

God has been giving me all kinds of opportunities to share his love lately. I am not writing this post to boast about what I have done, because I really didn’t do much except be sensitive to the Holy Spirit and follow his leading, and pray I didn’t say anything stupid/confusing to the other person in the process- I know that last action isn’t very spiritual sounding, but it is true. 

So, this past week I have gotten to have a conversation with two women who follow two other major world religions, and two women who believe in nothing at all. While I will be interceding for all four women- I have to say my conversation with the two atheists has really left my thinking and praying. 

When I came to France, I was determined not to let all the hype I had heard about the spiritual decline of Europe taint my views. After seven months here, I can legitimately say from my experiences: it’s not hype, unfortunately it is true. While there exists a group of passionate followers of Jesus- the common mindset here does not set much value or seem to be interested in the existence of God in general, let alone a personal Lord and Savior. 

When I was talking to my two French friends about differences between France and the U.S., this of course was a main topic. They both (politely) expressed their incredulity about our nation still being so croyant (God-fearing, faithful). Unspoken translation: “When is America going to finally gonna get smart enough and move out of that phase like Europe has?”(The scary thing is the U.S. is well on our way in that process- but that isn’t what I am talking about right now.)

Here’s my question: When you move past the creator of the universe, what’s your next step from there?

I have thought about this -really-if I were to reject the idea of 1. Jesus as Savior and 2. A creator God in general I would likely turn to science as my God- I think that would be my tendency.  But science wouldn’t fulfill my affective side (I’d say soul, but that’s probably getting too spiritual for me at this point.) So I would begin searching, always searching, picking up things that offer comfort without accountability, only to set them down again due to lack of fulfillment. I would of course “be a good person,” but my happiness would still be based on the circumstances of life and seem a fragile thing.

Sound at all familiar? For me the above describes pretty much every non-believer I have met in my life.

Ok well, it is getting light out, and this is getting super long. I can’t think of a good ending, except-Lets go be lights for Jesus today! Love you guys!