I love getting messages from kids I know in Moldova. Not only is the content of what they say important to me, there is something quaint and endearing about the familiar misplacement in translation of subject and predicate or the omission of articles or intransitive verbs in their sentences. Here’s an example from one of the girls living in JMI’s Grace House:
Hello !
We (Lenuta and I) write with the greatest love and inexpressible joy in the Lord that I can communicate by internet.Thank you much for what you do, and asking God to help you help me. I will say that I feel very good here, the girls are good, and we miss you. I am going to camp 13-18 august. Praise God! How do you feel? You okay? I look forward with great response.
With much love Lenuta.
Here’s another “Grace House girl” example:
Hello Steve!
I am so glad you could write again. Thank you very much for the encouragement and prayers, God has blessed you. I will say that I got a scholorship, God made a big miracle, because chances were few. Thank God! I am very pleased to learn the computer because I will need it when I go to school. I like English and I happy that I study with Ingrid, but are a little sad because Ingrid is leaving. I wish you many blessing, God will guide every step and will reward you for everything you do. Please ask for my studies and health, to be a light wherever you are.
With all the love
MARINA!
Knowing the situations our girls come from and the bleak realities their futures held less than two months ago, you simply can’t discount the presence of joy that bubbles up out of them from time to time. Orphans; social orphans; abandoned; there is a greater chance that such girls will be victimized than not.
If you are skeptical or simply unaware of what life holds for dispossessed girls like the ones we care for, I’d invite you (and caution you) to follow this link: https://www.priceofsex.org:80/content/price-sex-women-speak. This site contains a series of interviews with girls from Moldova who were trafficked compiled by Mimi Chakarova in conjunction with the Center for Investigative Reporting. The reports are raw and for adult viewing, but much less toxic than the reality itself.
About a year ago I witnessed a young girl of about 18 years old in the process of being “escorted” out of Moldova by a slightly older, more nicely dressed, female trafficker. They were on their way to Istanbul, Turkey. The escort was careful not to linger too long near the girl and quickly wandered off when our translator approached her about the dangers of being trafficked into prostitution. She, of course, denied the need for such a warning, but it was clear to us upon arrival in Istanbul that she was about to be engulfed in a world she couldn’t possibly imagine. And I will never forget the lost look in her eyes, nor the sense of helplessness I felt in watching her walk away into a hell that would forever scar her life.
In Moldova, JMI, our volunteers, donors and sponsors are all about rewinding the future for children. In a very real way, we have the opportunity to take back an almost certain destiny and replace it with the blessed future that God wills for all of us. For the sake of that higher purpose, I urge you to find a way to rewind the future for a child through JMI, another reputable organization, in your own neighborhood or your very own home!
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