Just Love Them

Written by Mary Fahnestock – Risipeni, Moldova Trip 2024

“Love them…just love them”.

These are the words that I sensed the Lord impress upon my heart as I would try to analyze how I could take away the brokenness and fix what I would see each day at camp. These words continue to resonate with me, and I try to see what it looks like now that I am home and settling back into life as I know it. I want to live a little differently now that I am home. What did I see, and what did I experience that changed me a bit?

I saw children who, from the outside, looked just like the kids I would meet in my own neighborhood. They were silly, loved to laugh, felt comfortable with their friends, and their smiles were heartwarming. Some were somewhat shy, while others were seemingly confident. They were kind, respectful, and quick to follow directions. But I know that if I looked a little below the surface and glanced into their daily lives, I would see broken little lives who have seen and experienced difficult things. Their lives were not easy in any sense, yet they didn’t seem hardened or rebellious. Rather, they were children who I sense were drawn to the love of Jesus, which they found each day at camp.

Why did they keep coming back, day after day? I believe it was the love of Jesus

Each day as our van would pull up to the church, we would find the children waiting for us in the yard. Many had walked a few miles to get there, while some hitched a ride on a horse and wagon. Each day a few more faces would greet us, often invited from a friend who was there the previous day. And they would continue to come day after day. Our days at camp were simple days filled with songs, Bible stories, crafts, and lots of games…nothing flashy or high-tech, but they enjoyed their time. The following day, they would be even more excited to greet us at our arrival.

Why did they keep coming back, day after day? I believe it was the love of Jesus which they found and that is why they returned. This love they experienced filled them with hope, and if there was one thing these kids needed beyond anything tangible that we could give them…it was hope.

I’ve never fully understood how or why God designed His people to be used as His hands and His feet to a world in desperate need of Him, but I just need to trust His perfect ways. We are conduits of His love through His Holy Spirit. Despite how incapable we often feel, Jesus perfectly enables us to love the world around us with His unconditional love. I think back on our team – all with different stories and different giftings, yet God perfectly used each one of us to be His hands and feet to the people of Moldova, and we walked away feeling blessed and very humbled at all we experienced.

Why? Because we experienced the love of Jesus being poured out and received into many hearts in spite of our inadequacies. As I look back on captured photos, the songs begin resonating in my head, and I can hear the laughter… I can see the smiles… I remember how quick they were to give hugs, high-fives, and fist bumps. (And we didn’t even speak the same language because God’s love extends way beyond just words.) Yes, these kids have hard lives, but I know that these kids can carry with them the hope they found through the love of Jesus, which was poured out and will continue to be poured out as God continues to use His people as His hands and His feet to a lost and dying world.

And this is a small way that I can choose to live a little differently… to remember that as followers of Christ, we are all called to be His hands and feet, making Him known wherever God has placed us.

Learn more about JMI’s mission trips to Moldova here.