TAKE A LEAF OUT
– WHO INSPIRED YOU ON YOUR FAITH JOURNEY?
STORY 6
…The love and passion our leaders had for people and Jesus were truly beautiful, through witnessing their hearts for God I refound the relationship I once had with my Father God.
This summer I experienced something that has so heavily influenced me on my Christian journey. I was fortunate enough to be able to go to Moldova for two and a half weeks with YWAM. I volunteered at Christian camp held at the local school for kids in the surrounding villages to attend. These kids came from the roughest and poorest areas in Europe, many didn’t know their fathers and 60% of Moldovan males are struggling alcoholics. I went across with two team leaders, husband and wife, Madison and Lauren and 5 other students. We played, ate, danced and worshipped with over 60 kids daily and, even though every one of those children was living in absolute devastation, somehow they were the happiest, most joyful kids I have ever encountered.
Before going to Moldova I felt my faith was dying out. I had grown up in the church, lived with a Christian family and heard any and every Bible story under the sun. The main reason I decided to go was that my sister didn’t want to go alone and I fancied a holiday! However, over the week of training and the two and a half weeks out there in the country, I truly felt inspired to reconnect my relationship with God.
Every morning, Madison and Lauren would encourage us to do a personal devotion and have some sort of quiet time before starting our 15hr day. In the beginning, it was a chore and I didn’t enjoy it much at all. However, over time I began to love it and looked forward to that one-on-one time with God. The love and passion our leaders and the leaders of the camp had for people and Jesus were truly beautiful, through witnessing their hearts for God I refound the relationship I once had with my Father God. It was so refreshing to see the children worship and pray so open and honestly, it really brought to my eyes what Christianity is all about. Sometimes, in the UK or in wealthier countries, Christianity is sugarcoated as a stage faith, something people can ‘claim’ to make themselves look better. It becomes a competition about who is the holiest, who can pray for the longest or can give the most money into the offering bucket. To see people grasp faith as if its the only thing that matters was truly inspiring. I came home wanting more of that, craving an honest and vulnerable relationship with God. When stripped down to the basics God becomes a necessity, I wanted God to be my necessity no matter what my income is or how academic I am. I believe the people of Moldova encouraged me to chase that.