I love the smell of body odor! At least, I have to keep telling myself that
the few times I get crowded into our public transportation.

In Moldova, there are only 4 cars for every 100 people. (In comparison,
America has over 50 vehicles per 100 people!). That means that every day,
96 other people are going to fight to get into those delightful Maxi vans
and buses.

I have to confess. We have been spoiled by Speed-the-Light. The youth
groups in America bought us a vehicle to use for our work here. So I take
the public transports only rarely. It is Nancy who rides them 3 days a week
to her Romanian lessons. I take Elissa to school and then head to my
Russian lessons.

But I have taken them enough to have a complete understanding of how a
sardine feels.

On one memorable ride, I felt like I was about to sit on the
driver’s lap. If he would have turned a sharp right, I would have!

It is an interesting task to disembark from these vehicles. If you get
lucky, you are on the van at the beginning of its route, thus getting one of
the seats. Even if you can’t get a seat, you try to get close enough to a
window so you know where to get off. You then get a good head of steam up
and push your way to the door, tapping the driver on the shoulder to get him
to stop.

After doing that a few times, I could captain a rugby team. I now know what
a rugby scrum feels like. Toss a ball in there and we could have some real
action!

Yet I am reminded to look at all these bodies crowded together and remember
that they are each individuals. Each Moldovan has his or her own story.

They each have their own stories; their own lives.
They might have marriages that are struggling, children that are sick.
They might be worried about their bills, money for food, or about family
living elsewhere.

And they all have a need for Christ.

They are not anonymous to God.

I want to look at the people around me and see them as that—people. They
are not a statistic or a faceless entity. They are not a picture on a slick
missions brochure. They are not a just someone “over there.”

So go get on some crowded bus today. Walk through your neighborhood. Look
at the houses. Do you know who lives there? Do you know if they have
family? Where they work? What their hobbies are? Do you even know their
name?

Christ does. And He has their name written on the palm of His hands. (Is.
49:16).

You are not anonymous to God.

Crowded in Moldova,

Andy Raatz