“But what can I do about it?”

Those seven words have been echoing in my head lately.  An intern expressed them after describing a visit to one of our Moldovan village homes.  She was describing her visit to see Danny and Aliona, young children, raising themselves in a filthy, rustic house.  They had no running water or indoor plumbing, a simple wood and coal heat stove.  Their parents had abandoned them to work outside the country, trusting a neighbor to check in on them once in a while.  A couple of older siblings were there too, but they worked in the fields all day.  Hunger is the one constant in their lives.

“But what can I do about it?”

If you say those words with a tone of resignation, they are an admission of failure.  With that tone of voice, you are simply admitting that the problem is too great.  There are too many children in too many villages, too many shattered families and shattered hearts.  Our senses are overwhelmed with sights and sounds of tragedy so we just give up.  It is almost as if to say, “Why bother?

“But what can I do about it?”

If you say the words with a tone of flippancy, they are a reflection of your values.  Throw in a spiritual-sounding answer of “Jesus said that the poor would always be with us…. Such is life in Moldova!”  Now you can go back home to a life of materialism and triviality. It makes you sad, but you are ready to get back to worrying about the TRULY important things….football scores, fall’s new clothing styles, how much your portfolio dropped with the latest Dow Jones news.

“But what can I do about it?”

Actually, I think God IS asking you, “What are YOU going to do about it?”

Danny is the hungry, 3-year-old boy in Mihaeleni. Luda is a 20-year-old Moldovan, a victim of trafficking, broken and scarred. A young church in Bubieci will lose their building soon, and is scrambling to construct a church.
What are you going to do about it?
Your neighbor thinks every Christian is an uneducated, naïve Puritan.  Another neighbor has never entered a church her entire life, probably because no one invited her.
What are you going to do about it?
Your pastor is exhausted from carrying a heavy load.  There is too many needs, too many expectations, and not enough encouragement.
What are you going to do about it?

Don’t just respond with a sympathetic word to the needs around you.  Don’t feign concern for the world unless you are willing to DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT!  If your actions don’t match your words, your words mean nothing.  Or as the Bible says, faith without action is dead.

What are you going to do about it?
Pray.    Give.    Support.    Share.    Serve.

Trying to do something in Moldova,
Andy Raatz

PS:  The intern who shared that phrase is doing something about it, and I applaud her.  We cannot change every life, but we can be moved to action.  AND this coming week, we will be welcoming the first three women into the Home of Hope.  After years of working toward this event, we are ready to see the home used for its purpose—healing for women who have been trafficked.