The Beautiful, yet abandoned Children of Romania: A sewer becomes a cathedral of worship

Our second visit to Romania.
This time I am pregnant with my fourth child
         Zachary is tucked safely away in my womb.
This time we are invited into a sewer
 
First the man-hole cover is lifted off
        revealing a gaping hole that leads to the unused sewer system of Bucharest
   
Then, one by one we follow them in
      Turning around and carefully crawling down the rusty old ladder
         
It hits our noses before we even enter
The fumes of the underbelly of this tired city
        stagnant and toxic
This little corner of the world houses children. Dear God!

At this point I'm very aware of the baby in my womb, of my new baby boy.
At the end of my first trimester, I situate myself as near as possible to the "door" that leads up to the bustling street above. Children should be protected and cared for.

Climbing into this home I see two of the them. Teenagers. Kids. They seem to have nothing but a few found trinkets and each other. Nestled together down the tunnel, tucked away in the dark. Far from the blast of cold December air that fills the night,
      staying close to keep warm.
      snuffing a bag of glue 

Then it starts.
The singing.
It was time for church
In the beautiful Romanian language
        I couldn't sing the words, but oh my soul knew.
Our translator told us, they're singing to a God who loves them….

None of this makes sense on the surface

We could argue and debate about God 

and the injustices of the world

Of which there are so many

So much wrong and broken

But these are the facts of that night.
This is the truth of their story.
We encountered Jesus in the sewers of Romania.

Yes - they were abandoned by parents, 

by a government, by a hurting society.

They were orphaned and alone.

But someone came and shared food and shoes;

gave the Abandoned Ones love, attention, dignity.

A simple sandwich. A clean pair of socks.

Someone came and told them Jesus loved them.

And they believed.
In the darkest of circumstances they chose to believe in a Savior
Because Jesus came to where they were.
Because when Light is turned on in darkness, Light makes sense

That's it about God
Not waiting for us to get it together.
He comes to us, to them.

When Jesus shows up in those darkest of places...
   transformation happens 
   a sewer becomes a cathedral of worship