In Moldova baptism is a big deal. You also become a member of the church when you are baptized so you need to be 16 years old and show the pastor that you are walking with Christ. That is different than in America, but there is nothing wrong with it.
So we had surprises with the Freedom Home girls that were baptized. It ended up that Tina*, Masha* and Nica* took the step into the cold water, professing that they will live for Jesus all their lives.
The day was very emotional for me. What excitement to see God's work in their lives.
Two years ago Masha lived on the street with her daughter. She'd been trafficked in her late teens ad later became the mistress of a man who fathered her daughter. Eventually she left him, returned to Moldova, but had no way to make a living, no place to stay.
What a change we've seen in her life! She's gone from always angry to trusting God with everything. Her eagerness to step into the water was a joy to observe. Later that afternoon, after we'd all eaten all the pizza and French Fries we could hold, I sat to talk with her. We talked about how she continues to struggle with abuse and anger. It was all she knew of parenting as she grew up, being raise by an angry, abusive grand-mother. We are asking God to change her, to give her a heart that is soft toward her daughter.
Tina has only been in Freedom Home since January, but she came with a heart hungry for God. Immediately she began to worship and pray and seek God. When she came, she wanted just a place for a few months, to get on her feet with her one year old daughter. She planned to return to marry a man she'd known as a teen. But now she realizes how abusive he was to her and she knows that she deserves more than daily beatings. She craves God in her life. The joy radiating from her face as she stepped into the water made me cry. What a heart after God.
Each of these girls, including the two from a Christian family, has made a proclamation. It is not the end of their lives with Christ. Now they must walk on, continue to grow and be changed in His image. This is just a beginning.
Please pray for the women that God would continue to help them grow. That he would help them be good mothers. That He would help them to trust Him to lead them where they will go.
In an earlier blog I wrote that Amy* also wanted to be baptized. She was not baptized this time, not because she couldn't learn the Scriptures, but because of areas of growth that she still needs in her life. Please pray for her. Pray that God would touch her and change her also.
Last week we celebrated! It is a celebration to see God redeem a life and restore it. So many see the hopelessness in trafficking, but we see the Hope God gives!
