Canned Food Drive- A Crazy Idea

Today was a great day.

Our teen group at the Baragan school is primarily boys with generally one exception. Over the last month we have talked about "respect" and what that means. What does respect for the earth, other people, elderly, disabled, school property, and for ourselves look like? That last question about respect for ourselves became even more important when we smoking and drinking came up as topics. Most of the boys in our group range from 12-15 with a couple older than that. Some of these kids have been smoking for years and quite likely drinking almost as long. One really great kid has been smoking since he was seven. The tactics used in America just don't work here when trying to convince kids that smoking isn't good. "It's bad for your health" is often followed by the response "so what" or "what does it matter anyway". The kids often feel there is no hope for their future anyway.

This in turn leads not to telling kids "you do have a future, you should care" but rather showing these kids you care about them and giving them opportunities to show that they can make a positive impact on the world around them. This is what we have been doing these last couple of weeks. I used the American idea of a canned food drive for Thanksgiving as the main idea. As there is no Thanksgiving here we are doing this for Christmas. The theme is 'Hope for One Hundred this Christmas". The one hundred referred to are 100 families in a local social services program (Veritas).

Believe me when I say that this idea in Romania has met with no shortage of skepticism, criticism, and cynicism from Romanians and non-Romanians alike. No such thing has been done in this area before. An intriguing idea, a great idea, but no such thing has ever been done like that in this area and we are not sure when everyone is struggling if anyone would be willing to give anything. But for those of you that know me- when someone says it can't be done- it just serves as a challenge for me. The kids asked- "what if no one gives?". I said that all we can do is what God asked us to do and the rest is up to him. When one looks at the impact that 100 small food packages may have for the families who receive them- one may ask why even do it. But the bigger objective was to show these kids who see no hope that there is meaning to their lives and they can change the world around them. That this little group can change the community just by asking for a donation and showing that they do care about others.

Tuesday night we went with 7 of the teens from our group around a section of the Baragan apartments and hung up 45 posters asking for people to donate oil, sugar, flour, or can fruits or vegetables. We asked that each family donate one. On Thursday, Maurice and I walked around and hung up 45 more posters. We figured that 45 posters would be seen by approximately 1000 people. Based on that number I would be happy with 100 people donating something.

Today was a beautiful sunny day and when we got to the school two of our Romanian leaders and the two American students (Courtney and Rebekah) but there were only 4 kids. It didn't matter. Dragoste prayed and we set on our way. I was confident that this would work- I had really felt God calling me to do this- but we just needed patience and some early successes. In the beginning the 3 boys were very shy and embarrassed to ask for food. Remember that it probably has the connotation of begging. Even the Romanian leaders- Sandy and Dragoste were very nervous. But you know what- God had everything in his hands. Dragoste had prayed for courage and watching him today you would never know that he is very shy. After only 3 apartment blocks the three boys decided that they just couldn't do it- people knew them here and they just couldn't handle it- so they left. I felt confident though that we would see them again. We kept going though. Little Loredana was amazing. Few people could resist her cute little voice and she got braver every apartment we went to. I began to ponder what would come of today and part of me really believes that we gave confidence to the Romanian leaders and that today would have a lasting impact on them. Dragoste was beaming every time someone responded to his request. Once we moved to a different section of Baragon the boys came back. They started knocking on doors and speaking to the people that answered. It was amazing to see.

At the end of the day we had collected 68 Ron (Romanian currency) to be used for food purchases and 45 food items such as sugar, flour, and oil. Seeing as we only covered approximately 300 apartments. We are going to collect again next Saturday to cover the rest of the apartments we couldn't get to today.

I want to share some of the really great stories from today to show that Romanians do care about their community and their neighbors. There were several apartments we went to where people had clearly read our poster and were prepared for us to come. They had food waiting for us at the door. One woman had sugar, flour, and oil all tied up in a bag for us. Another man said to come back and them we saw him leaving. He went to the little store next door and bought oil, sugar, flour and then gave it to us. Another women who hadn't answered her door walked downstairs just to give us a bag of flour. Another women originally said no but after we had already moved to the next floor she came out to give a donation. Some people donated lots of clothes instead. There were three women who are part of the elderly club whose apartments we stopped at. They clearly did not have much but each one of them gave something. Is was very touching. These are just some of the many blessings we witnessed today but for me the biggest blessing was the look on the faces of all those who participated.

Please continue to pray for this little group of kids and leaders, for the hearts of the people of Baragan, and the community these kids live in. Pray also for the mayor of the city as we intend to ask the primeria (city hall) for a donation as well. Please also pray that the light of Christ will shine though us as we spend time with these kids and they will be drawn to ask questions about him.

(The picture is Nolan's rendition of collecting food today)- Thanks for all your prayers- Karen