“How are Megi and Moriah? Where are they living? What are they doing?”
As I stood in line at the small grocery shop, two women ahead of me turned and looked directly at me. I could tell by their expressions that they recognized me, but I could not place them at first. Each had a young child with her. They invited me ahead of them in line. As I declined, one woman asked about my wife and then about each of my daughters by name. That’s when it clicked.
While they were still children, our daughters Megi and Moriah befriended some Roma girls and discovered their needs. Very few in their community had birth certificates or documents to prove citizenship. They had very little access to healthcare or schooling, and almost none were literate. So 16-year-old Megi raised funds and started a small literacy center for the Roma girls in our community. She and Moriah provided food, clothing, first aid supplies and training, teaching them to read, write and do basic math. Most importantly, they taught the girls about Jesus and how much He loved them. These two young Roma women had been in that group of girls.
I briefly caught them up on my daughters’ lives. Their faces lit up with beaming smiles, and they introduced me to their little ones. Then I had an idea. I pulled out my phone and called one of my daughters, explaining who was with me in line. She agreed to join in a video chat, and for a few minutes, I just stood back and watched as these women reconnected with their childhood friends. They smiled and laughed, oohing and aahing over each other’s children. This internet mini-reunion warmed all of our hearts.
I thought about how they impacted and enriched each other’s lives as children and how Jesus brought them together to bless both American and Roma Albanian girls. Nothing compares to the joy of receiving the gospel message, except for the joy of sharing it.
“Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you” (Luke: 6:38).
More recently, our church has established a community service club called The Kindness Club. Our church members and others have been making friends by reaching out to others in need. We have invited the recipients to join us in sharing their time or whatever they can for the benefit of others. They have loved it and expressed that it really is more blessed to give than to receive!
We invite your prayers, financial support and membership in the Kindness Club as we continue to share the good news with the unreached.
