feet on the ground

today i saw the end of the rainbow.
seriously.
we were driving back from montenegro and there was some crazy-beautiful weather and we drove under a rainbow, right where it met the ground. (sort of. it disappeared when we were about 20ft away but still)
so after kosovo was antalya for a conference. then after antalya was montenegro for some exploratory work in the Roma refugee camps.
it was a good trip. learned a ton.
it's hard to even wrap my mind around the situation the refugees are in.
all the politics. all the discrimination. all the filth. all the struggle. all the solutions untapped. all the degradation. all the discouragement. all the fear. all of the hope unrealized. all of the isolation.


i put some photos up here.



in the camps in podgorica the living conditions are absolutely terrible. there is no running water except for a communal tap/bathroom at one source for all the hundreds of people. the children are not getting an education, the ones that do go to school drop out by the end of fourth grade because the quality of education doesn't prepare them for the fifth grade in the main school they would transfer to.
a heartbreakingly small percentage are able to read or write at all (even the ones in school)
in order to find legitimate work one would need to be registered in a certain way with the government. the process to do so is basically designed for them to fail. the cost and the required documents are virtually impossible. even if they do manage to register to work, there is such strong discrimination and hatred towards them that the likelihood of them finding even the lowest rung jobs is slim. and even if they do find work - they could bring more bread home off of the money they would get from salvaging scraps from the dump than they would a "salary". no one wants them - they want them to leave. but there is no where to send them to. the country they ran from during conflict does not want them back, the Roma have a lot of fear of the violence that would meet them if they did return.
it's tough.
only ONLY ONLY the power of the Holy Spirit can resolve this.
the obedience of God's children is required here. to come and minister to the poor and marginalized (like HE TOLD US TO). to be the CHURCH. to love others as we love ourselves. to take care of these orphans and widows in their DISTRESS. to give drinks of water to these. to respect and honor GOD by respecting and caring for people who are made in HIS IMAGE - no matter their color, their cleanliness, their intelligence, their education, their work ethic, their status with the government, their standing in the community......


so anyways.
i've been reading "simple spirituality" by christopher heuertz.