Take my plans, Lord

It was the best present ever—loving on orphans and spreading the gospel to hundreds of children in Moldova. God blessed me tremendously with the opportunity to go witness to orphans in Eastern Europe. Little did I know, I would be blessed financially before I even left home. I would grow spiritually during the trip. And I would see a clear demonstration of the sovereignty of God.

Caitlin Hiett with one of the orphans she was able to minister to in Moldova.

Once I got the call to "go" to Transniestria with Go Now Missions, the thing I was most nervous about was fundraising. I questioned whether I would be able to raise the money I needed to go. I already doubted the provision of God.

The week before we were scheduled to leave, I was seriously worried that I would not have the necessary funds. That was a terrifying thought. That next week, God blew me up with people asking to support me. Every day, something new happened, and a week later, I was fully funded and ready to get into Transniestria. At the end of the week, I was in awe. God proved himself faithful.

My team was ecstatic when we finally arrived at the border crossing and were ready to enter Transniestria to deliver warm winter boots to orphans. After about four hours of waiting for an answer from the border patrol, we were denied entry into the country. We were told that after the election and the political unrest settled down, we would be able to enter. So I wasn't worried. I had faith. We all did. Every day, we held onto the hope that at any second we would receive the phone call that we could head to the border and start the mission we came here to accomplish. On Wednesday, we finally got an answer—but not the answer we wanted. We were told that we would not be able to enter Transniestria.

I was genuinely sad. I was thinking about the kids and the amazing opportunity of placing boots on the feet of orphans and the fact that I would not be able to do the very thing I had raised money for and had my heart set on doing.

Caitlin Hiett, a student at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor, and her team in Moldova.

And I was angry. I'll admit that I wrestled with God about this one. I could not understand why he would send me around the world and set this passion in my heart to sit one-on-one with an orphan and then take the opportunity away. I thought that it was common sense that my team is here, in Eastern Europe, following a call God placed in our hearts—to place boots on the feet of orphans, pleasing God—and for some reason, God's plan was to not have us do that. It made no sense to me.

After a long time of questioning and wrestling, I finally was slapped in the face by truth. I was making this trip all about me—my plan, my orphans, my boots, my experience.

As it turned out, God's plan was so much better than mine ever could have been. I got to meet the other team in Moldova and create relationships and have conversations with amazing people whom I would not have met otherwise. My team got to go to different orphanages and share the Christmas story with hundreds of children. We may not have had boots, but we gave these children the thing they need most—Christ and our time.

I got to dance and play with children who rarely get interaction with Americans. The local church in Transniestria distributed the boots and got to share in Russian the gospel with the kids there.

Maybe my language barrier would have been a hindrance to sharing the word of God. Or maybe God had planned for them to do it so that it would give their church a doorway into the orphanages that are in so much darkness and filled with pain. God used this time in Moldova to stretch me and show me the importance of trusting him in every situation. Again, God proved himself faithful.

To say that I learned a lot during this mission trip would be an understatement. I was reminded once again of the provision of God. He takes care of his children. As I was hugging the necks of those orphans, I couldn't help but think of my Heavenly Father who will never disown me or abandon me. I pray that the orphans that I met will understand the love of a Father who will always be there, loving them and caring about every hair on their heads.

That's where I want to be, in the hands of my Father. We serve a faithful Father who always has our best interest in mind, and I can live and I can grow in that truth. So here I am, Father—your servant, ready and willing for the next call that gets placed in my heart because I know you will continue to provide for me and continue to keep me in the palm of your hands. And you promise that you'll never let me go.

Caitlin Hiett from the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor served with Go Now Missions in Moldova.