Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Amy's decision

A few weeks ago I wrote of the wonderful birthday party we had for Amy*. This past weekend Amy wanted to go visit an aunt in her home village and we allowed her. She was supposed to be back on Saturday evening, but returned on Tuesday by noon.

She came back wanting to get married.

Her cousin had convinced her that a certain man was right for her.

She met him for an hour on Saturday.

Yes, my mind screams "re-trafficking".

Amy was sold first by her mother for labor trafficking. She was forced to beg daily on the streets of Moscow. When she didn't bring enough rubles back in the evening, her holders raped her. She has a beautiful two year old daughter from one of those rapes.

Amy is attending cooking school and learning to cook, but she isn't the brightest girl in the home. It is obvious that years of physical abuse as a child took its toll on her learning capacity.

And so she is still vulnerable to the words of a cousin claiming to have her best interest in mind.

We know that God says, "I plan to prosper you, not to harm you. I plan to give you a hope and a future."

Please pray intently for Amy in the next few days and weeks. We know that she can learn to cook. We hope to place her with a church family in a village when she leaves the home. But right now, she doesn't see how life can be any better. She doesn't have hope. She isn't sure she wants to parent her daughter.

Please pray that the bondage would be broken in her life. Pray that God will heal her emotions. Pray that he will give her the love and ability to parent her sweet little girl.

Pray that the cousin would stop calling and that Amy will have the ability to refuse the offers.

And once again, pray for Andy & I and pray for our staff as we try to talk to her about hope and good decision making.

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