Today we drove to Essie's parents' home in a village a few hours from our home. Essie is the only girl in the home not just with parents, but Christian parents. From the time she came into the home, we knew we needed to talk to her parents.
But her father worked abroad, and only recently returned to Moldova. Last week they called, thinking that maybe Essie should just return home. They did not feel she needed to stay longer at Freedom Home. Elena, the director of Freedom Home accompanied Andy & me. Together we shared our story of Essie.
We told them how wonderful their daughter is. We talked about the reality of trafficking. We talked about the reality of Essie's experience. We talked about God never leaving her. We talked about grace and forgiveness. We heard their stories of pain. We talked about hope for Essie's life and future. We listened as parents cried and wondered at what happened. We explained captivity, deception, and betrayal. We saw the anger they tried to mask. We cried with them and let them know these things anger us too.
Today we offered hope to hurting parents. They understand we love their daughter and don't judge her. They understand we don't judge them either.
You see, they also feel judged. They feel maybe they did something wrong, maybe God is punishing them.
Most of the girls that come to our home do not have parents. There is no one who cares what happened. But there are times that girls like Essie get trapped into this horrid evil of trafficking and then, we not only have an opportunity to bring healing and hope to Essie, but also to her parents.
Will you pray for her parents today and this next week? They too are hurting. They too feel judged. They too feel guilt. They are angry.
They are walking through the stages of grief, and they need a safe place to talk, to deal with the pain. Pray as we build this relationship over the next months. Pray that we can offer them a ray of hope and help them find comfort in the God of all comfort. Pray that they, too, can see God's hand in their lives at this very hard time.
After we talked about all the difficult things, they served us a wonderful lunch. They said that when they realized what had happened to Essie, their only prayer was that she return to them alive. They know God answered that prayer. We agreed in prayer for Essie's healing and future.
Today we went to this village to meet with strangers. We left as brothers and sisters in Christ and friends. Together we hold on to hope that God will redeem this tragedy in Essie's life.
4 comments:
That is so awesome!!! Praying for Essie and her parents. God's grace is sufficient. His healing power is awesome. His love is HUGE.
Thank you for sharing your experience. I think there is a misperception that the parents must not be alive, that they do not care what happened, or they had an active role in the victimization of their daughter when this is not always true. This is a good reminder to pray for the parents of the girls. I will start with Essie's. Please keep us posted on the growth of this relationship. Blessings!
Praise God as I have prayed for just this type of healing. will continue to pray and lift all of you before the Lord. God bless
Judy
We continue to believe Essie is at the Home for healing but also as a model for the other girls there as she prays with and for them. I trust that her parents will understand that she is a woman of influence in very difficult circumstances. We continue to pray for them and for her.
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