Trials

To most people in the west, "trial" means a hard time in life.  To our women at Freedom Home they have experienced trials like few others have faced.  But trial has another meaning--it also means having to go to court to convict somebody of something.  The women at Freedom Home have sometimes been in court at a trial 3, 4 & 5 times to testify against their traffickers or abusers. 

This past week Essie* finally testified at the trial of her trafficker.  He was someone she knew.  His family pressured her for months on end to drop the charges and let him be free.  They made her feel guilty for being the one to bring him to trial, as if he hadn't done anything.  The weeks before the trial were horrible.  She thought of nothing else except the upcoming trial.  She testified with him sitting in the court, watching her. 

This week Dorrie* speaks in court against the man who used her.  She is nervous.  He has been convicted now two or three times and yet is free because of corruption.

The judgements will not come easily or quickly for either of these men.  The courts move very slowly.  Pray for Essie & Dorrie as they await the results.  Pray for courage for all the women at Freedom Home who stand in court, waiting for justice to be served.  Pray for strength and pray for peace.

This coming Sunday Tina* & Amy* will be baptized. We are so excited and are rejoicing in what God is doing in their lives and in the lives of the others in the home.  Continue to pray for all we are doing in the home. 

A New Mind

This past Sunday as I walked up to church Amy* came running to me, smiles filling her face.  She threw her arms around me and exclaimed it is just a few weeks until her baptism.  She is so excited!  Every Sunday she and Tina* arrive at church early for classes for baptism. They are memorizing Scripture and learning Truth.  While preparing for baptism, they are also preparing to become members of the church.

We are so excited to see the first of two Freedom Home girls make the step to baptism.  They have committed their lives to Christ and want to walk with him all their days.  

Today I ask you to pray for them.   The memorization and work is not hard for Tina.  She has a great mind that works well.  It is another story for Amy.  She struggles with the affects of a life of abuse.  Each week she tells me the baptism is imminent.  She doesn't really understand the weeks and months, but she understands that Jesus loves her and she can quote Genesis 1:1 to me. 

Next week they both take a test for baptism.  Please pray for both of them.  Pray that the Scripture they have learned will go deep within their hearts and lives.  Pray for Amy especially that these things will stay in her mind.  It is so difficult for her, but she wants more than anything to have a closer walk with the Lord. 

Pray that Amy can learn and remember what she needs for baptism.  And pray that God would give her a new mind in this time. 

Painful Toes

Yesterday I slipped coming down the stairs just as I was getting ready to go for my morning walk.  Ouch!  Something hurt in my foot.  I put my socks and tennis shoes on anyway and went to walk.  About half-way through the walk my little toe on my right foot began to scream in pain.  By time I came home, my toe was swollen and black and blue.  I don't know if I broke it, sprained it or just bruised it.  It is currently taped to the next toe, and moving toward healing.  But this morning I won't go for my walk.  I don't want to feel that pain with every step.  It is such a small injury, but it hurts so much.

This painful toe can often be like unhealed hurts in our lives.  Each step makes us cry out in pain.  Little things happen and it sets us off.  Little reminders come that tell us life is not and has not been perfect.  It comes with pain.   At Freedom Home we deal with this almost daily.

Masha* has been rejected most of her life.  Freedom Home is safety, acceptance and peace to her.  She has a week to finish in her practicum experience and receive her cooking degree. She just isn't getting there to get it done.   We talked about this the other day.  It became like a painful toe--i"f I finish, will I have to leave the home?  Where will I go?"  Anger to others and her daughter spilled out to others.  

A short-term worker in the home reminds Mary* of her mother, so she tries to manipulate and control and guilt the friend who has come to help her.  Daily she tells people she will leave the home.  It's a little pain in her that spills out to others.

What we have come to understand at Freedom Home is that while trafficking was awful and horrific, we are not just working to heal the pain there.   We are working to heal a lifetime of small painful moments that have bubbled up and exploded with the addition of the pain of trafficking.

Please pray for the little things that remind the girls of their pain.  Not that these things would just disappear from their memories, but that God would come in and fill them with peace and His presence.  Pray that they would also be able to mourn about these things to God and receive help from the God of all comfort.  The Bible says, "Blessed are they that mourn for they will be comforted."

Please pray also for a director for Freedom Home.  Our director resigned a few weeks ago.  I know God has this situation in His hand.  Please pray for His leading and direction at this time.

Training for change

This week has been intense.  We have guests here to help the work at Freedom Home.  Kyle is a Pastor and Christian counselor who trained the staff last year and is doing so again this year.  He is also counseling both the staff and the girls in the afternoons. 

In the past month we've taken in one new woman into Freedom Home and have another one or two who may come in the next few weeks.  We see wonderful change happening in the lives of the women.

One thing Kyle teaches us is that we can only give out as much as we have taken in from God.  We can only help someone move toward change if we are being changed.  We can only help someone through their pain if we are being changed.

Please pray that we as staff are moved by God and changed so that we can help others to change their lives. 

We want to see the souls of the brokenhearted stop bleeding.
We want to see the captives be freed.
We want to see those who mourn, leap with joy.
We want to exchange beauty for ashes. 
We want to see a spirit of praise instead of despair.
We want them to not be trees blowing in the wind, but strong oaks of righteousness.
We want to see generations that have been ruined rebuilt and restored to be whole.

We want to display God's splendor through their lives. 

Please pray for us for these next few days.  Pray that God will move in our lives so that we can move in the lives of others.