Her faced peered out a window set low in the wall near my feet. I heard a noise during my prayer and
opened my eyes, to see a pair of dark ones staring back up at me. Then a sweet, slightly crooked smile
lit her face, and I knew she had my heart.
Setting:
Two of our team standing in front of and against the wall of a club where loud exotic music is
spilling out.
Mission:
A prayer walk through the streets of Chimaltenango, Guatemala.
Prayers:
That God would remove the spiritual darkness that is over the city, and for the woman and children
who are slaves to prostitution here.
I and two other girls sat down at the window she was at and tried to talk with her, we discovered that she
was deaf and mute and spoke in sign language or could read and write in spanish. She told me
(in that raw barely audible voice that mutes have) that she had two ninos (children) who lived far away
with her parents or grandparents. She said that she no longer had a husband because he died not
long ago in a car accident, and so now she worked and lived in the club to support her kids.
We asked her if we could pray for her and her kids, and she told us Yes! I reached through the bars
on the window that she was leaning up against and and took her hand in mine, and then closed my
eyes and started to pray. I prayed for Marie, I prayed that she would feel the love of God just cover her
completely, that she would realize that there is hope, and that hope is Jesus. I prayed that somone
would come into her life after we left, who would show her that Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.
Someone who would take her to church and show her who Jesus is. I prayed for her children who
no longer have a daddy, and now have to live seperated from their mother. I prayed that God would
provide another way of employment, so that she would never have to work in a brothel again.
As I was finishing up my prayer, I felt God tell me to reach out and touch her cheek and to tell her
"You Are Beautiful"!
In my head I told God " She already let me hold her hand Lord, I don't want to freak her out"!
But God told me, "Emily touch her cheek, and tell her she is beautiful".
So before I got up and left I reached out and cupped her cheek and looked into her sweet brown eyes
and said " Eres Hermosa ( You are beautiful). She looked at me and then suddenly had the biggest
smile on her face I've ever seen! She just lit up from the inside, and I knew I had done the right thing.
As I walked towards home something hit me suddenly! I asked one of the girls next to me to make sure,
and when it was confirmed I was Astounded! The prostitute I had just been talking with, never gave us
her name. I had been calling her Marie in my head the entire time we talked and prayed, I even told one of my
teammates that her name was Marie.
I have no idea why I thought her name was Marie at the time, but I believe now that maybe God gave it to me.
Maybe instead of her just being *another prostitute*, He wanted her to have a name, so that I would
always remember her.
Whatever the reason I know I will never as long as I live, forget about my Marie.
