There were several ministries that we worked with this month in Honduras. We loved on street kids at Zion's Gate, taught at Liberty School, and helped Gracie.
This blog is about Gracie's ministry.
Gracie lives in Honduras in Talanga, a town about an hour away from the capital. Her ministry is rescuing women who have been victims of rape, specifically rape within the family. She has 17 people living on the property with her and her husband, Lee. There are 11 children. Six babies, all the result of rape. Three boys who were orphaned when their moms ran away, and two orphaned girls with Cerebral Palsy.
The youngest mother on the property is Michelle. She was raped by her grandfather when she was 11 and she gave birth to her daughter, Katherine, when she was 12.
The oldest girl there is Karen. She is deaf and was found in an alley way being raped by 3 men when Gracie received the call to come take her in.
Moses had a tumor that weighed more than he did when he was born. He underwent surgery in what is considered to be one of the worst hospitals in Central America. It is a miracle that he is alive today.
Gracie has devoted her life to rescuing women. She was a police officer for years when she first moved here, fighting for women victims to ensure that they received a court date and that the justice was served. In a small town like Talanga, rapes often occur without repercussion. So naturally, many people were upset when Gracie began meddling with their lives and families. There was a death threat on her life and several times, plans were actually drawn up on how to murder her. Fortunately, she has friends all over town and has received word and been able to avoid any plans made against her.
She is on call 24/7. When someone needs help, they have her number and they call her before they call the police. She runs into homes where children have just seen their mother be murdered, where women have just been raped, where babies have been abandoned, and she scoops them up, declaring that “God has sent her to rescue them.”
Gracie doesn’t fear what can be done to her here on earth. She lives each day, each moment, seeking vengeance on Satan.
“Every woman, every child that I take in is my chance for vengeance.”
It’s not easy. There are often days where girls on the property don’t want to be there, but the court order is that they stay with Gracie until they are 21 or until she thinks they are ready to leave. They will scream at her, tell her they hate her, gossip to the other girls to turn them against her. But she remains steady, fiercely loving them even when it’s extremely difficult, knowing that she isn’t in a battle against them, but against evil.
