*Disclaimer: This month wifi is incredibly limited so I promise to do my best to continue to keep you updated as much as possible. Our ministry this month can also be triggering for some, so please proceed with caution.
Before we left Kosovo, the Lord told me that he was going to use my story and ask me to step out in boldness in ways that would make me uncomfortable when we got to Zimbabwe for month nine of ministry. My squad mentor, mentor from home, friends, and teammates have been telling me for a long time that the Lord is going to use my story in ways I can’t yet imagine. I’ve seen him use it countless times in small group or one-on-one scenarios. I love times like that, so I never imagined he would call me out on a bigger scale. However, when we got our set up sheets for this month, my stomach churned and my heart skipped a beat all at once.
This month my team and I have been placed at a center in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe that cares for girls who are victims of violence, neglect, sexual abuse, etc. The center houses newborns to twenty-somethings and provides a Christ centered safe place for living, rehabilitation, and counseling. The girls go to school, and have vocational training as well as get the nutrition, love, and care they deserve.
The center is set up in an old hotel which allows for dorm style living. Each hall is divided by age and has at least one “mama”. All other volunteers and workers, ourselves included, are referred to as “auntey.” The goal of the set up is to create as much of a family atmosphere as possible. Some kids will spend most of their childhood here, some a few months, and some a mere matter of weeks. The team at the center also basically act as private investigators as well, trying to find family ties for the girls to be placed with that have no connection to the perpetrator. Some girls are placed back with family members and some stay here until they are stable enough to provide for themselves, and possibly their children. (Some girls who come to the center are pregnant or have had children after having been a survivor of rape.)
These incredible women and children are survivors, the living proof of redemption in the Lord, and pure examples of amazing resiliency. The fact that my team ended up here this month is not a coincidence or mistake, it is an incredible divine appointment of the Lord. This month He is calling each of us to be brave with our stories, wise with our words, bold in our connections, and abounding in grace as we stand as living examples of the beauty, redemption, and hope found in the Lord. He has given each of us stories that relate to these girls in such special ways, and I cannot wait to continue to watch him move.
Will you join us this month is prayers for these girls to know how incredible they are and for joy to abound in the midst of a ministry that can be dark and heavy. We also had a few days of delay before starting ministry because shortly before we got here, the center suffered the passing of a beloved employee, friend, and “Auntey”. So will you all join us in prayers for helping the girls process through that as well.
Finally, my friends, I leave you with the words I speak over these precious people every day, just in case any of you need to hear it today as well:
You are smart.
You are beautiful.
You are strong.
You are brave.
You are loved.
You are wanted.
Your story matters.
And you, beloved one, matter.
