On the World Race, you begin to meet crazy people. In every sense of the word, these people are nuts.
The most recent addition came as such a pleasant surprise. Her name is Mitchi. She's a lovely 21 year old, South African missionary that just moved to Chiang Mai to work with the people in the bars. So every night we went out with her, and watched her fire for these people come to life. Just being around her is a blessing.
But what i want to tell you is her story. A story as crazy as she is of God's pursuit of her. I am honored to be able to share this, and will try to do this to the best of my ability. Here we go:
Mitchi grew up in South Africa with her parents. I don't know much about her life before this time, but i know that at the age of 13, her life would change more than any 13 year old might expect. For some time, she had been her father's play-thing. He would abuse her sexually and even share her with his friends. But Mitchi was strong. After some time, she worked up the courage to confide in her mother. But for one reason or another, her mother turned against her own daughter. She refused to accept this accusation and kicked the 13 year old Mitchi out onto the streets.
13 years old, and on her own. She told me about how she wondered around completely clueless as to what she should do. And eventually she just found herself starving, ready to do whatever it took to get something to eat.
Like out of a movie, a man showed up. He offered her food and a place to stay if she would come with him, so she accepted. And before she knew it, she was in the bars. Barely a teenager and she had a full-time job as a bargirl. Although i don't know the details, i do know that she was in the bars for several years. She said that even when she wanted to get out, run away, and go back home, she was watched by a body guard. With years of this lifestyle, she quickly turned to drugs and alcohol for relief and found herself trapped in a life that she couldn't get out of.
She told me about waking up one day. The night before, she had gotten completely drunk and woke up in a man's house. As she explained, for absolutely no reason and with no plan or premeditation, she gathered her (and some of his) belongings and left. Somehow managing to slip by the people that she had gotten used to watching her, she literally just walked away from 6 years of working the bars into something unknown to her.
She eventually found herself at a pier. She was at her end. With rocks and the bottom and waves crashing down, i imagine her staring down in a sleepy daze just contemplating the jump. And with little emotion left, the choice was easy and her mind was made up.
As she was standing at the edge, a woman pulled up. Dressed in all white, with a nice car, the woman explained that God had sent her there. She offered a ride and some food, so Mitchi got in.
One day turned to many days spent with this woman, and eventually she adopted Mitchi as her own. At the age of 19, God provided her with a fresh start and a family that loved her well.
But Mitchi's heart was still hard. She still had a bargirl's heart, hardened by the deceit of people and being used by men. She was always ready for a fight, and refused to put any hope in any person. And that's who Jesus was to her. He was just another man that couldn't be trusted.
But her mother worked and worked, and eventually confronted Mitchi. She asked her if she was sick of being mean all of the time. She asked if she was sick of the track marks and bruises that covered her arms. She asked if she was sick of being unhappy. And then her mother shared her own story with Mitchi.
Having the same past and more, her mother found her way to God. Or better, God found her. Drug-dealer, prostitute, murderer. All redeemed. God swept her off of her feet and changed her life, and in turn the same thing was offered it to Mitchi. "You can have that too."
She asked Mitchi to give God just one chance. So, that night, Mitchi prayed for the first time. She told God that if He really loved her like He claimed, to prove it.
So the next morning she woke up, not convinced as always. But then she looked at her arms. Every mark, bruise, and blemish that was there the night before was gone. She was completely healed of any physical mark of who she used to be. And in that moment, for the first time, she heard the Lord clearly speak.
"If I can change you on the outside, just imagine what i can do on the inside."
Imagine what i can do to your heart.
From that moment on she was saved. Her life flipped over completely. And now, two years and many lessons later she is leading an army into the bars to fight the lies of the enemy. To fight on the girl's behalf. To fight on the boy's behalf. She is bringing the kingdom of God everywhere she goes.
This is Mitchi; free, redeemed, bold.
God pursued her. Yes, aweful, terrible things happened to her. And repeatedly. But when she came to the end of her rope, God was there waiting for her. God boldly pursued her. God boldly saved her. God boldly spoke to and healed her.
What amazes me the most is how in hearing other people's stories, we get a larger picture of who God is. This story shows God the Pursuer. God the Father. God the Healer. God the Redeemer.
I am blessed to know Mitchi and God in her. I am blessed beyond reason to watch her bring people out of the place she knows too well. One by one, God is moving and using people like Mitchi. He's redeeming the completely broken and lost. He's so stinking good.
