Broken

Before I left for the DR, a friend of mine "gave" me three words: "Comfort. Endurance. Peace." This week I needed comfort and endurance, especially over the past few days. They were rough. They were long. They were bittersweet, and they were hard. I am still processing it all and do not know where to start…

I have already stood crying in front of my Director and then wiped the tears away a few minutes later as I had to maintain my composure in front of the girls. I cannot detail all that has taken place, but if I told you, you would feel broken too.

Over this past week and a half, we have had three more beautiful girls enter our care. One even has a two-year-old baby boy. He has already taken to me, and he livens the house up quite a bit. The other day when I walked into the Home, he ran up to me and hugged my legs. He tried to follow me into the bathroom, but after telling him that he couldn't go in with me, he patiently waited by the door until I walked out. But, of those three beautiful souls, only two are still in our care.

I knew that I would experience an array of emotions in taking this position--that I would love these girls with my whole heart, that I would pour into them, show them their worth and value in the eyes of our Heavenly Father. That there would be good days and bad, but I overlooked the fact that we would be "in the trenches." But we are. These girls are diamonds in the rough, and we are in the trenches battling for them. When they come to us, they are broken. They are "in chains," chained to hurt, to pain, to deceit, to addiction...they have been abused time and time again and are battling strongholds that you and I can probably not even begin to fathom.

The other day as I was going to work, the song "Break Every Chain" randomly came on. I knew it wasn't a coincidence. This song is for these girls. As I write this, I am asking you to intercede on their behalf. Pray for every stronghold, every chain to be broken off them. Pray this, not just for the girls in our care but also for the girls that will come into our care. The enemy does not like what we are doing, and there is an inner battle taking place. But, we know that we will not be defeated. We know that we are supposed to be here, that we have favor in being here and, "if God is for us, who will ever be against us?" (Romans 8:31)

Despite everything that has taken place over the past few days, I am doing well. I have been able to go down to the beach a few times to go on some runs, which has been an excellent outlet, and I have also discovered a fabulous Italian Café not too far from my apartment :) I still have not purchased my scooter, but I hope to do so by the end of this month.

Things to PRAY for:

• Please continue to hold the girls up in prayer. Pray for their hearts and minds as they process the things that they have gone through. Pray for healing, forgiveness, and restoration.

• Continue to pray for our staff. But, unfortunately, we still are not fully staffed and, therefore, are wearing "multiple hats" as we go about our day.

• Pray for the area we work and live in—for the darkness to be brought into the light. It is a pretty unreached area, and there is a hidden "spiritual oppression" here. The church that we attend has only been in the area for 10-12 years. Besides that, there are very few churches in the area.

• We are still waiting on the "regular" Internet to be installed at the Home! However, now that we have more girls in our care, we must set up ASAP because we rely on it quite a bit in the LC.

PRAISES & BLESSINGS:

• Some of you recently gave very generous donations towards the LC ~ thank you!! I could buy books (for all reading levels) and classroom supplies that we needed but didn’t have the money for with this money.

• We are in the process of receiving two more laptops for the LC!

• One morning during our discipleship class, I had the privilege to have a heart-to-heart chat with one of the girls about guarding your heart and how our Abba Father turns our ashes into beauty. As I had this chat with her, it reminded me of when I was around her age, and my dad had a talk with me about guarding my own heart. This is the same girl who accepted Christ a few weeks ago. She is beginning to grasp her identity in Christ and knows that she is a daughter of the King, a Child of God, and someone with a very promising future. I can already tell you that this girl is not ashamed to share her story with others, and I know in my heart that God is going to use her in a mighty way.

• The girls graciously welcomed our third new girl and her baby boy into the Home. It was delightful to watch them show her around, talk to her about the program, and assure her that this is the best place for her to be. She was a little reluctant, but she and the other girls played volleyball in the backyard within the hour.

• My Directors recently “rescued” two adorable puppies from the side of the road. The girls were beyond ecstatic and immediately named them “Princesa” and “Pink.” The girls are currently learning the colors in English, so for them to suggest this as a name was rather cute. We are also using this as a way to teach the girls responsibility :)