A Change in the Atmosphere

July 25

     It’s amazing how the atmosphere here had drastically changed since Karla is no longer around. The girls and the staff seem to be very relieved and we are already seeing an improvement in their overall demeanor. I spent my morning making paper chains out of construction paper for our activity with the girls later in the afternoon. Jen and Evelin went with Gracie to do the radio show. Jen shared her testimony to a quarter of a million people, but she did very well. As soon as they got back, they had their lunch and it was time to begin our special activity.

     Basically what we did was each of us chained up ourselves with the paper chains. We went around the room beginning with Gracie, and each person shared their testimony. After each testimony, the person would rip off their chains and tear them apart to symbolize freedom from our past. The girls were all very hesitant at first, but Alicia was brave enough to be the first of the girls to share their story. Melissa followed, then Milagro, but she said very little and quickly rushed out of the room. Heydi was the one who had the most difficulty. She was already crying before she could even begin to speak. It was really hard for her, but she did it! We were so proud of her. The mere fact that they were all able to share their stories was a big step for all of them. We interns were not spared from this of course, we too shared our testimonies and that was part of the point of the whole activity. We are all broken people and we’ve all been through some kind of trial in our lives. We wanted the girls to know that they are not alone in their suffering and they can be liberated from their chains.

     After we had all shared our testimonies, Gracie then asked Mercedes to share the story of the prodigal son with the girls. Then we were each given a ring to symbolize that we are daughters of the most high, precious and dearly loved by our Father. I think it really meant a lot to the girls, it was also a good bonding experience for all of us to share.

     Later that afternoon Gracie went to take a mother and her 4 children to go see the doctor. We picked them up at the posta in Talanga yesterday where they had been left by her husband. We’re still trying to figure out her story and what exactly happened but for the meantime; they are staying here for a few nights. When they got back from the doctor Gracie told us that several of them had bronchitis, the mother and one of her daughters were also sick with Malaria. They had not eaten for two days prior to when we picked them up, so if we had not taken them in when we did there’s a good chance that they might not have survived much longer. It was quite the wake up call, but we are glad that God brought them here so that we can minister to them.

     We had dinner with the girls and had a lot of fun joking around at the dinner table. After dinner, Jen, Evelin and I got to unwind by watching a couple of episodes from different shows in the school room. We decided to call it a night by 11:30 (which is probably the latest I’ve been up since I’ve been here….whaaaaaaaat??!! haha!), but we ended up talking for another 30 minutes. [Oh and just a little side note, there was a HUGE cockroach in the room that just about the size of a bar of soap! I’m not even kidding!] Once we got to the room, the talking continued, so it was probably about 12:30 by the time I finally got to sleep.

     Again, I’m just really thankful for the friendship I’ve been able to share with these girls (Jen & Evelin). I’m really glad I get to share this experience with them. I’ve been blessed by them in countless ways and they’ve been such an encouragement to me. Don’t know what I would do without them.