Rejoicing in victories

We've been searching for homes for two months now. Every house we found for the brothel girls was either too much money or too small for them and their children. We were frustrated. The girls wanted this so badly but nothing seemed to be working out. So we stopped.

And then the girls found a house. We hadn't looked in three weeks when they came to the mission to talk. That afternoon, we headed to look at the house. We wanted to make sure it was a good pick. We went to the house and then weaved through the market to find the landlord. On the way, someone said to another "why are those white girls with the prostitutes?" I know the girls heard that. I know it hurts their hearts that they live with those labels, but we smiled and kept walking. Once we found him, we negotiated and headed back to the house. As the landlord handed Natacha the keys, the girls went crazy. They started singing and dancing. They were praising God that he brought them through this.

They recognized what this meant. God opened the door to a new start. It was so beautiful hearing their praises. It hasn't been the easiest 9months. There were times when I didn't want to continue. There were days when I got so frustrated with them. There were times when I wondered if this mattered, was this really having a kingdom impact. Many times I felt like they didnt care about anything we told them or just merely sat through Bible Study to humor us.

And then that happened.  Blown away by that small victory, which was really so big.  As we started class Friday, the girls seemed tense, on edge for some reason. I wasn't really sure why and it made me feel quite uncomfortable. Eventually, Guerline stood up and said we need to talk. I didn't know what they needed to discuss or why they seemed so mad.

And then Rosena stood up. As tears filled her eyes, she began to explain how she wanted to thank God. She had never really thanked him for this opportunity. She asked for forgiveness because she said she questioned our motives for so long. She had just come to realize we loved them because Christ has loved us. After she finished talking, another girl stood. We sat and listened to how God had been working in their lives and they didn't realize it or they fought it. It was beautiful to hear how Gods redeemed their situations. They aren't working at the brothel anymore. They don't bear the title prostitute anymore. They aren't defined by what they used to be.

Thanking God for his victories and the greater plan that we didn't see or understand.