Ministry Update

It’s been a month since the women in our brothel ministry program have graduated, marking the completion of this ministry, and I haven’t really said much. There’s so much to say and I don’t know where to begin. 

Six years ago, while interning at the mission, I never thought God would allow me to get to know these ladies the way he has. I didn’t realize the journey we were embarking on. The journey has been incredible and incredibly hard - getting to walk alongside the women in very hard struggles and seeing them choose life, choose joy, and choose hope. We laughed lots and cried too. We rejoiced together and we mourned together. There is beauty to living life in community with other broken women, just trying to find our way through. Our situations looked different, but our core was the same. There were victories and there were moments of utter defeat.  On one hand, seeing a woman choose to leave this lifestyle and start a new journey; yet, we meet a new woman as she's just beginning to realize what this lifestyle entails.

Since the fall, the ladies have been gaining experience in running their own small businesses. They were hesitant and nervous, but happy at the potential of what it meant.

I never planned this. This wasn’t my idea and I honestly thought I was just “helping” until other missionaries returned from break. This wasn’t what I had thought or intended. It was messier, more complicated, and more emotionally involved than I had planned. Couldn’t I love them without having to get too invested? But my preliminary thoughts were so naïve.  God had something else in mind. Over the past 6 years, we were privileged to have numerous Haitian and American women choose to partner and invest in our friends’ lives. They’ve prayed, they’ve shared God’s word, they’ve loved, they’ve washed feet, they’ve met us right where we were at, and they’ve partnered with us as we sought God’s truth.

Some of the ladies are thriving and doing so well. Some of them are still trying to figure out what works well and what doesn’t. But it’s beautiful to see them providing for their families with honor and dignity. I remember the first time Felidelle paid her daughter’s school tuition with the profits from her oil business. She was pretty stinking proud of herself and rightfully so. Now, these are my friends.  These are ladies that I run into at the market, selling their produce, or sitting in front of a school, selling cookies and treats to students during recess. These are friends who walk into church and now no one thinks twice even though they once had that title, but now things are different. I love Sunday mornings because Junitha sits across the aisle from me. With her two kids in tow, she’s found a community who encourages her as a young mother raising two kids under 4 years old.  Or walking downtown and seeing a little food stand with kids and adults waiting around it, only to see Rosena or Claudette sitting there, frying pate or fritay.

We were far from perfect in how we have done things and we have had many failures along the way. But I think that’s where God helped us all to grow in grace and to show grace. I’m excited to visit their homes in the upcoming month, to stop in, sit and visit, and to catch up on how things are going.

So while we aren’t meeting every Tuesday and Friday anymore, we’d appreciate your prayers. Please pray for the ladies to not get discouraged, to keep pressing on, and to not let their past define them but to be a part of their growth story. Pray that they will continue to know God and the hope he has for them.  Pray that they will continue to personally know the truths of the gospel in their everyday lives.