From Dan

This week has been incredible; one I will never forget for the rest of my life. It has been a week so rich with experience. It has been a week of the presence of the Spirit of a Living God, a God that sheds light in the darkest of places. This world is one of unspeakable darkness, a darkness that should cause any sane man to despair. Story upon story flooded the ears of our team this week. We bear stories of immense abuse, of heartache, of hopelessness, of death. But we bear witness not only to darkness, but to light, a light that is sufficient, a light that refuses to let darkness overcome. I want to share a few stories with you…

She is beautiful and very strong. She is smaller than most, humble, and intelligent like you wouldn’t believe. Her father passed on when she was very young. But her mother remained to raise her and married another man. This man was not a good one. He did things to her as a child that no man should ever do to a child. Tears well up and fall on the desk before her as she shares, quietly. The abuse stopped as she grew older, but her memory still haunts her. Her mother passed away a handful of years ago, which allowed her an escape from this man, but a loss of both of her parents. The man still comes and visits her and her siblings at her grandmother’s house; he thinks she has forgotten. She says every time he visits, a deep pain wells up in her; forgiveness is not something that comes easy. These things will take a lifetime to heal. I thought that this was my first time to know of this girl. But the Lord has been at work. She told me the following day that this is the second time that she has spoken of this. The first was two years ago with a girl named Haley. Haley is an incredible person who came with us a couple summers ago. Haley and I became good friends in the time leading up to that trip. She was at Chibote Girls School for the two weeks while I was at another school. Oftentimes, we would come home and share the joys and the sorrows of our days. Haley shared with me about this incredible girl that she had met, she shared with me her story, she wept for her. She told me that she was taking that girl to get tested and shared with me that the girl was HIV negative. I was praying for this girl over two years ago. And I got to spend this whole week with her, loving on her and encouraging her The Lord knows all things; he ordains all things. He makes good out of all things, despite the darkness of their inception. I will continue to pray for this girl, two years later. The Lord sees all her tears and He promises that one day they will cease, and they will.

This story was shared with me by Max on Wednesday, well most of it. Her mother was raped and she was born. But her ‘father’ did not disappear. He hated her. He wanted to commit her soul to Satan, seriously. Then he tried to kill her. He cut off some of her fingers. She lived though. She has another Father now, one that loves her, one who knows what it is like to be hated for nothing, one that has scars on His hands too. Today we were getting ready to start. We were playing some music, singing and keyboard. It lets the girls know that we are about to start. Groups began to walk over as the worship pours out over the schoolyard, echoing through classrooms, over the schools walls and out into the surrounding fields. It breathes life into the crowd and our team. I looked back to see one of the schoolgirls playing the keyboard. I did not know who she was or why she was playing. But as she worshipped and played, I glanced down at the keys and noticed the girl’s hands. They were marred and disfigured, only thumbs and a couple fingers remained. But she played beautifully and gracefully, her hands danced across the keys. This is a girl whose hands will forever be mangled because of the work of Satan himself. Her hands will always be to her a constant reminder of the darkness that resides on this earth. And those very hands are being used to spill light out into the darkness, into the bondage that sex has in these girl’s lives, into a country devastated by poverty and disease. What a picture of redemption, of the grace of a God that will not stop making all things new, all things beautiful again. We are scarred, but we are whole. We are broken, but we are beautiful. Glory be to God!

Thank you for your prayers, they cast light in darkness, they proclaim freedom for the captives, they loose the chains of the oppressed. Your prayers accomplish more than you could ever know. Thank you and continue.

Dan
Team Stop the Spread