Rubbish? – God doesn’t think so
I was reading through mail this morning and I read a good friends daily musings. It was all about how God never throws us away – somehow, He always manages to keep us and use us for His Kingdom work. It reminded me of someone we met on one of our mission trips. Let me tell you a little bit about her.
We were on one of our regular trips to Europe. Across the crowded room we spotted a dark haired girl looking very serious and straight faced. We discovered that she rarely smiled – and never at men. So we left her alone. At prayer time, she was escorted to the front – actually, she dragged another girl with her, refusing to let go her hand. She wept when we prayed for her – not great sobs but quietly, almost trying to hide her tears, ashamed to let men see her cry. We saw her again on a subsequent trip and she was looking less brooding. She even smiled occasionally. On a later trip, we saw her looking apparently happy. In fact she was happy and coming back to a more ‘normal’ young woman – lively, laughing, and quite giggly. She showed musical talent too – as the drummer.
Pastor saw us watching her and said, “There is quite a success story there.” After service, he called the girl over and asked permission to share her story. She smiled shyly but consented then walked quietly away – not wanting to listen. We will call her Lydia and some parts of her story must remain untold – other parts I have changed a little in order to protect her and those she now helps.
“Lydia is Eastern European. When she was just two weeks old she was thrown on a rubbish tip – just another unwanted baby girl. She was heard crying and ‘rescued’. Sent to an orphanage, she somehow survived until 6 or 7 years old, when she was sold into child-slavery. It wasn’t long before her dark good looks attracted men and she was then systematically raped and used as a sex toy. Later, she was put onto the streets as a prostitute and that became her life. She got involved in drugs too although, thankfully, never as an addict. She was used as a carrier and life became almost exciting as she dodged the authorities. We believe she even had at least one baby of her own but she will not open up about this – thats still a taboo subject for her. One day perhaps . . .
“She drifted from one pimp to another for several years – always being used and abused until one day she saw her opportunity to escape. It was going to be life threateningly dangerous. Yet, escape she eventually did, although her pimp put out a death notice on her and she fled for her life to other cities in her own country. She entered into several lesbian relationships because she trusted no man. These were not much better than her male relationships – just less violent. Just then, the European Union accepted several European countries into membership. Seeing her opportunity, she fled and ended up in yet another, this time more gentle lesbian relationship in the capital here.
“From there, she was contacted by another prostitute whom God led to her. This girl had been through our program here. She came here four months ago and the rest is history. She found the Lord, and her peace, about 2 months after she arrived. Amazingly, she says she is now 43 years old, but her beauty survives intact – to me she still looks in her twenties. Her reputation here is such that many street women hear about her and contact her here. She now has a growing ministry among abused women – mostly prostitutes and lesbians. Even more amazing, she is beginning to trust one or two of the men around here. Isn’t God just so amazing?”
Isn’t that just the truth? Isn’t God faithful to those He loves?
No comments:
Post a Comment