On Thursday, each of us girls that came on the trip were put into groups of twenty girls from the camp so that we could get more personal with the girls. Our hope was that they would open up a little in order to give us a glimpse of what life was like for them- about their struggles and their blessings, but very few girls ended up doing so. I found myself to be a bit discouraged when I experienced this in my group because they were very resistant to be involved in discussion. My heart was breaking for them because I knew each and every one of them had a story that was bottled up inside of them. After the small groups dispersed throughout the evening, I had at least 2 girls from my group (one of which being Sharon) come up to me and tell me they wanted to tell me their story and that they were too afraid to talk about it in front of the others.
The next day Sharon found me while the soccer games were going on and we took the opportunity to dive into her life story. She told me of all the struggles she has been facing in life, one of which being that her step mother would beat her. We have been really stressing to these girls how much God loves them and after Sharon got done telling me her story, she was crying and I asked her if there was anything I could do to help her and she said to me:
"I need you to show me God. I do not have a Bible. I do not know who He is. I do not know His love. I do not know how it is that He loves me when I have suffered so much."
We talked about this for a while and then we prayed. I could see something switch in her heart. I am so sure of this because part of our conversation, which seems to be what all of these girls' stories lead up to, is that she wanted a sponsor for school. We were told at the beginning of the week that when we came across situations like this, we were to tell them we can talk to a leader about it later, but that we could not promise anything. I've noticed that usually they immediately get disappointed and distant when they hear this, and she did for a moment, but we talked about how great God's plans are for her. We talked about how she may or may not go to school, but that God is bigger than that situation. Many of these girls think that life in the U.S. is perfect and that there are no struggles and everyone is happy. They have this conception that since we have more material possessions than they do that our lives are so much greater. We explained to them how many people in the U.S. are very unhappy and that just because they have all kinds of nice things, doesn't mean their lives are always great. We see such a light in these girls out here. Each day, we see it in their smiles and we hear it in their voices when they talk with us, laugh with us, and sing with us. We see it when they dance. We see it all the time. Despite all of the suffering these girls have been through, they have so much joy emanating from their beings. We told them how rare it is to find that in the U.S. and they were very shocked. As Sharon and I talked about this and she began to understand what I was saying, she immediately changed from being disappointed to joyful. I told her that if she has God, she has everything and she just lit up. We prayed and walked back to the others and she could not wipe that beautiful smile off her face.
Later on that night, while we were waiting for the girls to show up for worship, Sharon came in and began talking to Dave. As he was talking to Sharon, he told all of us that he had just met an amazing girl with an amazing story and that she had decided this week that she wanted Christ in her heart. She wanted to know where to go next and what it means to be a christian. All of our group prayed for her and the next day we gave her a Bible.
Out of all the girls that came, this is only one story. We could not hear everyone's story, but we have all been touched by the stories we have had the chance to hear. It is very obvious how much God is working in the lives of these girls. We thank you for your prayer and support. We could not be more impressed with how this first week has gone. God is good all the time.
-Chelsea
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