A prayer realized

I don’t even know where to start with this blog.  So much has happened in the past few days and my heart is so full.  A few weeks ago I posted a blog about a little girl that I have completely fallen in love with.  Her name is Rosa and her mom, Genet was working as a prostitute.  Since November, I have had a heavy heart for Genet and Rosa.  I have prayed and cried and yelled over this situation.  I have literally felt like my heart would break because I knew Rosa was living in a brothel.  As I mentioned before, I would lay there some nights and worry about Rosa.  One night I cried out to God and asked why He would let a little girl live in a brothel.  I asked why He would let a woman feel like she has no other options but to sell her body in order to feed herself and her baby.  

God answered me and what He told me is that the world is a broken place but Christians are to be the light and Christians are called to help the least of these.  That is when I asked Genet if she wanted to leave this lifestyle and move to a new house and I told her if she did then I would help her.  I was worried about how I would do this but I shouldn’t have worried because of course God came through.  Two people have come forward that said they wanted to help.  So not only is Genet’s rent covered but now she will have extra money for food and clothes.

Michelle Tiatia is a BCI intern from New Zealand and together we started a Bible study for some of our BCI moms.  Genet has faithfully come to these studies even though she wasn’t a Christian.  I have noticed in the past two months that she sits at these studies with tears in her eyes.  I have been praying relentlessly about her salvation.  I had faith that God would use something to push Genet’s faith over the edge but I didn’t know what that would be.  

This past Thursday a group of missionaries from Illinios was to lead the women’s Bible study.  I asked one of the women to give her testimony.  I had heard her testimony before and I really wanted Genet to hear it.  This women’s journey was not the same as Genet’s but there were similar threads and I prayed and prayed that God would use her to reach Genet.

The Bible study was due to start and Genet still wasn’t there.  I sat there and prayed that God would force Genet to come to the Bible study.  She didn’t show up so we started the study with singing.  And finally Genet and Rosa came in!!!  I locked eyes with the woman that was to share her testimony, because she had never met Genet and Rosa, and nodded my head that yes, this is Genet.  

During the woman’s testimony I just continued to pray that God would give her the words to say that would touch Genet.  I don’t want to share all of her testimony here without asking her permission but the part that I wanted Genet to hear is that her pastor asked her if she was ready to accept Jesus as her personal savior and she said no because she wasn’t good enough, clean enough.  Her pastor told her that there is no such thing as cleaning up your life to come to Jesus.  He explained to her that you come as you are.  Dirty, wounded, with baggage and Jesus takes you in and cleans you, heals you, makes you whole.  At this point, everyone in the room was crying.

Nigist, BCI social worker, turned to Genet and spoke to her and asked her if she was ready to accept Jesus as her savior and to allow God to heal and clean her.  Genet said yes!!!!!!!  I was so excited I couldn’t hardly stand it.  This is what I had been praying for and it was happening.  God was doing it!

Rosa was asleep in Genet’s lap so I took her and while everyone else gathered around and prayed while Genet was accepting Christ as her savior I got the honor of holding that precious baby while her mom was changing not only her own life, but was changing Rosa’s as well.  At this point I was ‘ugly girl crying’.  You  know the kind of crying where you have tears and snot running down your face?  The kind of crying where you can barely breath so you are making hideous sobbing sounds?  Yeah, that kind of crying.  At one point I looked down at Rosa while she was sleeping peacefully and realized that I had comepletley drenched one side of her face with my tears.  I wish Rosa could have watched her mom accept Jesus but I’m sure it would have scared her to have 10 women circled around her mother crying.

After we prayed Genet went around the room and hugged everyone and when she came to me we just clutched each other, with her baby between us, and just sobbed.  It was so amazing to be able to witness her salvation.  But the more I sat there, the sadder I got.  Here we were, celebrating her new life and all I could think of is that in about 30 minutes she was going to have to go back to her house (which is a brothel) and possibly have to “work”.  

I handed Rosa to Michelle and I went outside to call Mussie.  Remember, he had no idea any of this had happened, when he answered the phone I instantly started ugly girl crying again and I was trying to explain to him what just happened.  I was begging him to help me find a place for Rosa and Genet to stay that night.  Genet had told me a few months earlier that she couldn’t be a Christian because she was a prostitute so I didn’t want her to have to go home and be forced to have sex for money.  I was worried that she would then think that because she did that, that God wouldn’t want her anymore.

One of the other women in the Bible study was also outside and she must have realized that I was trying to find a new home for Genet so she told Nigist that she had a room that Genet could rent from her.  I was so happy!  Nigist and I spoke to Genet and she said that she wanted to move to that room but she couldn’t that night because she had to settle accounts or something with the owner of the bar/brothel that she lived in.  I made her promise that she would not work that night and she agreed.  The next day, Genet and Rosa moved to the new room.

Unfortunately, Genet didn’t feel comfortable with the new room.  Mainly because there was nowhere for Rosa to play and it was on a busy road so Genet was worried about Rosa’s safey.  Genet found a different house through another one of BCI’s moms (who also used to work as a prostitute before getting saved and just so happened to have lived/worked in the same brothel that Genet just left).  Seriously, I love how God brings things full circle!  

Today we moved Genet and Rosa to their new house and it is a much better, safer place for Rosa to live.  I can’t wait to see how God uses Genet.  When she was moving out of her house/brothel her friends (most also prostitutes) came out and were crying over Genet and they were happy for her, that she was able to leave this lifestyle.  I know that some of these women want to change their situations and I know that they received hope that day.  Hope in Someone bigger than themselves.  

Please continue to pray for Rosa and Genet.  I know that this is a huge change for Genet and while we may not understand it, it will be a challenge for her not to slip back into her old lifestyle.  Please pray that God strengthens her and lifts her up.