Girls' home

On Thursday our team led an educational teaching on human trafficking at a girls home for 28 young women.  We spoke to them about value and worth, establishing their identity in God, the fatherheart of God, and I shared practical info on trafficking and how to avoid it. (I love teaching on these topics and wish we had more opportunities to do so!) They invited us to stay for dinner and afterwards we were treated to dance performances by both the girls and (unexpectedly) from several of our team members...quite the treat. We were laughing so hard we were crying and could barely compose ourselves. (Videos will be posted on Facebook at a later date.)

After our time there, I feel even more certain that one day I will work at/run a girls home or restoration home. Many of the girls had backgrounds of abuse and troubled childhoods, but they were some of the most joyful, welcoming girls I have met. Those girls stole my heart. What struck me the most was how their house was such a home. They all regard each other as sisters, and the newly married couple that runs the home as their aunt and uncle. The girls loved to show off their family photo albums and share their memories of growing up together.

Much of our time here thus far has been spent working with street kids: playing soccer, feet washing, feeding them, playing with them, and just loving them. On Tuesday we leave for a village to spend Christmas week with 450 orphans, so we're all going to get a heavy dose of kids that week as well. I love working with kids, and all children need love, a childhood, and home, but I feel a stronger call towards girls that have been hurt/trafficked. Thursday was my favorite experience of this outreach thus far; I felt like I had spent the day in my dream for a home for girls.

I've now been involved with trafficking prevention, intervention, and restoration. After seeing all three aspects, I do feel more of a call towards working in the restoration and healing process. Some of us on this DTS are discovering that trafficking is not quite the direction we intend to pursue afterwards, but some of us are realizing with more certainty each day that human trafficking is our passion.