But God....

This has been a hard couple of weeks for a lot of people!  First the flooding here and now watching the flooding happening in Houston, in Asia.....Uncle!!!!  That being said, it’s been incredible to watch the way people have shown up in the midst of these tragedies.  

Several months ago I read something that challenged me to look for “But God….” moments.  When things are painful and difficult BUT GOD is doing this! BUT GOD has done this!  Last week I had one of those moments that brought me to tears.

Over the last year or so, I’ve built a relationship with a teenage girl in our community.  She’s 16 years old.  As is a sad tale that is far too common here, she was sexually abused by someone in a position of power.  Since coming here I’ve seen it happen with students and teachers, young girls and policemen, and of course family members. 

This girl, Jariatu (not her real name) now finds herself pregnant.  The abuse started when she was just 14 years old.  The man, of course, has run away and is nowhere to be found.  The people she was staying with said she could no longer stay there.  Some other missionaries and myself have been really burdened for what is the best solution for this girl.  How can we help????  Peter and I talked about it and were ready to bring her into our home.  But we both kept wondering if that was really the BEST thing for her.  I’m not a Sierra Leonean woman.  Being pregnant and giving birth is such a personal thing and there are so many cultural things that influence perception and beliefs surrounding it. I’ve delivered quite a few Sierra Leonean babies and until I stopped, was still finding out new cultural beliefs and practices surrounding birth.  So we were ready to take her in….unless a better solution could be found.  We kept praying. 

As we were praying, one of my friends kept thinking of two Sierra Leonean pastors that we know.  Peter went to go talk to one of them.  He said that before he even finished explaining the situation, the pastor said, “We will take her in! This is the role of the church.  We will take her as our own daughter.”  When Peter told me about the conversation, I just started crying.  It’s so true!! This is the role of the church!  To care for the poor and desperate! We can be their “people” when they don’t have anyone else!!  This is what Jesus would do!  We are confident that with this pastor and his wife, Jariatu will not only be cared for physically, but will be nurtured and loved and invested in.

The last couple of weeks have been tough.  BUT. GOD. God is still working and is using His Church!! Someone from the States pledged to send some money every month to take care of her expenses so that it will not be a huge financial burden to this pastor and his family.  This is the church working together to care for His people……and it’s just beautiful. 

It’s still a hard situation.  She’s still a young girl who has suffered abuse and is now pregnant. She doesn’t have an easy road ahead of her. BUT GOD will not forget her. Of this I am sure.