Rachelle.

 Rachelle is a 12 year old girl who lives in Bukora, in the north eastern part of Rwanda. She came to our office/staff home with dirty and torn clothes. Her dress was riped and revealed her bare, boney and bloody shoulder. She was skinny, like she hadn't eaten in months. She was bruised, bloody. Her body looked like a it had been thrown around like a rag doll. We took her in, gave her hot water to bathe, gave her tea, rice, beans, bread - any food we could find. We asked her her name, how old she was and why she came to us. In her shy, quiet and fading voice, she told us that she had been beaten by her father, older brother, uncle and neighbor. They would beat her if she didn't cook or clean fast enough. The raped her. They told her that the only reason she was born was to serve and service them, whenever they saw fit. They told her that the only way she could be a respectable woman was if she got married, gave her husband many children and served him (in any way possible) whenever he wanted.  She came to us because she saw us women, three Rwandese and one mzungu, showing love in the community.

"Help my daughters. I want my girls back"

What's written above is not an actual ministry story. It's not an update of my week, really. It was a dream that I had the other night. And something I felt the Lord speaking while praying for Bukora. And maybe, saying that I had a dream/vision and heard something from the Lord makes me sound crazy. Or crazy pentecostal and charismatic. But it's true, I believe that Jesus speaks in many ways, a few being dreams, visions and with, you know...words. 

This picture in my head stuck with me, haunted me almost. And since, Bukora has been heavily on my heart. And honestly, I don't know if there is a specific girl named Rachelle in this community with this exact story. Maybe there is, maybe I will meet her, maybe I never will. Maybe this is God opening my heart to the need in this area. Either way, it broke my heart. It broke my teams heart. And, it's moving us to action. 

One of our plans for ministry in Bukora is working with girls. There are so many young girls. They are abused, in every possible. They get pregnant while young and unmarried. They become infected with HIV/AIDS. They are told they have no use, value or hope of a future. They are told to be a good, quiet and humble girl so they will grow up to be a good Rwandese wife - submissive, humble and quiet. And thats not to dig at Rwandan culture, at all. Those three things are great qualities in a wife. However, it can so easily become an excuse to demean women, based on their gender. These girls don't know their value. They don't have a bright future. They aren't taught that they are beautiful, daughters of a king. They don't have a chance for education or skill training. 

I am so excited for what God will do in Bukora. We are starting our girls ministry, called Queens. We want to love on our little sisters. Show them thier value. Show them how Jesus see's them. We want to train them in job skills (like sewing). We want to empower them to impact their families and communities. We want to show these girls that they were created for a purpose. A powerful, impactful and divine purpose. We want to bring our sisters back to our Daddy.