Because love is the greatest adventure of all

Yesterday we had a wonderful Valentine's day with our residents- we got them a few little gifts (very mama-jo-esque- my mom is famous for her sweet, thoughtful little somethings for each holiday and occasion), baked cupcakes, and watched a movie. It was a great opportunity to love our girls and spend some quality time with them. We welcomed a new short-term resident last night as well. She will likely only be staying with us for a few days before she returns home, but we feel very blessed to be a part of her healing journey. She will hopefully continue with outpatient services, as our outpatient program is officially up and running! I am very excited and encouraged by this as it was one of my 3 goals for my second stint here. Also, the art therapy studios are nearing completion, so I will post photos of them we they are finished! I have loved working on these projects and I am confident that I will finish my 'to do' list before I head home in May.

In other news, during our team devotional yesterday we talked about love and I wanted to share a quote from the daily devotional I have been going through:

"It is vital that we remember Paul's exhortation to speak to people's hearts. We do this by being honest and open with them. We need not impress them with our great knowledge; we need only touch them with our love." (See 1 Timothy 1: 5-7)

This has challenged me to continue to approach people in love, rather than having an agenda or wanting to get my point across. It has to become less important for me to be right, and more important for me to show people that I love them, care about them, am invested in their life/future. It is a humbling experience to acknowledge that I fall short of loving others the way that God wants me to. I have been put in a position of leadership here, and this is an area in which I need a lot of prayer for growth and increase. The weight of the responsibility of leadership has been weighing heavily on me, especially as I prepare to 'pass the torch' to other missionaries when I go home in May. I will leave you with one final profound thought that was shared with me by Pastor Mark Crow (the husband of Pastor Jennifer Crow, who founded Beautiful Dream Society) on one of his visits here: "As a leader, it is more important to care about making things right than to care about being right." This is to be my motto for the rest of my time here... and hopefully the rest of my life. Thank you for your prayers- please keep them coming!

"Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and His love is made complete in us.

~1 John 4:11-12

All sorts of new adventures

It has been a busy three weeks back here in Lesotho! Shortly after I arrived, we took in a new resident and her 7 month-old son for a brief period while we helped her get settled back with her family and begin counseling. She came to know the Lord at church one Sunday, and I just got a call from her today letting me know that she wants to continue to attend Victory Maseru and pursue a personal relationship with God. I am so excited for her and for this new journey of healing that she has had the courage to begin! Here is a note that she wrote to me, Sonya, and Cristen before she headed home:

Another exciting development involves a new partnership with Beautiful Dream Society. We have to keep the name of our partnering organization confidential in order to protect their ministry/work, but they have an amazing street ministry that goes out at night and ministers and serves women sold into prostitution in South Africa. BDS just finalized our memorandum of understanding so we can start taking some of the Basotho (Lesotho citizens) girls into our care. Many of them have become addicted to drugs as a result of working on the streets, so our other psychologist, Miriam, and I are heading to a rehab center this afternoon to see how we can join forces with them to help these girls break their addictions and begin to heal from the trauma they have endured. First, the girls will have to make the difficult decision to get off of the streets- often times the pimps brainwash them, threaten them, and feed their addictions, making them scared and hesitant to leave and get help. However, the organization we are working with has already built rapport with many of the girls and they are optimistic about the scope of help and care we will be able to offer them. We are looking forward to this opportunity to serve more victims of human trafficking and sexual trauma; please pray for these girls as they make the terrifying decision to break the chains of their oppressors and reclaim their freedom! 

My final new adventure is a more personal one. Some of you know that when I first came to Lesotho in 2010 I met several missionaries from around the world and became good friends with a few of them. One of them was an Australian named Justin, and we began dating while we were both living here last year. He has since returned to Australia after a 4 year stint here setting up his own NGO- Farming Futures, which is an agricultural initiative to fight hunger and increase work skills amongst local villagers. While I was home for Christmas, I worked like crazy and saved up and now I will hopefully be going to Oz for three weeks at the end of this month to see Justin and meet his family! Please pray for safe travel, cheap flights, and that I will be able to live within my very tight budget until I come home :o) Speaking of which, I am planning on coming home at the end of May to work for the summer (nannying for the twins!) and then I will possibly be moving back here to Lesotho, moving to Oklahoma to help BDS start a shelter there, or staying put in Chicago- I will be praying about it and will be open to going wherever God sends me. (And, yes, Justin is planning on visiting the States this summer, so many of you will probably get to meet him in person ;o) ) Thank you all for your prayers, your financial support, and your words of encouragement- they are much appreciated!

"However, as it is written: 'No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love Him' but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit."

~1 Corinthians 2: 9-10