An adventure where dreams come true

It has been a very exciting week here at Beautiful Dream Society! I found out that two of our residents who are moving into our transition program got accepted into the National University of Lesotho; it is a HUGE deal, as admission is really competitive. This is a particularly redemptive event because these two girls were trafficked to Lesotho from another African country on the premise that their trafficker (who was a friend of the family) was going to put them through college. However, when they arrived here, they were locked up without food or money for weeks on end. When they came to the crisis care shelter, I did a lot of art therapy with the girls in order to help them heal from the trauma and move forward with their lives. Every time the topic of hopes, dreams, and goals came up, all the girls could talk about was wanting to go to college and have careers. This past week I got the privilege of telling the girls that one of their dreams had come true and that they were well on their way to achieving their goals. I believe in these girls and I am so incredibly proud of them and excited for their bright futures! 

One obstacle that we face is the cost of education for these girls- it costs about $4,000 per girl per year in tuition with about $2,000 a year per girl for room and board. If you are at all interested in helping fund their education, please contact our director, Sonya Martinez, at sonya.martinez@beautifuldream.tv :o) 

As far as my life here in Lesotho, another one of my dreams has been realized this week aswell. I have found a riding stable! I have made friends with an English family who I trail ride with on some Saturday mornings just across the Lesotho border in South Africa, but last weekend they introduced me to the owner of a nearby riding school. I went out and took a lesson with her this past Friday, and she was quite impressed with my skill level and has asked me to come out once or twice a week and help her with some of her young horses. She has also asked me to consider going to a competition in October, as she thinks it will be good experience for me and then I could help her with some of her horses and students. I am thrilled to have found a place where I can do what I love, even on the other side of the world! 

It has been such a wonderful week. Please pray for our residents; pray for the funding to come in for the girls' education, pray for our transition residents who are seeking work, and pray for our future residents who will be entrusted into our care in the coming months. I am so incredibly blessed to be here, and I feel so lucky to be a part of these girls' lives. Please pray that God will use me and that I will walk daily in His will. 

'"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a HOPE and a FUTURE."'

~Jeremiah 29:11