It is Wednesday morning...I know what is coming in a couple of hours. I have butterflies, I am both ecstatic and nervous. Though teaching kids over the past couple of weeks has brought me more joy that I could ever imagine, a huge part of my heart is with the woman who are going through WAR's year long program...and today is the day I have my first class with them.
The women are finishing their tea break when I arrive. I have gotten used to feeling like an animal in a zoo, constantly being stared at, but these eyes pierce differently. I feel unequipped to be teaching such phenomenal women. I go in the room and say "Denanish" ...they all chuckle because it is hilarious to see a white girl trying to attack the beast that their language is. I sit down, smile, and take in a couple moments of sheer awe that this is really happening. These women are stunning, both on the inside and outside. They have been through hell and back, and they are sitting in front of me, eager to learn. I take a deep breath, recall all of the training I have had to prepare me for this moment and begin.
I have heard the gruesome stories, the stories that make your insides ache, the stories that keep you up at night. Today I was in a room full of women who's lives were those stories. They were. I was also sitting in a room of works in progress. Beautiful women were leaving the painful chapters of abuse, shame and hate to enter in to a new chapter, maybe even a new book of wonder, success, and love. I was undone. Humbled is the only word to describe what I felt as I walked out of that classroom. As I look forward to this year of growth, not only for the women but also for myself, I am grateful... Grateful that I have the privilege of walking alongside these women as they discover how beautiful and fulfilling life can be. I told them today that above all else, my desire is to be their friend and to hold their hand as they step into this new journey. I told them a month ago I was in similar shoes, as I began my own new journey. Like them, I left everything I knew to follow a calling that I knew in my heart was going to be good. (I know that everything I knew and everything they knew is COMPLETELY different, I don't want to sound like I think our lives were the same... my struggles and pain pale in comparison to theirs!) I shared with them that there have been moments that I have wanted to go home, but looking back I realize those were the moments that Jesus was working in the depths of my heart. I implored them to be strong this year, to not fall back into the lifestyle they once lived, to seek Jesus and to seek fellowship in the staff of WAR.
Friends and Family, please pray for these women. I think Isaiah 40:31 is a beautiful thing to pray over them. Pray that they would run this race and not grow weary, that they would walk through this year and not be faint.
Though I am overwhelmed with gratitude for everything that is happening here in Addis and in my life, I miss you all more than words can say.
So (sosososososo) much love,
Becca
The women are finishing their tea break when I arrive. I have gotten used to feeling like an animal in a zoo, constantly being stared at, but these eyes pierce differently. I feel unequipped to be teaching such phenomenal women. I go in the room and say "Denanish" ...they all chuckle because it is hilarious to see a white girl trying to attack the beast that their language is. I sit down, smile, and take in a couple moments of sheer awe that this is really happening. These women are stunning, both on the inside and outside. They have been through hell and back, and they are sitting in front of me, eager to learn. I take a deep breath, recall all of the training I have had to prepare me for this moment and begin.
I have heard the gruesome stories, the stories that make your insides ache, the stories that keep you up at night. Today I was in a room full of women who's lives were those stories. They were. I was also sitting in a room of works in progress. Beautiful women were leaving the painful chapters of abuse, shame and hate to enter in to a new chapter, maybe even a new book of wonder, success, and love. I was undone. Humbled is the only word to describe what I felt as I walked out of that classroom. As I look forward to this year of growth, not only for the women but also for myself, I am grateful... Grateful that I have the privilege of walking alongside these women as they discover how beautiful and fulfilling life can be. I told them today that above all else, my desire is to be their friend and to hold their hand as they step into this new journey. I told them a month ago I was in similar shoes, as I began my own new journey. Like them, I left everything I knew to follow a calling that I knew in my heart was going to be good. (I know that everything I knew and everything they knew is COMPLETELY different, I don't want to sound like I think our lives were the same... my struggles and pain pale in comparison to theirs!) I shared with them that there have been moments that I have wanted to go home, but looking back I realize those were the moments that Jesus was working in the depths of my heart. I implored them to be strong this year, to not fall back into the lifestyle they once lived, to seek Jesus and to seek fellowship in the staff of WAR.
Friends and Family, please pray for these women. I think Isaiah 40:31 is a beautiful thing to pray over them. Pray that they would run this race and not grow weary, that they would walk through this year and not be faint.
Though I am overwhelmed with gratitude for everything that is happening here in Addis and in my life, I miss you all more than words can say.
So (sosososososo) much love,
Becca
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