In my lifetime I have seen few things that compare to the glow in the eyes of many Nicaraguan women. It perplexes, inspires and motivates me. Women here are not oppressed to the degree that they are in many places in the world, but there does exist a cultural stigma that somewhat overlooks them. Unfortunately many of the women's stories here are laden with abuse and neglect.
We finished talking to a lady with a broken hip in the women's ward of the hospital and walked to the next bed quietly. A lady, maybe in her thirties lay sprawled strangely on her side. We say hello and make small talk for a minute but we don't have to ask where she is sick. A thick bandage is taped to the inside of one of her thighs and blood is seeping through it. She tells us that her husband stabbed her there, and I could tell by scars all over her body and disfigured bones that it was not the first time. My team was upset by this, how to respond? We prayed for her and repeated to her that she is beautiful and that she does not deserve what has happened, but then we left because she was tired and there is no way we can help. We found peace knowing that God will bring that man to justice in time, but were still disheartened. While that story is an extreme, the trend repeats itself in the neighbourhoods here.
When we are in the barrios we often ask people if they are related or just friends. This question is good because it leads from small talk to getting to know them and requires only a couple Spanish words. However, most of the time, I can tell weather or not the people are related or not, I ask because I hope they will offer clarification as to weather they are siblings or mother and daughter or son. I have met many young ladies my age and discovered that they have at least one, perhaps two or three children. I'm not sure that any are married, but are providing, as teenagers, for their children and themselves, which is trickier in a third world country than one with welfare and minimum wage. It's stopped surprising me, but not stopped breaking my heart.
Living in the shadows of abuse, sickness and the burden of loosing childhood to parenthood, I can understand why women here could struggle with understanding how beautiful they are to God and how much he loves them.
A couple weeks ago we decided to start a group for 15-20ish year old ladies, to empower them and promote healing in their hearts. We share testimonies, read about women in the bible, eat, pray, play and chat. After the group any girls who want to can join us for a game of soccer. The first week we prepared for 6 or 7 people to show up plus the twelve girls on our team, but as a pleasant surprise, and as a result of dozens of invitations, prayer and fasting, more than 40 people showed up! The time was real and many of the ladies came back again the next week. It is so fun to see these young ladies really start to connect with each other. My favourire part, however, was 20 of us playing soccer until sunset :)
God is moving in the hearts of the ladies here. He is restoring.
In my lifetime I have seen few things that compare to the glow in the eyes of many Nicaraguan women. It perplexes, inspires and motivates me. Women here are not oppressed to the degree that they are in many places in the world, but there does exist a cultural stigma that somewhat overlooks them. Unfortunately many of the women's stories here are laden with abuse and neglect.
We finished talking to a lady with a broken hip in the women's ward of the hospital and walked to the next bed quietly. A lady, maybe in her thirties lay sprawled strangely on her side. We say hello and make small talk for a minute but we don't have to ask where she is sick. A thick bandage is taped to the inside of one of her thighs and blood is seeping through it. She tells us that her husband stabbed her there, and I could tell by scars all over her body and disfigured bones that it was not the first time. My team was upset by this, how to respond? We prayed for her and repeated to her that she is beautiful and that she does not deserve what has happened, but then we left because she was tired and there is no way we can help. We found peace knowing that God will bring that man to justice in time, but were still disheartened. While that story is an extreme, the trend repeats itself in the neighbourhoods here.
When we are in the barrios we often ask people if they are related or just friends. This question is good because it leads from small talk to getting to know them and requires only a couple Spanish words. However, most of the time, I can tell weather or not the people are related or not, I ask because I hope they will offer clarification as to weather they are siblings or mother and daughter or son. I have met many young ladies my age and discovered that they have at least one, perhaps two or three children. I'm not sure that any are married, but are providing, as teenagers, for their children and themselves, which is trickier in a third world country than one with welfare and minimum wage. It's stopped surprising me, but not stopped breaking my heart.
Living in the shadows of abuse, sickness and the burden of loosing childhood to parenthood, I can understand why women here could struggle with understanding how beautiful they are to God and how much he loves them.
A couple weeks ago we decided to start a group for 15-20ish year old ladies, to empower them and promote healing in their hearts. We share testimonies, read about women in the bible, eat, pray, play and chat. After the group any girls who want to can join us for a game of soccer. The first week we prepared for 6 or 7 people to show up plus the twelve girls on our team, but as a pleasant surprise, and as a result of dozens of invitations, prayer and fasting, more than 40 people showed up! The time was real and many of the ladies came back again the next week. It is so fun to see these young ladies really start to connect with each other. My favourire part, however, was 20 of us playing soccer until sunset :)
God is moving in the hearts of the ladies here. He is restoring.
In my lifetime I have seen few things that compare to the glow in the eyes of many Nicaraguan women. It perplexes, inspires and motivates me. Women here are not oppressed to the degree that they are in many places in the world, but there does exist a cultural stigma that somewhat overlooks them. Unfortunately many of the women's stories here are laden with abuse and neglect.
We finished talking to a lady with a broken hip in the women's ward of the hospital and walked to the next bed quietly. A lady, maybe in her thirties lay sprawled strangely on her side. We say hello and make small talk for a minute but we don't have to ask where she is sick. A thick bandage is taped to the inside of one of her thighs and blood is seeping through it. She tells us that her husband stabbed her there, and I could tell by scars all over her body and disfigured bones that it was not the first time. My team was upset by this, how to respond? We prayed for her and repeated to her that she is beautiful and that she does not deserve what has happened, but then we left because she was tired and there is no way we can help. We found peace knowing that God will bring that man to justice in time, but were still disheartened. While that story is an extreme, the trend repeats itself in the neighbourhoods here.
When we are in the barrios we often ask people if they are related or just friends. This question is good because it leads from small talk to getting to know them and requires only a couple Spanish words. However, most of the time, I can tell weather or not the people are related or not, I ask because I hope they will offer clarification as to weather they are siblings or mother and daughter or son. I have met many young ladies my age and discovered that they have at least one, perhaps two or three children. I'm not sure that any are married, but are providing, as teenagers, for their children and themselves, which is trickier in a third world country than one with welfare and minimum wage. It's stopped surprising me, but not stopped breaking my heart.
Living in the shadows of abuse, sickness and the burden of loosing childhood to parenthood, I can understand why women here could struggle with understanding how beautiful they are to God and how much he loves them.
A couple weeks ago we decided to start a group for 15-20ish year old ladies, to empower them and promote healing in their hearts. We share testimonies, read about women in the bible, eat, pray, play and chat. After the group any girls who want to can join us for a game of soccer. The first week we prepared for 6 or 7 people to show up plus the twelve girls on our team, but as a pleasant surprise, and as a result of dozens of invitations, prayer and fasting, more than 40 people showed up! The time was real and many of the ladies came back again the next week. It is so fun to see these young ladies really start to connect with each other. My favourire part, however, was 20 of us playing soccer until sunset :)
God is moving in the hearts of the ladies here.
He is restoring.
