Terry & Nataliya speaking with the girls

You might remember last fall I traveled to the Philippines to open some new Orphan’s Promise outreaches throughout the islands. One ministry was called the House of Comfort, a shelter for girls who had been sexually abused. I’m excited to report some great progress with this outreach.

First let me explain what we found when we arrived. There were about a dozen girls, all who had been sexually violated… most by family members or adult employers. These were girls as young as 10 years old whose hearts have been badly damaged as well as their bodies.

One girl, a 13-year-old, had been at the shelter just 10 days. When I spoke with her, tears welled up in her eyes. It broke my heart to see such a beautiful girl broken at such a tender age.If you can imagine a flower that begins to bloom but is damaged and begins to close up. I learned from the Lorna, the house mother, that this child had been raped by a neighbor boy from the time she was 8 until age 12. Without God, this child will never overcome such an experience, will never bloom into the woman God intends her to become.

As you can imagine, a home with a dozen pre-teen and teen girls will have its challenges. Add to that the trauma of pain and anger these girls carry when they arrive. Lorna says the girls show their pain in different ways… hiding under their beds in fear, incessant washing because they feel "dirty," lashing out in anger. She draws on her faith in God and gradually sees transformation through many tools. In one exercise she asks the girls to draw a home or place of safely and then draw the people who are allowed to enter this safe place. Trusting that they can be safe is a big step toward healing.

And for additional support, Orphan's Promise is providing weekly counseling sessions through a local pastor and his wife. One of the girls talks of her experience, "if you lost hope, your trust in God returns because of the counseling session, and you can say, 'Oh, this is how the Lord is, this is His plan for me. So I shouldn’t take it for granted.'"

A few months after our first trip, we returned with some special gifts the girls had been praying for: musical instruments and computers. I wish you could have heard the joy and excitement on their faces!

Nothing works like a hug!

One girl explained "We made a wish list and buried the paper under a papaya tree on New Year’s Eve. With the guitar my wish was granted. With Orphan’s Promise we were caught by surprise and we thought, 'God has great plans for us. This is for real.'"

Today the young girl I first met is advancing in her studies (she was 2 years behind in school). Lorna has seen a vast improvement in her behavior and her respect for others.

The girl says: I’m very grateful to Miss Lorna because from her, I learned how to cook and how to love. Even if was disobedient, she treated me like a real daughter.

As I write, the girls are practicing for a spring musical recital. Another pre-teen has just been rescued and begins the healing process. The girls are right, God does have great plans for them!