Stories that need a happy ending.

So one of the things we do here is share a Bible story with the girls before each stitching class. Then we pray with the girls and they start class. Stephanie usually shares the story, and does a great job at it. I shared a little bit last week and told the story of Esther- one of my favs :). The girls seemed to like it too- and they def didn't like Haman!

Today Steph was about to start the story when she looked at the girls and said, "who'd like to tell a story today?" She was joking, but the stitching teacher/translator started encouraging the girls in Hindi to tell us a story. And that's what ended up happening... each girl began telling the stories of their life. We listened to the stories of each girl telling how she was forced to quit school at a young age... how they were married off anywhere between 9 months and 12 years old... I pictured myself in their shoes as the girls told me about being a wife at 12 years old and not satisfying the husband because they didn't know how to cook yet... or how their husbands just went out to find 'new wives'... They told us about wanting to die- about going to the extent of buy 2 boxes of rat poison for themselves... about being abused... and about living for months at a time with not enough money for food. One lady who I would have never guessed had a story like this, shared with us the abuse she faced at the hands of her Aunt growing up. She also shared with us that to this day she has never told her mother this story. Now, she lives with her mom... and they seem to be very close. By her saying this, and telling her story, the smile on her face afterwards told me that this was a story built up many years, but shared with no one. I felt so privileged to be trusted that much by these women.

Me and Steph were also able to share some of our own personal stories with the girls... For me, it was a story I thought I'd never share with them- but I felt God pushing me to share. In my head I heard "They will never look at you the same way again... If you tell this story, they will look down on you..." But I shared, and I loved their reactions. It brought a whole new level of closeness with these girls.

How badly I wish I could just build a huge house in the middle of nowhere, to fly these girls to safety.