Month: November 2016

Several weeks ago, we shared a story about a women named Jane. We have asked for prayers, and we thank you for faithfully remembering us.

Ever since our first meeting with Jane, she has stopped working on the streets. She has been studying the bible several times a week, and has been joining us on Sunday for fellowship. We hope to continue sharing the gospel with her, and showing her the love of Christ.

Thanks to your support we have been able to pay Jane’s rent, and provide for other miscellaneous needs. She has hopes of starting a small business moving forward, of buying used clothes and selling them at different local markets. We plan on providing business training for her, and showing her the different aspects of the CAM savings group to help her business succeed.

In the book of James we read that if the Lord wills, we will do this or that. Please pray for the Lords will in this situation.

Sojourning in Uganda,

Natasha

She sat there.

Sharing intimate details of her life to a total stranger.

Lost.

Shamed.

Where do we go from here?

Love.

Let’s call this women Jane. She looks no different then you or me, in fact one would not be able to guess the darkness that surrounds her life. Jane works as a prostitute. That is her career by choice, a choice made in desperation. Being a single mother raising five children is not easy, especially without an education in a developing country. No papers, as they call it here, no work. You see, Jane had a really rough home life growing up, and not much changed once she got married. Her life has been marred with physical, and verbal abuse.

Jane shared a story with me about the time she got a job in a bar. It was short-lived. She can’t count money well, and the constant shortages caused her to have to seek work elsewhere. After that a friend found her work as a night shift security guard. She faced many challenges with that job as well, and the street life was never far from her mind, calling her back into its dark snare. She listened, and has been on the streets of Kampala for years.

Objectified.

Degraded.

Low self-image.

It seems like she is wanting to leave the sex industry. Jane has dreams of starting a small business, something that has been on her mind for a long time. She kept telling herself, that she would continue in prostitution just long enough to save the money she needs. But that did not happen, and right now business is slow. The girls she works with are known to steal money from the men they are with. Customers are few. But just handing  money to her and sending her on her way is not the solution. Many women are not capable of recovering on their own, and require rehabilitation and counseling. We want to share the love of Jesus with Jane, so she can experience the healing that comes through regeneration.

Prayer is greatly needed, not only for Jane, but for all the other “Janes” on the streets tonight. This is a big problem, and our friend Stephanie (who came to Uganda for a few months) experienced the industry here first hand. She actually headed out early one morning before dawn when she was here, with Brian, to talk to some of the ladies and bring them breakfast. It was a really good experience for her, and that is how we have come to know Jane, who just recently reached out to Brian.

Tomorrow a dear sister/mother in Christ named Jennifer is going to sit down with Jane. I reached out to Mama Jennifer because she is a native Ugandan who knows the language and culture much more than I do. Plus she has the wisdom that is needed in this situation. We will keep everyone updated on what happens. Thank you for your prayers.

I will close with sharing the story of the women caught in adultery from the book of John, chapter 8. In this story the scribes and Pharisees cruelly haul this women to Jesus to make a public spectacle of her in front of the multitude who came to hear Jesus teach.

But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.

² Now early^[a] in the morning He came again into the temple, and all the people came to Him; and He sat down and taught them. ³ Then the scribes and Pharisees brought to Him a woman caught in adultery. And when they had set her in the midst, ⁴ they said to Him, “Teacher, this woman was caught^[b] in adultery, in the very act. ⁵ Now Moses, in the law, commanded^[c] us that such should be stoned.^[d] But what do You say?”^{[e] 6} This they said, testing Him, that they might have something of which to accuse Him. But Jesus stooped down and wrote on the ground with His finger, as though He did not hear.^[f]

⁷ So when they continued asking Him, He raised Himself up^[g] and said to them, “He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.” ⁸ And again He stooped down and wrote on the ground. ⁹ Then those who heard it, being convicted by their conscience,^[h] went out one by one, beginning with the oldest even to the last. And Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst. ¹⁰ When Jesus had raised Himself up and saw no one but the woman, He said to her,^[i] “Woman, where are those accusers of yours?^[j] Has no one condemned you?”

¹¹ She said, “No one, Lord.”

And Jesus said to her, “Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.”

Because of Jesus

Natasha