David Peterka, founder of When the Saints, tells the story of a young 15 year old prostitute that he got the opportunity to speak with.
Link to the blog below being read!
http://bit.ly/qiHhcm
If you would like to read extensively about what happened in the first three weeks of the trip and haven't seen Matt Hawn's blog then check this out!
http://bit.ly/pSW3aB
One more thing. I posted an album of picture from our trip on Facebook. Look through them here!
http://on.fb.me/qCizAq
In Came Gladice,
We met up with Dorini at Chiquirizano and rented a room. Dorini went out to get a young girl to talk with Chipi and I. We both sat in anticipation not sure about what was about to happen. Then in came Gladice. This is her story.
Gladice said that she was 15 years old. Maybe it was all of the makeup, maybe it was the extensions in her hair, maybe it was her high heels I'm not sure, but I do know she looked closer to my age of 24 than 15. Sometimes it is hard to know exactly how old you are since there are no birth certificates and it is not uncommon to be born at home. Having lost both of her parents by the age of 5 it is possible that Gladice is mistaken about her age. Ultimately I blame it on the last two years of her life in which she has been forced into prostitution. It's hard to even imagine what sleeping with up to 5 men a night for that long would do to your appearance let alone your heart.
Gladice's only known relatives were too poor to feed her and when she tried to live with them they treated her terribly. When she was 12 they finally just married her off to a man so they didn't have to look after her anymore. He also treated her very poorly and slept around with other girls. A woman she met told her that she should run away and go serve drinks in her bar. When she got there she shortly found out that the job involved much more than just serving drinks.
The men who sleep with her will usually give her somewhere between 2 to 3 hundred Kwatcha (~$1.25), but it can be as little as 70 (.30 cents). Sometimes the men won't pay her at all and other times her boss will take what she made leaving her with nothing. She told me something that I can't get out of my head, "If I want to eat in a day then I have to sleep with a man." There were a number of times throughout our conversation where she would go back to how much she wished that she still had her parents. She would work on their farm or maybe have a small business. I asked her what her greatest dream was and she told me about a rare and fleeting thought of going to college to become a nurse. Gladice was different than most people that I run into in Malawi. She wasn't telling me her story because she wanted something from me. She was simply telling me her story with truth rather than manipulation. There was this strength that was seeping out of her eyes because everywhere else was already full. Gladice was one of the most courageous people I've ever met. Thank you for hearing her story.
Lovelovelove,
David
Founder of WtS
www.WhentheSaints.com
Psalm 34:18- "The Lord is close to the broken hearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit."
Ecclesiastes 7:2&4- "It is better to go to a house of mourning than to go to a house of feasting, for death is the destiny of every man; the living should take this to heart. The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning."
P.s. Dorini told me that she hasn't been out to the streets since last time we talked. She says she is a different person and doesn't want to traffic girls anymore. Anytime that I needed her help she told me to let her know.
I would love to hear back from you if you would like to tell me how you are doing and what is going on in your life.
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"Ambuye Alemekiseke" 6-24-11 Prayer Update.movby Dmpeterka49 views
Thanks for sharing and for being the hands and feet of Jesus!
trob64rr 7 months ago