| Hearts that cry out |
| Written by Naomi Duff |
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Pray
Go
Naomi Duff talks about the challenges she faces when trying to share God’s love with prostitutes in Chad Early abuse Last night I went to bed to the sound of a child in my neighbourhood wailing as he was kicked and beaten. Sadly this is common practice in Chad (and intervention is usually not well received). A number of the children in the area where I work demonstrate signs of trauma and emotional and physical abuse. The outcome: deprived children grow up and often seek out love, affection and acceptance through immorality, prostitution, solvent abuse, crime etc. Put simply, many of the young women I work with are engaged in prostitution because of the abuse and lack of love and care in their own backgrounds; their hearts are angry and scarred by traumas which no human being should have to endure. The need for hope
The children from around the brothel now freely ‘mob’ Naomi ‘Janine’ represents countless women here: her mother died when she was very young and her extended family showed her painfully little love, care or affection. As a teenager Janine learnt that she could manipulate men into providing her with presents (earrings/a coke) and short-lived affection. The tragic outcome for Janine and each of the women is, of course, the heartbreak of being used, exploited and abandoned time and time again. I have watched as beautiful young women who find a measure of ‘fun’ in rebelling against the dictates of a harsh, patriarchal society and in receiving attention from men soon grow aged and become haggard phantoms with sorrow-filled eyes. ‘Fun’ and ‘power’ soon dissolve into a sense of shame, guilt and hopelessness. Many of these women have learnt to emotionally detach so that they don’t have to feel ongoing pain (but this also means that they struggle to receive love); many suffer from depression and one precious 18-year-old mother resorted to suicide. Although informed about HIV many contract the disease and, as per the fatalistic society, many state: ‘It must be what God wants for me.’ The lies of the evil one are crippling their natural fight to survive and ability to see that God longs to give them life in abundance.
From cynicism to trust So, how do these aching women respond to God’s message of love and life? Many watch me with cynical eyes and clearly find it impossible to ‘hear’ or believe that I or God could ever love or accept them. Nevertheless, with time and by God’s grace alone I have been able to build a good measure of trust with many girls. Some girls long to hear God’s Word and as they sit outside the brothel where they work their faces often light up with beautiful smiles when they see me approach. Their children, who were once beaten by neighbours for approaching me, now know that they can ‘mob’ me freely, sit on my knee and sing songs about Jesus. These hungry little ones are a constant image to me of the hearts of the women who hanker desperately after genuine love and attention. The ‘Prodigal Daughter’ Chad
Capital: N’Djamena Chad is a religiously diverse country. Of its main religions, 53% of Chadians are Muslim, 21% Catholic, 9% Protestant and 8% Ethnoreligionist. Typically the girls share their prayer requests and what is happening in their lives (to varying degrees). Even those who often shut down when I talk about God have been known to ask ‘Will you share God’s Word with me today?’ Yesterday, ‘Alice’, whom I thought had lost all interest in God, asked me to ‘share something’ with her. I recounted a female, Chadian version of the prodigal son and she responded with glassy eyes and said: ‘The only one in that story who is truly good is the Father…he never changed…he always loved her and he forgave everything, that’s God, isn’t it? Please pray that I can follow God.’ The emotional and physical needs of these precious women are immense yet, to the admission of many of them, their greatest need is for God. (What does it profit a man to gain the whole world and lose his soul?) These girls ache for one who can transform their lives, heal their hearts and offer lasting hope. And that is what our God longs to do (John 10v10; Is 61v1-3). |
