The IJM Rwanda staff hears the abuse cases of children
everyday, this is what they do. This is the work God has called them to do. I, however, am not an attorney or a social worker or a law enforcement specialist, so I am not
in the office with them everyday. God has called me to a different season right
now, of raising our four children and keeping our home running while living
overseas. I go up to the office for staff devotion occasionally, which I love.
The Rwandan staff of about 20 sings together, mostly in Kinyarwanda, have a time
of devotion from the Bible and lastly, share prayer requests for clients, legal court cases, and pressing things for
that day. Two weeks ago, when I was there for
devotion, one of the staff shared that a client, Martine*, was
pregnant and had run away from home. More importantly, her due date was coming
up VERY soon and the staff were concerned about her. No one had seen her in months until just recently...
When the staff shared the prayer request for the Rwandan teenager, my
heart was captured. I wanted to know the details; I wanted to know more about
her case. My friend Amanda was also
there that day for devotion and wrote about Martine’s story. Here is the
story….
Instead
of attending school and playing with friends like other fourteen-year old
girls, Martine suffered regular terror and abuse from a man in her
neighborhood. He regularly beat her and raped her, and she eventually became
pregnant. When her pregnancy became apparent, she came to IJM looking for help.
IJM
came alongside the authorities and eventually, the perpetrator was arrested,
tried, convicted and sentenced. Martine successfully completed trauma
counseling and gave birth to a healthy baby boy. IJM helped her go to
school. She lived with her mother, who
is HIV positive, and her young siblings. Case closed, right?
If
only life was that easy. Martine began to have conflict with her mother. It
started as typical issues between a mother and a teenager, but due to the
trauma suffered by Martine and the challenges of being a young mother, it
quickly escalated, and she ran away from home, leaving the baby with her
mother. Three months later, Martine’s brother found her and brought her home.
Eventually
Martine made a plan to kill herself and her baby, believing it to be the only
way to find relief from her pain. Thanks
be to God, she was unsuccessful, but the demons remained.
IJM
helped her to be admitted to a mental health hospital and receive additional
counseling and continued to help Martine’s mother to care for the baby. Martine
agreed to enter a boarding school and vocational training program to try and
better her circumstances, but after two weeks in the program she disappeared,
telling the school authorities that she was pregnant again.
She
disappeared last fall. Just a few weeks ago, Martine reappeared when someone
saw her at a local Kigali hospital scheduling the birth of her new baby.
Martine is scheduled for a surgery to deliver the baby on March 25, 2014.
Meanwhile,
Martine’s mother continues to care for her first baby, Henri, who is now almost
two years old. Mama Martine is quite ill due to her HIV status and weak from
caring for the young child and her other children without any other family
support. Despite
her weakness, Mama Martine continues to fight for her family. Worried that she
may need to care for another baby in the near future, she may seek to have
Henri adopted by a Rwandan family. With IJM’s help, she is determined to start
a business to help support her family.
The story isn’t over yet. Would you pray for Martine with us?
Hello. This
is Anna again. Well, TODAY is the
day scheduled for her child’s birth! Yes, today!
Please stop and pray right now, wherever you are. Pray for this teenage girl,
who is probably scared and unsure of her future. I pray for her mental and physical health as she prepares to give birth.
Please pray that the IJM staff
would find Martine today. Pray for a safe delivery for mom and a healthy baby. Pray that God will show Martine His love for
her through us. Let IJM be the hands and
feet of Jesus, to bring a hope and a future. Pray that Martine will turn to God as her savior and protector.
Pray for this family to be
reunited. Also, pray for Mama Martine and her
health as she cares for Martine’s toddler son.
“But
while he was still a long way off,
his father saw him and felt compassion for
him,
and ran and embraced him and kissed him” (Luke 15:20)
Let
this case be like the son that is welcomed back home with open arms!
Let our Heavenly Father run to Martine, protect her, and embrace her in His arms.
*Martine and Henri are pseudonyms, to protect their identities.
Here is the link to Amanda's blog. She is an attorney, a great writer and passionate about many things including God's heart for justice, adoption, and the poor.
