Freedom, like a butterfly!

Butterflies are my favorite creatures in the whole world! Not only are they so beautiful, they represent profound transformation and freedom. Coming into Nicaragua, God broke me free from the enemy’s lies of not feeling accepted due to what I share or the lack of sharing enough. God has been graciously reminding me that my voice is very powerful and that it is all about partnership with the Holy Spirit of when and what I should share. It has been an incredible journey to see the Lord redeem that part of my life. Using my voice more and being present in every situation has been truly a blessing to experience this past month in Costa Rica and now in Nicaragua. I come to realize that the enemy is truly afraid of me and my voice. That’s why I am so grateful for freedom and how the Lord has been transforming me into the bold and courageous leader He sees me as.

Freedom and transformation is a major theme at the ministry I had the privilege to volunteer with this month. My team and I worked with the ministry called House of Hope. It is an organization that provides vocational training that enables prostitutes to leave the streets and learn skills that will provide for their families. They receive discipleship training that will help establish them in the Lord. This ministry has been absolutely an honor to serve in. The women here has experienced intense brokenness in their lives from addiction, murder, prostitution, neglect. But just as caterpillars have to experience intense transformation in their cocoons before becoming who they are truly meant to be, these ladies also get the amazing opportunity to experience transformation so that they can become who God has truly called them to be! This is such a beautiful picture. House of Hope even uses the symbol of a butterfly to represent their ministry because they focus on freedom and calling the women to a higher place in the Kingdom of God instead of focusing on their past. 

My time here in House of Hope was truly an honor. The spirit of peace rests on this place. I didn’t experience any spiritual heaviness like I pictured it to feel. This is definitely a true testament of God’s glory, power and love and Him placing people of peace here to cultivate an atmosphere of freedom.

My team had the honor to live amongst the women and do life with them. The women and their children welcomed us with open arms. The kids loved us right from the start. They wanted to spend every free moment they had with us! They loved playing games like red rover and duck duck goose and taking pictures with us. 

The women enjoyed the way we loved and played with their children, which allowed them to be more open with us. My team had amazing conversations with the women. One evening, my team created a women’s event called Beauty for Ashes, which allowed some of my teammates to share testimonies and give space for the women to do drawing activities to connect them more with God’s heart. Later that evening, some of my teammates washed the women’s and children’s feet and prayed for them as a prophetic act of service, honor and love. Throughout the week, I was very intentional with the women and asked them questions like how has God using House of Hope impacted them and what are their hopes and dreams. I was left in awe to hear their stories, the change within them and their dreams for the future. The following are some of the things that the women shared with me…

How God using House of Hope impacted me:

“God used Hope of Hope to assist my middle daugther (aged 5) to speak. She was mute until a year ago due to bullying and I didn’t know how to help her. It was by God’s power and working with the psychologist at House of Hope that helped her to speak. She is now a fast learner and very bright.”
“House of Hope allowed me to quit my alcohol addiction and lifestyle.”
“God through House of Hope helped me to change my character and the way I think such as apologizing for things when I am at fault. I never did that before coming here.”

My dreams and hopes for the future:

“To own a pastry shop/restaurant.”
“To graduate from House of Hope, reunite with my daughters, and work as a English translator for missionaries.”
“To watch my children grow up to study one day.”
“To own a home.”
“To be an example for other people-a great testimony.”

After hearing these responses, I felt Holy Spirit tell me to either encourage them as they shared or pray for them for whatever miracle they hope the Lord would do in their lives. These moments were priceless. God moved very powerfully in the conversations and prayers. The words spoken really touched their hearts and they felt very blessed to receive everything that the Lord had for them.

The women here sticks to a schedule everyday to keep them accountable. Every morning for an hour, between the hours of 4:30 and 6:30, the women would gather to worship, pray and have devotion. I made it a priority to go to it each morning to support them in their walk with the Lord and being able to know Him better. After devotion, the moms would get their kids ready for school and then they all would have chores to complete throughout the day. Sometimes there are classes for the women to attend like sewing classes and jewelry classes. These classes allow the women to learn skills so that once they graduate from House of Hope they could find work. They also attend parenting classes. Most women were never taught how to raise children well so they get the opportunity to learn valuable knowledge. There is also a psychologist on site. She is amazing. She helps lead devotion and is always available to walk with the women in emotional healing from their trauma. 

As I was attending one of the devotions in the morning, I felt Holy Spirit tell me to give prophetic encouragement cards to the women towards the end of my stay at House of Hope. There are 15 women living at House of Hope. I tried my best to memorize all their names and I took a couple of days to hear Holy Spirit’s voice of the words to write on how He sees each woman. The morning of the devotion, I shared with the women how we are called to love one another and how God gave me words to love and encourage them. I went around the room and shared the words. Google translate is such a huge blessing. I gave them the option to listen to the words from Google translate or to read the cards on their own as they received them. I also made a prophetic encouragement card for the psychologist. She led devotion that morning. It was a sweet morning. I was left in awe of how much God sees and loves each woman and that He chose me to do it. God is so good!

It was such a humbling experience to be in the presence of beautiful, kind, loving, and peaceful women. The Lord definitely blessed my team with this ministry. What makes it even more special, is that my team coming here was an answer to the House of Hope director’s prayer! It has been such a long time since a team of missionaries came to serve with House of Hope. We were a part of the director’s redemption story as well as for House of Hope. She even told my squad leader that by us being here, we have made a huge impact in the lives of both the woman and children. We served with so much love and compassion. 

Seeing the women and children live with joy in their hearts and walk in freedom, like a butterfly, brought chills to my spirit. I was so blessed to be able to partake in God’s wonder.