Eleven months. She made it eleven months in her court ordered, one-year program. So close to the end, but for her it still seemed so far from the healing she needed. She had done so much work. She had checked so many of the boxes on the court order. But the trauma of trafficking that deeply wounded her soul couldn’t be contained in a box on paper.
This woman’s story is her own, but she shares the hurts, struggles, and pain of so many others we meet. Each of them has been used, manipulated, and trafficked. They have been reduced to so much less than who God created each of them to be. These are the women served by RAHAB Ministries. These are the women you serve each time you donate. Women who have been trafficked right here on the streets of Northeast Ohio.
This specific woman had been going through trauma therapy, unpacking the deep wounds that were inflicted on her by her traffickers. She was navigating her way through a deep and raw pain that most of us will never understand. She was so brave to do this work, but the pain was too much to bear.
Sadly, it’s not uncommon or unexpected for this kind of pain to be overwhelming. It causes serious setbacks in a journey toward healing. Most survivors have lived through years of being used and abused. They have been told they are only worth the price of their body. The emotional and physical damage that was done is more than any human should carry.
When this woman’s pain became too much for her bear, she returned to old habits. She ran. She disappeared. She eased the overwhelming hurt the only way she knew how – with substances that numb – if only for a short time.
That could have easily been the end of her earthly story. But for RAHAB’s outreach team who never give up on a woman. Even when she has setbacks. Even when she runs. After she disappeared, RAHAB staff and volunteers were out on the streets diligently searching for her each and every day. They went to all the darkest places, looking diligently for her face. They were hoping, praying, and refusing to give up. Until they found her, in the midst of an overdose, next to a dumpster.
This story is so reminiscent of Jesus’ relentless pursuit of the lost. Matthew 18:12 – 14 tells us “…If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off. And if he finds it, truly I tell you, he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off.”
This woman is like that one. RAHAB’s team was committed to finding her because it’s what Jesus calls us to do. And they were so happy just to find her, no matter the circumstances. Their ability to find her, in the shadow of a dumpster, is made possible when you give. Your financial support makes it possible for outreach teams to go, seek, and find those who are struggling under unspeakable pain.
Every woman should have someone who cares enough to search for her day in and day out until she is found, especially on her hardest days. Your gift makes it possible to never give up on a woman, no matter the setbacks.
This woman’s story isn’t over. After finding her, members of RAHAB’s outreach team took turns sitting with her in the hospital, praying with her and for her as she has fought through the physical struggles caused by the overdose, and the life of trauma that led to it. They aren’t giving up on her, and I hope you won’t either. Your year-end gift, no matter the size, is an investment in her healing journey.
One of our outreach workers noted that we often see healing victory only when the darkness gets this desperate. So, as we sit and pray, we watch expectantly for God to grant that victory. Please pray for victory and give financially so she and others can experience Christ’s love on the darkest days.
Please donate to RAHAB Ministries today so we can continue to seek her, walk with her through the journey of healing, and point her to freedom in Christ.
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