Equipped with a Story
“Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”
2 Corinthians 4:16-18.
Earlier this year, we told you the story of Micah, a Zambian woman who was one of the first to experience RiverCross’ original Holding Esther training in 2014, and had been utilizing this training across Zambia on her own, despite having lost contact with RiverCross since her training. Last spring, Micah reconnected with RiverCross in hopes of participating in our annual Summit to gain more tools to help the vulnerable children she’d been serving over the last 7 years. For Micah, her desire to help the vulnerable children in her community stemmed from witnessing traumatic events every day.
With a sponsorship from Simba Tech, Micah was able to board an airplane for the first time and fly to Kenya to participate with 60 others who share her passion to see vulnerable children set free to thrive.
The following is just one of the stories that Micah shared with us at the RiverCross Summit.
It was the summer of 2016 when I received a call from a neighbor telling me that a local 15 year old girl, Jamelle, had been raped by her stepfather. Shortly after, I began regularly meeting with Jamelle for counseling, equipped with Holding Esther as a tool to guide our conversations.
Often times, Jamelle would pause the audio drama, unable to listen through her sobbing. Again and again, I gave her space to process her emotions. Again and again, Jamelle came back. After months of this, Jamelle was able to hear the story, becoming more engaged with each episode, asking more questions, and telling more of her own story without the same bitterness she'd had before.
Slowly but surely, Jamelle was able to collect the fractured pieces of her story and began to heal. Micah saw the true power of story at work in a hurting child's life. Praise God that Jamelle was the first in a long line of children that Micah's has set free to thrive.
