Chains are Broken

"I once felt shame talking about my mother. I was ashamed that she used to be a prostitute. Then I came to understand that she only did it for us-- for her children," Marta explained. We were all huddled in her bedroom, listening to her story. Minutes ago, her mother, Cecilia, had shared her story with us-- an Opportunity International team from the USA.

I had a hard time assimilating everything.

The tall building with several different rooms-- each occupied by an entire family. The moisture that permeated everything. The dank smell. The crowded rooms. The poverty.

Then there was the pain that they carried in their hearts. And then, then the healing they had experienced after an encounter with the living God.

Cecilia and Elenita are both former prostitutes. Opportunity International, through their micro-credit program, has helped them leave that life behind and find a new source of income. Cecilia realized that by working in prostitution she was taking money away from her client's family to give to her own. She wanted a new way of earning money.

Elenita shared her story with us:

She came to Bogota when she was 14 years old because her mother had died and she had no one. She had an infant with her and was hoping to find support from the deceased father's child. Little did she know, her mother-in-law and all the women in that family were involved in prostitution. Her mother-in-law hated her and finally kicked her out of their home. Her sister-in-law went with her, not wanting to leave Elenita on her own. Every day, her sister-in-law would go work and bring back enough money to support them. Elenita felt ashamed that she wasn't working so she begged to go work with her, but her sister-in-law refused.

One day, Elenita followed her sister-in-law to work and saw her stand outside a door way, scantily clad. Elenita followed suit and stood next to her. Her sister-in-law begged her to go back before it was too late. She explained that they stood out there to sell their bodies... Elenita refused to go back. She had nothing else... she had a body, so she figured she could sell it to provide for her own child.

After a couple of months her mother-in-law became jealous because Elenita was making much more money. Her jealousy drove her to take Elenita's son away from her and she also began stealing her income. Several weeks later, Elenita was able to take her son back and get away from her mother-in-law.

She was involved in prostitution for over 30 years. She had six children, and three of them have died-- two of them were murdered.

I couldn't imagine the pain she'd been through... and yet, she spoke of Christ's comfort and hope. She talked about the transformation she had experienced, thanks to the work Opportunity was doing. She knew that Jesus was the only way she could have left her former life behind.

She knew chains had been broken by the power of the cross.