Praising Him Through the Storms (by Amanda)

I have been going each week to the Centre Rahab hoping to learn and maybe help a little with Carina’s work with Prostitutes and the disenfranchised people in Bamako, but I am beginning to believe that the blessings I am receiving from them far outweighs anything I have given in return. Let me just give a brief description of what Centre Rahab does. It was started by Carina Saarloos, a Dutch missionary here, as an outreach which counsels prostitutes and widows. It is a training center for the women to learn a trade. The most important thing that the Center does is give them a clear understanding of who Christ is and then continues to teach and mentor them so they can grow in their walk with God.

Each Friday morning the women who work there are required to go to a Bible study. Recently Carina has asked that one woman a week would give her testimony to the group and so far two women have spoken and they have been wonderful. I am going to share with you Louise’s testimony as best as I can translate it. Louise is in her mid 30’s and has lived a lifetime of sorrows. She started her story with getting married at age 19. Her and her husband had three children which either died soon after birth or were born stillborn. Then her husband died. Soon after this she became a Christian. A few years later she remarried and had another baby which, praise the Lord, lived. I do not know the exact time line but her second husband got sick and because they had no money and no food to eat he died. She was left with just her son. In the village they called her a sorcerer because all the things in her hands had died. It continued to get worse: her son, who was four at the time, got sick and also died. Since she had no one left she went to her parents but they would not accept her and called her a crazy lady. So Louise came to Bamako to live with her little sister. She was put in contact with a missionary at the Magnambougou church and eventually was guided to talk with Carina who began counseling her and brought her into the Rahab work program. So she stood at the front of the room and praised God because He had spared her life and brought her to a place were she could work and provide for herself.

Her story brought me to tears; with everything that happened she still came out praising God. Don’t get me wrong - she did go through times of discouragement and depression but by the grace of God she still managed to come out praising Christ. I share this story for three reasons: One - it touched me deeply. Two - because I hope it will touch you deeply, and three - because I want you to pray. Pray for these women who have been through so many trials. Pray that God will heal them and that He will give them the desires of their hearts. Pray for this ministry that it will be able to grow and become an outreach to more women and pray for Carina as she organizes the ministry.