Roza
One of the gals who had been with us for three weeks brought Roza. She loved the fellowship at the Outreach Center. What's not to love in four stories of women busily sewing, making jewelry, eating, cooking, chatting, laughing, or on the top floor in the worship room?
But she always came stone drunk and needed to throw up in the toilet before she could start her workday. Once she came around, she was brilliant. In her home country she had made jewelry and been a seamstress, so she was excellent at what she did. But the veneer was thick. She was, as it were, two people. She could interact, and do well, and thrive in the bustle and community. But part of her was missing, adrift, confused, and not connecting.
That's actually fairly normal, considering. Being there and and being consistent began to reach a deeper place in her heart. One day her friend Snowdrop asked for prayer. This came three weeks after seeing us pray for another friend, Sparrow. Apparently, Snowdrop wanted to see if the healing Sparrow received would stick. She was used to seeing shamans do their thing, and then, once the money was spent, it would wear off and be worse than before. So, sweet sceptic that she was, she waited. And Sparrow stayed healed, and was stronger every day.
So she also asked for prayer. For the Fire Dragon of alcohol and the smoking to be lifted off her. She didn't want to spend money on them, but they pulled at her so. It was a simple prayer. The God of the Universe showed up, as He so faithfully does. And a cloud lifted off her. And Roza witnessed all this. She too waited to see. I mean, she and Snowdrop had worked the same shift at the brothel for years. She knew what her friend was like.
Snowdrop came back in two weeks and was laughing. She had forgotten about the prayer. And when someone offered her a drink, she drank, and got so nauseated she threw up. Then she remembered! The dragon was gone! She was ecstatic! Roza watched another week or so, and then quietly asked for prayer too. Her healing was deep, at a heart level, and when God touched her, she was a new person.
Now Roza not only comes early, she is teaching new women how to do the work. She has started a whole new wing of the outreach in a new neighborhood, where there are many women who speak her mother tongue. It's operating out of the basement of her local church. The one she joined last month when she got set free.