One of the best things about traveling on mission trips is attending different churches and experiencing how different cultures worship. PDK alternates traveling to church every other week with “home church”. This morning was home church. I was thankful in large part because it was pouring rain and it was nice to stay here and sit in the (covered) common area. It has been transformed from dining hall to sanctuary complete with sound, instruments and a podium of sorts.
My favorite part of the service this morning was worship – the music. I recognized all the songs, and the girl who led worship did not have the best voice by our standards. What made it so beautiful is knowing the story behind this girl called “king-king”. King King ran away from home after her mother disappeared. Her father was part of a cult and the only thing he gave her was a tattoo stamped on the top of her forehead as a young girl. Like most of the kids here on the street, she turned to prostitution. At age 15, she became pregnant but continued prostituting. In her 7th month, a client (local cop) took her on his motorcycle and after being serviced, he beat her until they both thought she was dead.
When she recovered, she went with a friend to the PDK drop-in center. Shortly after delivering her baby, she was allowed to come and live in the PDK residential compound. Not only has she stayed with the program, she is healthy, her baby boy is healthy (although he may have some long term issues as a result to the blows he received while in his mother's pregnant belly) and she is now attending university.
Somehow, the words she was singing this morning took on a new meaning for me. God in all his glory can save a 15 yr old pregnant, dirty, runaway girl without parents and no reason for hope - and become real. She's found that hope -It was written all over her face as she was singing. It took the words off the page for me as well. I'm sharing a photo of the kids who are currently living at the PDK compound. King-King is the smiling girl holding "kon-kon".
"She's found that hope -It was written all over her face as she was singing."
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