Entrapped

The teachings of the Women of Hope programs reach people in widely divergent situations, yet many of their responses are similar. The following listener responses from Côte d’Ivoire reveal people in two types of prison – one behind bars and the other emotionally entrapped. Each needed God’s forgiveness, compassion, love, mercy and renewal and was able to find his help through the programs.

One woman listens to the French program in prison. Rejection is a common experience for her. The listener shares, “But any time I thought about how there is a God full of love and compassion, it reassured me.” She goes on to say that prisons can be both spiritual and physical. This prisoner has experienced both, but she understands, “It is only God who can manifest himself for all these prisoners so that we find deliverance.”

Another listener had been sexually abused by several men when she was between the ages of 11 and 13. She reports that the experience “had completely destroyed me. My image of self and wellness brought hatred and disgust about men.”

At first the listener asked herself why God had not protected her, but then she realized that God had kept her from getting pregnant. She decided to obey God and forgive the men who abused her. “I ended up accepting what happened to me,” she said.

The listener asked God to forgive her sins just as she had forgiven those who abused her. The wonderful news is, as she says, “God has restored me again, I am the mother to four children, and I am a happy wife! Thank you, my God.”

God intervened in the lives of both these women. Each needed healing and restoration – and realized that only God could provide these needs. And he did not let them down.