Fast Times

Every Friday the girls at White Doves fast. From morning until 5pm. Now it may seem like something that would become routine after awhile. Get up Friday morning, go through the day without food, pig out at night. I know in America religious traditions can quickly become routine. So I was skeptical of the idea at first. But I participated nonetheless (I'm barely eating anyway, not eating at all is hardly a stretch). I must admit I was definitely wrong about the monotony of it all. The morning was the same as usual, get up, have devotions (the kids don't fast btw) and go about morning chores and activities. But then instead of lunch time (which is the only real group meal of the day), we gathered around our tables (realized today that there are no chairs in our house...so odd!) and we listened to worship music and spent several minutes in the Word, asking God for a verse to share with the group to encourage each other. After a few minutes, girls began to share. Not just one or two, but all ten! Each girl had a verse God had given them, which they read aloud and then encouraged the group with it. It's quite obvious that these girls have a personal relationship with Jesus. I often get caught up in the theology and forget how easy it is to have a relationship with Him. Childlike faith indeed. After we shared our verses, we stood in a circle and prayed. Next month starts a new term, which means 12 new girls are going to join the house, and the current girls are going into the karaoke bars, guest houses and massage parlors to outreach to the working girls and encourage them to leave and join White Doves. These same girls that were living that life until recently. Paul's words about a new creation have never been more alive to me than right now. We prayed for the new girls and the new term. We prayed for the slum ministry. We prayed for the leadership. We sang in worship. I didn't even realize we skipped lunch. I wasn't even hungry. It was a great experience to share with them.