Village Girls

When you read this can you please just stop and pray for our village girls?

Life seems so hard for them, so unfair in some cases.

Just the other day I was standing and talking with one girl; she is probably about 16 years old. I'm thinking she is now pregnant, although she didn't come out and tell me that it's true. She is only in 7th grade, and she's pregnant. Now, from what I've have heard this girl does sleep around a lot, but it just makes me wonder, who has she been learning from? Do her parents love her? Do they try and teach her what is right? Do they discipline her in a way that won't make her rebellious?

As I was talking to her I asked her if she wants to get married someday. She said yes. I asked her if she wants to have kids someday. She said, "Yes, but not now, because if a girl doesn't get an education she doesn't have a good life."

In many cases I agree with what she has said. It does seem that girls here who aren't in school and trying to get an education do end up pregnant and then all hopes and aspirations seem to vanish. Or, in some cases, a girl will be in school, but she will still end up pregnant causing her to drop-out and that's the end of her schooling.

Pray for these young people. It's not just the girls. It's the boys too. Pray that the Lord would intervene in their lives and would reveal what a good marriage is supposed to look like. It seems that there are so many single parents in the village. Even the handful of couples have almost all had previous relationships and kids with other spouses. Pray that they would see what a marriage of a couple following whole-heartedly after Jesus is supposed to look like and they would desire it for themselves. Pray for a revival to happen here; that young men and women would begin to seek this for themselves. Pray that we would be able to model this; to model what a Christ-centered marriage is supposed to look like.

Back to the 16 year old girl, pray that if she is pregnant that she wouldn't have an abortion. Abortions are legal here in Zambia. Pray that God would use this time in her life to draw her closer to Himself and that she wouldn't dwell in shame and regret.