Strong Women

Lately I have been working to prepare for a five-day training of former victims of property grabbing who have been restored to their property in these last three years that IJM has been working in Zambia. We are trying to expand our impact around the city in order to more effectively reach out to at-risk victims within the compounds surrounding Lusaka. So, we have decided to identify and train some exceptionally strong and enthusiastic former clients on the laws of succession as well as sexual violence. We want to equip them to be focal points for IJM in their communities so that they can advise their neighbors or customers in their day-to-day interactions, as well as be personal testimonies for our work in a more intentional way. I hope that this endeavor will be yet another way that our work can serve to empower those who are most vulnerable.

On Tuesday the women came to our offices in their best dresses and they sat around our conference table and shared their stories with each other over tea and “biscuits,” and they laughed and cried and it was incredible to see them, for the first time, connecting with each other. To see their thrill in meeting other women who have been through the same trials as they had struggled through. To recount their hardships and their stories of victory over injustice to each other and to hear them praise God for both their trials and for bringing them through them. I thought to myself, “This is why I have come to Zambia.” To hear these stories and really witness how God redeems those he has promised to redeem. We are doing good and glorious work here. No matter how frustrating it might be at times, these women have had their lives changed and I know that we are doing something small to work towards that mission. I just need to keep my eye on the purpose I have been called here. Contrary to most of my thoughts throughout the day, I have not been called here to live a super comfortable, super not frustrating, super uncomplicated life. Zambia is hard for me on so many levels. Trying to be a professional in Zambia is even tougher. But my petty trials are NOTHING compared to what these women have seen and lived through in their days here on Earth.

Venus, one of our most successful clients sat at or conference table last week and listened quietly as Colonel explained to theses women their mission. She patiently waited for him to translate what he had just spoken into her native tongue. She has never been able to go to school or receive any kind of formal education and she knows very little English as a result. After her husband died, his extended family moved in and took everything from her and her three children. They kicked them out of their home and took away their market stall and left them destitute with no way to make an income. One of Venus’ sons died of malnutrition, the other one was crippled, and the third became gravely ill. Venus grew very thin. Her family had nowhere to go and nothing to eat. So she walked all the way to IJM from her compound to ask for help. And she walked back many, many times after that first visit. Colonel told us how she would arrive with dust up to her knees just to check on the status of her case. She faithful pursued justice and it was given to her. In less than a year, IJM successfully won her case and was able to get her home restored and her market stall reopened in her name.

I visited Venus two weeks ago. When Joy and I walked up to her in the market, a huge grin came over her face and she beckoned us inside her shop. She was thrilled to show us the new deep freezer she has been able to purchase to keep the food and drinks that she sells cool. She now has two successful businesses in the market and is doing incredibly well. One of her sons has been restored to full health and the other, the one who was crippled, is still recovering from malnourishment but is improving. But what I find remarkable about this family is that even at the lowest point of this unbelievably tough season in their lives, they did not resort to so many of the alternatives that so many widows and orphans here are forced to resort to. Venus never sold her body for money and her children never became thieves or beggars. They had a real faith that the Lord would provide and would redeem them and they truly trusted in that.

As Colonel told Venus’ story to the women around our table, tears began to stream down her face. As she listened to her own testimony I think she realized just how much she had come through. How hard it had been and how thankful she was that time in her life was over. To see her sorrow and gratefulness meeting each other at that moment was one of the most moving experiences I have had here in Zambia. She is a tough, faithful lady. She has been redeemed and has been lifted out of her valley. And now she is going out to help other women do the same. The circle is beautiful, isn’t it? I love that I have been given this opportunity to see how God has used the struggles of these women to prepare them to help others who are going through what they have already come out of. It is how it should be, I think. How God intended us to be his advocates here on Earth. To use our experiences to encourage others. I hope I am able to live up to this task one of these days with even a small amount of grace that these women possess.