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A Sobering Reality

By Betsy Christiansen, Feb 4, 2015

In my nine years of leading medical-evangelism teams, I’d never seen the effect of so much heinous sin, especially against children, as I did on my recent medical trip to La Montaña, an agricultural community near the NW coast of Costa Rica.

Far too many cases of sexually-abused little girls, along with adult survivors of childhood trauma, came to the attention of our triage RNs and treating physicians. The Holy Spirit created safe places for these women and children to share their pain and find healing. First their physical complaints were addressed; then they received intense prayer and counseling, which brought the initial healing touches of Jesus.
Counselor and translator Christy Scott repeatedly ministered to these little ones, as well as to depressed and suicidal adults. In six months in these five communities, there have been six suicides! Spirits of despair, fear, and hopelessness are common. One lady confided how she watches powerlessly each morning as her 7-year-old granddaughter gets on a motorcycle with her father, knowing again she’ll “be late to school.” Compounding this too common tragedy, government services, when existent, collaborate with evil by sending girls off into sex-traffic.

Oh come, Lord Jesus, come in power, love and healing so these precious children may be cared for and cherished as You originally intended!

Betsy Christiansen is a medical missionary with MTW. To learn more about how you can be a part of a medical missions trip visit www.mtw.org/medical. Both medical and non-medical participants are needed!

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Pray for the young sexually-abused girls and adult survivors of childhood trauma in San Jose, Costa Rica, to find healing. Pray for the clinic workers who are proving much-needed counseling.

Pray that people will come to faith in Christ through our medical clinics, where we seek to do what Jesus did and care for those in need.

Pray for Francesca and others like her who receive medical care through MTW clinics. Pray that the care they receive would strengthen their faith in Christ.

Pray for a new initiative in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to hand deliver soap and provide education on disease prevention to 600 families in poverty-stricken communities. 

Pray that MTW medical trips would be used of God to provide much needed care and to draw men and women to faith in Christ. 

Pray for Muslims in West Africa who have been impacted by the Ebola virus to find hope in Jesus Christ.

Pray for the the Medical Campus Outreach team in Cusco, Peru, and for the medical and students at the clinic who are learning to practice medicine and hearing the gospel.

Pray for the fishing village of Costa de Pajaros, Costa Rica. God is changing the community by equipping its residents to embrace their gifts and strengths and see themselves through God's eyes.

Give thanks for the work God is doing in South Asia in the wake of COVID lockdown relief. Ask God to grow the new believers who came to faith in Christ as a result.

Pray for those in the urban slums of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, who are struggling economically due to COVID-19 restrictions. 

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