Few battles are won in one day. The walls of Jericho fell after 7 days of circling the city in obedience to God, meanwhile God had already accomplished the victory. The past weeks, I have been thinking a lot about prayer circles, obedience and unseen victories, hidden behind battles that still need to be fought. When I look at my community, which is filled with amazing people, big families, lots of very special kids, granny`s who are trying their hardest and teens who are full of jokes, I feel a great great love for all of them. But I also feel overwhelmed, powerless and insignificant. In face of violence, addiction, witch craft, neglect, abuse, poverty, lies, teenage pregnancies, darkness,
"Being there" seems to become more and more part of my job. Sometimes that means I am offering a shoulder for someone to cry on or a hug for a child, in whose family and culture physical touch is not the most common way of presenting "safety, belonging or affection". Other times, I am the ear listening to stories of pain and loss or I am the hand to squeeze to make the feeling of being alone in distress go away. Some evenings I am the counterpart on facebook chats, where teens, who are mostly very shy, open up about their home situations and emotional pain. It doesn`t cost anything "to be there", but it takes a lot sometimes. It is a great privilege when one`s presence is so valued and fille