You is kind. You is smart. You is important.

If you have ever read or seen "The Help" then you know how impactful those statements can be and just how necessary they are for everyone to know. There are so many people across this globe that don't just want to hear these words, but need them. They have been filled to the brim with lies about worthlessness, ugliness, hopelessness, and irredeemability. Last week, when my team and I traveled to Honduras, we had the opportunity to speak with one of these people. 

Kitsia is a 22 year old mother of two beautiful daughters. She has been attending the church that we visited for a while, but she was sitting at the very back. She so clearly felt out of place and uncomfortable, but she still came. We were asked to pray for her because her heart was hardened. As per usual, I was a bit confused and didn't really know what to do. But as we began talking to her and listening to her story, I began to understand her situation and my heart broke for her. 

Kitsia's late huband was a gang member that, for lack of a better word, poisoned her mind. He constantly told her that she was ugly, worthless, and had no purpose. He often beat her and once influenced her to attempt to kill her own parents with rat poison. But through all of this, she still loved him. When he died, she was heartbroken and sought comfort from other men. She still desires a companion, just someone who can affirm her and compliment her, and so she too often jumps into relationships with men that just end up hurting her. As a result of this, she suffers from a lot of guilt that she may be a bad mother to her daughters. She feels she is abandoning them for these men, but doesn't know how to find happiness outside of these relationships. She feels trapped. 

However, she feels drawn to the church and desires a relationship with God. She has heard of God's all consuming love and grace, but she just can't bring herself to believe it. We talked to her for over an hour trying to assure her that God is sufficient in every way.

While during this conversation, Kitsia's walls never quite came down and her heart didn't quite soften enough to hear the encouragement and truth we were trying to give her, she came to see us the next morning at church. We were able to say goodbye to her and her little girls, to give her another giant hug, and to pray with her again. 

It was so, so difficult to see one of God's beautiful children so filled with lies that she doesn't know how to see the truth. But I have faith that God has huge plans for her. I know He will not abandon her. And my team and I continue to pray for her to see past all of her guilt, shame, and confusion so that God can heal her broken heart. 

And I know that she's not alone in this situation! There are people all over the world who believe that God could never accept them for all of the sins they have committed. People that believe that they have to fix themselves before God will love them. I used to be one of them! It's so difficult to understand an unconditional love that is willing to take you as you are, broken and flawed, and put you back together again. But that is the God I serve!

He won't ask you to get your life together before you come before Him. He simply asks that you come as you are!