Raped repeatedly by her brother. Her own flesh and blood. At one time in her life, she looked up to him the way little girls look at their older brothers. He was supposed to be her protector. Not her tormentor. But all that changed the moment he violated her innocence and her trust. She loved him and she hated him. She knew it was wrong, but she didn’t want to tell. She was scared. He was the pride of the family. The prodigal. The future of the family. Nothing was expected of her. She was just a girl.
Because her status in the family, and in the culture, was of little value, she was forced to lie. She was forced to hide the truth and live in fear. It went on for years. And it wreaked havoc on every aspect of her young life. It wasn’t until she had enough, that she exposed the wickedness. She convinced herself that it was time to tell. She was older and able to defend the truth. She saw hope in the truth and decided to speak it. She knew the truth would make things right. She knew her family would defend her. She knew they would help her heal. But she was wrong.
Instead of defending her, they defended him. She was called lier. She was named the destroyer of the family. It was her fault. The painful questions came. What was she thinking? Why would she say such horrible things? What good would come of this nonsense? Why would she attempt to ruin the life of her brother? What good was she anyway? Why was she ever born? Why should she be allowed to live?
The family’s anger threatened her existence. She was to die for what she did. But by the grace of God, and the love of a mother, she was taken into protective custody. Yes, the mother finally took action to save her daughter. You see, she had known all along what was happening to her princess. Sometimes mothers just know when things aren’t right with their children. Sometimes they interject into these situations with passion and fury in order to protect. Sometimes they turn a blind eye out of fear or ignorance. For whatever reason, the abuse of her daughter was ignored. But thankfully the life of her daughter worth saving.
In order to protect her life from her own family, the young lady of this story was placed at Shadow. In a culture where girls are not valued equally with their brothers, she now lives where this aspect of the culture is not practiced or tolerated. This daughter has as much value as any son on this property. Though she struggles daily with her past and her self-worth, our prayer is that she turn her eyes to heaven. Her heavenly father sees her with more value than any earthly father could. In His eyes she is more than just a girl. He is her true defender. Her protector. Her hope. Her salvation.
The brother in this story is serving time in prison for the actions against his sister. The family’s anger has shifted from our victim as they have learned the entire truth, and restoration of their relationship is occurring. Please pray they will no longer be blinded to the truth and that they will see their daughter through the eyes of Jesus, instead of through the eyes of the culture.
