Previous Challenge Entry (Level 3 - Advanced)
Topic: Protector (05/16/24)
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TITLE: RINA | Previous Challenge Entry
By Lois Eaton
05/20/24 -
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Rina was twelve. Her parents had sold her to traffickers in a desperate attempt to get enough money to stop their children dying from hunger. Surely that was a better life – if only just – than dying from hunger?
Rina didn’t agree. It was like living in a cesspit. Full stomachs are not nice in cesspits.
But what else could she do?
Nothing. Nothing but despair.
Her body was changing. An older girl told her she was pregnant. Who could the father be? No one decent, that was for sure. Rina kept remembering how her mother cried when she knew she was pregnant again – knowing that the baby would quite likely die young, while everyone else in the family rejoiced. One less mouth to feed meant a bit extra for the survivors. A chance that they might live.
She decided she hated the baby. The sooner it died the better.
But then one day she felt the baby move inside her. Feelings she had never known before swept over her. Was this love? She had heard of love, but never known it.
The baby had to live! Nothing else mattered.
She pictured herself loving the baby, and being loved by it. After all, she knew how to care for babies. Caring for her brothers and sisters had been a demanding job.
But then her tummy started to grow. The boss called her in. Trying to hide her fear, she wondered what client she had upset. Maybe that old man who had got angry when she burst into tears. Or that other one who had objected when she threw up in front of him.
Sick with fear, she faced the boss, knowing he had the power of life and death over her.
“You are pregnant. Why did you not tell me?” he demanded. “Never mind. The doctor is coming tomorrow. He will get rid of the baby. Now go.”
Rina raced out and threw up. The ‘doctor’ was not a doctor at all. Just an evil man who enjoyed causing women pain when he aborted them.
Rina suddenly knew that if she lost the baby she would die. She would have nothing to live for.
All her belongings fitted into a small shoulder bag. Hastily, she grabbed it and ran out the back door. To her relief no-one noticed. She slowed down so that she wouldn’t stand out, and walked on. But where could she go? Who would help her?
“I will.”
Startled, she looked around. No-one was looking at her. Thinking she must have imagined it, she walked on. Aimlessly.
“I will provide for you and protect you. I love you.”
The same voice again.
Hesitantly, she asked, “Who are you”.
“I am Yeshua, the Son of God. Most call me Jesus.”
Jesus. That name stirred something inside her. A man came to her village and preached about a son of God called Jesus. No. She remembered now. Not A son of God, but THE Son of God.
She waited for the voice to speak again but all was silence. After a while, she walked on.
Soon the town she had come to hate was behind her, and farms dotted the landscape. Exhausted, she sat down by a little creek.
She was hungry, but that had been normal for her most of her life. But then the baby moved, and she knew she needed food to keep the baby alive.
Desperate, she looked around. To her surprise, a bowl of noodles was beside her. Where had it come from? She was certain it had not been there seconds before. Slowly she ate, and found herself praying to Jesus, thanking Him for the food.
A great certainty welled up inside her.
Just as it was her job to protect the baby, Jesus was going to protect her AND the baby.
She looked up and saw an elderly farmer couple walking towards her. Her first instinct was to run away. But the look on their faces stopped her. Was that love shining out of their faces?
They were smiling.
“God sent you to us,” they said. “Don’t be afraid. God and His Son Jesus want us to help you. He has sent many people to us. Come. You and the baby are welcome. We will care for you, and help you find a permanent home.”
Rina surprised herself by bursting into tears, and running up and hugging them. She knew then she would serve this God and His Son forever.
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My husband and I volunteerd at a Christian home for teenagers, boys and girls, many if not all were in similar situration when taken from their homes. Most came in with hard hearts but as they were shown and learned about God's love for them we saw many come to Christ in that home.
With God all things are possible!
Keep writing !