Preparing the Called

Hello friends! I realized that I have not written in a while and so I wanted to give a short update on whats been happening here! I feel like I am finally in a pretty regular routine and have found a little spot here in this corner of the world. Things with Orphan Aid are going well and I continue to see clients, although they are stretching me in my counseling skills and ideas!! There is nothing like jumping in head first to work with a population that really has no idea what counseling is, does not always speak English, and have been orphaned or severely abused! I feel challenged every day in what I am doing but also know that this is exactly where I am supposed to be. Sometimes I feel so inadequit, but then God always reminds me that His strength is made perfect in my weakness. God does not call the prepared, but prepares the called and I know that through Him and being so hands on with people, I will learn quickly how to deal with certain situations. I have begun taking some of the teen girls to get tested for HIV and although it is always a scary and nerve racking time I am proud of them for wanting to know their status. I have also come to realize that there is a lot of kinda underground prostitution going on with these teen girls!! It seems as if most of them are having "sugar daddies" in which they exchange sex for things like money and cell phones. I am having trouble trying to understand how this is acceptable for young girls to be doing and how they have come to a point of selling their bodies like this at such a young age. One teen I spoke with says the girls actually approach the men, and the men never say no.... As you can imagine this does something to the HIV rate as well as teen pregnancy. Here it seems normal for girls to be having babies at 15 or younger. I know a 17 year old girl who has a 5 yr old child- whether he is through rape or not I do not know. It is so hard to try to get this girls to understand what they are doing to themselves and that they are worth far more than what they are settling for! Please join me in praying into this situation and coming up with an ideas on how to address this situation. This stuff breaks my heart and it is so difficult to know about and feel like there is nothing I can do....