As we have adjusted to life at the domestic violence and sex-trafficking shelter where we are serving this summer, our team of seven missionaries has come to terms with the reality of this ministry. It is a grueling, straining, often thankless job most people would love to try—until they found out just how grueling, straining and thankless it can be.
Chelsea BradleyIt would be nearly impossible to survive in this field without the power of Christ leading every aspect. I cannot fathom how shelters of this kind function without a faith-driven, God-fearing staff. Showing mercy to our guests is a daily, practically hourly, requirement. If we didn’t pray over every single shift, I fear our enemy, Satan, would linger around every corner of our expansive building, waiting to strike.
But God is listening to us, in the midst of this taxing mission field. Seeds are beginning to spring to life all around us. Our team spent time recently praying earnestly and intentionally for revival in this place, and the Lord did not disappoint. The very next day, one of our most challenging guests prayed to receive Christ. She even confessed to God that she forgives and loves the very family member who caused her to be here.
Just a few days later, another guest, whose faith we have been uncertain of until this point, told us that she, too, had prayed to receive Christ. And guess what happened the next morning at church. After a powerful testimony by one of my fellow teammates, a third guest asked me to accompany her to the altar so that she could make her relationship with Jesus official.
Three salvations in the span of one week, along with the healing and miracles God already has demonstrated this summer, leave us asking one question: What will he do next?
These women have been abandoned by everyone else, but the Lord continues to show them how desperately important they are to him. His faithfulness is unfailing, and we are eagerly waiting to see what God does with the rest of the summer. As we prepare to host a Vacation Bible School for our children, along with a few other special events, we are praying with expectant hearts to see more people come to know our Savior on a deeper level.
The eyes of the Lord are upon his daughters, and God is responding to their cries with the kind of help only the One who is love can provide.
Chelsea Bradley, a student at Tarleton State University, is serving with Go Now Missions in Oklahoma at a shelter for survivors of domestic abuse and human trafficking.
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