Karla

(Photo by Shari Gaston)

At the age of 14, this beautiful young lady was abandoned by her mother. She was then raped and became pregnant by her biological father. Early this morning, Karla, who is now 15, went into early labor. Due to some complications, she was taken to a hospital in Tegucigalpa, Honduras by ambulance (which took forever to get) and was taken into surgery for an emergency c-section. The sonogram said it was going to be a girl, but much to our surprise, she gave birth to a baby boy!

If you are like most people, you are still hung up on the fact that she was pregnant by her biological father. Stop thinking about it! This is life in Honduras. Young children, especially girls are abandoned, abused, neglected, traded, and raped every day. Even while Gracie was in the hospital waiting on news from Karla, hospital employees came up to her about a 14 year old girl. The young girl had also been raped and had given birth. They were concerned and spoke to Gracie because that young girl would also be going back home with her rapist. Girls and women in Honduras are seen as objects and property just like a cow or a horse. A lot of men there also have a "macho" complex. They take whatever they want by any means necessary, even if it is from their own child. It is very sad, but it is very real.

Monday, November 29th, Cindy, another girl at the mission will be going to court. She and Gracie will both be testifying against Cindy's rapist. Her rapist was also a family member. She has been sexually abused since she was a baby. Please keep both of these girls in your prayers tomorrow. Karla will probably be in the hospital until Tuesday or Wednesday. Hopefully Gracie will get to see Karla and the baby tomorrow, which means I will hopefully have more updates within the next 24-48 hours. I will also post more information on Cindy.

I hope everyone has a great week! We serve an amazing God, my friends! He can do ANYTHING!