[snapshots] of malawi.

her face showed no emotion, well no happiness at least, a face of pain from the past. she just didn’t feel anything anymore. this 10 year old girl has experienced more in her 10 years than a person could ever dream of having to go through in their entire life. she holds the story, the scar of abuse, loss of parents, spiritual battle, and that is probably just the start. her name is Befa (or Bertha), a Malawian who has one of the sweetest hearts. if you peel back the scars a face emerges that you wouldn’t really expect initially. she just has never found a safe place to peel back the layers. well with 5 weeks of safety and attention these layers slowly pulled back. she may not have expressed all the hurt of her past, but she found joy in the present. one day when no questions could get her to talk and no toy captured her attention, she turned to a piece of paper. the request was that she draw a place she feels completely safe. emerging was an image of the home she now lives in and the sign at the end of the road. a sign bearing the words “Circle of HOPE”, hope being just the thing she had found here. she found a place to belong, thrive, and to begin to be all God created her to be. that day the picture became a bridge for words to come. she was able to contrast the past life with the safe place she finds herself now. she really doesn’t seem to remember much of her past, but the scars were still there. as we dwelled on the present and she saw the hope that lies in her safe place, a small smile creeped onto her face. the smile slowly grew the following weeks as she found love and belonging, no more scars could hide her. in 5 weeks i saw Befa transform from isolated and angry, to joyful and very present. it is almost harder to find her alone or without a smile now. she found a sense of hope with washed away scars.