Leaving Camagayan, I knew Precious’s life would carry on like it had before our brief encounter. Mine, on the other hand, did not. Like my friend had warned me, my heart had been broken. I could not grasp the injustice my eyes were opened to; I didn’t understand the pain inflicted on its victims. But in the days, weeks, and months since our encounter, I have learned how a broken heart can be a healthy heart.
As Christ-followers, we serve a God who loves justice and, conversely, hates injustice. The way we respond to the injustice we see in a fallen world should be reflective of God’s abhorrence for injustice. What breaks our Father’s heart must also break our heart. Then, in the midst of our brokenness, we are called to stand beside the broken—those like Precious who are broken and beat down by injustice. When the call to stand beside the broken is answered, this is what it looks like:
Two months after I left Camagayan, the International Justice Mission conducted a raid in Camagayan to rescue some of the girls from the brothels. Precious was one of those rescued and saved from a future of unknown horrors on the streets of Camagayan. She is now in a drug treatment facility and safe house and her daughter, Mary, is in the loving care of an orphanage. What I remember to be complete darkness and despair, God redeemed and restored. There is now hope for this young mother and her child. What will become of Precious? I can’t tell you the answer, and right now, she probably can’t either. But, for the first time in her life, she gets to decide the answer.
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JoRae A. Bishop
Candidate for Juris Doctor, 2009
Student Bar Association, 3L Senator
Regent University School of Law
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