Although she visited our ministry center years ago, she wasn’t quite ready for change. But when she hit rock bottom, she knew where to turn for help.

Desperate, suicidal and scared, she came begging for help to pay for university studies. “I’ll do everything I can to study hard!” She sought out therapy, and began to understand the effects of her abuse, which broke her at age 5 and continued for most of her life. She confronted injustices committed against her, learned about boundaries and how to draw healthy ones.

She lovingly named every one of her aborted babies and painstakingly grieved each loss.

Recently on the banks of a rushing river in the Bolivian cloud forest, she shared, "I want God to cleanse me of my sins, because I am repentant. I want to be free, walking with Jesus." And then she entered the waters, let the past wash away and was baptized.

You’d hardly recognize Analise* now, confident, responsible and beaming with potential. She wields through traffic in a country where women rarely drive. She works as a car salesman while studying commercial engineering. Her dreams evidence a long journey of healing: to be a professional, marry a good man and raise a family. (Love how she can recognize there are good men in the world!)

In preparing to interview for a scholarship, she doubted what to share. “Will they reject me if they know where I’ve been?” But after some thought, she concluded confidently, “Yes! I can tell them my story, and why I never want to return [to prostitution] - that I want to keep moving ahead!”

Analise's name means, “the one who returned.” It’s a name she has despised for the pain it represents. But today Analise is claiming her full identity, her past, present and future with Christ. This prodigal daughter shines as a beacon of light and a testimony that the Lord can restore all things.

*Name changed for respect and privacy.