Bench Mark

 

 STORY BEHIND THE PHOTO: Picture Praise, 5/28/12

In Burkina Faso, West Africa, this young women, Rebeccah, is taking the time to meditate on the Word of God written in her own language of Jula. She is one of the girls at the Dorcas House, a transformative center for girls. 

At Dorcas House, the girls are able to develop and grow as they live in community with 20 other young women (ages 15-25), study the Word of God, learn to read and write in French and Jula and acquire technical skills like sewing on a treadle sewing machine and gardening.  God has provided for this center since the idea came to a group of Burkinabe women called UFAC (Union Femine de l’Alliance Chretienne). Partnering  with them, I was able to see God raise up a simple yet beautiful center for 20 girls per year.

We were visited by a group of women from Pennsylvania for two weeks of special activities. One of the women, Cindy Long, brought a lot of laughter and creativity to the team. In the year following her visit to Dorcas House, Cindy went to be with the Lord. Her family’s desire was to donate funds to Dorcas House in her memory. This bench was built with those funds...as well as seven other benches located throughout the four acres of the center. The benches are placed strategically so that as the sun travels across the sky there is always a shaded place to sit and think, laugh or read the Word of God and pray.

I love seeing how the family of God joins together even across the ocean to see God’s hands of mercy and love. Each one of us is called to that place of meditation as we align our hearts with God’s heart..it reaches to the ends of the earth.

photographer: Amy Nehlsen, Burkina Faso. She is currently stationed in the US, but will be doing a camp with the girls called "Run the Race!" in Burkina Faso as this photo is published. Find out more about Dorcas House at www.wix.com/dorcashouse/faso.