Project Doreen

The Story

When an old lady Grace knew died in her eighties, she left much of her estate to her Church. Her mother had been a prostitute, and she had grown up with a deep concern for those who are marginalised in society. The money that she left would not fully pay for building a church for the little group of 26 adults that met on a Sunday, but would go a long way towards it. However as soon as the leaders and trustees heard of the Project (outlined below), their reaction was “We cannot hold on to this money when others need it so badly!” Amazingly this little group had a day of prayer and fasting, believing they should give away their own building project to those who need it more.

The Vision

For many years Grace has longed to do something, however small, to rescue children from the “slave trade”, where lives are trafficked like commodities in Eastern Europe. Children are being sold by poor parents into prostitution, into the begging trade or to modern-day “Fagins” for pick-pocketing in large cities. Perhaps most infamous of all, they are sold to unscrupulous doctors for their organs, which are sold to the highest bidder.

On 4th September '04, Grace was contacted by a trustee from the little Church, with the suggestion that they might want to give their building fund for the purpose of such a Rescue House! On 11th October, Grace flew to a country in E.Europe to talk to some folk about setting up a Rescue House. The first person she spoke to burst into tears as it had been her vision for some years! She had planned to return to her home country the following year but this seemed to be God's call to stay and fulfil the vision she had had for so long. She and the folk she worked with were immensely touched by the generosity and self-sacrifice of the church back in England.

The Project

The Rescue House project was born and as a result there is now a home which offers residential care for girls who have been victims of, or at risk of, sexual abuse. In just the first few years of the house being up and running, it became home to four precious girls who had been rescued. The project is now run by the Director of the Rescue House.

The Lesson

Neither the old lady nor the little Church mentioned experienced lots of miracles in their lives. They were simply faithful to God, and we believe that the fruit of this will be incalculable. It is like the story Jesus told of the Widow's mite…when we give what we have, He does the multiplication and who knows where it will stop? How open are we for God to use us in the little that we do have so that He can reach and change and help the many who have nothing? I do not believe the Church in this story will miss out…nothing we give to God is not returned with interest. But the children who might die or be appallingly abused will rise up and call them blessed and that surely is the best return they could ever have? This is a tiny project, or at least it is at the moment, but its like the story of the boy with the starfish “At least we can save this one…”