It’s Wednesday, and the afternoon sky looks like cotton candy against crystal blue. Soccer teams blur the fields in practice as workers stoop over land nearby to harvest greens and purples and golds.
And far above it all, on a hill overlooking volcanoes and cobblestone, there is singing.
Arrebato. Repossess.
The young women stand like an army, each declaring “I am taking back what was stolen…”
And by their side stands Lilly. She looks at each of them and remembers the day in 2012 when she rescued three infants. She had gone to rescue one – a little boy named Diego who had been found in a septic tank. When she arrived, she was asked if she would take two more. One, a little girl named Dulce, had been found in a hotel, wrapped in toilet paper and placed in a trashcan. The other, a little boy named Armando, was found outside in a sack covered with leaves and rocks. As she held all three infants, she wept. In each infant’s face, she saw the reflection of a young mom, terrified and desperate.
Arrebato. Repossess.
It’s Wednesday, and the young women sing. The youngest, just 13, watches her four-month old son as he sleeps. She was a slave when they found her, when they rescued her and brought her to this place. A 16-year old cradles her toddler with one arm as she raises her hand to the sky. Next to her, a 14-year old closes her eyes and smiles as she proclaims every word. Little ones play as their moms sing the song they say is their testimony.
Every one was a victim of sexual abuse or trafficking. Rape and incest clawed away innocence. Childbirth left scars on bodies too young to understand. The stories on the pages were smeared with darkness.
But those stories are being redeemed.
“I believe God brought me to this place so He could bring me home to His love.”
“I am learning to forgive my abuser. I am being set free.”
“I have hope.”
In this place called Hope & Future, the girls are singing.
Arrebato is their battle cry. Repossess.
A new girl sits quietly and listens, her eyes filled with tears. She is seven months pregnant and a stranger to a place like this. Sometimes safety can feel so unsure. She wants to believe.
It’s Wednesday, and today the young women sing for her.
Although a thousand giants rise up against me, I will not fear
The enemy cannot touch my faith.
Because God has changed my name and made me his daughter
And today I am head and not the tail
And now live from glory to glory
Today I take back what belongs to me
What has been taken from me will be returned with more
Because God made me his daughter
And with the children of God nobody messes.
Today I seized what belongs to me
What has been taken from me will be returned with growth
God made me his daughter
And with the children of God nobody messes.
I am made an heir with Him
And He has given me the power to bind and loose
And declare a word to change your generation
And today I declare that what was stolen from you is returned.
I repossess family, I repossess my health
I repossess the treasures of the heavens, they belong to my home
I repossess, I repossess
I repossess all that is mine
I repossess, I repossess what’s mine, what’s mine.
What in your life needs to be repossessed today? Listen to the voices sing, and let this be your proclamation. Today, it is mine.
If you’d like to meet the girls who are singing the song, join me on a trip to Guatemala with Orphan Outreach. Their stories will inspire you to believe.
This is why I write the stories. And this is why I’m writing the book Building Eden. Because restoration is a reality, on earth as it is in heaven.