Female Mutilation. Hearing those two words for the first time while we were in the Pokot tribe made my stomach turn. Female mutilation is something that I had heard a little bit about while I was in America, but in the Pokot tribe I sat with and listened to the stories of young girls who had gone through this grotesque process.
I want to share with you the story of my new friend, Chiptuta, because her life represents so many of the untold stories of the girls in the Pokot tribe. Chiptuta is a 14 year old young woman and she's always bubbling with the most beautiful laughter. She is so precious and truly is a daughter of the King, but her life has been robbed of many good things. She has been put through so much pain.
Last year, right after Chiptuta had turned 13, her parents sold her to be married to a 47 year old man for money and livestock. She had never met or seen this man who would soon be her husband, and she certainly did not love him. Almost immediately after Chip was sold she was shipped off to the Pokot tribe market where she was mutualized/circumcised by a stranger in a small hut. The woman in the hut told her that if she's lucky enough she will have 3-4 weeks to heal before she got married. After she healed for only ONE week, men and women Chip had never met came to her home, and her parents forced her to go with these strangers. They were taking her to her new home, which was extremely far away.The night before her wedding day she stayed up all night with her soon to be mother-in-law and the mother-in-law's friends while they told this young girl all her responsibilities as a wife and what her husband will expect from her. Below are her new responsibilities:
1.) Make babies and take care of them (Usually she takes care of the children and raises them by herself)
2.) Watch and take care of all the livestock (Usually she ends up taking care of all the food and crops because her husband will become a drunkard)
3.) Do whatever the husband tells her to. She is a slave.
The next day she meets her husband and gets married. At this time, these young women getting married are only between the ages of 10-14 years old. Chip was 13.
By the time the young wife is 15 years old, she'll most likely have 3 or 4 kids. It makes me sick to my stomach thinking about everything these young woman are robbed of! They are robbed of their childhood, their education, their families and their friends. They are robbed of ever finding true love or even having true love at all. They are robbed of all respect and honor, and instead they are usually treated with less respect than animals.
Sometimes I wonder how in the world am I making a difference when there is so much pain and sin in this world, but then I remember that I am not making the difference, God is. "…For when I am weak, then I am strong." 2 Corinthians 12:9 My team and I know that God had called us all to love on everyone we meet because He tells us in the bible to love one another and pray without ceasing. God is a huge God, and his compassion and heartbreak for these young women is far greater than ours will ever be. This is why we pour our hearts out, interceding for these precious, chocolate-covered woman who truly need to know the all-fulfulling and all-sufficent love of Jesus Christ.
