As a young teenager, Rahab insulted her grandmother who was very hurt by the incident, especially because Rahab never apologized. Fast forward many years, and now Rahab is being discipled at Neema. 

“Rahab and her sister joined Neema in 2020. The two are the most brilliant in their class, but despite this, something was pulling Rahab back,” says Irine, our Residential Department Administrator. 

After a recent discipleship session, our Program Director, Winnie, said she noticed a visible transformation in many of our students—she saw the Spirit work in them as they found healing, freedom, and wisdom. After hearing God’s word, Rahab was convicted—distressed about how her relationship with her grandmother had been severed.

So after all these years, she approached one of our counselors and asked for permission to go home and reconcile with her grandmother. Irine says, “Now that Rahab had met Jesus and the Holy Spirit, she was scared that her grandmother would die before she asked for forgiveness. Rahab didn’t have peace, so she sought permission to go see her grandmother.”

What Does Forgiveness Look Like?

Afterwards, Irine noticed that “Rahab seemed happy and confessed that she felt like a huge load had been removed from her heart and that she was now at peace.” She and her grandmother hugged each other, and her grandmother blessed her. Rahab, in turn, gave her grandmother new shoes and Ankara fabric for a new dress!

How Has Rahab Been Transformed by Forgiveness?

Rahab said God is teaching her so much, and that he's healing her from the spirit of anger. She also asked for prayer to forgive those people she promised to herself she never would. After the reconciliation, her mother even said, “I’m so proud of my daughter and very happy with the Neema staff for the work you have done. It is evident that she has changed.”

The session that prompted Rahab was the Alpha course, a training that explores the foundation of the Christian faith and covers the gospel. It’s a program Neema utilizes at the start of each year and gives students the opportunity to ask questions about life, faith, and God. The Alpha trainer shared that she was greatly impressed with how receptive the girls were to God’s word: “They were not only excited to learn, but also asked very deep questions like, What is the biblical meaning of baptism? and How can I keep pure and resist sin?” During the course, eleven girls and one of our security guards gave their lives to Christ!

The work of transformation, though, is difficult. At Neema, progress isn’t linear—it’s often full of hurdles. And unfortunately this week, we faced one of those hurdles when three of our students, including Rahab, decided to leave the program. But even in her short time here, transformation in her life began. As shown through Rahab’s story and these other individuals, discipleship works to bring transformation to the young women at Neema. 

We’re grieved over these students’ decision to leave, and we’re trusting the Lord with their individual journeys and ask that you’d join us in prayer for them—that they’d make wise decisions and remain faithful to Christ.

While the transformation these young women go through is a complex journey, the many successes always outweigh the setbacks.

Written with content from Irine, Residential Department Administrator