Torturing Her Puppy
by Amy Rachel Peterson
I was reading a ministry update recently from a fellow who lives in San Diego and takes food down into Tijuana. He also responds to a crisis hotline that has been set up for victims of human trafficking. The other day he was one of a team that answered a call from a girl who was being beaten by her pimp. They took her to a safe hotel room, brought her dinner, and encouraged her that there was hope – that they and law enforcement would keep her safe. Meanwhile, her cell phone rang and rang and rang – the pimp, leaving messages.
Her story was classic…adopted, molested from the age of three by the brothers, a runaway from home at age 16. Then she met a guy who told her he loved her, and who sent her out to do tricks. Although only 23, she has already endured a broken sternum, jaw, ribs, and a ruptured eardrum.
In spite of the promise of help and safety, the next day she returned to the man who had done all this.
Why? cried my heart. Why?! Did she not believe they could keep her safe? Perhaps she was right. Did she not believe she was worth saving? It wouldn’t be surprising, as the enemy has been ministering that lie to her since she was three.
But what clinched the deal, what made her leave the promise of new friends and a new life, was contained in the voice mail messages her pimp had left. He threatened her, yes. But there was something more. He had her puppy. And he was torturing it.
Torturing her puppy.
I suddenly saw a young woman, starved for love her whole life, into whom the image of God has been impressed so deeply that the impulse to give and receive love is still alive, still fighting to live.
Even in the face of her own potential ruin (her potential death!) she could not leave that little love behind. What a gift God has given. It’s strong enough to overcome self-preservation. It’s the prize that warrants, to almost every human being, a life-long search. The loss of love is agony to not only the wounded, but the hardened soul.
The enemy knows about this and twists it into a manipulation tool. But that image of God in us – love – is not Satan’s domain. It belongs to Jesus. It marks us, unmistakably, as having been created by the One who loves. And testifies of where the journey’s end should lead us – to the One who loves.
She called later to let them know she was alive. Pray with me for this girl, who is still marked by love. Pray that Jesus will reveal His real love for her, to her. Pray that through her own compassion, she sees His compassion. And pray that the next time she leaves her pimp, she can sneak her puppy out with her.
