Redeemed

Abandoned. Abused. Rejected. Alone. Addicted. These words provide a glimpse into Mijat’s life before she discovered the grace and love that Jesus offers to her and to all broken and hurt people. Through MB Mission worker Lidia Funk and a TREK team in Peru, Mijat was introduced to the Saviour who brings hope to those in despair.

Mijat was born into an abusive home in Peru as the youngest of five children. Her mother abandoned her family when Mijat was two years old because of the abuse that she suffered at the hands of Mijat’s alcoholic father.

When Mijat’s father tried to stone her at the age of 8, she ran away from her home to the city of Lima. She lived on the streets and starting using drugs when she was 9 years old. Although she managed to go to school and get some education during the day, she still used drugs at night.

Mijat’s life was consumed with sniffing glue, doing cocaine, drinking alcohol, and selling drugs in discotheques and to people on the streets. She wasn’t concerned about who she was selling the drugs to, even if they were minors, as long as she got the money that she needed to feed her drug addiction. Her addiction eventually led to her involvement in prostitution, particularly with drug dealers and providers.

When Mijat was 15 years old, she was arrested for drug possession and was placed in a correctional institution for minors. Mijat was released after two years but was soon arrested again. She would have been taken to a women’s jail, but a judge showed her compassion and allowed her to go with just a warning.

Mijat started to feel sick and found out that she had AIDS in October 2004. She had no idea who had given her this disease, but she knew that she had probably had it for a while before the doctors discovered it. Mijat felt that her life was not worth anything, so she didn’t care whether she infected more people with the AIDS virus.

But then Mijat discovered that she was pregnant and decided to go to the Home of Life (a home for mothers with HIV and their children). Mijat did not anticipate the changes that would happen in her life when she made this decision. When she first arrived at the Home of Life, Mijat was determined to have her baby, leave it at the Home, and then go back to the streets. She had spent most of her life on the streets and that was where she felt that she belonged.

A transformation began in Mijat’s life when she met MB Mission worker Lidia Funk and some girls from the TREK team that was serving in Peru. They came regularly to the Home of Life to read, do crafts, and pray with the women and children. Lidia could tell that Mijat didn’t trust anybody at first, but over time she started to let her guard down and open up. One afternoon, she asked Lidia and Sarah, a TREK team member, to pray for her and for her unborn baby. Mijat was so afraid that God would punish her for the mistakes that she had made in the past by giving her a disabled child.

God blessed Mijat by giving her a healthy baby boy named Mijaet, who is now one and a half years old. She loves him and would do anything for him. Even though Mijat is sick with AIDS, she finds strength in Jesus and has entrusted her son’s future to Him. She knows that God will take care of her son Mijaet and that he will not grow up on the streets like his mother did.

Her life of pain has been transformed into a life of abundant joy as Mijat has learned about and experienced God’s love. In a recent newsletter, Lidia Funk spoke about Mijat, writing, “I know I will see her in heaven because I have seen God’s Spirit already here in her face. She is the happiest and most grateful person we know.” Mijat understands that she doesn’t need to feel ashamed or guilty about her past anymore because God has forgiven her. Mijat has extended the same grace that she has received to the people who have hurt her. She has forgiven her father and mother and has chosen to let go of any bitterness towards them.

The words formerly used to describe Mijat have changed now that she belongs to God’s family. This is who Mijat is in Christ: Forgiven. Accepted. Free. Loved. Redeemed.

But now, thus says the LORD, your Creator, O Jacob, And He who formed you, O Israel, "Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name; you are Mine!” - Isaiah 43:1