Tabitha Ministry is a partner program with GlobalFingerprints that helps women in the Democratic Republic of Congo learn to read and write and also learn a trade. This is the testimony of a young woman who graduated from the GlobalFingerprints and Tabitha Ministry program two years ago. The picture above shows this young woman at her Tabitha Ministry graduation ceremony in a dress she designed and created.
"My father died when I was very young. I am the youngest in my family. At first, my mom was able to sell some bread and small things to make a little money. My two oldest siblings went to school. But when it was my turn, my mom started to get sick. There was not enough money to send me to school. I couldn’t read and write, I didn’t have any skills. I had to depend on others for everything.
I went to church. Our pastor’s name was Andre. He started to teach me to read and write. But soon after, I had to leave and stay with my aunt while she recovered from a C-section. When I came back, I met Pastor Andre again. He encouraged me to come back to church, so I did. That Sunday he told me about a program. It was a program for girls my age, where we would get help to read and write and learn a skill. I was so excited, I made sure that I had all the information before I left that day. I came and was registered. Then there was a long wait for people to choose to sponsor us. Some of the others got tired and gave up waiting to be sponsored. I continued to wait.