ENCOURAGE - EQUIP - EMPOWER
IT STARTS HERE.
She sits on a thin, dirty mattress in her room, if you can even call it that. It’s more like a dark, damp, hopeless cell. The ragged blanket wrapped around her does little to protect her from the chill. She no longer notices the overwhelming stench of unwashed bodies permeating the space. The door is locked from the outside, holding her prisoner to the nightmare she is currently living. Walled in.
The season of Advent seems like the perfect time to remind us all of this important truth: appearances are limited in their ability to tell the whole story.
First century Palestine was a tangled web of political bullying and economic power mongering. The military of Rome and the religion of the Pharisees reigned with iron fists that opened only to snatch more money from the overtaxed Jews. The gods of power and wealth and position were worshipped by a corrupt government that demanded total allegiance from the oppressed.
