ROSEMARY | Costa Rica

Rosemary worked as a prostitute on the streets of San Jose, Costa Rica. At a very young age, she began using drugs and drinking and suffered violence at her father’s hands.

She began working in a nightclub as a dancer and lived on the streets. She started having problems with clients and in her attempts to defend herself, the police were often called. During her ten years living on the street, Rosemary went to prison more times than she could remember.

I had a very difficult time in prison. I became very depressed and lonely.

In prison, Rosemary was punished by being placed in a section of the prison called “The Tomb” where she sat for three days without food or water. When they released her and a woman in The Tomb next to her, Rosemary looked into the other cell and saw blood around the woman and a baby that she had miscarried. Rosemary felt a sense of desperation and heartache – her eldest son turned one that same day.

After she was released from prison, Rosemary’s behavior became more violent and rebellious. She also became pregnant again. She asked herself, “What am I going to do? How am I going to take care of this baby?”

When Rosemary’s daughter was born, a woman came to the clinic to minister to her. The woman started talking about Jesus and explaining the Bible. Rosemary began to laugh as the woman described how people are viewed in God’s eyes. She thought, “No, that’s not me. I don’t know where people like that are.”

This woman continued sharing about and explaining Jesus to Rosemary, eventually helping her understand that Jesus came for people just like her. By God’s grace, Rosemary became close to Jesus as a result of this encounter and decided to go to church. There, she accepted Jesus Christ as her Lord and Savior.

After years of alcoholism, drug abuse, prostitution and prison, Rosemary’s new relationship with Jesus Christ lifted her up and gave her a family. She then felt God calling her to go back to the prisons to help those in similar situations and give everyone the opportunity to have the life that she now has with Jesus Christ.

To me, hope is Jesus Christ. To all those who believe that they have nowhere to go, He comes and gives life to what is dry. Jesus has made me whole again. There is power in Jesus Christ because I am a witness of that power

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