Portrait of a Persecuted Girl

A young woman rests on the concrete floor.
Sunlight falls onto the pages before her.
The book itself does not attract much attention.
The book has been burnt, torn, beaten.
Its cover has been thrown away.
Pages are shred.
Sections of pages are missing.
She turns the page.
The smell of smoke fills her nostrils.
Soot leaves its mark on her fingertips.
She reads on.
“For though I am free from all men, I have made myself a slave to all, so that I may win more.”
Friends and relatives ridicule.
But she clings to the obedient One who Himself became a slave to all.
Friends and relatives hate.
But He has adopted her as His own.
She has lost all.
But through Him, she lives to shine His light on their darkness.
The concrete is cold.
The young woman remains.
She rests on the hope of her Book.