For the graduating class of 2012 the past nine months have encompassed countless new beginnings.  Transforming this group of vulnerable young women into courageous entrepreneurs was met first with incredulity, then fear, then finally excitement as they began to grasp what real freedom feels like.

While learning the marketable skills that will safeguard them against further sexual exploitation or destitution, they also began the daunting process of sifting through the pain caused by trauma and abuse. Their wounds don’t have to destroy them, they learned.  And pain can serve as a life-realigning source that points to the ultimate Source of all strength.  They now know they can break free from the bondage of their pasts.

The skills have been taught and the seeds have been planted.  Consequently, this graduation ceremony did far more than merely conclude their vocational training, it launched them into a future rife with possibility, beauty and freedom.