Pink Door: Longing to Be Loved
Pink Door Country: a place of peace, grace, and abundance.
“Everyone longs to be loved. And the greatest thing we can do is to let people know that they are loved and capable of loving.” —Fred Rogers
One day at Pink Door, we were talking about what we admire in others. One woman’s response was the ability to give and receive gnade (grace). She went on to explain that it is impossible for her to receive this from others. When asked why, she hung her head in silence. “Do you feel you don’t deserve it?” She broke her silence with the answer “No. I don’t deserve it.”
The women who come to Pink Door usually arrive with a deep sense of shame and self-hatred. The deep abyss holds the belief that they are not worthy of being loved. There is no freedom in this; only imprisonment. Healing begins with learning to embrace love and grace, and discovering their self-worth.
Our staff at Pink Door are all people of deep faith. The belief that God is the author of love and grace motivates us to embody those two important characteristics and stand with the women at Pink Door when they fall into the temptation to blame, shame, and then begin the self-hate talk. We believe that the stepping stones of relationship are key in understanding and experiencing love at a deep level.
Pink Door Country
Richard Rohr writes,
“The receiving of love lets us know that there was indeed a Giver.
And freedom to even ask for love is the beginning of the receiving.
Thus Jesus can rightly say, “If you ask, you will receive.”
After four years of walking with sexually exploited women, painstakingly building those stepping stones of relationship, we are amazed at what they have taught us about things like generosity, perseverance, strength, and yes, love and grace. We’ve learned much about providing services based on the strengths and needs of women who have experienced trauma, and their desire to have decision-making power over their own lives! We strive not to lose our agility to move, adapt, and change with the wide variety of needs of sexually exploited women, as well as the ever-changing landscape of the sex industry in Europe.
Pink Door Country: a place of peace, grace, and abundance.
Pink Door is in the midst of expanding our reach. We continue to have our transition apartment in Berlin, but are expanding north into two other regions of Germany. We have been generously given the use of a small farm in the German countryside. Renovations are in full swing and our goal is to open this beautiful place in May 2020.
Pink Door is also exploring the possibility of starting a social business, which will give women who have experienced trauma a safe “first place” to begin their job integration. We were thrilled to receive a consultation grant in October. This grant provides Pink Door with two business coaches who are walking us through the initial processes of research and development.
If you would like to join us in our exciting journey of expansion, or want to know more about what a social business is, feel free to contact us at mail@pinkdoorberlin.org and learn more at www.pinkdoorberlin.org. Discover opportunities to support Pink Door at www.chogglobal.org/pinkdoor.
