A few months ago, as I was standing in Old Towne Mall, in East Baltimore, I met a lady who was not homeless but did live in very impoverished conditions, she was such a beautiful lady named Angela. I still have her picture on my camera, and often pray for her, but haven’t seen her since. As we stood in the mall, she kept stroking a strand of pink beads, I had hanging around my neck and telling me how beautiful they were and how she really wished that she had some jewelry so she could be beautiful.
As we stood in this open space and prayed with Angela, God told me to give her the beads and remind her how He had made her which is Fearfully and Wonderfully, and that she was beautiful with or without the beads. In my head I argued with God because I had just bought these beads, and they went so well with the outfit I was wearing, why did He want me to give them away, and He kept pushing, give them, give them. As I removed the beads from my neck and put them around Angela’s I got to remind her how beautiful she is with and without the beads, I got to remind her how God created her. I got to watch her eyes light up because she had jewelry.
Fast forward to several hours later, when I encountered another situation involving another young woman, who confessed to me she was contemplating suicide because things in her life, were not going as planned, she didn’t feel beautiful enough to fit in, in her high school, she felt like an outcast etc. etc. As she speaking, I felt God nudge me once again, and tell me to give away the second strand of beads. I wanted to pout and be like “Seriously God, these are brand new,” but really how selfish would that have been? So I took the beads from around my neck and handed them to her, and I said, “I feel like God is telling me to give you these beads, so that you can have a constant reminder of how Fearfully and Wonderfully made you are. I also think that when you’re not feeling beautiful you should put the beads on and remember that no matter what the world thinks God thinks you’re the most beautiful creation, because he created you this way.
Rewind, to several months ago when God started tugging at my heart about the prostitutes in the neighborhood, I felt a longing to do something for them, the first idea that popped into my head, was to buy roses and explain to them the symbolism between the rose and them, which was beauty and delicateness. But I kept wondering how a rose could symbolize beauty if it died within a couple of day. So as I sat at my desk, in my office one Tuesday afternoon, I had an aha moment, and realized God was speaking to me about the beads. Why couldn’t I buy a ton of two for $5 beads and use them for a ministry?
That’s where Operation Beautiful was born, I could use the beads to give to the prostitutes to remind them, of how beautiful they are, and about how God has created them in His image, and thought that even though man thought they were pieces of meat for sale on a street corner He thinks that they are the most beautiful women on Earth, because he created them. It also opens up a door for me to be able to share with these women about Jesus, who He is and what He’s called me to do with my life, which is love people like them.
I can’t tell you how many strands of beads I have given out since the end of September, I can’t tell you how many women I’ve gotten to remind of their beauty, and how God knew just what He was doing when he created them. It’s gone beyond, a prostitute on a street corner, to the homeless woman in Fell’s Point, to the teen girl who wants to commit suicide to the grandmother who feels lost and hopeless.
If you’d like to know more about Operation Beautiful or how you can help, please contact me at Colleen@metrokidzbaltimore.org.
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