Irene Marsch recently presented her latest book, Tears and Grief, to Low German-speaking women in Durango, Mexico.
“I had not expected that so many women would cry quietly through the session. It was as if they finally had permission to express what had been suppressed for so long.”
After the session, the women spoke privately with Irene. “Thank you for writing the book,” said one. “You speak to our hurts.”
Another woman could only hug Irene and cry; her husband was killed in the crossfire of a drug deal.
A young mother whispered, “Thank you,” as she stroked the page with the baby shoes.
Irene’s teaching tour to Mexico was cut short because of Covid-19, but her time in Durango was still significant. She taught six sessions based on her books, Tears and Grief; My Body, A Gift from God; and God Gives Me the Privilege of Being a Woman.
A self-taught chiropractor was hungry for information and came to all the sessions. Now she is eager to share what she learned with her clients who come for health reasons and to have someone to talk to.
After an evening session with more than 90 mothers and daughters, Irene spoke with some of the teenage girls.
One girl said, “That meant a lot to me: that you tell us we don’t need to give our body to be sexually abused, but that our body is a gift from God… for us.”
These are the stories that break our hearts. As they break God’s.
When Irene is invited to speak, she is often warned, “We are a small group. Will you still come?” She says yes as often as she can.
“What moves my heart is that Jesus came for the many… and He came for the individual. I know that when the Holy Spirit touches the heart of one person, it is worth my efforts.”
Irene has barely completed her book about grief, and she has already been challenged to write the next one. This time on domestic abuse. Once again, a topic no one wants to talk about.
One woman who spent years with an abusive husband told Irene, “There are countless women in the colony who keep telling themselves the lie: that this is what they are born for. To be quiet, work hard, and endure.”
Irene needs your help so she can speak out about the things that matter!
Help her tell women that God bestows love and dignity on each one of them. Help her tell men that God invites them to love their wives as Christ loved the church. Help her share the good news of great joy that Jesus came for the many… and He came for each one of them.
To publish 1,000 copies of Tears and Grief costs about $14,000. That’s about $70 for five books, $140 for ten books, or $1,400 for 100 books. Reprint costs for Irene’s previous books are similar. Please give as you are able.
Like Irene, we know that when the Holy Spirit touches the heart of one person, it is so worth our efforts!
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