*Christina wanted to leave her poor Brazilian neighborhood. She wanted to see the world. Discontent with a home having only a pallet on the floor, a washbasin, and a wood burning stove, she dreamed of a better life in the city. And one morning, she slipped away, breaking her mother's heart. Knowing what life on the streets would be like for her young attractive daughter, Maria hurriedly packed to go find her. On her way to the bus stop, she entered a drugstore to get one last thing, pictures. That's right, she sat in the photograph booth, closed the curtain, and spent all the money she had on pictures of herself. And with her purse full of small black and white pictures, she boarded the next bus to Rio de Janeiro.
Maria knew Christina had no way of earning money. She also knew that her daughter was too stubborn to give up. And when pride meets hunger, a human will do things that were before unthinkable. Knowing this, Maria began her search: bars, hotels, nightclubs, anyplace with the reputation for streetwalkers . She went to them all. And at each place, she left her picture taped on a bathroom mirror, tacked to a hotel bulletin board, fastened to a corner phone booth. And on the back of each photo, she wrote a note. It wasn't long before both the money and the pictures ran out, and Maria had to go home.The weary mother wept as the bus began its long journey back to her small village.
Written on the back was the compelling invitation, "Whatever you have done, wherever you have been, whatever you have become, it doesn't matter. Please come home". And she did.
Jesus loves you!!!












































