FULL-CIRCLE GRATITUDE

This year has been filled with powerful reminders that restoration doesn’t flow in just one direction. As NightLight continues to offer holistic care to the women we serve, we’ve also been amazed to see how God is using this work to care holistically for the people connected to our mission—staff, volunteers, former clients, and even families of the women we meet.

Again and again, we’ve heard stories of hearts touched, lives healed, and hope rekindled—sometimes directly, sometimes in unexpected or indirect ways. Today, we want to share a few of those stories with you, and reflect with deep gratitude on the impact you make possible.

New Beginnings for Survivors

This has been a record-setting year in Bangkok for repatriating women who are ready to return home. The airport goodbyes hold a mix of joy and sadness—joy over new beginnings, and sadness in parting from women who have become dear to us.

One survivor said through tears, “I have never felt so loved and cared for before. The love I experienced here brings me to tears. I will miss you all.”

Another shared, “After everything I went through, I have been given hope. I feel free.”

In Missouri, we celebrated a decade of providing client services and highlighted the stories of Bailey and Alice—two women whose lives were changed by your support.

These are the milestones your partnership makes possible.

Full-Circle Stories of Restoration

Some of the most beautiful moments this year have been full-circle ones—stories where healing has moved outward beyond the women we serve and begun touching others through them.

Recently, members of our Bangkok team traveled through the Middle East and visited a survivor we repatriated to Central Asia five years ago. When she left, she was battling addiction, exiting prostitution, and taking some of her first steps of faith.

Today, her life looks completely different. She is employed, addiction-free, reunited with her son, and now reaching out to women in prostitution in her own city. She proudly showed our team around her community, including the places where she has begun her own outreach.

Another woman we assisted a year ago recently shared how she has experienced deep healing—especially in her relationships. Her faith has strengthened her sense of worth, and today she is thriving as a staff member with a residential program we were able to connect her with. She is now supporting other survivors on their journeys.

In one of the most impactful moments for our team this year, a young woman we met during outreach later called her father to share how deeply she had been touched by our time with her. Tragically, she passed away shortly after that conversation. Her father, moved by her words, chose to begin giving in her honor to support the work of NightLight. We are blown away by his heart of generosity in the face of such a difficult loss, and by his desire to pour into the lives of others who find themselves in similar circumstances.

Healing Beyond Expectations

The impact of this work doesn’t stop with survivors. It reaches those who stand alongside them.

Each year, dozens of volunteers partner with NightLight. They encounter painful realities, but they also become bearers of love and light. In that process, many find that the same light shines back onto their own stories.

One volunteer who experienced prior abuse herself shared: “The Lord gently revealed to me that this isn’t just for NightLight. He's been restoring dignity in me that I didn’t realize I lost—or really valued.”

Our staff have echoed similar reflections.

A Missouri team member said: “The women I’m privileged to work with constantly remind me of God’s goodness. I’m grateful to be invited into their lives and honored to be a recipient of their loving-kindness.”

Another shared: “I’m so grateful for the ways I have been stretched into greater compassion and tenacious love for others, and into a bigger vision for how God renews, redeems, and restores.”

Restoration creates ripples—touching lives we never expected.

Thank You: You Make Restoration Possible

As we reflect on these full-circle moments, we are profoundly grateful for you. Your prayers, your giving, your advocacy, and your willingness to link arms with us are what make these stories possible.

Every financial partner—whether moved by a powerful story or simply by a gentle tug on the heart—helps plant seeds of restoration that continue to bear fruit far beyond what we can see.

From all of us at NightLight: Thank you for standing with us. Thank you for believing that restoration is possible. And thank you for helping bring light into dark places—one life, one story, one full-circle moment at a time.