Hello!
My name is Natalie Betterton and I'm a 2025 Goer (yayy!). I graduated about a month ago with a Bachelor's of Social Work, and I am so excited to use my degree to join what the Lord is doing in Bangkok, Thailand. While in Bangkok, I will be serving with Mesa Global and working as an advocate for women in the Red Light District. If you had told me a year ago that I would be writing this blog and preparing to move to Thailand today, I would have said you're crazy. I did not expect this to be the plan the Lord had for me at all!
In my junior year of college, I took a class for my social work major that was entirely about Domestic Violence. For three hours every week, my classmates and I would sit and learn about how severely violence and the resulting trauma affect women, families, and communities. I wasn't entirely naive before taking the class, but it served to remove the blinders I wasn't even aware I was wearing. I saw everything differently throughout the time I was taking the class and afterwards. My eyes were opened to the suffering that women who are victims of violence truly experience. I realized that many of my own friends and family have been traumatized or affected in some way by violence towards women. This realization led to a long period of intense grief and anger for me.
I was angry with God and was asking soooo many questions. There was one time in particular when the grief and anger were particularly potent. I was standing in church one Sunday and the church was singing "See a Victory." Normally, I love a musical worship moment. However, on this day, I could not bring myself to sing the words with the rest of the church. I was so angry and felt like I couldn't see a victory. I didn't understand how we could sing a song about victory when there were clearly so many people who were suffering and weren't getting that victory. I continued to bring that anger before the Lord, and thankfully, He met me in the midst of it. Over and over and over again.
Towards the end of my junior year, the Lord brought the story of the bleeding woman before my eyes multiple times. In the story after Jesus heals the woman, he looks at her and says, "Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering" (Mark 5:34). This verse made me reflect on my own healing journey and realize how much the Lord healed me. Because I have been healed, I can't keep it to myself. I want to share it with others who have not yet experienced the healing only the Lord can bring. God had already been leading me to grieve with and for women who are victims of violence. By bringing the story of the bleeding woman before me, God called me to use my degree and my career to share His healing with women who are victims of violence.
This is only a small snapshot of my story and I am excited to share more in the future! Stay tuned to hear more about God's work in me and in Thailand! <3