life in bullet points

no flowery stories; i'm rollin' with bullet points today. and no capitalization. just gettin'-my-hurry-on...which i am sure that many of you will appreciate!

WHATSA HAPPENIN' W/HUMAN TRAFFICKIN':

- an interest in human trafficking was sparked in my heart after hearing a radio interview with Linda Smith, founder of Shared Hope Int.

- checked out SHI and requested more info

- rec'd an out-of-the-blue email from a friend (we hadn't talked in quite awhile) telling me all about SHI! when she came in contact with this org, she decided to share it with me. i responded a la francis chan with, "NOOOO WAAAAY!"

- met with friend to discuss and said, "let's rock and roll!"

- started researching human trafficking...and praying for God's guidance

- discovered lots of organizations but kept coming back to SHI

- despite the NUMEROUS needs in this issue, i began to feel led to focus on "ending the demand"...raising awareness about the connection between the commercial sex industry and the trafficking of human beings to meet the escalating demands of that industry

- shared this feeling with a SHI employee...who then passed on my contact info to another staff member who is heading up a national awareness campaign to END DEMAND which will kick off in june

- plan to host an awareness event in conjunction with SHI during the last week of may and, Lord willing, might join them in Vegasbaby for their kickoff event

During all of this, God's Word has been filling my mind.....verses like:

And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose [them]. Eph 5:11

Then Jonathan said to the young man who bore his armor, "Come, let us go over to the garrison of these uncircumcised; it may be that the LORD will work for us. For nothing restrains the LORD from saving by many or by few." 1 Sam 14:6

For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. Eph 2:10

Arise, O LORD! O God, lift up Your hand! Do not forget the humble....LORD, You have heard the desire of the humble; You will prepare their heart; You will cause Your ear to hear, To do justice to the fatherless and the oppressed, That the man of the earth may oppress no more. Psalm 10:12, 17-18

also, CHOCOLATE:
- children abducted and forced to serve as slaves on cocoa plantations, particularly in the ivory coast

- previously i CHOSE to ignore it because the thought of modern day slavery seemed unreal, i figured US companies would be regulated for such things, and, well, i like chocolate. seriously, i have days where about 50% (ok, maybe more) of my daily intake is chocolate, but i watched a video interview of a young man who was a slave on a cocoa plantation. as he spoke of the atrocities against him, he stated that to eat of his plantation's chocolate was to eat of his own flesh. Gulp. Guuuuulp.

- i've been buying only slave free chocolate...which is understandably more expensive...which means I am not buying much chocolate these days...which means i go into convulsions every hour or so...but the bruises are healing nicely...kidding!!!

- sites for you to check out chocolate: #1, #2, #3 (#3 is betterworldshopper so you can check out other products, too)


WHAT YOU CAN DO:
- check out Shared Hope Int
- host an awareness event (if interested, let me know and i'll direct you further)
- pray for the END DEMAND campaign to receive national media attention that will cause big changes in the hearts and lives of Americans
- kick your M&Ms to the curb and buy divine

more to share later...right now i have a date with my Bible. happy weekend, everyone...and happy mama's day to all my precious mama friends!

buckle up...it's long

I was encouraged by the comments and emails I received to this post. I know I write about and and share some pretty heavy stuff, so to see others in agreement was wonderful.

I have posted about many international issues, but I think that we can often feel detached from the suffering of those who live so far away...in a world so much different than our own. And so we say a prayer or write a check because we know of no other ways to help.

I have been struggling with this and just last night was discussing my feelings with Scott. I know that I am not supposed to strap my baby on my back and head to Africa or SE Asia, but yet my heart burns to do more. While this is not Scriptural, I envision meeting people in Heaven only to say, "I'm sorry I did not help you. I'm sorry I did not act when your little girls were stolen from your arms and sold for sex. I'm sorry that I did not share when your babies were dying because they had no milk."

I was reading World Racer Kim Daniels' blog and, after watching the movie HUMAN TRAFFICKING, she put into words exactly the way I have been feeling:

And now that I know, I can't go back to not knowing. I can't pretend like its not happening. I can't have mere coffee table conversation about it, and then move on to the next subject of politics and the weather. I can't find a place of reconciliation in living comfortably at home while over 18,000 children, both boys and girls, and young women are kidnapped and swept away with force from their families and homes, coerced to be sex slaves for hundreds of men over the course of their young lifetime... and then just thank God for my American given freedom.

I can't find a place of peace in thinking that I'll just let other people deal with it, or some other kind of cliché that says "its just not my calling in life". I am not satisfied with excuses or every reason in the world why WE can't be the generation to actually DO something about it.

I have more questions than answers. I don't know where to start. Except to begin raising awareness to my family, friends, and anyone else who will listen. I WILL yell freedom off of the rooftops and I WILL pack up and go to where its dark when God says so.

Sooo...today two "nevers" happened. 1. M fell asleep in the car. 2. Because M fell asleep, I turned on the radio. I was just about to change the channel when I heard the announcement that the Focus on the Family broadcast would be about Human Trafficking. At home I watched Focus interview Linda Smith, the founder of Shared Hope Int. While Shared Hope is an international program, Mrs. Smith focused on the sex trafficking epidemic in the United States. It's worse than you would imagine.

IF YOU DESIRE TO HELP, THIS MAY BE FOR YOU: If you visit the Shared Hope Int. website, there is a TAKE ACTION section on the upper right side of the screen. Even a small action is better than no action. Below I have included a sting video that was conducted by this organization.

Here's another thing...I think that women have a naturally soft spot for helping the defenseless, the oppressed, the children. However, I would encourage you to share this with a man you know (your husband/father/brother). Men are designed by God to be protectors...defenders not only of their own children, but of all children. The men of America need to take a stand against the evil in our country.

Many men don't want to speak out against porn and sexual immorality thinking it is none of their business what another dude does in his private life, but Mrs. Smith shared that so many of the "sex buyers" of these young girls in America are the white collar business men. Perhaps your husband/father/brother knows of men who are actively involved in porn...they may not be the ones stealing away at lunch to have sex with an underage girl, but they are glued to their computers every night...they are buying the images of these girls and, therefore, perpetuating the crimes against them. Perhaps it's time for these men who are living in sexual bondage to know that God loves them and wants more for their lives...to know that they have been created and designed to care for and protect the innocence of children, not rob them of it. Perhaps God will use your husband/father/brother to share these words of freedom.



This is heavy stuff...and it would be too heavy for us to bear IF we didn't know that there is victory in Christ. Because of Him, we can refuse to turn a blind eye...refuse to settle back into our comfortable, happy lives...and instead shine His light in the darkness.