"LET'S GO"

This past month's team meeting focused on our strengths. Each team member took the Strengths Finder test to determine which strengths we most embodied. It was ironic to see how each person's strengths have played out in our team so far. Naturally, my loving friend Christina had a strength called "harmony." If I would think of a word to describe who she is, that would be it. Ashley's strengths really spoke to who she is and why I admire her heart. Betsy was truly the "strategic" and "command" I have seen her to be in the short time I've known her. And Cinthya's "individualization" explained a lot about her ability to truly read and understand someones unique qualities. It all made sense to me, and understanding where each person came from helped me to see how God is going to utilize us while in India. 

Mine of course was Activator. For those who know me, will understand completely how this strength is my most prevalent trait. An activator wants to act right now. They don't want to wait around and talk about it, they want to do it (yep, that sounds like me). Often times an activator is considered impulsive and quick to action. The truth is, us activators much rather step into action and learn from what we do. We like to reflect after we've done something, and change course from there. 

As a natural "do-er" I have been finding myself extremely frustrated throughout this missions process. It isn't the paperwork or loose ends I have to hold together as the leader of our team. Instead its the feeling that I am standing in a crowded room screaming "fire" and no one is listening. My heart is exploding with rage as I entrench myself more into this issue of human trafficking. Each passing day I break even more for the women and girls who are forced into this industry. And as I share this issue with others I feel like they aren't acting. Why aren't they joining this movement? Why aren't they getting up and saving these women?

Our Strengths expert explained that we tend to see the world through our own lens. So for me, when I don't see people acting immediately I automatically assume they are ignoring the issue. The truth is that not everyone is like me, and I now understand that. But I still feel really bothered by this. 

I had a conversation with a family member on Easter. She expressed to me that she didn't want to donate money to my missions team. She was against giving money that would go to help a woman in another country when there are many who need it here in America. I couldn't agree more. There are women and girls here in America who are also victims in this global sex-trade. Look at Atlanta, read the news, you'll see that this happens in our neighborhoods too. 

This is where God has been convicting my heart; we all wont feel called to donate to this India missions trip, but as women we need to join this movement to stop sex-trafficking. If we aren't supporting the India movement, then support America, or Cambodia, or Greece. It doesn't matter where our support is going what matters is that we are supporting. 

My best friend told me this amazing story about how she saw a poor woman begging for money outside of a WalMart. She was from Romania and was desperate to get money to buy things for her children. My best friend took her inside the store and bought her the things she needed. As we spoke about this woman we thought she could have potentially been a trafficked victim. We don't know for sure, but what my best friend did was be a supporter. She took what resources she had to give and gave them. If that woman was a trafficked victim my friend at least gave her the Lord's hope in knowing there are people out there who want to help her. Only God can save these women from the hells of their reality. But we are His ambassadors and He has equipped us with resources to be supporters and planters of His seed. 

God is challenging me to give the very thing I hold tightly onto, my time. This missions trip has consumed my free time. This is a resource given to me by Him and something He wants me to give to others I feel called to support. 

My prayer is that we can all support something and be active in being the best heavenly ambassador we were created to be. How can we give our tightly guarded resources to be a better supporter of Christ's mission? 

At the end of this world our resources wont mean anything, what will matter is that we fought for God's kingdom, using whatever resources we had - even if it depleted our own supply at times. 

The activator in me wants to solve this problem tomorrow. The truth is all I can do is encourage others to see the importance of supporting the cause of human trafficking. Why be apart of this movement? Simple, because women are important. Just like any other group who has been subjected to slavery in generations past, we deserve the same liberation from as they did. Need help figuring out how to act? I've got enough activator to go around. Ask me. Or Ask God. He always leads in the right direction, as long as we're willing to follow. 

Dollars Makes the World go-round.

One important thing I learned while preparing for marriage was that money can become the root of the problems with my husband. We were encouraged to build a strong understanding that wouldn't waiver during financial troubles. Yet, throughout my entire life I have noticed that money is something that plagues every person and relationship. I find that sometimes friendships are strained when one feels less endowed then the other. Jealousy, envy, greed, are all words that come to mind when I think of money. And in different ways I have seen those very emotions engulf a relationship in a negative way. The truth is money can be a great blessing on many, and the demise to others.

One of the most uncomfortable things I endure when I go on missions trips is asking people for money. In our society today we are plagued by the door-to-door salesman whose more concerned with his product and less with his customer. So when we get a letter in the mail or are invited to give, I feel like people automatically see this as an annoyance. And it seems that every passing day there is a new cause that needs funding and we are bombarded with money seekers. So, when I ventured out on this mission I realized that I would have to put my feelings aside, and ask. I had to ask people to support my trip and join me in this journey. Some people are easier to ask than others, and while I am trying to embrace this reality of missions, I still feel like I am doing something wrong, or imposing.

The truth is, missionaries wouldn't be able to do their jobs if there weren't supporters. If they didn't have people back home supporting their journey financially, then they couldn't make the differences they are making. Some people think of missionaries as people who go to foreign countries and try to convert others to their religion. While some aim to do that, for me being a missionary is about so much more. Going on a missions trip is about stepping outside of my comfort zone and embracing someone elses' culture. It is about giving unconditional love to someone who might not get that everyday. It's about doing any task needed to make a life less difficult. If someone asks me about my faith and about God, I will gladly share, and if no one asks then that is alright too. I am God's vessel for change and love. Sometimes it is just a matter of loving and not talking or sharing. For me, being a missionary is about uniting God's kingdom in a more intimate way. I feel like some people give missionaries the credit for converting people into Christians. The truth is, God makes that transformation happen. God is the driving force in bringing new Christians to His kingdom, I am just on the front lines sharing the love He gives me as a christian. Missionaries change the world in so many ways. They help create change in this sometimes hopeless-feeling world. We need missionaries just like we need plumbers to fix pipes and electricians to give us light.

I am reminded of the christian missionary who worked alongside Gandhi for so many years, E. Stanley Jones. He worked alongside Gandhi regardless of the fact that Gandhi didn't want to embrace the Christian faith. Knowing this reality about Gandhi, Stanley Jones continued to give and help. This is a missionary, someone who knows that being a christian in a foreign world has far less do with how many WE can convert, but more with how WE share our heavenly love and hearts. That is all WE can do, God does the rest.

Our team will get through this part of the missions experience, support raising. We will have many willing givers and some unexpected ones. We will have to depend on God in every step of this journey to provide for our needs. And through this experience I will see first hand how my supporters' lives will change. Just by writing a check or handing over a twenty-dollar-bill, I will see how God transforms and changes hearts.

I rest in the truth that if God is asking me to take this journey He will provide for my needs. I can't begin to imagine what He has in store for me, my team and our supporters through this experience.

Praise God for loving me so much that He gives me so many amazing people who want to support me through this journey. I believe that we truly haven't felt God's blessings until we give a little piece of our own. Thank you to every donor and supporter whose given our team a little piece of their God-given blessing!

When do we take a stand?

The older I get the more this world seems to have lost its moral fabric. I realize how imperfect and sinful humanity is, even the people who seem so righteous. As my eyes become more mature and experienced in this world, I realize just how conformed we have become to this earth and how far we've strayed from our God.

My heart is breaking. It breaks when I realize the truths of our humanity and our sins. Christian or not, this world seems to become bleaker every passing day. Where is the hope? Where is the compassion? Where is the morality? 

This world will never get it right. And as a christian the only hope I have is to choose Christ. Die to myself and live in the Lord. What does that mean? It means exactly what Romans 12:2 explains, don't conform to the ways of this world. I need to stop living in the ways of this earth, because the more I do the less hope there is. 

Did you know that Atlanta Georgia ranks as one of the highest U.S. Cities for child sex trafficking? 200-300 children are exploited sexually in Atlanta every month. Imagine how many children are falling victim to this illegal industry annually in Atlanta alone. Even more alarming, Atlanta is the 10th largest child sex industry in the world. 

When does this reality become real? When do we stop, digest these realities, and decide to take action? 

It wasn't until I worked with low-income families that I started caring about poverty and those who suffer from it. It wasn't until I had a friend whose parent struggled with drug addiction that I started to take action on drugs and its tragic effects. But, I encourage you to read these realities, these numbers and realize that regardless of how far away this issue is from your immediate life, you need to stand up and do something. You can't wait until this problem comes knocking on your door.

This is our modern day slavery. This is the worst kind of slavery that any child or woman could endure. And it is happening in our backyards. In our American cities that should have a stronger moral structure than that. And the more we turn our backs and ignore it, the greater this problem will become. 

As a woman I feel empowered to know that I have opportunities. I can be anything I want to be. And if I have this freedom I need to use it to help other sisters in Christ have the same choices. Their lives shouldn't be maimed by someone else's exploitative actions.

So how do you become part of the solution? How do you stand above this injustice and let your voice be heard?

First, make your self aware. Pick up a local newspaper and you read the news about it. You will be astounded at the amount of stories that talk about prostitution rings and sexual exploitation. It is everywhere, even in Maryland. Even in Howard County. This problem infests itself in every crevice of this world, because let's face it...in our culture sex sales...

Second, talk about it with your women's groups, your friends, and the your communities. God created women for a special purpose in this world.  He made us stronger in numbers, so lets gather as many strong-willed women and get our communities aware. 

Third, pray! God is the ultimate King, even in this sin-strucken world. When he hears us cry out for those who suffer He answers. 

Why should you even care? This is what changed my life...I realized that if this doesn't stop here, at this point of its growth, then whats to say one day our culture will actively accept this norm? With sexual advertising growing and becoming more outrageous each year, it could well be our daughters who find this reality sitting on their front door steps. 

As Christians God has called us to be his activists in this world. He depends on us to turn ourselves away from the earth's notion of right and wrong and hold strong in His truths. Our world is using sex in the wrong ways. The way our culture views and perpetuates sex undermines the fruits of our God and promotes a false perception of a woman's worth.

Let this be the moment that you stand up and say "STOP." Let this be the moment that you find a way to give to this movement that is fighting to remind our world of the purity and beauty of a woman. 

Today I am thankful that God gave me a life void of this reality, but that he has ignited my heart to help those who are sexual slaves. 

I encourage you to watch this short film, The Candy Shop. This film was created to help inform and grow the movement in Atlanta working to fight against the sexual exploitation of children. 

This is our time ladies! The greatest issue affecting us in our lifetime. This is our opportunity to remind the world of the true purpose for women in God's Kingdom. If we don't take a stand then who will? And if we wait until it hits our communities, it might be too late. 

Thank God for building us women with strong hearts and even stronger souls that give us the ability to rise up and overcome these injustices. 

Sweet Reminders

I love how God continuously provides, especially in the moments when my heart is doubting. Of course God knows my heart, even better than I do. And even though He knows that in the end I will faithfully trust in Him, he still gives me sweet little reminders of His love for me. 

As a kid, my mom used to make my lunches for school and stick it in a brown paper bag. She would either write a love note on my napkin, or sometimes if she was in a rush, she'd write it directly on my bag. Now that I am older and no longer have brown sack lunches, she still gives me sweet reminders of her love for me through morning text messages. See, God gives me the same heavenly reminders of His love for me, just like my mom. Even if in the end I will know how much I am loved by them, they still take the time to tell me. 

So the story of this particular sweet reminder starts a couple weeks ago. Since we are selling Jewelry for our team and the women of Rahab's Rope, we decided to have a Jewelry Party. This way we could spend some quality time with our favorite women and share our cause. Betsy and I were looking for a place to have our event in Maryland, but to no avail. Our churches weren't willing or didn't have the space. I felt quite overwhelmed. To me, it felt like another burden had been put onto our shoulders and this missions team. My heart started to doubt the ability to make this event happen (melodramatic, I know). 

I started doing searches in Google to see if there were any meeting spaces available. I stumbled upon the Owen Brown Interfaith Center in Columbia. I had heard about it before in my search of venues, but never really paid it much attention.

I emailed the person in charge to ask about space. I felt compelled in my email to share our team's reason for needing the space and our cause. OH BOY was that a God moment. Shortly after my email I received one in return. I remember their response having a lot of exclamations and joy. Apparently, they were planning an awareness event on April 10th about human trafficking! God used one email and one trusting heart to unite different groups of people fighting for the same cause! The Interfaith center put me in touch with the coordinator and our team was invited to attend and share our mission with the women on April 10th! Again, God took one small email and turned it into action and support. 

Back to our meeting space. Owen Brown quoted me for 210.00 dollars as the total price for renting the space we needed. I was really apprehensive because I didn't want to give up my own money, which was what I was planning on doing. After some prayer and time with God I realized that this would be the best decision for our event, so I emailed back agreeing to the amount and proceeding with the contract process. 

WELL, I received a response notifying me that the same women sponsoring the event on Sunday were going to sponsor our event! That 210.00 dollars was no longer needed, we were being completely covered for our needs! Can I just say, Praise God? All He wanted from me was my trust and desire to give up my resources for this event. When I showed him my willingness and desire to do that, He took care of it. 

These are God's little "I Love You" notes on my brown paper bags. His sweet reminders of His greatness and control on my life. Not to mention he was reminding me of some other important things too. 

I am so excited about sharing this experience with others, because it shines God's light so brightly. It reminds us all that our father loves us unconditionally, and as long as we trust in Him He will provide the rest. This journey to India is teaching me a lot about God's love for me and His constant involvement in my life. He is in every little decision and moment. When I fret the small things I can rest assured that He cares enough to be involved and give me sweet reminders of His love.