Far from home. Oh the difficulty

I don't technically live that far from home. If I drive to where my parents live it is 3 hours or if I drive to my mom's childhood home; just over 3 hours. None the less it is the farthest I have ever lived from home. While I love living in Virginia, in the Roanoke Valley it can be hard at times, times when my father is sick and his heart and lungs don't want to cooperate. Like back in May and right at this moment. See, my immediate family is very close. Whenever someone is in the hospital we are all there. We are one of those families that asks lots of questions and probably annoy hospital staff. But we do it because we care for each other and love each other.

This is what makes living away from my family so difficult. Being in close physical proximity to my family helps lighten the burden of stress and grief. I can call my mom or my sister, and I have already today, 2x, and it helps but it doesn't fill that need to be with them.

It is difficult. It is just difficult.

(On a side note, my father is doing better and should go home tonight)

Have you joined a team?

Back in July I wrote about how you can join a team in SE Asia and help fund rescues of those caught in the sex trade. Click here to read about how you can get involved.

Since that post team Bravo has rescued a 16 year old girl from a  private brothel. Watch the video of the live rescue:




Teenager Rescued from Private Brothel. RAID FOOTAGE HERE. from The Exodus Road on Vimeo.


This is the reality of rescue that happens when we come together and fuel brave teams on the ground. Currently, Maria is in an aftercare facility.

If you'd like to join our new Search and Rescue Program, we'd love to invite you to join BRAVO Team (shown here)  in India. With a $35 monthly sponsorship, you can empower more raids like Maria's.

If you have not joined a team please consider doing so. Your financial support means FREEDOM for someone like Maria

Hallelujah! Praise the Lord! Thank you God!

Hallelujah! Praise the Lord! Thank you God!

 

 

 

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,

Because he has anointed me to preach good tidings to the poor:

He hath sent me to proclaim release to the captives,

And recovering of sight to the blind,

To set at liberty them that are bruised,

To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.

Luke 4: 18 - 19

 

 

 

I am so overjoyed to report the following to you!

 

 

 

Just this week in the United States the FBI has arrested 150 Pimps and rescued 105 children from the sex trade.

 

 

To read more about it click on this link.

FYI - Roanoke/Lynchburg residents - Human Trafficking Report



Tomorrow night on WSLS 10 - NBC, a special report on Human Trafficking along I-81 will air at 6 pm.

Go here to get to their web page. Once a link is up to the report I will add it for others to see, who live outside of this area.

Click on this link to read the online report.

Love Thy Neighbor

 

Luke 10: 25 - 37 NAS

And a lawyer stood up and put Him to the test, saying, "Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life ?" And He said to him, "What is written in the Law ? How does it read to you?" And he answered, "YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND ; AND YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF." And He said to him, "You have answered correctly ; DO THIS AND YOU WILL LIVE." But wishing to justify himself, he said to Jesus, "And who is my neighbor ?"   
Jesus replied and said, "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among robbers, and they stripped him and beat him, and went away leaving him half dead. "And by chance a priest was going down on that road, and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. "Likewise a Levite also, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. "But a Samaritan, who was on a journey, came upon him; and when he saw him, he felt compassion, and came to him and bandaged up his wounds, pouring oil and wine on them; and he put him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn and took care of him. "On the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper and said, 'Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, when I return I will repay you.'  "Which of these three do you think proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell into the robbers' hands?" And he said, "The one who showed mercy toward him." Then Jesus said to him, "Go and do the same."

In the US a lot of children are victims of crime, whether it be abuse of any form or violence that involves weapons. Tragically some ending in death. The story of the Good Samaritan found in Luke gives us a great example of how we are to respond to victims. To love our neighbors means to care for those who are hurt. To ignore and walk past victims is to go against Jesus command to us as the priest and Levite did.

Luke 19: 1 - 10

He entered Jericho and was passing through. 2 And there was a man called by the name of Zaccheus ; he was a chief tax collector and he was rich. 3 Zaccheus was trying to see who Jesus was, and was unable because of the crowd, for he was small in stature. 4 So he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree in order to see Him, for He was about to pass through that way. 5 When Jesus came to the place, He looked up and said to him, "Zaccheus, hurry and come down, for today I must stay at your house." 6 And he hurried and came down and received Him gladly. 7 When they saw it, they all began to grumble, saying, "He has gone to be the guest of a man who is a sinner." 8 Zaccheus stopped and said to the Lord, "Behold, Lord, half of my possessions I will give to the poor, and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will give back four times as much." 9 And Jesus said to him, "Today salvation has come to this house, because he, too, is a son of Abraham. 10 "For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost."   

In the US there are many criminals. Some behind bars but some who walk free and hurt people with the crimes they commit. Zaccheus was one of those people. People in his community hated him. As a tax collector he took more than his fair share thus exploiting law abiding citizens and hurting their lively hood by leaving them with less money than they were entitled too. But here we see Jesus reaching out to Zaccheus. He loved this man, this swindler and went to his house. Did you catch the disgust of the people when they saw Jesus go to Zaccheus' house?

In the same way we are to care for the victims of crime in our community we are also called to love the criminals. Those who would do us wrong. This really hit home on Sunday morning after hearing the verdict in the Florida vs. George Zimmerman. I will be honest and say that I feel justice was not served. But in church on Sunday morning I was reminded by the sermon that God calls me to love everyone, my neighbor. 

We live in a divided country and the verdict only heightens that division. If the posts on facebook from my friends is any indication of the division then my opinion of our country is right on.  A few weeks ago, in my post My Last Words, I made a confession hat I have contributed to the political divide in this country and I want to now make a concerted effort to not do this again. I also want to encourage you to do the same.

There is no better time than now for us, a people of faith, believers in God and followers of Christ for us to respond in love to everyone regardless of their position concerning the death of Trayvon Martin and the acquittal of George Zimmerman. What an amazing witness it could be if we chose to love rather than pick sides and dig our heels in the ground.

Will you join me? Can we chose this day to follow Jesus' teachings and love our neighbor? I will work towards that and pray that you will join me.



Legalize Prostitution?

WARNING! While this video may not have offensive language some may find the topic uncomfortable and the reporters position on the topic nauseating. If you feel you may throw up and/or want to throw something at your computer screen, I completely understand and empathize.

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

So why do I share this video clip with you when I completely disagree with this man? Most of you know I am a blogger for The Exodus Road that supports efforts to rescue victims of human trafficking in SE Asia. I want to take this opportunity to use my voice to highlight the atrocity of human trafficking in the US. But some may ask, what does Prostitution and human trafficking have to do with each other? Well, a lot. Some statistics for you:

 

Child/Human Trafficking is one of the fastest growing crimes in the world. Child/ human trafficking is the world’s second largest criminal enterprise, after drugs. U.S. State Department

The global market of child trafficking at over $12 billion a year with over 1.2 million child victims. UNICEF

As many as 2.8 million children run away each year in the US. Within 48 hours of hitting the streets, one-third of these children are lured or recruited into the underground world of prostitution and pornography. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children

The average age of entry for children victimized by the sex trade industry is 12 years. U.S. Department of Justice

Approximately 80% of human trafficking victims are women and girls and up to 50% are minors.  U.S. State Department

The average number of victims for non-incestuous pedophiles who molest girls is 20, for pedophiles who prefer boys 100! The Association For the Treatment of Sexual Abusers (ATSA)

300,000 children in the U.S. are at risk every year for commercial sexual exploitation. U.S. Department of Justice

600,000 – 800,000 people are bought and sold across international borders each year; 50% are children, most are female. The majority of these victims are forced into the commercial sex trade.  U.S. Department of State, 2004, Trafficking in Persons Report, Washington, D.C.

An estimated 14,500 to 17,500 foreign nationals are trafficked into the United States each year. The number of U.S. citizens trafficked within the country is even higher, with an estimated 200,000 American children at risk for trafficking into the sex industry. U.S. Department of Justice Report to Congress from Attorney General John Ashcroft on U.S. Government Efforts to Combat Trafficking in Persons

An average serial child molester may have as many as 400 victims in his lifetime. Child Sexual Abuse Prevention Study

Child pornography is one of the fastest growing crimes in the United States right now.  Nationally, there has been a 2500% increase in arrests in 10 years. FBI

The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, which helps to identify and locate children in pornography photos and videos, says it’s staff reviewed more than 10.5 million images in 2009 alone.

Reports of exploited children grow every year, in 2009, the National Center of Missing and Exploited Children received more than 120,000 reports on its cyber tip line. In 2010, the number grew to over 160,000 with the vast majority being from child pornography.

This information was found at www.sctnow.org


If prostitution is legalized in this country we will only fuel and empower the pimps/traffickers and give a free license to every John in this country to exploit our children and women. The idea that prostitution is a matter between consenting adults is very ignorant of the culture we live in. Slavery is a greater problem today then it was in the days when the US was being settled and developed. To know more on how you can help fight human trafficking click on any of the following links below.


The Exodus Road


Polaris Project
National Hot line # 1 - 888 - 373 - 7888

Eastern NC Stop Human Trafficking Now
Here is a recent article they profiled in their recent newsletter: Westminster woman arrested on Human Trafficking charge

Not My Life

Want to rescue a person from Slavery? Here's how!

 

Enter the SEARCH AND RESCUE PROGRAM


Last week The Exodus Road launched a program that they think will effectively answer the question of how you can personally fuel and empower literal rescue. Essentially, they’re inviting us onto a real-life investigative team. 


From their experience, it takes about $35 for a night for one of our investigators to engage in local surveillance. Since we already have teams on the ground and since most of our teams are volunteers, we are able to fund investigations with a fairly lean financial model. If you’d like to join a team, you will be “hiring” one of our investigators to go literally look for children and victims on your behalf in some of the darkest corners of the globe. Investigators will then take that intel to local police partners and will develop cases and raids from that initial intelligence.


The search fuels the rescue. And by investing in our teams, you would be putting boots on the ground, sending eyes to look for the enslaved. 


Currently, we have four designated teams that we’d like to empower. Each team has a code name (Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, Delta) and a brief description of their area of focus. You can find the team names and descriptions here. When you choose a team to sponsor for $35/monthly, you’ll have access to their field intelligence (though, as always, for safety, some details may be changed). You’ll get live updates as to the ways your team, specifically, is engaging in investigations, raids, and rescue. We’ll be sending you newsletters, incentives and even ways for you to connect and support your field team on a more personal level.


It’s the closest thing to the front lines we can get you. And it’s the most direct way we can find to give everyone the opportunity to fight for rescue.

Interested in Joining the Rescue Movement?

Stop by our new Search and Rescue Program landing page. You might want to check out our Search and Rescue FAQ page, as well. Read over the teams available for sponsorship and see which connects most to you. Follow the links to adopt your team, and we’ll be mailing you a welcome packet with information about your investigators and several small thank you items from our home office here in Colorado.


And then moving forward, every time you see a rescue shared or an update given from the field connected with your team name, you’ll know that you were a valuable part of that success.
We had a field investigator say to us the other day,

“Tell me how many kids you want to rescue, and if I have the resources, I think our team could make that happen.” – Exodus Road Coalition Partner

And this statement from a team that has rescued 150 victims of sex slavery in the last month alone because of their commitment to justice and the funding we were able to provide them. (This is our Bravo Team, actually.)


If you’ve been asking the question, “What Can I Do?” Perhaps this could be your answer. Check out the Search and Rescue program, please tell your friends, and consider joining the (literal) rescue movement.