Walk/Run4Freedom has an events page on Facebook! Please "Like" us! We are hopin to raise awareness, and have 500 likes by the end of June!! =) Spread the news to all of your fr
I was reading again on http://stonescry.wordpress.com/ and it was just reenforced upon me again how important prayer is in battling something like Human Trafficking.
God is the only One who can rescue these people spiritually, emotionally, physcologically, etc. God is the only One who can heal them~ restore them~ give them new life. God is the only One who can wash away past memories and trauma, and break the chains of addiction, fear, and mistrust. Jesus told a parable in Luke about why we must Pray, and continue Praying, and Keep On Praying... Luke18:1,7,8,”Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up…And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night?...I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly.” Cry out to God on behalf of your family and friends. Cry out to Him on behalf of those Trafficked...Please: PRAY. Jesus prayed for each one of us: John17:20,”I pray also for those who will believe in me through (the disciples) message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you.” Last night we presented to Nexus, Park Chapel's middle school youth group, and it was a success! I am so excited that even Middle Schoolers want to help fight Trafficking and be involved =-)
We had our Rapha Meeting earlier this evening and got some new things squared away and updated, Praise the Lord! We will really need people to help us get the word out this summer... REGISTRATION IS NOW OPEN!!!! So To all the teenagers and young adults: I was reading on the Rebelution blog ( http://therebelution.com/ ) an article about two Zimbabwean boys who were working hard for their family's, being generous. It went on to talk about those who have so much more than those two boys, and yet give so much less... and this is what they had found:
I don’t know about you, but we see a lot of teenagers with jobs, making money, buying Starbucks, buying clothes, saving up for a new computer, or a car, or a gaming system, or a ski trip, etc. — but give next to nothing away to anyone......According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics in 2004, a twenty-year-old making $23,000 a year, will give away less than one percent (or $180) of his or her after-tax income — while spending 11.2% (or $2,500) annually on clothing and entertainment. We’re sorry, but that’s pathetic. According to The Barna Group, only 3 out of 10 twentysomethings have given to a church in the past year — less than half the number of older adults who have donated in the same period. And this is not a measure of donation size, but simply whether any donation whatsoever was made. Troubling study after troubling study makes it clear that young people today, even those who can afford it, are not being generous. We know how to get, but not how to give. So what about you? Takudzwa and Panashe are giving 100% of what they earn towards supporting their families. Where does the money you earn go? This is a challenge for young people to be generous~ with their time, gifts, and money! Be generous with your TIME by skipping a sports event, a movie, etc, to come Walk/Run to help those who have been Trafficked. Be generous with your TIME and don't surf the web or play a mindless video game or paint your nails for the 3rd time, PRAY for those who have been Trafficked. Be generous with your MONEY by paying for your own registration for the Walk~ give a little, and see what God does with it! :) OHHHHH! PRAISE THE LORD! We had an Amazing turn-out for the Prayer Walk this morning, despite gray clouds and chilling weather. (I've been home for a half hour and my fingers still aren't typing very well... ;p)
We are so grateful to each person who came out to pray, and to each person who has committed to praying with us! Only God can unlock the doors that we need opened! I guess I didn't realize exactly how far four miles was... but it was so worth it! Other people on the Trail passing all of us asked "Who are these people with yellow papers?" :) We had so much fun~ we sang songs as we walked on the Trail ("Every Move I Make", "Dive," etc.) so people probably thought we were crazy... but I don't care! It was so fun! We lifted up the Victims, Perpetrators, those who fight against Trafficking, Law Enforcement Officers, etc. as we walked and prayed. I have no doubt our Savior was listening! (On an embarassing note, I fell... twice. Once over Emily Weber's shoe, and once off of the curb :P) Thank you to each of our prayer warriors, to each of the people who came on a cold Saturday, to each of the people who walked and prayed and petitioned for Trafficked souls, and to each of the people who ran the four miles! It has been so neat watching God bring together this team and its supporters! I was reading on stonescry blog (the author is a survivor of trafficking) and found this article. It really sums up what we want to do SATURDAY, MAY 11th. We are holding a prayer walk on the route where we will be holding the actual walk in September. We will be praying for the victims, perpetrators, law enforcement officers, organizations like Rapha House and WellSpring Living, and the event and the participators. We would love for you to join us to pray! Earlier this week, a sweet friend emailed and said that she noticed that a
red X seemed to be the message of the day in the trafficking movement – said she didn’t know how I felt about it, but that she was praying. Praying for me, and for those still bound, and those who are still trying to recover. I knew the red X. I mean, at least, I knew that it was part of another awareness campaign – one backed by big bucks. But at the time, I was sitting on the beach. And I didn’t care. Later that evening I arrived home and saw the social media feeds and that it was “the” day for the red X. A day when everyone could take a red sharpie and put a big red X on their hand to bring awareness to the fact that modern day slavery still exists. And the big bucks sent the advertising far and wide both within religious and non-religious groups, with big names jumping in to support the cause with their photos of red X’s on their hands. And my heart broke just a little bit more. Because who cares about awareness when you are the one sitting in the dark, holding the pieces of a broken heart, ravished by the injustice of slavery, trying to find a way to stay in this life? And not a single red X that day brought even an ounce of comfort or healing to my broken heart- at all. And the only thing that had shed a breath of hope into me that day was the email from the friend who says she prays. And I thought about my husband and how he had stayed up with me half the night just the night before – again, crying tears and lifting prayers – desperate prayers for God to spare my life, to heal me, to make me whole. He daily – and nightly – pours out prayer to God for my healing while I am suffocating and drowning in hopelessness. Again. Because I can’t stand the pain. And I can’t see past the moment. And all I can see is what life has always been, and feels like it always will be. And he sits by my side and prays. Because what else is there? And it will take hours. And I will find Jesus again, and I will breathe again, and I will make it for one more day, or one more night. And when he prays, he is not wearing an X on his hand. But his heart is torn, crying out in the dead silence of the night to the only One worth telling. Because He is desperate to see one he loves freed, and willing to give up hours in intercession because that’s all there is to do when the hopelessness is threatening to drown his wife altogether, leaving him alone to raise the children. And he is alone in this – the only one praying for me and lifting prayers in the deep dark of night for me, while you sleep soundly with your red X still on your hand. And if I know anything at all, I know this – that his prayers are more pleasing to God than a billion red X’s on hands who want a cause but belong to hearts who never bow and never wrestle in intercession for the freedom of just one life. Tonight we presented to Park Chapel Christian Church in Greenfield, IN, about the Walk/Run4Freedom, and we also got news that our story is being shared on TheRebelution website! (Check it out at: http://therebelution.com/blog/2013/05/project-walkrun4freedom/)
The Presentation at Park Chapel went well, and we Praise the Lord that He has allowed us to begin sharing with groups at large! Two weeks ago, we presented to Brookville Road Community Church's youth group and that also went well! Our big prayer request right now is Registration! We will (Lord willing!) be setting up online registration within two weeks. Please pray that: ~ It is smooth and easy to set up ~ It works well and is simple for people to use ~ Many people would sign up to walk! |