Nefarious || Merchant of Souls

This week, Sam wrote about her passion to fight the abolition of human trafficking. She talked about a film she saw called Nefarious. Below is a preview for that film.

To attend a full-feature screening of this film, join us at Rancho Community Church, 31300 Rancho Community Way, Temecula, CA 92591 at 6:30PM.

Incurable Fanatic

"If to be feelingly alive to the sufferings of my fellow-creatures is to be a fanatic, I am one of the most incurable fanatics ever permitted to be at large."

-William Wilberforce

Make me an INCURABLE FANATIC.

Recently I watched a movie called Nefarious: Merchant of Souls. It was a documentary about the sex trade all around the world.

It was heartbreaking. It was horrifying. It was painful to watch and parts of it physically made my stomach hurt. I definately cried, numerous times.

Our culture considers it taboo to talk about the sex trade, but the reality of the situation is that it is happening. It is growing. It is here. It is estimated that over 2 MILLION children are exploited each YEAR.

What!? How? How have we not stopped this? How is this business still growing?

These are people, human beings, innocent young girls that are being traded day and night for money. Because of greed, because of lust, because we live in a crumbling world. Their bodies the property of another man. Their voices, their cries for help, muffled by corrupt police and political figures.

One man who is involved in rescuing girls in Cambodia with the International Justice Mission (ijm.org) recently participated in the raid of a brothel where he recovered the pajamas of a 7 year old girl, with blood stains from her abuse and torture. This is not okay. WE need to be thier voices, WE need to communicate to these girls that they are loved, they are not forgotten. WE will not let them forever live unwillfully selling their bodies.

Girls are broken down by their pimps, told endlessly that they are worth nothing. They are stripped of any sense of value; any dignity is beaten out of them. One previous prostitute, when asked why she became a prostitute answered "because I thought that was all I was good enough for. Both my mom and my grandma were prostitutes so I thought it was my destiny, it was in my blood. There were numerous times that I wanted out, but I was threatened not only with my life, but with the life of my family and those closest to me."

It may seem like a big cause, and it is. But we can make an impact, we can help stop this horror.

HOW?!
1. Praying- prayer works. prayer is poweful, especially when we come together in prayer

2. Spread the Word- Do NOT be ashamed or embarrassed to talk about this issue. Tell your friends about, ask questions, research organizations. GET INVOLVED.

"You may choose to look the other way but you can never again say you did not know"
Will you be an incurable fanatic with me, and stop at nothing to rescue and restore these girls?

He Loves Us Anyways

(photo credit)

{i thought this was appropriate, considering tomorrow is good Friday.}



Only 3 Weeks?!

{Hello lovelies! i miss you all. here is something i've been thinking about lately because God has really been showing me how i need a new perspective, a new attitude. Hopefully, this will challenege you as i am being challenged!}

How wold you respond if you knew that you only had 3 weeks to live? If you knew how, when, and where your life would end?

As much as i don't want to admit it, i would respond incredibly selfishly. i would want everything for the next three weeks to be all about me, i would constantly pull the "yeah, well i'm dying!" card, and i would want to complete EVERYTHING on my huge  monumental bucket list. Like...

1. Pet a giraffe

2. See the Nortern Lights

3. Have a roof top picnic

4. Surf in Australia (even though i dont surf ;))

5. Visit Greece............................

You girls get the idea - everything would be about me.

BUT

Think about your response in comparison to how Jesus responded.

What did He do for the last 3 weeks of His earthly life? He continued to seek the lost, the hurting, the shamed, the outcast.

He didn't bungee jump off the Tower of Babel or go see the great Egyptian Pyramids; every minute of those last 3 weeks were dedicated to everybody EXCEPT himself.

He intentionally loved people, he sought out others never mentioning that He knew He would die in a very short period of time. He didn't want sympathy, He simply wanted their attention.

He wanted JUSTICE - oceans of it.

He wanted FAIRNESS- rivers of it  (Amos 5)

Justice, mercy, faithfulness... all things that were denied to Him but all things that He freely gave.

Contemplate that this week as we draw near to Easter, and Christ's final day on earth

<3 always,

Who are you?

One word to describe yourself... post it on our FB wall! Ready? GO ---->

                {photo credit}

love always,

On the Occasion Of...

{the promised post from last tuesday...but blogger was being stupid}

Today's post is a letter to someone who has inspired me!

Dear Jules <3,
 You are leaving and yes, i am quite sad BUT i am also very excited for this journey that you and tyson are beginning with the Pitts family. As you begin this new journey, i want you to know about the journey you are leaving behind and the huge role you have played in it.

My Journey. This journey was going simply in wild circles until you came along. You spoke passion into my life, you helped uncover desires that my heart was unsure of. I knew that i was made for more, the word tells me this, but i had no idea for what or why.

TO BE A VOICE FOR THE VOICELESS.

You gave me an outlet for these words that have so much meaning to girls around the world. You gave me someplace to begin to make a difference, to begin to have an impact on this world. And for this i thank you.

With my whole heart, i thank you for being bold and pushing aside your fear in order to pursue the dreams God placed in your heart.
~ Thank you for believing in me and my words, for giving me all the many oppurtunities that you have
 ~Thank you for speaking truth into my life time and time again.
~Thank you for the wisdom you have offered me in my relationship with Andrew.

You have inspired me to live fully into my dreams, without fear of failure. I am a voice now for girls who are trapped and in need of rescue...Because of you.


You have impacted me!

love always,

Freedom Sunday // We are NOT FOR SALE

It's Freedom Sunday this weekend and as a conference, we are partnering with Love 146 to raise awareness for this horrible injustice that still happens in our world. 


In order to raise awareness about the issues of human trafficking, we are asking that you help us with a little project! It's super easy and powerfully effective.


What to do:
-Get a red pen/marker/pain and write on your hand or face "NOT FOR SALE"
-Take a picture of it and post it to our Facebook page (click here)
-Goal is to get 100 pictures! 


EXAMPLE:

Can we do it??


Leave a comment telling us you posted your pic! 

Bring Your Pocket Change // Love146

Who is Love 146?
This year, Becoming Conference will be talking about three ways you can get involved with changing our world and making girls dreams come true!


One of those ways is through Love 146. This organization works to make child sex trafficking stop all around the world. They also work to restore and give girls a new sense of hope and value.


You can help. 
You can be a part of freeing and restoring these girls. The most important one is bringing your money to donate. It doesn't have to be a lot. Every cent counts. If every girl brought $1 to donate, we would have over $250 to donate! Let's make this happen!


We'll also learn more this weekend on other ways we can love on these girls. 


**Watch this video on what they do and how they got their name.

Breaking the Chains Pt.2

{So this is day 4 for me on my couch because hooooray I got my wisdom teeth out =/ ughhh I look like a chipmonk and I have annoying stitches in my mouth! Anyways, enough complaining.} If you missed Breaking the Chains part 1 go here.

So fear... not fun but it was my prison. I could not escape the bondage it had on my life except through the freedom I have in Christ. He is always able to pick me up and show me that whatever happens in my life will be used for his plan and purpose even if I have no idea why! He holds my life in the palm of His hand and He knows every step i'm going to take and every step I will fall. Nothing that happens to me or you is a surprise to Him.

Joshua 1:5 "I will never leave you nor forsake."

This verse always brings me comfort, it is a constant reminder that I am not alone in my fear... my prison is no longer something I have to experience alone, it never was!

Psalm 34:4 "i sought the Lord, and He answered me. He delivered me from all my fears."

Psalm 38:21-22 "Lord, do not forsake me; do not be far from me, my God. Come quickly to help me, my Lord and my Savior."  Let this be your cry whenever you are fearful or lonely. He is always there, lean on Him!

Remember: God created us to be fearless! Live in that!

I Crossed the Border

Well hello there! 


Oh man i have missed you girlies! I have been in Mexico (or Flexico as Doug Vonsteeg calls it... he runs Ventana if any of you know what that is). I was there for a whole week with the high school group and it was amazing. I wasn't originally going to go but that's another blog for another day.


Anyways... being in a different culture, completely out of my element definately made me notice SOO many cultural differences. For example: (these are all generlizations just so you know... and i apologize if i offend anyone)


- They are in no hurry to go anywhere; this is why it is called Flexico... every time is an -ishy time. Americans= we are all go go go go go go go go go go go... I think you get the point =)

-They always have time to stop and say hello... even if you don't speak spanish very well. they even (dare i say it!) go out of there way to make you feel welcome! Americans= if they have some place to be then at that time, you are not a priority right then
- They are so grateful! When WE were supposed to be serving THEM, they wanted to serve us back in whatever way possible... it was such a reminder how greedy we as Americans can be. We feel entitled to everything and these people's attitude's really blessed me. 


Needless to say, it was an amzing trip. I met so many people that impacted my life with their attitudes, their actions, their stories, and just how they lived their lives.


I am inspired to be the same. 

Becoming: Impact

In revving up for our upcoming conference [November 13! Mark your calenders!] we are wanting to start an Impact section for you girls to get involved in. It will be anything from raising money and supporting a child in another country, to simply stopping and praying for a specific person or situation, to coming out on Wednesdays to help with our Rescue Mission.

I know for me, growing up in Temecula was kind of like living in that game Candy Land. A place where only every-once-in-a-while something bad would happen, like crazy thunderstorms or absurd heat. But other than that, we have had it pretty good. Even with the economical downfall, things have stayed relatively unchanged for most of us. And when things don't deeply affect us, we tend to take no notice. 

I am at fault for this big time. I use to do trips to Mexico with my youth group all the time. We went down there to help, build, and share Christ with the people down there. That was what I thought was making an impact. And it did. But I was under to assumption that I had to GO away to make that difference.

When the economy crashed I had absolutely no idea how many families were forced to live in their cars. So many families that couldn't even pay for groceries...in Temecula. My friends and their parents and their children.

We want, as much as we can, to educate you on the outside world, and show you how to get involved in making a difference in other's lives. 

You don't have to fly to Africa to help. You can drive to the homeless shelter or the Rescue mission.

You can raise awareness just by talking to your friends. 

Help us. Check out the opportunities below and choose one to get involved with. 

We want to BECOME Involved in Impact.

Love 146: Awareness & Abolition of Slavery

Temecula Murrieta Rescue Mission

To Save a Life: Major Motion Picture.

Love, JM