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Walk A Mile In Her Shoes



"WALK A MILE IN HER SHOES"

 

Are you Man enough to walk a mile in her shoes?


This week I have talked to a lot of men about the issue of human trafficking and have gotten the response that they want to do something about the issue but just don't know how to get involved. And as I was talking to the staff of 4Sarah, she was telling me about a campaign to end sexual exploitation right here in Georgia... and it's coming up. SO- men get ready and women pull out the heels... here we go! 

Join 4Sarah, Inc. on September 18th to

Stop the Sexual Exploitation

of Women & Children in Georgia!

Prizes will be given to the first, second and third place men that walk or run the entire mile wearing high-heels!

 

Pre-registration cost- $20 (Before August 28th-Includes t-shirt, dinner & concert ticket)

$30 on day of event! Please pre-register today on our website at www.4Sarah.net

Women & children are encouraged to participate! Children under 12 walk free!

 

See the attached registration form and walk event flyer for more details!

www.walkamileinhershoes.com


Put Yourself in Her Shoes™

Each year, an ever-increasing number of men, women and their families are joining Walk a Mile in Her Shoes®: The International Men's March to Stop Rape, Sexual Assault & Gender Violence. Walk a Mile in Her Shoes® is a fun opportunity for men to educate the community about a very serious subject and to rally the community to take action to prevent sexualized violence.

First You Walk the Walk

There is an old saying: "You can't really understand another person's experience until you've walked a mile in their shoes." Walk a Mile in Her Shoes® asks men to literally walk one mile in women's high-heeled shoes. It's not easy walking in these shoes, but it's fun and it gets the community to talk about something that's really difficult to talk about: gender relations and sexual violence.

Then You Talk the Talk

It's critical to open up communication about sexual violence. While hidden away, it's immune too cure. Unfortunately, it's difficult to get people talking. People unfamiliar with it often don't even want to know it exists. It's ugly. People that have experienced it themselves want to forget about it. How do you get them talking now, so they can prevent it from happening? And after it's happened, how do you get them to talk about it so they can recover?

Walk a Mile in Her Shoes®  provides several opportunities to get people talking. For preventive education, it helps men better understand and appreciate women’s experiences, thus changing perspectives, helping improve gender relationships and decreasing the potential for violence. For healing, it informs the community that services are available for recovery. It demonstrates that men are willing and able to be courageous partners with women in making the world a safer place

Not Just a Women's Issue

Sexualized violence does not just affect women. It affects the men who care about them, their families, their friends, their coworkers, and their communities. Sexualized violence is epidemic. Some of the statistics: Every two minute someone in America is raped. One in six American women are victims of sexual assault. That means someone you know, someone you care about, has been or may become the victim of sexual violence. It may be your mother, your sister, your friend, your girlfriend, your wife, your coworker, or your daughter.

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Christians Don't Care About the Sex Trade, Do They?



This is from Tom Davis, writer and President of Children's HopeChest, an international child advocacy organization.  Please read below.

Last week, I shared a couple of posts on apologetics and atheism, which may have given some readers the wrong impression. Let me be clear: I am not an apologist. I have the utmost respect for apologetics, but it is not the calling I've received.

And quite frankly, I think that we can easily be misled down the path of knowledge -- the same temptation that Adam and Eve faced in the garden, falsely believing that knowledge was more important than life.

I see the value of intellectual proof for the existence of God, but at the same time, if we are not living as if we believe what we say we believe, then what's the point of saying it at all?

Along those lines, I'd like to see us put our hands and feet where our mouths are. As you know, we talk a lot on this blog about justice issues. In my study of Scripture, I've been blown away by how many verses talk about God's love for the fatherless and widow, how he cares deeply for the imprisoned and oppressed, and how expects us to do the same.

As an adopted son and father of two adopted children, I am, as you know, passionate about orphan care; with the writing of my new book Priceless, however, I've been compelled to advocate for the millions of victims of human trafficking around the world.

Friends, I'll be blunt: I don't think that it's time for apologetics or theology or philosophical musings. I think it's time to act.

I don't want to try to guilt you with statistics or lofty figures that you can't relate to. We've all heard those before. I want to share an opportunity for you to do more than merely advocate.

My friends at Adventures in Missions have put together a trip for young people to spend five months being exposed to the realities of human trafficking, while partnering with existing ministries around the world to be the hands and feet of Jesus to trafficking survivors. One of the months they'll actually be spending here in the United States. Find out more here: http://www.theworldrace.org/?tab=routes&subtab=humantrafficking <http://www.theworldrace.org/?tab=routes&subtab=humantrafficking>

If you are 21-35 and a Jesus-follower, I want you to seriously consider going on this trip. It will give you an opportunity to be the Body of Christ and to put his red letters into action. I guarantee that it will turn your world upside down (in a good way).

And those of you who cannot go, please consider what you can do to be a part of this. Pray for the ministry, support someone who can go, mobilize a friend, help get the word out, etc. Advocacy is great, but God also calls us to act in response to the injustices and atrocities we witness.

I want to know how, if at all, this post touched you. Would you mind sharing in the comments section what you are led to do?

Read more: http://blog.beliefnet.com/redletters/2010/08/christians-dont-care-about-the-sex-trade-do-they.html#comments#ixzz0xAj89CGZ
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CHANGE



Last weekend I stayed in a Hilton Hotel chain with my family and two days later I read:

"A Hilton Hotel in southwest China lost its five star rating this week after an underground brothel was found to be operating out of the hotel last month... This recent bust isn't even the first time an underground brothel has been operating at a Hilton Hotel. In 2008, a brothel was being run out of a Hilton in Ireland. And Consumerist named the Hilton in Washington D.C. the third most prostitution-friendly hotel in the city, based on the phone records of the notorious DC Madame. With so many brothels being operated out of their hotels, you would think Hilton would take pains to ensure that none of them involve children."

CHANGE.ORG


Then today I read about a MOTHER and GRANDMOTHER in Dallas who have been charged for pimping their 14 year-old DAUGHTER/ GRANDAUGHTER out to bring in money to pay their living expenses. And if that’s not bad enough, according to the police report, they have been selling her for sex since she’s was 11 years old.  (To read more on that story click here).


It’s in moments like these that I am overwhelmed.

What is happening in this world we live in?

What is my response to these appalling stories?

How can I be a part of the change?


And then I go to "work" (seriously I have the best job in the WORLD)...

I read through applications of future participants of the World Race Human Trafficking Edition. I call the "new inquires" to answer questions they might have about the WR Human Trafficking Edition. The participants are ordinary people who are willing to give up their cushy lives in America to make a change in the world. I interviewed these normal everyday people so that in January we can take 35 twenty/thirty-something’s on a journey that will change the course of history, literally. We will go to Cambodia, Thailand, India, and end right here in America to help end human- trafficking, also known as modern- day slavery.


         What will you do today?


         Will you walk away unchanged?

                           Will you pray?

                                                         Will you go?

      Will you send me?


To learn how you can be a part of the WR:: Human Trafficking Edition click here.


I am currently in need of monthly supporters and special gifts to continue this ministry. If you’d like more information about how you can be directly involved with this ministry please contact me at laurameyers@theworldrace.org or to support my ministry please click here.

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A Glimpse into Sex Trafficking



This ministry encounter is from one of my beautiful India team members Rachael Hayes. We had the opportunity to serve in Mumbai, India together and this is a glimpse of human trafficking from her perspective.

* * * * *

A few of us got the opportunity to go to Mumbai last weekend and after a 12 hour train, sight seeing at 4:30 a.m., and joining a senior citizen's laughing club on the street , i was finally in the place i have been praying for. I came on this trip prepared to be with commercial sex workers in the red light districts. But for the past 6 weeks i have been a preschool teacher and have been hangin in the slums every day. When we began working in Mumbai, i was face to face with the human trafficking business just as i had hoped for. I was walking down a street full of women who were waiting in their doorways for business. I played with children who were dropped of at a center when their mothers were preparing for their night. I was literally steps away from the injustice that brought me to this place we like to call India. I was in a shelter full of girls who have been handed over by their mothers because they are incapable to take care of them while taking part in prostitution. And as i found myself in the midst of this environment, there was nothing i could do about the things going on around me. I was there for a short three days and could not begin relationships with any of the prostitutes or with their kids. It would cause more harm than good for me to drag the women out of their situation and begin a place of refuge for them. I could not destroy the entire business of human trafficking in one swipe simply because it angered me. And so the world continued to spin in the same way it always has. The men were still indulging in the desires of their flesh and fueling this business. The women still feel powerless and are bound to the commands of their madame's and pimps. There are still children who are headed for a dingy future and have no promise for a way out of their parents' lives. But the problem is that i raised $5000.00 to be here and take part in God's destruction of this evil. I have come halfway around the world in order for things to change here. And i have been praying for the moments when i would be able to use my hands and feet for the sake of the love of God reaching these people. But faithfulness is not found in my own desires, but in the moments where i find myself in the midst of the will of God. And regardless of everything that needs to be done in Mumbai and besides all the pain and affliction going on in my heart by being in that place, God has shown me one immovable hope: himself. God sees all the darkness in that place 24/7 and still has the whole world in his hands.


* * * * *

AIM has put together a specific World Race human trafficking trip as an opportunity for young people to have first-hand exposure to the sex trade and to play an active role in bringing healing to the lives of those who have been trafficked. It is an intense, four-month ministry journey around the world, with one of the steps actually in the U.S. (yes, people are trafficked here in the United States).
 
If God has placed the sex trade on your heart, please pray and consider how you can be a part of this. Find out more about the trip here.

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Real Life




I remember in high school having a disagreement with a teacher about "Real Life." I always hated that term because people that were older than I was would say, "wait until you get in the real world" or "what till you get to real life!" And I always thought, "This is my real life; right here, right now, this is where God has me and it is my real life."

Fast forward to this summer. This time in India has not been so different as times in the past. I meet all kinds of people who worship idols and other gods. I sing and play with children who are beautiful and just need to be held. I have cooked and shared with women who are broken and need to be loved. I've had random conversations with men on the bus that leads to an opportunity to share about the ONE who came for them. I've been blessed to see the Living God move in peoples lives in radical ways but my heart still longs for more.

All summer long the Lord has been teaching me and I have become overwhelmed with a sense of URGENCY. My heart churns within me because people are living and dying without knowing REAL LIFE. They haven't seen, known, or experienced life without knowing the One who has given us life. There is an urgency to the Gospel. People need to know the love of God, the peace of his Spirit and the knowledge of His truth and grace.

I have one week left in India before returning to America. I'm asking you to pray. I want every second to count. I want to see Jesus move in this nation in an even more powerful way. I want to see people turn away from other gods and turn to the One and Only God that will save them. Jesus is speaking to the nations... and I hear him calling out the names of the people of India.

I can hear HIM saying...

I have come that you may have life and have it abundantly. To know me... the living God, the ONLY God. Quiet your heart! I want you to hear my voice- the voice that says I love you, deeply and intimately. You are saved, I have come to your rescue. I am your resting place. I am good. I gave my life for you so that you could have all of the fullness of God. I will protect you, come take shelter in my love. I am good. I know you. I knew you in your mothers womb. I haven't forgotten you. My grace is sufficient for you. I love you with an everlasting love, come to me and you will find peace that passes all understanding. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I LOVE YOU!

This is the REAL LIFE.
Freely Given. Freely Received.

 Please join me in praying this week for the nation of India.
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Birla Community :: VIDEO ::



Emily Peterson, made an awesome video of what we look forward to everyday here in India...

Enjoy!


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Overdue Update



It has certainly been a long time since I have written a blog. A lot has happened in the nearly two months that I've been in India but I'm going to share some highlights (both from me and my team)  and then I promise I will go into more detail in my blogs later this week!
 
Change of Heart

When we came to India we thought that our primary ministry was going to be to women that are in the mix of coming out of prostitution and helping these women be restored; however, when we arrived we began to learn more about what our time was going to look like… and it was nothing that any of us expected. Instead of working with the women we have been mainly working with slum children. Everyday we go the one of two preschools and teach Bible stories and preschool classes. Then in the afternoons half of our team goes to work with a small group of women while the others go into the slums to either do community outreach or run a nutrition program in the slum. The "m" has been fantastic and Jesus has made himself known in this community and in our hearts, we just had to be open to his will and not our own expectations.

the blind WILL see
by Jessica Trumbly

In the afternoons when we walk into the slums, I feel the Holy Spirit just filling me back up more and more so i can pour it out.. So, on Tuesday, I went with Laura to a families house that she was suppose to go to, to learn how to make Chipatee (an Indian tortilla type of thing). As we take off our shoes to go inside, there is an old woman curled up siting on a bench type of thing. I felt such a love for her already.. i said hi but got no response so i just walked on in. They later told me she was blind so immediately i went outside took her hands and started talking to her. She started speaking in Hindi back.. I was drawn to this woman and i felt so much compassion towards her. So, the rest of the day i thought of her and Elyssa found out about her and starts talking about how she got a word from the Lord about healing the blind. I already wanted to go back and see her but then i got even more excited!!
 
So, Wednesday comes and we went and prayed healing over this woman. Tears started coming out and the cloudiness in her yes started coming out of the corner of her eyes... While we were praying a crowd started to gather around along with the rest of our team. As i looked out into the crowd of Indians, there were about 6 of my teammates in prayer right along side of us for this woman!! We had a boy translate for us and ask her if she believed in the 1 true God who could heal her. She said yes and we asked her what his name is. She responded with Jesus! SHE BELIEVES!! She said she felt peace and happiness in her heart... We kept praying and she still cannot completely see, but I believe God will bring complete healing within her life. Then a man asked for prayer and Will who was with us, prayed for him. The man told us how he and his wife have not had any children and they have been waiting and waiting. Will talked with him and then prayed with him again and he accepted Jesus too!! H then started to pull out money to pay Will. Will just put his arms around him.
 
The whole time it was on my heart for the people to know,we are not just a bunch of Americans who have some special powers, we are no different from them! It is ONLY JESUS who is different!! ONLY JESUS who can and is healing them!! and then Will spoke up to the crowd and said exactly what was on my heart!! it was so cool.... beyond cool actually!! The Holy Spirit was moving so powerfully and is still moving and i am in complete awe of our GOD!! Gosh, he is just so GOOD!! Please be in prayer for this woman and for this slum community!!


Foundations

I was sitting in the Sunday School that we help teach this past Sunday morning and I was with the older children (ages 8-14ish) and God spoke to me about their futures. All thirty of the children sitting in front of me are from a nearby slum. Most of them are children that have very little education. Most of them live in shakes and conditions that you couldn't imagine unless you've seen it first hand and even then it's still hard to wrap our western minds around. BUT, most of these children are the happiest children I have ever met. They are resilient. They have hope because they know the hope of Glory. They are beautiful and precious. As I looked into their eyes I saw Jesus and in that moment I heard the word foundations.

What these children are learning right now in Sunday school might seem meaningless but it is their foundation for life everlasting. They are hearing and experiencing the only living God. This is the foundation of their lives. When most people look at these children they see how society has marked them as nothing and they are treated as such but when God sees them, they are marked by his love and grace.


*** For more blogs and stories from my team please visit our team blog ***
http://india.adventures.org/

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Home



"God is more interested in you character than your comfort."
- Micheal Hindes -

If I'm honest, when I was first asked to co-lead this team to India my heart was not super excited. Don't get my wrong, I was excited, but not like you'd expect it to be considering I LOVE India.

My heart has been torn for a long time between my home (where my family is) and the nations. My heart so longs to be back "home" with my family. I love them and miss them deeply. But at the same time my heart has been broken for the nations- for India, Uganda, Haiti... the list could go on. Thus the great divide. When I'm here, I want to be there and when I'm there, I want to be here...

Today, I'm once again getting on a plane and my heart is full of joy. Although I'll miss my family and friends... I'll miss Stake & Shake Milkshakes at 11 pm, taking a drive "around the horn", quilting where we stay up all night laughing, sitting by water at the creek... the simple things of life, I don't want to miss this opportunity to go and to serve once again.

The team of women that I'm serving and serving along side of are absolutely phenomenal! They are 17 very different individuals coming together for one divine purpose... to be a part of the Kingdom of God in India!



This is our vision and mission for India... from Isaiah 61
Oaks of Righteousness, consumed by the fire of God, freedom, loved, restored, redeemed,
warriors, rescued, and beloved... among other things...



Most people say, "home is where your heart is" but most World Racers begin to say, "home is where my backpack is!" My backpack's headed to India for the next few months!!!


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Eye on the Sparrow…



Please take a pause in your day to read this blog that was written by Brandy Chaffer (August ‘09 World Racer). It's a beautiful story of just how BIG our God really is!

Dan and I traded the comforts of the city for the tranquility of the country to serve with Team Shekinah in Krongnoung village for our last week of ministry in Cambodia…a village too small to keep this story for itself…

Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows. - Matthew 10:29-31

 

“Brandy…she’s scanning the van for you.” Sam said. I immediately slid across to the window and began searching the crowd for her. The instant our eyes met, smiles swept across our faces as our hands frantically continued to wave. 

Goodbye Lita Lou. 

Lita is the 4-year old adopted daughter of Sun, the woman who ran the kindergarten in the remote Cambodian village we were serving. Lita is beautiful and precious gem who radiates with His love. She twirls with the innocence of a child while carrying the testimony of a old soul. 

When Lita was only a few months old, her mother, dying from HIV, made the desperate decision to sell her on the streets of Phnom Phen. Sun learned of the little girl and desired to rescue her from the fate of the streets. She was interested in adopting her but only if she did not have HIV. She met 6-month old Lita and immediately fell in love. Sun took her to the hospital to have her tested. 

She waited…she prayed. 

The doctor delivered the news. 

“I’m sorry, this baby has HIV.” 

Wanting desire to overrule reality, she had her tested again. 

Positive. 

And again.

HIV Positive. 

With the results placed before her and the baby in her arms, the choice was hers. Return Lita to the streets to be sold - or pay the price. The $200 monetary price her mother demanded…the sacrificial price of raising a baby with HIV. Was she worth the cost? Was she deserving of life’s most precious gift….

 

Lita was bought with a price. Sun loved her too much to let her go. 

Sun returned to her village with Lita in tote and offered her the only two things she knew to give… unconditional love and prayers. The few Christians in the predominantly Buddhist community began to faithfully pray for Lita’s miraculous healing. Day by day, night by night, they continued to pray. 

When Lita was 18 months old, Sun returned to the city to have Lita re-tested for HIV. 

She waited…she prayed. 

Please God let the words that come out of the doctor’s mouth not be ‘I’m sorry’ - please Lord let him say ‘Congratulations - your daughter does not have HIV.”


 

She waited…she prayed. 

And then came the doctor…followed by the words… 

“Congratulations - your daughter does not have HIV!”

Today Lita is the picture of health and product of love. 

God’s greatest love story…for Lita…for Sun…for me…for you.

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. - John 3:16
 



Lita pictured with Sun and SocaSoca is another little girl Sun has taken in, along with her mother " who were tragically left homeless in the village

  

If His eye is on the sparrow, His heart is on you.
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Breaking News: Bangalore, India



Before I get started, I just want to say a BIG THANK YOU for all of the prayers and phone calls to ask about my grandpa Terry this week. Most of you all know, but my grandpa (Terry Meyers) had a heart attack on Sunday evening. He had a heart defibrillator & pacemaker put in today and is doing good and is hoping to come home from the hospital in the next two days depending on how he’s feeling. Thank you again for all of your prayers and please continue to pray for healing and a fast recovery!

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

BREAKING NEWS:

BANGALORE, INDIA 2010

 

I am really excited to share that I will be helping to lead a REAL LIFE team in Bangalore, India from June 1 to  August 2nd. REAL LIFE is our college age program here at Adventures In Missions and Amanda Thompson and I will be leading a team of 16 incredible 18-21 years old to one of my favorite places!

 

Bangalore:

Bangalore, the capital of Karnataka state, India, reflects its multi-religious and cosmopolitan character by its more than 1000 temples, 400 mosques, 100 Churches, 40 Jain mandirs, three Gurudwaras, two Buddhist Viharasand and one Parsi Agiari. According to the 2001 Census of India, 79% of Bangalore's population is Hindu, while Muslims comprise 13% of the population. Christians and Jains account for 6% and 1% of the population, respectively.



The Situation:

In India, the federal police say that around 1.2 million children are believed to be involved in prostitution. A Central Bureau of Investigation statement said studies and surveys sponsored by the ministry of women and child development estimated about 40% of all India's prostitutes are children. Trafficking in human beings is now the second-largest moneymaking venture in the world, after illegal weapons. The UN estimates around 4 million people a year are now traded against their will to work in some form of slavery. Each day in India nearly 200 girls and women are forced into the sex trade. Sex trafficking has become an engine of the global AIDS epidemic. In India, the birth of a girl is considered a burden. Typically, she is not fed properly, loved or educated. The mortality and suicide rates for Indian women are among the highest in the world.


The Ministry:

My team will be working with Rahab's Rope, a ministry that helps to bring women out of the sex industry. Rahab's Rope Women's Center provides food, shelter and protection; a place of education and training; a place where the whole person is ministered to spiritually, physically, mentally, emotionally, socially and financially. It is a place of hope, a place of transformed lives. At Rahab's we will build relationships with the women and children, teach English, basic math and trades, visit dump communities, plan and participate in children's programs and learn about life as a woman escaping the grips of the sex industry.


How YOU can be involved:

Would you please prayerfully consider joining me in ministry? I need to raise $21,000 for this year’s ministry and I need to raise $6,930 of that by June 15. 

Would YOU invest in this ministry and join me in reaping the harvest this summer?

If you are interested in supporting me through prayers and financial support please visit the SUPPORT ME page on my blog or click HERE.

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