So unless you live under a rock, (for even this missionary in a small African village got word… you’ve heard of Obama’s speech!
“It ought to concern every person, because it’s a debasement of our common humanity. It ought to concern everycommunity, because it tears at the social fabric. It ought to concern every business, because it distorts markets. It ought to concern every nation, because it endangers public health and fuels violence and organized crime. I’m talking about the injustice, the outrage, of human trafficking, which must be called by its true name—modern slavery.” -B. Obama
I’m going to follow that with words from one of my favorite writer’s:
Kristof- NYTimes “Prostituted kids are among the most voiceless of the voiceless around the world…”
I LOVE his thoughts as he supports and challenges it to “not just stay a speech” It also reminds us that it’s a name. Not just a number we’re fighting for.
Sex-trafficking is so real here. It’s not some charity cause, it’s not some fun logo on a cool shirt, It’s Cynthia. It’s Rosa, and Betty and Elizabeth. I can’t express how REAL it is.
How tangible the tears that soak through your shirt feel. We look for little girls in prostitution, hoping to rescue them into our home and give them a fresh start at life. But instead of finding 5, 10 or 15 girls… we’re finding 30, 40, 50+ little girls. Prostitution, trafficking, live sex shows…We literally stopped looking for a while cause it was so painful and we were so overwhelmed. After breathing a couple days, we prayed, re-strategized and re-focused ourselves and will continue moving forward to getting girls this next week.
We’re proud owners of a table and living rooms chairs now! Woo! We have school desks and a bookshelf is being made as I type.
Every item to us is so exciting, it’s not just “a table” it’s where our family will have dinner! It’s not a “sofa,” it’s where we’ll cuddle our girls who are now safe and living a life free of rape.
Yes, yes we are cheese-balls. But working on the coast, sitting on a massive port to Asia and the middle east… this isn’t just a story- this is real life. And our girls sit on a painful reality that we dream will one day be abolished forever.
Standing on the backs of the Wilberforces and abolitionists of the past, our dream team aims to work Mercy and Justice here in Mtwapa, loving a generation to freedom and hoping to stop sex slavery for good. Leaving some ink in the history books as Kenya is only the start! (We’re optimists, it’s incurable really….
If you want to join us and ride the wave of Obama’s words- Please never say you didn’t have an outlet!
{Outlet} : )
OR you can donate time and come visit, finances to our rescue or prevention projects, or give fabulous Christmas gifts to young girls this holiday season!!
Side note:
Big fat FYI to everyone near and far- I’m coming back!! I leave Africa officially officially –October 17th. Mark it on your iCal!
I head straight to England! There, I will fall into the arms of some of my dearest friends and have copious amounts of cream tea, in castle gardens, pretending for a wee minute that there isn’t a care in the world.
After exhausting them with my love, I’ll grab a quick flight up to Ireland- yup! So excited to spend time with Graham and Nathalie Robinson and the Holbeche family! More tea, more epic landscape and most likely, more extravagant plots and scheming of how to take over the world. NBD.
From there, I’ll be in back in Cali the 25th of October. So here it comes….
October 27th-November 7th- Redding, CA
November 8th-15th- Los Angeles, CA
November 16th- -30th Saskatoon, Canada
December 1st- Los Angeles, CA and a few other places…
(December is mainly a family/friend month but I’ll have some times for speaking in there for the taking, please let me know!)
If you want me to speak at your church, youth group, high school, awareness night or grab me for a cup of coffee, spoil me with stories of your life or trips to Forever Twenty-One… that’s the time to do it!!! I’ll be there until the beginning of January!!
Annnd please don’t be shy and wait until the end of my trip! It’s such a bummer when I’m around for weeks and then two days before I’m suppose to head out, 48 people want to have a coffee. Besides a caffeine overload, there just aren’t enough hours in a day!!! So please- I can’t wait to see you all and so long to share about what God is doing in war zones and brothels!!
(to contact me: cassandra@justicerising.org)