It is a dark year.
Not only are we wrestling with an invisible virus that feels like walking through and endless tunnel with a brand new obstacle every day, we are lamenting the loss of unity, of stability and security, of friendship and family, crying out against injustices and violence, battling the institutions and forces of evil, and dealing with the constant inundation of a global social media clamoring for our attention.
All in all, 2020 feels like treading in the ocean with a flimsy life preserver…no make that a toilet seat life preserver.
My personal grief and anger this week has been over the war against trafficking. I have been in this movement for 10-12 years. This battle is lifelong. It is a soul-sucking, energy-draining, tiring but a heart-passion-filled marathon. But this week, advocates and survivor-leaders have been sprinting.
And we are tired.
Survivor-leaders are the most tired.
I’ve been checking in on my survivor-leaders this week from Facebook stalking them to praying for them to sharing information with them to sharing their voices as they strive to get the truth out there. We are all working against the spiritual forces of evil that are clogging up the National Human Trafficking Hotline, which only serves to hurt victims and not helps. Like stripping bark off a tree, we are plowing through one conspiracy theory mess after another, wading through countless propaganda memes and posts from well-meaning but terrified moms. Information is a double-edged sword. Not all awareness posts are good if they are the wrong type of awareness and only feed into an agenda without sharing ways to actually help the anti-trafficking cause and help current victims and support and honor survivor-leaders.
We struggle against the overwhelming thought that while all the falsities create opportunities for us to share the truth, is it enough? And will people chiming in now care in another ten years? Another five years? Next year?
The first year in this movement for me was almost debilitating. I will have a follow-up post about how I began in this movement and some excellent ways to care and to strengthen yourself to keep up the work. For this is a battle that belongs to us all and there are many ways to unite and use your voice and talents.
But this post is about where I find my light and my hope. I am an intense personality. I find joy and strength in empowering and strengthening others, in using my voice to educate and offer preventative methods to create circles of protection around women and children. I live in an ongoing state of fire in my soul.
However, I was prompted by a friend last night who wished to find the positive and correct information. And I was prompted by my pastor, Osheta, and her sermon today to seek joy and remembering that “we take our cues from the Prince of Peace.”
Some of my joy is found in my self-care outlets from squishing my toes in wet mud while listening to my playlist to sarcastic author memes to long conversations with a good friend to samples of my writing, but let’s stay on the subject!
I love the joy that comes with this work. Of getting the opportunity to connect with a friend seeking ways to get more involved, of sharing resources on Facebook, and even writing blog posts like this!
Below is a wonderful list of organizations. In my follow-up post, I’ll include books and FB groups and documentaries…education that truly impacted me in this learning process.
Above all, I represent Women At Risk, Int, which is all-holistic and 98% of their donations go back to their programs helping all over the world like survivor burn victims in India to survivor single moms and their children in the USA. I hope to host a FB boutique party to benefit survivors (all products handmaid by survivors) in the fall, so please subscribe to my newsletter because updates will be available.
All these places, these people, these networks uniting together against the darkness are where God has blessed me to find my hope. I am merely a small cog in this greater Body and the great cloud of witnesses that are spurring us on to run this race and fight the good fight. Whether you are in the trenches doing prison fellowship, legislating before Congress, wrapping arms of love around beaten and battered women, speaking at retreat centers, writing books, or rising above the ashes of your own trauma to share your story, you are the Body. You are the hands and feet and the hope of Christ in the darkness.
My international/national list:
Exodus Cry
Women At Risk, Int
National Center on Sexual Exploitation (annual 2020 conference!)
Shared Hope Int
Operation Underground Railroad
Love146
Rebecca Bender Initiative
In Our Backyard
Local Minnesota:
Breaking Free
Women’s Foundation of MN
Minnesota Coalition Against Sexual Assault -MNCASA
Violence Free Minnesota
The Link
Trafficking Justice
Cornerstone
Beautiful and Loved
Heartland Girls
Terebinth Refuge