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Submit your story below… Record a video on your webcam, or write your story down. Share it with the Shine community and inspire someone like you.
I began hearing the cries of women and children enslaved through human trafficking about 5 years ago through a movie on Lifetime Television. I was compelled to become as educated as possible about this crime and since have committed to being an activist for change. On Saturday 9/26/09 in Austin, TX I will join thousands across the United States as we Walk to raise awareness and funding to help fight this form of modern day slavery. May we all continue to pray for the victims, remember to love the perpetrators, and allow God to propel us to be abolishionists for change. Join us at http://www.SCTnow.org.
My response to injustice is to be a carrier of the Light in darkness, to lend a hand to the needy and be a voice for those without a voice. I’m committed to linking arms with others who wish to leave a mark on our generation, for those traveling after us. Together we can make a difference, together we can be the change!!
i moved to the dominican republic two years ago, when i was 21 years old. fresh out of college, for the first time my eyes were opened up to the world and i was no longer so focused on swelling up my brain. i began to actually understand poverty, what it does to people, and what can be done to produce change. poverty isn’t just being broke, and it’s not just living without, it is a perpetual cycle of destruction that must be broken.
i began working in an art co-op with about 30 haitian and dominican women living in poverty, and a friend rachel from cananda. together we make simple things, simple jewelry, and all of the profit goes back to the women, to keep them out of prostitution, out of digging in the garbage for food, helping them to provide for their families, and send their kids to school. change is beautiful.
you can make a difference, because Jesus uses the weak and He makes us capable. ‘
for more about the art co-op check out latienda.ca
I met a woman a couple of months ago who had recently been released from prison and had a desire to create the best life for her children going forward. She used all the resources she had to move her family into their own apartment, but had no food or furniture. With an amazing response from friends and family, we quickly put a team together of several people and surprised this woman and her children with our own “extreme home makeover” of sorts. We received numerous donations and the home was completely furnished from ceiling to floor as the family was treated to a shopping spree for school clothes and groceries. I am overwhelmingly blessed to be the hands and feet of Christ to those in need!
Our connect group recently had the opportunity to serve a lady who was in need of food, furniture, school supplies, etc. for her and her family! We were able to surprise her with a “home makeover” and God provided exceedingly abundantly more than she asked for! It blessed our connect group so much that we decided to “be the church” to others as well! We are now helping other families in similar situations as the need arises! We want to help meet physical needs which will open doors and allow us to minister to their spiritual needs! We love being a part of the body of Christ!
In the last month or two, I’ve been moved and stirred up and curious about the issue of child trafficking. It started after Ricky, my husb. & I watched Taken, then we saw a video about the reality of the crime in the US, while we attending a Shane Everet / Bethany Dillon concert @ Ecclesia Austin, downtown. Then I read a blog post about it entitled “God of Justice…Or Is He?“, by Brad Ruggles.
FINALLY, I was invited to a Tea Party where the founder of Stop Child Trafficking Now, Lynette Lewis, along with an Austin PD specialist in this field & 2 other activists spoke out against this crime & with ways to help stop it. Since then, I’ve seen the movie, Human Trafficking, which gives 3 or 4 settings and realistic examples of cases & it was so helpful. I’ve learned so much…
Of course, with knowledge comes responsibility. After joining the Stop Child Trafficking Now campaign, God has given me a passion to spread the word and that has helped me raise $250 so far, + I’m doing my 1st WALK ever. I’m so excited to be used by the Lord, like never before. I am just one, but I have much more power to help end injustice, than I ever thought.
God has put a passion in my heart for women to be set free from the chain of regret that hold so many of us in bondage and captivity. I have walked through so much in the last two years and have come out on the other side, completely healed, restored, made new and FREE! I want other women to know the God of the universe cares and wants them to be free also. We can only be set free from surrendering to Him and I want to live a completely surrendered life so that I can fulfill the purpose that God has called me to each day and touch the women in my path. Right now, that is how I hope to hear from God, see the need, feel in my spirit compassion and love, and respond how God would ask me to.
I want to begin by sharing that I have recently experienced a very traumatic time in my life. Just recently my husband admitted to sexually abusing my daughters. I’ve always considered myself to be a strong woman until this time in my life. Through these horrific times, I want everyone to know that immediately someone from church reached out to me & family… then another and another. I went from feeling lost in the shuffle of Sunday & Wednesday service to being loved beyond measure. But it never stops with one. God has continued to bless me so that I can press on and continue the blessing. The day after all this happened a dear Sister in Christ was getting evicted because her husband left her. I went to her house and helped her pack and bought them some food and her response was…you are in no position to be doing this….I replied I’m not here on my position but He who called me. I’m just being obedient. That afternoon, I got a phone call that someone had donated some money to get my daughters some school clothes. God is so amazing! Before we serve, before we give, he’s already returning the blessing not once, or twice, but over and over again. I could go on and on sharing how every time I feel like giving up someone calls and asks, “What can we do”. My encouragement to everyone is when you feel like you have nothing to give, no way to help, just HEAR God’s voice, SEE the need, FEEL the pain of others & RESPOND in a way that the world doesn’t understand. Since all this has happened, things have been tough like last week when I felt like I was having a nervous breakdown, a sister in Christ met at the hospital and stayed to make sure I was fine. Life is so much better when we do it together! One church, one body, One God, one life at a time. Let’s make a difference today! God Bless.
My heart calling is to bring everyday joy to those around me. The little things can just mean so much when people are in a rough spot. I know…I’ve been there! There are so many wonderful organized causes out there - one of which I’m very excited to be a participant in (SCTNOW) - but I think the old saying about “charity starts at home” is very true. And “home” to me includes my church family. So, I want to start loving on people in small ways that make a big impact.
Our connect group has been moved so greatly these past few months by serving others that we are starting a non-profit group called the Blessing Group. We will be raising funds or donating our own resources to a Blessing Account where we can decide as a group who to bless! We want to be able to help the needs within our group as well as others that we hear about in the community. Giving brings us such joy and it’s allowing us to focus on the needs of others, not just our own!