24 Rescued!

Awareness: The First Step to Freedom

Last week, authorities in South Florida rescued 24 Orlando kids ages 12-17 who were being forced to sell cheap items door-to-door.  They were dropped off alone in neighborhoods, picked up at the end of the night, and had every penny taken from them - all from an organization that claimed to be a charity!  Thankfully, these kids have been freed and their traffickers have been arrested thanks to people in the community who were aware of human trafficking and knew what to do. 

A friend of mine saw these children in Orlando just a few weeks ago, and he found it suspicious.  He got as much detail as possible and alerted law enforcement.  This began an investigation that eventually led to their freedom.  When law enforcement found them in South Florida, they were being transported in a single cargo van with plywood dividers blocking the doors to prevent their escape.  The threat of violence and being so far from home forced the children to comply with their traffickers’ demands.  This type of forced labor is becoming more common and happens right under our noses.  Thankfully, my friend knew what to do when he suspected something wasn’t right. 

 This is why one of the things we must do is raise awareness of the atrocity of modern-day slavery.  Last month, I had the opportunity to do just that by speaking to a high school of about 370 students.  These students need to know what is going on in their world both for their own protection and for the safety of their friends.  It was a privilege to share with them about slavery here and around the world and how they can keep themselves and their friends safe.  Many of them have become passionate about the issue and are continuing to learn how they can make a difference here and around the world.  

As our community becomes educated about the issue we all become equipped to make a difference in the lives of those being oppressed.  We take awareness seriously because it truly leads to freedom.  

For more details on the rescue, read the full article here.

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Light Sabers and Candy

 These days, our home is filled with little Jedi.  Our son loves Star Wars and everything related to it from Star Wars Legos to Angry Birds Star Wars.  If it has Star Wars on it, he likes it.  

Our little princess has followed suit by adding Princess Leia to the Disney Princesses she loves.  So, it was no surprise when the two of them wanted to be the twins - Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia - for Halloween this year.  It was a fun night in our neighborhood with friends.  

The kids are doing well.  Our Princess is enjoying preschool and ballet while Little Man is having fun with soccer and Cub Scouts.  So they’re keeping us busy, but it’s worth it to see them growing and learning new things!

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Praises

• God bringing rescue to the 24 kids from Orlando last week
• Opportunities to spread the word about human trafficking in area schools
• The blessing of children
• God’s faithfulness to us and our ministry

Prayer Requests

• Healing for those who were rescued
• God to move His people to act in fighting injustice around us
• Our continued adoption process - we’re still waiting!
• Our kids to grow in their love for Jesus

Don't Call the Fashion Police!

 In January of 2010, Chandler joined the world as we watched horrific images of destruction when a massive earthquake hit the poverty-stricken island of Haiti.  Soon after, she heard of an opportunity to travel there on a Cru summer project to help rebuild homes and lives.  She jumped at the opportunity.  Little did she know that it was her life that was going to be changed, perhaps the most, in the process. 

When she arrived in Haiti she came face to face with overwhelming physical hardship unlike anything she had ever seen.  However, as she met Haitian followers of Christ, she witnessed joy she could hardly comprehend.  While serving these wonderful people, she fell in love with them and vowed one day to return. 

Back on campus at the University of Texas, Chandler was studying fashion design and really loved it.  She dreamed of doing that type of work but also longed to make a difference in the lives of Haitians.  She wondered, “How could fashion help people rise out of poverty?”  While meeting with some missionaries from Haiti, the Lord gave Chandler an answer. 

Three months after graduating and getting married, she and her new husband moved to Port au Prince, Haiti where they work with Haitian Creations to empower locals to provide for their families through multiple business opportunities including producing jewelry and clothing. They see lives changed daily as they provide sustainable jobs for families who were once going hungry.

Lives of people like Yvetta and her family.   Yvetta was a single mother of three unhealthy boys.  Uneducated and impoverished, she needed to learn how to read and make a living.  First, she attended their literacy training, and then their jewelry training.  Now, she is not only able to read but has become an expert at crafting jewelry and has quite a business.  Her home, that was once a 5’ x 5’ cinderblock space without a bed for herself or her family, is now much larger with furniture for everyone.  Not only that, but her three sons are also in good health!  Through a sustainable job, God has used Chandler to help Yvetta change the future for her family.

Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me” (Matt. 25:45).  Chandler is truly serving our Lord.

It is stories like Chandler’s that encourage us in the work we do - helping students experience God’s love and, as a result, follow Him wherever He leads after graduation.  We pray that every student would hear and respond to God’s call on their lives the way that Chandler has.  Please join us in that prayer!

Advocating for the Victim

 One of the greatest needs we have in freeing victims of trafficking is caring for them immediately after their rescue.  When this happens, it is incredibly important to establish trust.  It helps greatly when first-responders can give them a gift.  Many have never been given anything, especially for free, so when we provide a backpack with personal items and a gift card to buy more suitable clothes, it goes a long way.  These bags run about $150 each and can mean the difference between a victim getting help and returning to the streets.  If they trust those around them, they will testify against their trafficker and get help.  If not, their trafficker goes free and many times they will go right back to their abuser. 

Yesterday, the FA president, a member of law enforcement and I met with security leaders from the hotel and lodging association.  Tourism is the biggest market in Orlando.  It's also one of the reasons why trafficking exists in our city - people come here to have a good time and are willing to do whatever it takes to have it, even if it means exploiting children.

The officer who was with us has already trained many hotel managers of the signs of human trafficking because, let's face it, prostitution happens often in hotels and needs to be reported.  These leaders were eager to do more, so they asked us to share with them what else they can do to help.  As a result, they have agreed to supply 150 survivor backpacks!  This is a huge blessing and will supply the need for over a year.  Praise God!

Later that afternoon, we met with the city commissioner to ask him to help us better care for victims by providing the funds to hire a victim advocate.  This person would be present when victims are rescued and help establish trust immediately.  He agreed to help us develop the funding! 

We are working hard to ensure that as law enforcement does their part to identify and rescue trafficking victims, these kids receive the care they need in order to find complete restoration.  Please join me in praying that when victims are rescued, we will provide a loving response to help them immediately.

July Prayer Update

When God Speaks

A little over 5 years ago, we first heard about the atrocity of human trafficking.  At the time, we were filled with compassion, but honestly, didn’t think there was anything we could do.  It quickly slipped to the back of our minds as many global needs often do. 
   
 A few years later, while I (Blair) was reviewing materials our staff team produced to help students identify the Lord’s calling on their lives, God spoke - not audibly, but very clearly.  As I read questions like, “If you started a business or organization to solve a need, what would it be?” and “What issue would you like to see someone write a bestselling book about?” among others, Human Trafficking (or modern-day slavery) was my answer to many on the list.  At that moment God’s Spirit said, “What are you doing about it?”  That question was all I needed.  The answer was, “Nothing.” But God wasn’t just asking a question, He was nudging me to do something.  I immediately started learning more about it to figure out what I, a missionary, could do. 
   

Freed Child in India - Photo courtesy Lisa Kristine

 The first thing I learned is that the problem is huge.  Human trafficking is the world’s fastest growing crime with over 20 Million people enslaved in our world.  Plus, it’s not just happening overseas, experts estimate that at least 100,000 people are trafficked within the United States every year - forced to do everything from prostitution to agricultural work to domestic service.  Then I learned something more eye-opening.  It’s happening here - Orlando - home of Mickey and Minnie, the happiest place on earth!
   
I found a Christian organization leading the effort to combat trafficking in Orlando, called Florida Abolitionist.  I immediately got involved and haven’t looked back.  In my short time volunteering with them, we have educated thousands of people about the issue in order to protect our kids, given support and services to many who have been rescued, and have enlisted God’s people to join the fight in churches throughout the city. 
   
As we’ve been involved, our eyes have been opened to God’s heart for people.  We are all made in His image and He loves each of us and is a God of justice and mercy.  A theme throughout Scripture is God’s heart for the needy, oppressed, and poor.  Psalm 146 says “Blessed are those who...execute justice for the oppressed.” Jesus, in Matthew 25, goes as far as to declare righteous those who serve “the least of these.”
   
Why do we share all this?  Because God is giving us a unique opportunity to fight human trafficking here and around the world as Cru partners with Florida Abolitionist.  Starting in the Fall, we will continue minister to college students and graduates, mobilizing them to change the world, but we will also spend 2 days a week in the City of Orlando, following the Lord as He sets the prisoner free (Psalm 146:8).  We are very excited about this opportunity and ask you to please pray for God’s favor.  In such darkness, His light must shine.  Please join us in asking Him to free the oppressed and to use us, His people, to do so.  

Freedom: May Prayer Update

Stand 4 Freedom

 “Hey, what’s this all about?” John asked as I stood on campus at UCF holding a cardboard sign.  I told him that we were with the International Justice Mission movement and were participating in their Stand 4 Freedom event where students took shifts to literally stand up for 27 continuous hours in order to raise awareness about the 27 Million people trapped in modern-day slavery.  He replied, “That’s cool, I thought you might be some kind of church.”
          
A little thrown off, I asked more and learned that he had recently heard about an anti-slavery movement started by a church that he felt was a bait and switch effort to try to gain converts without doing any tangible work to fight slavery.  He was happy to hear that IJM is an organization that is actively freeing slaves around the world but he did nothing to hide his disdain for the church.
       
Since he knew that IJM is a legitimate organization, not just a group hiding an ulterior motive, he stayed around for another minute or two.  As he did, we were able to explain that Christians are engaging in the fight against slavery  because we are all made in God’s image and He calls us to “do justice” and “love mercy.” Then he sailed away on his skateboard.
       
With such disdain for formal religion, without a miracle, John will never attend a Cru meeting or a church.  In order for Christians to reach people like him with the truth of the gospel, we must go to them because they’re not coming to us.  Engaging in things that are on God’s heart that students, like John, also care about is one way to bridge the gap.  As we do, we can have wonderful dialogues about the love of God.  That is why it is so crucial for all believers to “do justice” and “love mercy” and “give the reason for the hope that you have.”  By doing so we show people a fuller picture of the God we follow and they will begin to “taste and see that the Lord is good.”

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Birthday Season

With our kids’ birthdays less than 2 weeks apart, this time of year is quite celebratory!  This year was special because the Pippins treated the kids to a weekend at Disney.  Addy is enamored with Princesses, so the highlight for her was getting to meet many of them.  For Aiden, his favorite thing was Big Thunder Mountain Railroad - a roller-coaster ride.  We had a blast and it was great to have Sarah’s Mom and the Pippins all in town to celebrate with us!

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Praises:
• God’s work freeing slaves from oppression around the world through IJM
• Opportunities to connect in meaningful ways with students who need Jesus
• Our wonderful children and the opportunity to celebrate them with our family

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Prayer Requests:
• For God to draw John to Himself
• For the new student leaders of the IJM movement to have wisdom and guidance
• For our children to continue to grow in their love and understanding of our Lord
• For our continuing adoption process

Great News! April Prayer Letter

En Route to China

After months of requesting documents and having them approved by various government agencies, our dossier is finally complete and is currently on its way to China!  We are very excited to have the tedious process of the paper trail behind us.  Once our documents arrive in China, they will be reviewed and then our names will be added to the waiting list.  Once we are on the list, we could be matched with a child at any time.  When a child is available, they will send us the information in a “referral.”   Then it is usually about a 6 month wait before we would travel to bring our child home.  Please continue to pray that the Lord would match us with the child He has prepared for our family!

Perseverance in Prayer

When Janette started working for a large bank, her trainer, Tiffany, made quite an impression.  This hardened 30-something seemed to be the last person who would be interested in talking about God.  As a result, Janette decided to talk to God about her.  As she prayed, she intentionally invested in Tiffany’s life, getting to know her and showing her that she cared.

For 3 years, Janette prayed with perseverance that the Lord could and would work in Tiffany’s life.  She often invited friends in her Bible study and other Christian co-workers to join her in praying for Tiffany.  Finally, an answer came.  Over a meal, Janette had the opportunity to explain Jesus’ love and sacrifice very clearly; however, at that time Tiffany wasn’t quite ready to surrender everything to God.  She’d been in control of her life for quite some time, so it was scary to let go.

Several months passed and were filled with many more spiritual conversations, then one day Tiffany shared with Janette that she had invited Christ to save her soul and be the Lord of her life.  After praying for her for 3 1/2 years, Tiffany had become a Christian!

Janette is just one of the many graduates that I have the privilege of connecting with on a regular basis from across the country and she is a wonderful example of the power of prayer.  In our fast-food culture, we are often discouraged when God doesn’t answer our prayers immediately.  Janette persevered and offered not only her prayers, but herself, to her friend.  Through Janette’s faithfulness God did a miraculous work in Tiffany’s life.  Praise Him for His amazing love!

Praises

• The completion of our Dossier!
• For God’s faithfulness to hear and answer our prayers
• For Janette’s perseverance in prayer and intentionality to show God’s love to her co-workers
• For the Lord’s amazing grace!
• For the many graduates who are representing Christ to a broken world

Prayer Requests

• For Tiffany’s growth as she continues to surrender her life daily to Jesus
• For Janette’s continued faithfulness and witness to other co-workers
• For the Lord to use many grads like Janette
• Please continue to pray for our adoption process

Stand 4 Freedom

Last Friday, I joined UCF students as they took shifts literally standing on their feet for 27 hours.  We did this to represent the estimated 27 Million people who are enslaved around the world. 

UCF was one of over 400 campuses across the country who participated in the Stand 4 Freedom campaign from March 5-15.  The IJM movement I've been coaching at UCF just started meeting this semester, yet they were able to gather enough people to fill the slots for all 27 hours! 

The event is geared to raise awareness about slavery and it did just that.  During the few hours I stood, I was able to have several good conversations with some people who were aware of the issue and others who were not.  Even more, one student I talked to, John, reminded me why a partnership between Cru and IJM can be so powerful. 

John came up to us asking what we were doing, so we told him.  He had recently heard about an anti-slavery movement started by a church that he felt was a bait and switch effort to try to get people to convert to Christianity without doing any real work to fight slavery.  He was happy to hear that IJM is an organization that is actively freeing slaves around the world. 

Since he knew that IJM is a legitimate organization, not just a group using a ruse of caring for the oppressed while hiding an ulterior motive, he stayed around for another minute or two.  As he did, we were able to explain that Christians are engaging in the fight because the Bible is clear that we are all made in God's image and He calls us to "do justice" and "love mercy." Then he sailed away on his skateboard.

With such disdain for religion, unless God does a miracle in John's life, he will never attend a Cru meeting or a church.  In order for Christians to reach him with the truth of the gospel, we must go to him and people like him.  Engaging in things that students like John care about is one way to bridge the gap.  As we do, we can have wonderful dialogues about the love of God.  That is why it is so crucial for all believers to "do justice" and "love mercy" and "give the reason for the hope that you have."  By doing so we show people a fuller picture of the God we follow.  It is why I love the partnership that Cru has with IJM!

March Prayer Update: Break it up!

Fights among students were common at Ashley’s school.  The teachers at her inner-city elementary school debated on the best way to handle the situation.  In the midst of competing suggestions, she thought, “The students need Jesus.” 

After graduating from college, Ashley spent a year interning with Cru’s High School ministry where she learned how to have a ministry in public schools.  This gave her the tools she needed to start a Good News Club where kids learn about God in a fun, engaging way after school.  The response has been tremendous.  The club quickly grew from 50 to over 100 students regularly attending!  With such a great turnout she quickly learned she could not do it alone.  She needed God and others to help her!  She meets 2 other teachers to pray regularly for the students and several volunteers from the Cru ministry at UCF help facilitate their meetings.

Last year Ashley overheard one of her Kindergarten students telling her friends what she was learning in the club - that Jesus died for our sins.  Through her ministry, God is touching the lives of children and using them to plant the seed of the gospel in the hearts of their friends!

God’s call to be an educator is extremely significant for college students.  As a result, we have been working diligently with Cru’s Middle and High School ministry to help prepare these students for what lies ahead.  As teachers, they have the potential to impact their students’ lives for eternity.  They will invest in hundreds, if not thousands, of students throughout their careers and we want each student to see Christ living in and through them.

Cru has a wonderful coaching center made up largely of former teachers who train educators and future educators how to live out their faith in the classroom.  We recently directed the production of a video with three of these educators here in Orlando.  You can watch it at cruoncampus.org/called-to-teach.

If you or someone you know is interested in learning how to invest spiritually in the lives of elementary, middle, or high school students, please let us know.  We would be thrilled to connect you to one of our coaches!
 

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Praises:
• For Godly teachers who impact students’ lives with the gospel daily
• Ashley’s ministry at her school
• Our partnership with Cru’s Middle and High School ministry who train teachers well
• Our Adoption Home Study was approved by U.S. Immigration!
• God’s grace in our lives

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Prayer Requests:
• For Ashley and all Christian teachers to see God use them mightily
• For many future educators to receive training and to be ministers of the gospel in their schools
• Please continue to pray for our adoption process. Our documents are being reviewed by the Chinese Consulate. Once everything is approved, our dossier will be complete to send to China!

OOPS - January Newsletter - finally!

In the busyness of life, I forgot to upload our January Newsletter to our blog.  Sorry about that!  That month we shared a cool story about how 5 of our grads spoke to graduating seniors at the Mid-Atlantic Winter Conference in Baltimore.  Alumni can speak powerfully into the lives of students, so it was great to make it happen!  Read it all here!