Providing Meaningful Work: When God Takes the Vision

Sometimes, even though you are quite sure God is calling you to do something and wants you to put the effort into the work for now, there is this sense that the vision you are pursuing is off, is your own, not God's. I have had that nagging sense in trying to work out and think through all the details of the plans for the Blessed Zelie Martin Initiative. I was working on it and making progress, but the whole vision was sort of shrouded in a fog. And I felt all alone. Not alone as in not having a friend to work with, but alone as in I knew God was letting me work this out on my own, waiting for something, and I was steadily becoming more discouraged.

Then last week at adoration, I finally just handed it to Him. In our time of talking I told Him I was tired and uncertain. That all these big thoughts I had been thinking and all the compassion He had drawn up in me for women battling the worst forms of oppression and exploitation was too heavy a burden for me to carry. It was robbing me of energy I needed for my first and most important mission, loving service to my family. So I handed it to Him and told Him He could have it back. That if this was the fruit, I knew it was not my work for now. I put it on the altar with Him and left it there, with the prayer that if He wanted me to do this work now, here, He had to send His Spirit to lift the fog and clarify the vision so that I knew I walked in His light.

The next morning in the shower, the Holy Spirit shone through my fog, big and bold and bright, giving me a new vision and new plan that had never once entered in to all my thinking about this outreach in the past. I knew it was His time for me.

And so the Blessed Zelie Martin Initiative has become mercy covers. 

The link above is to our Facebook page. We are working on the web site and donate page now and hope to have it available in the next day or two. You can read about the new vision in the "About" section of the Facebook page.

Here it is in a nutshell:

The donor makes a $40 donation which serves as a contract with a member of our co-operative to produce a handmade recycled t-shirt quilt which will be given to a child in an orphanage or a survivor in a human trafficking safe house. The materials for the project and the skills training as well as work space will be provided (in our home) by the St. Bryce Foundation.

When the quilt is completed, the woman will receive a $10 cash payment for her work, $10 worth of tools for creating beaded rosaries and jewelry and $20 worth of supplies for making her first rosary, as well as the skills training for the project. 

She will then continue through additional steps in our program which include skills training in a variety of craft products which she can market locally and through our online shop, personal financial management training, English, health and other educational courses, and discipleship and fellowship.

Our goal is to contract 36 quilts by Christmas to cover the 18 beds at Salvando Corazones and the 18 beds at the orphanage with which we work here in Turrialba.

We'll be back to share the web site soon. For now, can you head over and like the Facebook page and share it with your friends? 

Edited to add the exciting news that Mercy Covers is now a Field Partner on Pure Charity and you can back our project there! Don't know yet about the Pure Charity vision? Do check it out. 

Let's Be Encouragers

Today I am offering us all a simple way to take action against trafficking and slavery and exploitation. It might not seem like it's even related to some of you, but, in truth, it's the most important thing we can do.

• Today, let's offer praise and encouragement to the young women in our lives who are most vulnerable. It can your daughter or you sister, your niece or your neighbor. But I also invite you to think outside the box a bit. 
• Is there a girl at your children's school is especially smart and a little on the outside of the crowd? Can you drop of an anonymous note with a treat to encourage her in her intelligence and individuality? 
• Do you know a strong, sporty girl who feels a little different from all the other girlie girls around her? Can you encourage her to embrace her strength in some way today?
• Can you send some teenage friends a note on Facebook reminding them that they are beloved daughters of the King? 
• Is there a single mom you know? How about swinging by with a pizza and movie gift card tonight and a note of encouragement? Or asking her if there is anything she needs to accomplish this weekend that you can help her with.
• Is there a pregnancy center in your area? Can you drop off some notes of encouragement to the expectant mothers there with a small self-indulgent gift like lotion or fuzzy socks or nice tea?
• How about a Boys and Girls club or YWCA in your area? Call and ask if there is some way you can offer encouragement to the girls there.
• Is there a health clinic or WIC office in your area? What if you just popped in with packs of mints and a smile, some "Great Job" stickers, and passed them around to the waiting mothers?
• Bake a girl cup cakes today. Your girl or someone else's. When she asks why tell her she is a daughter of the King and you wanted to remind her that she is a beloved and well-respected princess.
• Want to help me here? In the comments below of via e-mail (I finally remembered to post my e-mail in the sidebar), send me a note that I can pass on to Maria at Salvando Corazones as she plans to head for her fundraising trip to the States, or to her first trafficking survivor who is currently living with her, or to a woman in my community I know could use the encouragement. There is a beautiful teenage girl in our church who suffers from severe epilepsy and seizures. She sings in church when she is well, but I have not seen her in a while. Maybe you would like to write her a note? Send anything my way and I will translate it and get it to a woman who will be blessed by it.

We reduce the risk of trafficking, slavery and exploitation when we reduce vulnerability. The surest ways to make a big impact are through providing education and work. But stepping into the lives of vulnerable women and girls and offering them hope and encouragement is certainly worth while. And cultivating a habit of doing it regularly, letting yourself be gently (or brazenly) by the Holy Spirit further and further out of your comfort zone may well turn into something much bigger than you ever imagined it could. Just like my little friend in Nicaragua.

And let's not stop praying together, okay? When we pray, we change our own hearts, so that when we act, we can change the world.

Thank you all for standing with me and for having a heart for the oppressed. The earth looks just a little bit more like heaven because of it.

Providing Meaningful Work: What We Need to Get Started

I have been working hard to put all the details together to get the Blessed Zelie Martin Initiative I outlined here up and running in all its aspects. Or at least to know what I need to do to get to accomplish that.

I am ready to begin on the first aspect of the initiative by teaching English classes for women here in town. This I can start right away because materials and funds for the initial investment are not necessary and I can arrange to use a free facility. The U.S. Embassy provides free materials for teaching from the Peace Corps on their web site and since I am going to aim mostly for conversational English, I do not need a lot of materials to begin with.

The initial project for the second aspect of the initiative, micro-business loans, will be to help a young woman furnish the beauty salon she is building in front of her home. A women's group in Indiana is hoping to adopt this project and raise the funds to purchase her salon chair for the shop. Additional funds will be necessary for other needs to finish this project. If your women's group, bible study, or other group might like to help, please let me know by hosting a fundraiser, please let me know.

Missionary Rosary Design

The third and fourth aspects of the initiative are where we will need help getting going. The base projects for the women's craft cooperative will missionary rosaries and bracelets. In the mission rosary, each decade is a different color and represents a different continent for which you pray.  I cannot find any other vendor selling stone or gem versions of the rosary, only plastic. I think this will make a nice cornerstone product for the group, and learning the skill of stringing and beading rosaries can be transferred to jewelry making and other opportunities for the women. I would like to also create a bracelet version of the product with the various colored beads representing the continents and a cross dangle for Christians of other denominations who might want to join in prayers for the mission but do not necessarily pray the rosary. I am figuring start up supplies to create the first fifty rosaries and bracelets to estimate about $1000. Once these items are produced and we are able to begin sales, the cooperative should become self-funding, however, further donations of sales and materials will increase the amount of income for the cooperative members.

T-shirt Product Idea: Bracelet from U Create

Other products from the cooperative would focus on items that are both marketable here locally and internationally that we can produce from recycled t-shirts . I have gathered a numbered of project ideas on Pinterest and many of them do not require sewing. Eventually, however, we will need to have the ability to sew items in order to create a variety of products. The nice things about using t-shirts is that bulk of the materials for this product line can be obtained for free. I will, though, be creating a wish list of items we would like donated second hand or purchased, so as sewing machines, needles, thread, scissors, pins etc... I know there are lots of people with unused materials laying around  so if we ask enough, I am confident we can supply this part of the group's needs without much initial investment.

I would like to make Bible Study and lunch together a part of the days when the cooperative meets, so another aspect of fundraising will be to purchase Spanish Bibles, journals and pens for the women in the group and have a small fund to drawer from to purchase food for lunch each at each meeting.

After that will come the marketing and shipping of items. For that we will need a well-designed web site (I am hoping we can find a talented individual willing to donate his/her time for this) and the funds to cover the cost of an e-box from Mail Boxes Etc. to make it more feasible to get supplies and products in and out.

In the last aspect of the initiative, the craft cooperative for indigenous women, I would like to focus on a skill many of the women already have, which is beading with small pony beads. I would like to offer them the opportunity to take home and bead the cotton pouches in which we will package our rosaries and other products and then return with them and receive payment.  Because I am still working part time as a technical writer, I will tithe part of my income to cover this aspect of the cooperative. Eventually, I think we could probably make the bags ourselves, but I will purchase the initial materials for packaging the first 50 rosaries and bracelets so that we can launch all aspects of the cooperative at the same time.

That leaves the last aspect, partnering with the work of Salvando Corazones. This aspect, to me, is one of the most important of the initiative as it gives the women here who are receiving the opportunity to share and pass on the hope. So we will share part of what we raise in donations as well as tithe part of what we make in sales with the women in Costa Rica's first trafficking safe house so that they are equal beneficiaries of what we receive.

So, there you have it. Overwhelmed by the details? Yes, I am. But reading the book Half the Sky (Have you read it? Tomorrow, I'll be inviting you to come back at the end of the month and discuss the book and/or the PBS documentary at the end of the month.) I am inspired and convicted that this is an important effort and one I cannot back away from because it is overwhelming. God has given me a pocket of space in my days to devote to this ministry and the Spirit has continued to inspire and motivate me, so I will keep moving toward making it work. And we shall what He does with my meager efforts.

So, what can you do? What I am looking for now are women who might already be gathering with other women in Bible Study, mother's groups, book clubs, homeschooling groups, and even running clubs or recipe clubs etc. or who might be willing to gather a group of women or even a school class or high school club and work with them to help the me and women here get this initiative off the ground by hosting a fundraiser for the initiative. The idea is simple, choose an event, spread the word, share the stories and get us moving. I will be back to share event ideas in another post as this the details of this post have probably already put anyone reading on overload.

But start thinking of a group you might be able to work with to host an event and let me know via comment or e-mail if you are might be willing to host an event.

Let's Offer to Help

If you want to be part of the solution in the anti-human trafficking efforts, the first thing you need to do is let people know that you are willing to help. So often we find a cause we are passionate about, see all the inspiring work others are doing, and fail to translate that into more than sentiment in our own lives. I am guilty of this as much as anyone else.

That is one reason I was totally struck and inspired when I read in Palmer Chinchen's book God Can't Sleep: Waiting for Daylight On Life's Dark Nights by his response to reading a NY Times article about the murder of albino mothers and their children in the African country of Burundi. He immediately wrote this open letter to Burundi's president:

Dear President Nkurunziza,

I write to you with a heart saddened by the tragic murder of a Burundian mother and her five year-old son.

 I write to say that these killers must be brought to justice. And I write to encourage you to pour every possible resource into protecting marginalized albinos in Burundi.

I know that you are a man of God. I know your heart is good. So I simply implore you to seek justice for the albinos of Burundi.

I write on behalf of Christians everywhere--please stop this senseless crime. I do not write to place blame or to judge; I write to encourage action.

I also write to offer the resources of every Christian in my country who cares about justice. I write to offer means to help educate a population that killing albinos in the worst kind of crime, the most senseless of crimes. Albinos, like all of us, are created by God, in His image, and they are loved and prized by God--it's just that their skin is a different color.

And only sheer ignorance would cause would cause anyone to believe that there is magic in their bones. 

I offer the resources of every Christian in America who cares about justice to help shelter and protect the albinos of Burundi.

I write to offer to partner with you to rescue those whose lives are threatened because of the color of their skin.

May God's great hand of blessing be on your life as you continue to lead with wisdom.

                                                                                                                     Respectfully,

                                                                                                                    Dr. Palmer Chinchen

Whoa. That's how we as Christians are supposed to respond to the atrocities and injustices of this world. Now, I don't necessarily think it is prudent for all of us to run off writing letters offering the help and resources of all Christians at every injustice we read about. But I do think there are very real promptings from the Holy Spirit that can make us feel spurred to immediate, passionate action and that we ignore or wait on long enough to let doubt and fear rise up and quell the spark the Spirit was igniting in our hearts. I do believe that if every Christian responded this way to just one injustice that was his/her particular passion, that we would be doing a whole world of good without any one person risking too much. And I believe our brothers and sisters would be suffering less, dying less, starving less, killing less. Because God has given us the power to stop those things in His name.

Did you ever read the beginning of the book of Acts and wonder what it felt like to be the apostles, going out in public ministry for the first time without Jesus, and to find the courage and the faith to say to the blind and the lame to see and walk? It was risky for sure. And I'm sure in their humanity they were terrified. But in faith, they believed what Jesus had said to them when He told them to do just that. And so they followed the lead of the Spirit and reached out their hands. And the power was there.

I believe the Spirit is prompting all of us Christians to hold out our hands to someone and say "walk" or "see" or "be saved" or "take and eat" or "live". And I believe there are many if us who have stood far too long with itchy, sweaty palms wondering how we can possibly be part of the solution to something so very, very big when we are so small. And when we already have so much to do. And the whole hosts of other reasons we give for not taking action.

But the bottom line is, if we are to be part of His team, we must be willing to act. I have been meditating on the first letter of St. Peter in my prayer lately. Dense that letter it is. It's taking me days to get through one small paragraph. The one I've been stuck on lately is 1 Peter : 13-16:

"So then, have your minds ready for action. Keep alert and set your hope completely on the blessing which will be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed. Be obedient to God, and do not allow your lives to  be shaped by those desires you had when you were still ignorant. Instead, be holy in all that you do, just as the God who has called you is holy."

Why was Dr. Chinchen's response to reading the NY Times to write an open letter to the President of an African nation offering his help? Because his mind has been disciplined to be ready for action. I have begged God to make me alert and ready for action. I have begged Him to give me the grace to obey His leading. I have begged Him to free from the desire for approval and notice that I am prone to be motivated by in my ignorance and brokenness and sinfulness. And I have begged to be holy. As He is holy. And in His holiness, He acts. He creates. He communes. He reaches out. He sends messengers. He sends and becomes a Savior. He battles and breathes and He breaks bread and He multiplies when there is not enough. And He heals and He binds up the broken-hearted and He dies and He rises and He rules. This is the holiness of our God. The God of action. Because God is love and love acts and risks and is rejected and, when least accepted, opens a door for hearts to turn to Him.

So this week, I am taking a few risks and some action. I don't where this will lead me. I just know it is what the Spirit is leading me to do. If it goes out and never comes back, so be it. God is in that abyss. If it spirals into something big and beautiful and overwhelming, so be it. God is in that chaos.

This week, I either have already or am writing letters to people -- important people -- to let them know that I want to part of the solution to human trafficking and that I am ready to help with my time, my energy and my passion. Here's my list:

• The Code: This is a code of conduct for the tourism sector to avoid engaging in business practices that promote trafficking. I think responsibility among the tourism sector is a big part of the solution here in Costa Rica. I have written to ask how I can be part of that work here.
• Costa Rica's President Laura Chincilla: I used Dr. Chinchen's letter as a model to write the President and encourage continued action to end trafficking in Costa Rica, keep traffickers out of the country and provide programs to rehabilitate victims and reduce vulnerability. I offered my help in whatever capacity it is useful.
• Regional Office of Ministerio de Trabajo y Seguridad Social: This is the government agency under which trafficking technically fall although I am not sure how much they accept it as part of their mission. I wrote to encourage them to make it a priority and to offer whatever help I can in the area of education.
• Ambassador Anne Andrew: This one pretty much follows the pattern of the letter to the President too.
• E-mail to hotel owner in San del Sur: I don't know why this was so hard and humbing for me to take the risk to do. But I e-mailed the hotel owner where we stayed in Nicaragua and told him of my concern for the little girl on the beach. I asked him if there was a local who knew whether there was an adult who accompanied her and if not, if they might know someone who could keep an eye on her or who could inform her family of the dangers and encourage them to send someone to accompany her. That was hard to do for reasons I cannot articulate. It made me feel very raw and vulnerable to criticism, or worse yet, indifference. But it was one bit of personal action I could take. I know it was important for me to do it because the Holy Spirit wouldn't leave me alone about it. 
• Municipality of San Juan del Sur: Telling them of my experience, encouraging them to educate and protect their citizens and tourism sector, and again, offering my help. ( At this point, I am beginning to feel pretty foolish because I really have no idea what I will say if these people do accept my offer of help. I have no idea what I really can offer. But I do have some ideas. And if they're willing to talk to me, that one more person talking about this, right?)
• Bishop of Cartago, Costa Rica: We know him personally and it is by his permission that we are working here. I wrote to ask him if he is aware of any area where the Church in Costa Rica is working  on this issue and how I might be able to be a part of this work. I informed him of the work I hope to begin providing meaningful work for women and asked him if there was any more I could to help the Diocese bring awareness and invite a response to this problem in the country of Costa Rica.

So there yo have it. Feeling not just a little silly, vulnerable and humbled, I did it. I have no way of knowing what the results will be. But I did (am doing -- still working on some of those) what the Holy Spirit has been tugging me to do. And I know it was right.

To whom can you write this week to offer to be part of the solution? Your local tourism commission? Your pastor? A local ministry to vulnerable women? One of the organizations I mentioned above?

Who can you ask to join you in your fight? Are you part of women's prayer group, book club, Bible study or other group that might want to host a fund-raising event for our Blessed Zelie Martin Initiative? Could you invite others to join to pray publically at your church or in another location for the end to human trafficking and slavery?

If you want more information about how you might organize an event or a fundraiser to support the St. Bryce Foundation's efforts to get the Blessed Zelie Martin Initiative up and running and support the work of Salvando Corazones, please comment or drop me an e-mail.

Are you ready for action? If so, take it. If not, pray and meditate with the above verse from 1 Peter and ask the Spirit to make you ready and then to show you what to do. He will lead. He will answer. He will act. Because He loves. You and those who need what He is calling you to give. While you wait, why not write to thank and encourage and offer prayers to someone who is doing the work now? If you have an organization whose work you appreciate, write to the staff, let them know. If you would like to send a word of encouragement to the staff at Salvando Corazones, you can find their e-mails on the page, but I would also be happy to deliver it to them if you would like to e-mail it me or leave it in the comments.

Let's offer to help to be part of the solution with our time, our energy, our prayers and our encouragement today.

Let's Fast From Freedom

Are you, like me, beginning to forget the commitment to act and pray to end human trafficking? I admit I feel like a bit like a clanging gong that no one can hear. But I made a commitment and I WILL see it through. Why? Because last week Costa Rican papers reported that a man from reported being brought here under conditions of slavery to work in a restaurant in order to pay off a debt his family owed the traffickers. He was afraid to go to authorities because being returned to his own country would mean certain death. Because the other day Maria at Salvando Corazones posted that she was thankful for calm seas that day because you never know what thoughts, flashbacks or memories will rock the world of those who have been abused and exploited nor do you know when. Because the Costa Rican government has openly stated in the last few weeks that it does not know how to close the loop hole that allows drug and human traffickers to apply for residency legally by taking up temporary residency in a different state of the U.S. and getting their police report from that state, thereby covering up their criminal history. They have passed a new law that states that if at any time any of these items is found on a person's record, his/her residency can be revoked. And so traffickers of all types and sorts have an open door to take up residency here and the blue print with which to do it.

I have more to tell you and a growing list of ways you can help with the plan for the Blessed Zelie Martin Initiative that I laid out here. . I am putting together some other actions that I hope you will help me with in the areas of government action and responsible tourism. I am planning a trip to visit the safe house for Salvando Corazones and put my head together with Maria about what we can do together.

In the mean time, as a family, we begin a circulating Holy Hour for the month of missions in the communities of our church parish. We will kneel in the presence of the Lord of Lords every afternoon for the next two weeks with our brothers and sisters and pray for the Church's call to missions. And I will beg that we embrace this as part of our collective mission as a Church, the call to act to end the atrocity of human slavery.

And while we are doing that, I offer you another action to keep us all focused on this fight. Let's fast from freedom this week. The victims of trafficking and slavery lose so many basic freedoms: the freedom to eat, sleep, use the bathroom when they want to, the freedom to speak to whom they wish, the freedom to call their bodies there own, the freedom to love, to trust, to hope. Is there a friend or a family member with whom you can share your desire to act on behalf of these victims? Might you enlist their help in a fast of sorts from a basic freedom you enjoy daily?

What if for one day, you did not go to the bathroom without asking someone's permission first? Or leave the house? Or go to bed? Or eat? Or drink? Or speak to someone else? I think it will serve as a poignant reminder to me of all the basic human freedoms I take for granted on a daily basis.

Over the course of the next week, I am going to enlist my husband's help (poor thing, I have no friends I can enlist as texting buddies here, he has to  bear the brunt of my crazy ideas) in this endeavor. I am going to choose a particular freedom listed above and get him to agree that I will ask his permission and he has to grant before I act. Every single time. And each time I go through the process, I will stop to pray for all the people on the world who live daily without freedom, who are begging for a basic mercy and being beaten or kicked or abused for asking, who are waking up at night in a terrified sweat, imprisoned by traumatic memories, who have been made vulnerable by poverty or culture or war or neglect.

If anyone decides to join me and walk beside me in this endeavor, I welcome the company. But if I go it alone, so be it. This is the call of my heart. A "yes" I offered to my merciful Savior. I will not, with His grace, take it back because I feel silly or lonely or like I am shouting into a dark abyss. I will cling to Him and seek the grace to continue on.

Providing Meaningful Work: A Plan

I wrote here that providing meaningful work for women was one way I had long been thinking about fighting the exploitation and vulnerability of women. I have kicked around these ideas for a few months now and I have finally been able to clarify them into a plan with five aspects. Today I will lay out a bit of an outline of those aspects and then we can begin talking about the things I haven't yet figured out and the needs we have to meet to be able to accomplish this. I explained that I have chosen Blessed Zelie as the patron and so in our projects list, it will be called the Zelie Martin Initiative.

• Aspect 1: Educational Courses

                  It never takes long for people wherever we are living as missionaries to find out that I can teach English and come asking about classes. Sometimes, I get stuck on whether this is a good use of my time or not. But here in Costa Rica, I have discovered, if adults can pass exams in various subjects at various levels, their wages go up. So providing an English class for women is a very worthwhile endeavor. I have already begun talking to the school principal about the possibility of using a class room there. Later, I would like to be able to offer other kinds of classes, like some education in personal finances, health, and maybe literacy if there is a need.

• Aspect 2: Micro-business loans

               There is definitely no shortage of ideas or motivation to work here, especially among the women. And many women have skills well worth offering. Most often the problem is that they lack the necessary investment to get started. The first loan we would like to grant is for a friend who has been studying and building little by little for two years to have her own small beauty salon in front of her home. She has finished her studies and her husband has purchased the wood little by little and built the initial structure. Now she needs the funds to furnish it out with a salon chair, sink, mirror, and professional supplies. In terms of business investment, the amount needed is small, a few thousand dollars, but to her family, it is years worth of savings. Helping her get this project of the ground would grant stability to her family. We have other projects waiting after hers, a woman who would like to teach cake making classes, thus providing meaningful work for her and skill training for other women, a woman who would like to create a small shop in her home to help her daughters pay for college so they do not have to go to work in the city. The list is ongoing. Providing an opportunity for families to create business and income with their own skills or encouraging the acquisition of work skills lessens their vulnerability and the necessity to seek work that places them or their children in danger of being exploited.

• Aspect 3: Women's Artisan Cooperative

            The ability of women to produce beauty with their hands in universally appreciated. It is the same here. The second aspect of the plan is organize a women's cooperative. I would like to first focus on making natural stone versions of the missionary rosary and projects we can make from repurposed t-shirts. You can see some ideas I've started collecting on my Pinterest board. Once we get going on the communal projects, I would then like to invite the participating women to bring in other items they can make to sell or to teach a craft to the other women of the group. The marketing strategy would be to set up a web page to sell the items as well to set up a table monthly in a local farmer's market. We would meet on a Saturday and have Bible study in the morning, then work, break and share lunch together, and finish up in the afternoons. The women could then take various projects home to finish up if needed. However, I want to majority of the work to be accomplished in the communal work setting as I think this aspect is very important. Fellowship, sharing the word of God, breaking bread together and working together all contribute to a structure that lessens the idea feeling of loneliness and desperation among women, thus lessening their vulnerability to the dangerous forces that feed the trafficking machine.

• Aspect 4: Indigenous Women's Cooperative

             The specifics of this aspect of the project are the least clear at this point. It is not possible for many indigenous women to walk from the mountains to participate in the cooperative mentioned above, not to mention the fact that language and culture differences would make it difficult even if they should be able to attend. Of course, they will be invited always. But I would like to also offer an alternative form of participation to the women who must work at home because of distance. Many of the indigenous women are skilled at the craft of beading. I would like to purchase some canvas field bags and market bags and let them have license to decorate them as they like with beads. These can then be included in our marketing.

• Aspect 5: A Partnership

              I will be meeting soon with Maria at Salvando Corazones to flesh out how the St. Bryce Foundation can partner in the work they are doing to fight the injustice of human trafficking and provide the first safe house for victims in Costa Rica. But we would like to dedicate this program, the Zelie Martin Initiative, as a partner for their work. Meaning whatever we raise in funding for this program, we will share equally with them for their work and education programs that will provide a future full of hope for the residents of their safe house. So, if we have a sewing machine on our wish list, and a sponsor donates the item or the funds, we will not move on to the next need until we have donated an equal item or funds to Salvando Corazones.

So, there is the rough outline of the idea. I am ready to put in the work to get it going and keep it going. But I need a lot of help thinking through particulars and acquiring the necessary skills and supplies. That's where you can help. So, let's all keep praying, asking Blessed Zelie's intercession, and then perhaps we will be able to work through the details and create something meaningful and beautiful for the women and families of Costa Rica and for God.

Let's Listen

One of the hardest parts of the life of an exploited victim is never being able to speak up for yourself and be heard. The feeling of helplessness and hopelessness of being totally silenced is a terrible aspect of stripping away someone's humanity.
For survivors of this terrible atrocity, there remains the terrible feeling of no one wanting to hear your story. I know just a little bit of this feeling from my loss of my son Bryce. There is an overwhelming feeling when you meet people to let them in to this part of your life that marks you so deeply and makes you who you are. And then there is a shame for having that need. No one wants hear your ugly, painful reality. You make people feel awkward. It is taboo in our society to be that real, to tell that much truth. So you sit instead with a lump in your throat and pain searing your soul while you smile and chatter idly.
For survivors of trafficking, it is necessary to share their stories when they have recovered enough to do so. In order to re-enter society, they need to be able to trust people in general again. They will never do that if no one ever listens to them, if no one is ever able to go there with them, to the hard and hurting and painful places.
It is easy to read the facts about human trafficking. It is harder to listen to the real horror stories. I want to shut it off myself. To say, "I get it, I don't need to hear any more." But the truth is, if I am going to choose justice and mercy for these women and children, it is not about what I need to hear. It is about listening. It is about the fact that they need to be heard. To help them heal, we need to listen.
So today, I invite you to follow these links and read, listen to the stories. As it pains you, as it makes you want to turn away, let the Lord break your heart for them. Pray for them. And pray for the valiant people every day who are working in the recovery effort, listening daily to this pain, trying to sop up the emotional and physical and spiritual wounds of this atrocity.
Let's not turn away from the ugly and the pain and the real. Let's show mercy and take action by being willing to listen.

• Survivor stories at the Polaris Project
• Facing the real and the ugly of these stories at the blog Jammed True Stories
• This Is Our Story can be borrowed for free on Kindle
• Here is a list of videos that come up when you search Human Trafficking Survivor Stories on You Tube
• When your heart is breaking over these stories, maybe you could pen a note of encouragement to Maria at Salvando Corazones and thank her for being willing to give up her life, her business, her home, move her family to Costa Rica and daily live with this pain, daily try to instill hope. You can post your note here, e-mail it to me, or Facebook message me. Or you can post it on the Salvando Corazones Facebook page. 

Let's listen to the hard stories because we know we must. And then let's thank the people who are listening every single day. This is living mercy. This is living justice. And you can do it. Now. Today. Please do.

And don't forget to keep praying our prayer. And sharing these posts and the prayer with others. Don't be discouraged if no one responds. Do the right thing anyway. God will work with what you give.

Let's Get The Facts

If we are to take an action on the issue of human trafficking, it's important that we take the time to get the facts. I know, I hate getting the facts myself. I'd much rather just get all impassioned about something, ride the wave as long as it lasts and then move on.
But human slavery and the buying and selling of children for sexual exploitation--happening in every country on the globe--today--as you read this. We can't afford not to educate ourselves. It will arm us for the battle and fuel us with an honest passion, not just an emotional one.
So here's how we can take action today:

• The most comprehensive and well organized way to read the most recently gathered information about this issue is to look through the Trafficking in Persons Report published annually by the U.S. government since 2001. I realize there is no way to read the entire document, but do read through as much of the introductory material as you are able. And then some of the individual country narratives. If you are in prayer for me and that beautiful little face that broke my heart, you might take a look at the Nicaragua report. If you are praying for the success of Salvando Corazones, you might read the Costa Rica report. Maybe there's a particular country you have heart for for your own particular reasons. Look it up. Read it. Get the facts. Let's know what it is we are working for. 
• Salvando Corazones information about Costa Rica: There is some good history and back ground of what is happening here in Costa Rica explained here.
• Health and Human Services Fact Sheet: A good overview of the legal definitions of the crime
• The Slavery Map will allow you to get a country by country and even state by state visual of the most recently reported, documented cases of human slavery. Staggering.
• United Nations information: Info Page, FAQs,Publications and Tools (I'm not linking this one for its readability but only because I think it gives a good idea of the wide spectrum this issue encompasses--there are law enforcement issues, justice system issues, social and psychological issues, diplomatic relations issues. No one, in any professional or personal sector should be uneducated about this issue.
• This page is for emergency medical providers but is a really good explanation of trafficking from the psychological and sociological perspective.
• Educate others: Tweet or post as your Facebook one fact you learn today with the link to the source.

Overwhelmed? I know, me too. I don't think anyone has the time to read all of this in one sitting. But if you take just a few minutes today and walk away armed with a little more information, a little more perspective, a little more passion, you have taken action on behalf of these victims. On behalf of real people living in real horror. All over the world. Right now.

And remember to keep praying. Every time you read a fact and it horrifies you or breaks your heart, pray. Every time you feel overwhelmed by statistics, pray. Prayer is our most powerful source of inspiration and are most powerful weapon.

Let's Get Going

So I said in yesterday's post that I was going to come back today and share ways that we can all begin to be part of the solution of the atrocity of human trafficking. Here's the truth, I have a lot of inspiration, passion and ideas and that's about it.
But if you're willing to bear it out with me and help me do what we can where we can, I am willing to try to get this going. I want to fight the temptation that tells me I should wait until I have a well-formulated plan to invite people into. I want to fight the temptation to say tomorrow will be a better day. I want to fight the perfectionist side of me and be willing to be made of fool of for Christ and His most vulnerable children.
My vague idea is to create 30 Days of Action Against Human Trafficking, big and small ways we can all join in the fight for awareness and action on this issue. I'm brainstorming, making contacts and thinking it through as I go. That means it will inevitably develop and change as we go along. But one piece of counsel I always offer to those trying to discern what God is calling them to is "Don't wait while you wait." Do whatever you can. Here. Today. Right now.
So today, we are creating some ways you can join us in prayer and invite others to do the same. Today, I spent time on the phone with a missionary trying to make a real difference here in Costa Rica, getting educated, getting inspired, getting invited to visit and learn more. And thinking of ways you can join us. Now. From wherever you are.

Here's what I've got for today:

• Begin praying the prayer on one of the pictures below each day (I am including a specifically Catholic one and one for my non-Catholic followers and friends. This is by no means an effort to divide us, but I feel like we really need a stronger presence and stance from Catholics on this issue, to step up to the plate publicly the way many other Christian organizations have, thus the specifically Catholic option.)
• Share the picture and prayer on your Facebook page.
• Tweet the url to this post and tag @StBryce
• Pin this post on Pinterest.
• Check out the Salvando Corazones web page and like them on Facebook. I spoke with Maria, the founder this morning and she told me that prayer would be a great help right now. Begin to pray that they can get the funding to get the first licensed safe house for trafficking victims of the ground by Christmas and put 18 girls in a safe environment to recover from this horrific abuse.
• Pray that the Holy Spirit will guide us and show us how The Saint Bryce Foundation can collaborate with them in their work.