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 Not Forget

It's been a long stretch of blogging about action to end human trafficking. And I'm nearly halfway there. And to be honest, it's starting leave me tired and raw. Reading about the atrocity. Thinking about the pain and the problem and the solution. Writing letters. Waiting for results. Reading about the work of those on the front lines. Fasting in solidarity with the victims. Hurting for those who are hurting? Well, it hurts. Facing the horror and suffering wrought by the most inhumane of injustices? It painful and heartbreaking.

I have asked the question of a few friends this week. How do we know these things and live? How do we bypass ignorance or selective knowledge for action and avoid depression? How do we battle the weariness of operating machines to wash our clothes and preparing the food that feeds our families without feeling like utter failures for the Kingdom? Because on this earth where our bathrooms beg our attention and we can't find the energy to give it and where we fuss irritable at kids who won't head to beds or stop kicking a soccer ball in the house, on this earth where we raise our hands in praise to a merciful Savior, little girls live in cages and are groped by perverse men and teenage girls are being trucked across the highways of our prosperity to a life of slavery and poverty sends people running ignorant into a life of exploitation. And we bear His name and so must bear His pain at it all. And yet we must live and love and serve these in our midst and not forget our first duties. And sometimes it makes my swim and my heart beat too fast.

And then I remember that all my strength for the battle lies not in me and my weak-kneed terror at the battle, but in Him and in His victory over it all. And I remember that if He can save me from me then somehow He is able to save them. And that I am not the Savior but the sick needing saving. And on the days when I am not incapacitated by my own sickness, He mercifully lets me play the role of servant, rising up like Peter's mother-in-law to serve those in my midst. And I remember that the medicine I need to stay strong, to suffer with the suffering without breaking, to embody at the same time death and resurrection, is there in Him -- in His Word written across the ages, in His presence waiting, hidden in the facade of sustenance we call bread, in the caresses of those who love me and of the encouragement of others who love in His name. And I run back to the heart of prayer where He waits to mend my brokenness and tells me that it's okay to admit that I'm the one who needs to be rescued and healed today. That He will give me what I need and strengthen me to rise again to serve. And it takes only moments -- silent moments -- to know the grace is enough. To feel the questions that threaten to paralyze fade away and the paralysis loosen its grip. And my heart slows to rhythm of mercy once again and my feet begin to keep pace with the Spirit once more. Over and over this is how I live. This is the breaking heart of the broken.

So today, I invite you to pause and remember with me that prayer is our first weapon. It keeps the warriors fighting and heals the wounded. It moves the heart of the only real Savior and reminds us of the victory. It meets in the tomb and transforms it into resurrection glory. So if you take no more action than this today -- or tomorrow or ever -- this is something. Something big. It is the way the saints suffer and break and yet still live.

So keep praying with me? Our collective prayer:

Or the missions rosary devotions I've been contributing over at Suscipio:

For Africa

For the Americas

For Europe

and today, for Oceania.

Because He has promised that wherever two or more gather in His name, He will be in their midst. And oh how I need Him in my midst.

Let's Shop Responsibly

With the season of giving fast approaching, one way we can act to end all kinds of injustices and support the efforts of those working on behalf of the poor and oppressed world wide is to shop responsibly and make as many of our holiday purchases from stores that sell fair trade products or products produced and sold directly by organizations working with the artisans. Another aspect is to support organizations who use the sales of their products to change lives by providing good for orphans, clean water in Africa, or other vital needs.

Another thought, maybe more radical, is to give instead of get this Christmas. What if a family decided to half what they spent of gifts this Christmas and spend the weeks leading up to the birth of Christ giving to others like my my beautiful friend Ann does. I'll admit, I'm struggling with Christmas this year. I'm taking my missionary kids home for the first time in a year this Christmas (God willing, we just got some rough news from our supporter about this. Pray with me that we can accept God's will in grace?). I want it to be meaningful for them and yet mindful of others. They have some real needs that could be met with gifts. But I also want to them to think of giving as the way to real Christmas joy. Being a missionary isn't a free pass to that joy. Sometimes it's easy to justify indulging these darling missionaries because they give up so much already. I want to be more intentional than that in our time at home.

If you are feeling called to shop more responsibly this season, there are some great internet sites that have made that so much easier. I have done what I can to get a list going here. If you have others to suggest, please leave them in the comments below.

Gift Selections:

• Shop to Stop Slavery's Ethical Shopping Guide: A great resources for finding conscientious companies and a variety of gift ideas for every budget. And all the research is done for you. 
• Charity Gift Market: This might be my favorite resource in the list. Shop by product, name of charity or cause you want to support. And the gifts are beautiful.
• Edited to add the Connected in Hope shop co-founded by Catholic homeschooling mom Ryane to provide meaningful work for former fuel wood carriers.
• The Open Arms Shop: Providing meaningful work for women refugees in the Austin, TX area. And the skirts and scarves are so pretty!
• The Amazima Store: Necklaces made by women in the Masese community ministered to by Katie Davis. I'm giving these to my favorite ladies this year! And I might sneak a red one into my own stocking!
• Radiant Cosmetics: Lipstick and eye shadow that fight trafficking! A micro-enterprise cosmetics company.
• 3 Cords: A social enterprise for Haitian women who lost limbs in that country's tragic earthquake. Really cute bags, head bands and accessories. 
• Haitian Crosses: Beautiful products, including some lovely Nativity triptychs, from a Haitian artisans cooperative supported my various Catholic ministries within the Diocese of Miami. 
• Give Jewelry Bracelets: What a lovely gift for the girls in our lives. Beautiful jewelry that provides a fair wage for the artisan and feeds an Indonesian orphan for a week. 
• Ten Thousand Villages: unique, handmade fair trade items in a variety of categories. Someone in our  family wants a djembe drum for Christmas. I think I've found it.
• The Hunger Site Store: Huge selection of items and your pruchase helps feed the hungry around the world.
• Mudlove Bracelets: These bracelets with inspirational words look super cool and are a great gift for teens in your life. Each $5 band provides one person in Africa clean drinking water for a year.
• Trade As One: I picked this one because there are a lot of lovely food choices for gift baskets, including coffee, tea and chocolate.
• SERVV: This one is a pioneer in fair trade products and creating entrepeneurship in developing nations. I'm slightly obessed with this bag. And the aprons. And the table linens. Well, you get the idea. Good stuff there.
• Shop Etsy: This is not a charity organization, but you can find all kinds of great gift ideas in Etsy and, for the most part, be assured you are supporting a home-based small business enterprise or at least avoiding the mass-produced consumer market. 
• Shop the sponsors at your favorite blogs. Again, no guarantee that you are fighting slavery or poverty with your purchase, but they are likely to be family-run businesses who really appreciate support. I know Elizabeth's sponsor list is chock full of great Catholic and Christian businesses.

Chocolate:

If you are not sure why it is important to look for socially conscience chocolate, take a look a this documentary to understand. Much of the chocolate sold by large producers is made by child slaves on the Ivory Coast of Africa. I wish I could say I had always understood and felt moved by this unconscionable fact, but I haven't. However, I now think it is one of the most important consumer decisions we can make.

• This page offers a great comprehensive list of brands, facts, and links of where to purchase chocolate in good conscience. 
• And this Costa Rican company is a great option for quality organic chocolate produced in a sustainable fair trade fashion. And it's priced quite reasonably. And, as you know, I'm partial to businesses that provide meaningful fair trade work in the indigenous regions of Costa Rica.

If you are looking for some alternatives to consumerism and would like to allocate part of your holiday budget to giving rather than receiving, here are some ideas that I am passionate about. Of course, there are countless others and I would encourage you to follow where your heart leads. The Spirit gives the gift of zeal. We all experience it differently. Use what He gives.

Alternatives to gift giving:

• Help us get the Mercy Covers reach its funding goal on Pure Charity.
• Or choose another St. Bryce Foundation project to help with.
• Help Salvando Corazones make their Christmas dream a reality by making a donation to get them open and full by Christmas. 18 girls rescued from trafficking and exploitation. Now, that's a gift.
• Become a Christmas warrior for Reece's Rainbow and help an orphan find a family for Christmas.

This is not an exhaustive list and just researching and thinking it through this much has taken me days on end. It takes time and energy to think and shop this way, and sometimes, as I can attest, you just need to run to Target (or PriceSmart) and get the job done. I beg for grace to be an intentional consumer if the times when I must simply purchase or consume for the sake of our collective family sanity.

But I am totally inspired by these links I have shared and I do hope that at least one of these links will inspire you and allow you to make a purchase or a donation that will serve your needs in a way that is good for your moral spirit. Please share your favorite links for conscientious shopping in the comments.

World Mission Sunday

Today, the Church celebrates World Missions Sunday and the call of all Catholic to cooperate with and participate in mission ad gentes.

2005 Statement from U.S. Bishops:

However, this mission is far from complete. There are many young churches that need missionaries to develop and grow. There are many dioceses, eparchies, and countries struggling with poverty, persecution, oppression, war, and immense suffering that need missionaries to witness to the light and love of Christ, bringing hope for the fut

ure.

The Church can never “withdraw from her permanent mission of bringing the Gospel to the multitudes—the millions and millions of men and women—who as yet do not know Christ the Redeemer of humanity” (On the Permanent Validity of the Church’s Missionary Mandate [Redemptoris Missio], no. 31, original italics). Therefore, all Catholics, by reason of their incorporation into the Church at Baptism, should fully participate and cooperate in Christ’s ongoing mission “to the nations.”

Check out what the St. Bryce Foundation is doing on our project funding page. And watch video updates from our mission on our Youtube Channel. Here's a favorite of mine, my awesome husband out evangelizing to the indigenous communities:

Happy World Mission Sunday!

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.

Sharing the Good News

This topic I've been tackling and reading about and working for passionately, this atrocity of human slavery and sexual exploitation can be so dark and disheartening and hard to swallow at times. Sometimes it makes you wonder about humanity and how we're supposed to live in light and hope. But, I keep clinging to the inspiration of the Spirit and trying to remember that this is His work. And sometimes, He mercifully reminds me of that.

So in this post I told you all about my letter writing campaign and offering to help to do what I can to combat human trafficking. I also told you about my timidity when it came to writing directly to the hotel owner whom we had befriended in San Juan del Sur to inquire about him checking in on my beautiful little friend.

Well, I think the Holy Spirit might be telling me that it's time I recognize I am not all on my own in my concern for people and that there are plenty of really good people in this seemingly dark world.

Because within minutes after swallowing my pride and taking the leap to e-mailing the hotel owner (at his info address no less, because, of course, in my procrastination I had lost the personal address he gave me), I got this response back:

I haven't thought about San Juan being a danger point for trafficking in children and minors but share your concerns.  There are educational programs extant in San Juan which alert children and adults to dangers and problems.  They have had several seminars on this subject in town and the subject is often discussed in the schools.

 

In fact, it sometimes seems my neighbors are paranoid when it comes to their children going to school because even though the school is three blocks away, only the teenagers walk with out adult supervision.  The law in Nicaragua is particularly concerned with trafficking in children and the first lady Rosario Murrillo has seen to it that the word is out with several large signs and the law has been beefed up to punish transgressor harshly.

 

I don't know if the child you identify has a minder but I will find out.  There is a net work of vendors who look out for each other and this particular child goes to Gato Negro  often and several locals buy her wares to be sure she has sales.  There are two people in particular who will be interested in her welfare and I will bring your concerns to their attention.

 

Let me know when you are coming this way again and when I have more info I'll get back to you.

<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

So there you have it. That's what God can do. I could never have imagined when I met that little girl on that beach that God was going to break my heart wide open for her. And then for a millions of faces I'll never see. But He did. And since then, I have tried to honor Him with the action His Spirit is prompting me to take. Even though sometimes it makes me feel a little silly and all alone in the world.

And then, He reminds me that I am not. Never, ever when I work for Him do I work alone. And when I work with Him, He always sends the right people at the right time to enliven and encourage and fulfill His plans. 

The little girl who broke my heart has someone making sure she is safe and has adequate sales to return home to safety. She is going to go to the beach to sell her sea shell creatures and go home and someone is going to make sure of that. I am going to try to figure out if there is more I can do to ensure her a safe future. 

But in the mean time, I think it only appropriate that the first real fruit I get to see from my efforts goes straight back to the heart and the start of the passion and makes a small difference for just that one beautiful little face of that beautiful little girl on the beach in Nicaragua.

Providing Meaningful Work: Helping Us Make It Happen

I want to say thank you to so many of you who are reading and encouraging me as I work to get the Blessed Zelie Martin Initiative up and running. It is a blessing that keeps me moving forward. It is hard to find the motivation to think through big projects when you feel all alone. I am grateful that I do not.

Many of you are as excited and interested in this project as I am. And while I do not have many friends who can finance the operation single-handed, we have a lot of passionate supporters who are willing to do something to help out. So I am posting some ideas here of ways you may be able to help us make this outreach happen by organizing a group event or fundraiser to contribute to the start up costs for this project.

Obvious choices for groups are things like women's prayer groups or bible studies in your church or parish, youth groups or entire parishes who may organize a fundraiser for the initiative. But other groups could be your exercise class at the gym or your running group, a group colleagues from work, your child's school class, sport team or scout group, your homeschooling cooperative or even an internet list or group with which you are involved.

Fundraising ideas can be as simple as asking the group to each contribute what they can or to promote the initiative to others and ask them to contribute. Or the group could set their sights on an item on our Wish List to purchase together.

If the group is interested in hosting an event to raise money for the project, here are some ideas:

• Bake Sales: Old news but they never fail to bring in a decent return for the investment.
• Spaghetti Dinner or Pancake Breakfast: Again, these old standards are that for a reason, they're effective. Many Knights of Columbus groups will provide a Spaghetti Dinner fundraiser for a group looking to raise funds for a worth while cause. Why not ask yours?
• Host a Mudlove or Give Jewelry bracelet sale and help two worth while causes at once
• Host a Walk A Mile In Their Shoes event -- a one mile walk where we will provide you statistics and images to post along the way about the women we will be serving and your participants find sponsors to sponsor their walk. You can even encourage participants to walk in the rubber rain boots that are the common foot wear of indigenous women and then leave them to donate at the end of the event
• Create a book club and read one of these inspiring reads together. During your the length of time that you study the books, have group members save and contribute their spare change to the Blessed Zelie Martin Initiative. (I have chosen these books based on the effect they had on me as a reader. These are not all Catholic publications. Feel free to e-mail and ask about specific suggestions before making a choice for your group.)

1. MISSION OF THE REDEEMER: REDEMPTORIS MISSIO.
2. Happy Are You Poor: The Simple Life and Spiritual Freedom
3. Kisses from Katie: A Story of Relentless Love and Redemption
4. Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide
5. 7: An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess
6. Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream
7. One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are
8. Undaunted: Daring to do what God calls you to do
9. Shirt of Flame: A Year with Saint Therese of Lisieux
10. Interrupted: An Adventure in Relearning the Essentials of Faith

(If you purchase from Amazon using the links posted here or in the sidebars, I will receive a small amount of credit which will go toward purchasing other items on the Wish List, so if you do start a book club, please encourage everyone to order using the link here! Thanks.)

• Host a Fast From Freedom event with a  group a group of friends or families. Choose something you will fast from for a month in prayer and solidarity with the poor and oppressed around the world -- fast food, eating out, coffee purchases, or certain grocery store indulgences and contribute the saved money to the initiative.
• Spread the Word: Have dinner and a movie with a group of friends. Have everyone bring something to share. Gather and watch the Half the Sky: Turning Oppression Into Opportunity For Women Worldwide film and discuss it afterwards. Show the group the the Blessed Zelie Martin Initiative page and plans. See what the Lord might do. Remember, building support doesn ot always have to be about raising a ton of money. When we create awareness and passion within the Church, the funds inevitably come.
• Pray: Don't stop praying our prayer to end human trafficking. And keep praying for the success of our efforts here and for others who are working on our behalf in their home communities. Prayer will get us where we need to be when we need to be there.

If you think you might want to help in one of the ways listed above or you have your own idea about a way to help us get going, please let me know in the comments or via e-mail and we can talk more! Thank you again for walking with me and ensuring that I do not feel alone.