Love Jesus End Trafficking
A young girl at the age of 15 was trafficked from Mexico City. She came from a very abusive family who beat her over and over again. As a result of the beating her eardrum was detached leaving her with a complete loss of hearing in one ear and a fifty percent loss of hearing in the other. The ministry who was helping had taken her to the doctor to get her a hearing aid put in. That night they were talking about really listening and hearing Gods voice. So she asked if they would pray for her that she might be able to hear Gods voice. So they prayed. The next morning when she awoke she was yelling from the other room “Will you be quiet I’m trying to sleep! It’s so loud can’t you guys keep it down?” She walked out of the room realizing she could hear! It was a miracle! She went through two hours of testing because the doctors didn’t believe that she could hear again. When they reviewed her ear they found her eardrum was still detached! She was and is to this day supernaturally hearing by good grace of God.
A few weeks ago I attended The Justice Summit, an anti-trafficking conference put on by Elijah Rising. Benny Yu who founded El Pozo de Vida (The Well of Life) in Mexico, which operates a home and outreach center in the largest prostitution district in Latin America told us this story he witnessed that really spoke to me.
See she sought after the healer and not the healing. We all have things we want healing for but when we seek the healing it’s only a temporary fix. I can’t even begin to count how many times I’ve asked for healing when really I should have been asking for the healer. This really spoke to me because what God wants more than anything is to be in an intimate relationship with us. If we would seek Him and know that there are open arms to receive and to bless He will begin to heal what needs to be healed.
Going into this conference I expected to learn more about human trafficking and I did but what I didn’t see coming was how God used this opportunity to strengthen my relationship with him tremendously. Why I want to be apart of this fight to end human trafficking is to please God. Yes I want justice and I feel passionate about this but ultimately I want to please God in what I do. That’s good and all but somewhere deep in me I thought maybe if I keep pleasing him I will be able to hear him. Maybe if I go on this mission trip I will feel his presence better. Maybe if I surround myself with other Christians I will see him. The reality is He’s right here. Without even knowing it I had this performance driven relationship with God going on.
“With what shall I come before the Lord and bow down before the exalted God? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with cloves a year old? Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I offer my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” -Micah 6:6-8
Benji (Benjamin Nolot the speaker and founder/CEO of Exodus Cry, an international anti-trafficking organization) began to pray over us at the front who felt called here tonight. Asking the Lord to mark our lives with his transforming grace. God has called me into seasons to set myself apart from other things for the purpose of giving myself to hearing from the Lord, to hear how he feels about me. A woman put her hands on me praying. Praying for me to see his face not in my mind but in my heart. I’m seeking your face Lord with no other reason but to behold all of your beauty. Right then I felt Him I saw his face. “They shall see his face” -Revelation 22:4. A feeling I can’t explain. His presence was so overwhelming I couldn’t stand anymore I fell to my knees crying taking in all his beauty. God was pleased with me. “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.” -Mark 1:11 (obviously I’m his daughter haha) I was awakened. I began to shed all these superficial props holding me up like ambition and idealism and this performance driven spirit I had, it all began to fall off. No matter what He’s still going to be here no matter what I do He still loves me. I pray I continue to seek your face God. I pray for the healer. I pray to know you more God.
Fear & Faith
Leaving the summit I was on fire! I wanted to shout to the world how I felt! I wanted to roll down my window at the next stoplight and just say HEY DUDE YOU KNOW JESUS LOVES YOU SO MUCH! I then ordered some Chinese food because you know what do you expect me to eat after that encounter with the Lord a sandwich? No it was a total Chinese food moment obviously haha. As I drove to pick up my order I passed like 3 strip clubs. God was on my heart and I was casting out the evil in Jesus name praying out loud over the men, women, and pimps in the building. I probably looked like a crazy person in my car with my arms stretched out in every direction! I went inside to pick up my order and as I was waiting I saw two girls around my age sitting at the corner of the bar. One of the girls went to the bathroom and two older men from across the bar approached her. They sat next to her wanting to buy her and her friend some shots. (Yes I was totally people watching at this point) One of the men started touching her leg asking about a tattoo. She looked uneasy as he grazed his hand on her lower back telling her to relax. At the conference in one of my breakout sessions we talked about stepping in and standing up for someone when we see something going on that’s not right. I’m not saying this guy traffics women or pays for sex just because he touched some girls leg but look at the lack of respect he had for this girl, for her personal space, for her worth. These men don’t just wake up one day and say hmm I think I’m going to go find a prostitute today. No it starts at the root of the problem in their hearts.
Now let me tell you there was no way I wanted to say something to this man I honestly was praying my food would hurry and come out so I could leave. But God threw my fear out the window.
“The Lord is with me; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?” -Psalm 118:6
The man kept getting more physical touching the girls thigh. My hands and legs were shaking not just like a little bit but a LOT. If the hostess were to look at me they might have mistaken me for jello I was shaking so badly. This feeling overwhelmed me I felt like my heart was on fire if that makes any since like it literally felt like it was burning (and I haven’t eaten so it wasn’t heart burn). I confronted the man and told him he was being disrespectful and making her uncomfortable. I asked if he knew her and he just looked at me and pulled his hands away from the girl. I said thank you and walked away. WHOA. That was completely God talking because I could not have done that on my own. Surprisingly the man approached me a few minutes later and shook my hand then he actually thanked me which I was not expecting. He told me that it took a lot of courage to stop something that wasn’t right and he needed that. I went to the bathroom because I was still shaking. Once I calmed down I walked past the girls and they stopped to thank me too. I did not expect to be thanked at all. But you know what God isn’t in the business of meeting our expectations. He’s in the business of exceeding our expectations! Isn’t that awesome!
You know how many thoughts have crossed my mind about the World Race? So many so so so many.
-What if the plane crashes?
-Do I pass the Bermuda Triangle? I should probably know that. Why didn’t I pay attention in History?
-I’m not worthy to go on this trip I’ve made to many mistakes.
-What happens when I get sick?
-Ebola.
-Can I handle what I’m about to witness?
-I don’t have the experience of being on a mission trip.
-What if a family member passes away while I’m gone?
-I wonder if they have ice cream in different countries.
-My friends might forget about me while I’m gone.
-Can I bring all three steps of my Proactive face wash?
-Am I even qualified to go on the World Race?
So many questions and fears have crossed my mind. But why am I worrying? “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” – Matthew 6:34
God delights in us with all our faults and all our failures. He delights in me. No matter how many things I do for God it will never be as important as who I am to God—his precious child. “I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made” –Psalm 139:14 No, I don’t have experience but God doesn’t call the equipped, He equips the called (Thank you for showing me this Megan) so I have no reason to fear. God wants to be in every aspect of our lives even me questioning if I can bring my Proactive or not lol. When we give everything to Him there is no room for fear only FAITH! He is the one who called me to the World Race and He is going to be with me every step of the way.
I seek the Healer, I seek your face Father.
-Kels
