Adventures WorldRace SethBarnes Sponsorship Giving

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Last week, I was in Antigua, Guatemala, gathered with the entire squad for our 8th debrief, the last one before our final debrief. In Guatemala, I was surrounded by a fascinating culture, lush green forests, beautiful people, and women and children in traditional dress selling their handmade goods to passer-by’s. But my short stay in Guatemala actually stirred up memories of where I’ve been and where I’m going next.

I went to Chiang Mai, Thailand in 2006 with a couple friends to help build a business/ministry partnership between a Virginia-based jewelry business that my friend, Kelly, started, called Wonderfully Made, and a similar Thailand-based ministry/business. The partnership works cohesively to provide a stable job, life skills, and emotional and spiritual support to women rescued from being exploited in SE Asia.

Wonderfully Made exists to create hope for the victims of sex trafficking by providing women sustainable jobs producing high quality handicrafts and jewelry. Wonderfully Made was inspired by the verse in Psalm 139: 14, which says…

I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
Marvelous are Your works, and that my soul knows very well.

Working with Wonderfully Made for several years making and selling jewelry before leaving for the Race allowed me to gain more awareness on the issue of human trafficking that enslaves millions around the globe – as well as in our own back yard – good ol’ America. I discovered an estimated 50,000 people are trafficked across the borders of America every year.

What I learned was that human trafficking is considered modern-day slavery and that there are more than 27 million slaves in the world today. More than at the height of the Trans-Atlantic slave trade. Whats considered a multi-billion dollar business and equal to some of the largest crime rings in the world seems like such a hopeless issue that will never end. But all it takes is one person to affect another and change happens! And one of those people that stand out in my life as who is making a huge impact on the lives of others and bringing life and kingdom into a hopeless situation is Kelly.

Kelly is currently in Thailand again, this time training some of the young rescued women, her current jewelry designs for Wonderfully Made, which will be sold this Fall in the United States, while proceeds of this merchandise will go to support women in SE Asia. It has been such a long and difficult road for Kelly and others involved in Wonderfully Made to transform a hobby of making jewelry into the business that it is today. We’ve had beads, silver wire, and silk thread laid across every flat surface in our homes for months on end. Long days and even longer nights have been spent making jewelry or preparing for shows, building an inventory, counting beads, naming beads, networking, and all the details that have gone into establishing a business. And through it all, I’ve seen how these efforts are bringing hope to young girls that we met in Burma and Thailand who desperately need a job and want to be freed from having to sell themselves to provide for their families. I have seen how God has used the talents and ideas of one person to bring life, hope, and a better future for the forgotten in another part of our world.

Being in Guatemala also made me think of my next assignment for my 10th month on the Race – Mexico. My team is serving in Palenque, Mexico for the month of July, which is home to some of the most famous ancient Mayan ruins. Tourists come from all over to see the beautiful stone structures once built my the Mayans. A local here to Palenque and our dear contact, brother Eleazar has told us that this city also exploits young impoverished women who are coming in from surrounding villages to find income to support their families. These young women, selling their handmade crafts in an effort to support themselves are then forced into prostitution.  
 
The United Nations lists Mexico as the number one center for the supply of young children to North America. Most are sold to rich, childless couples unwilling to wait for bona fida adoption agencies to provide them with a child. The majority are international pedophile organizations. Most of the children over 12 end up as prostitutes.   An estimated 5,000 children are currently involved in prostitution, pornography and sex-tourism in Mexico. Nearly 100 children and teenagers a month fall into the hands of the child prostitution networks which are mafias or organized crime syndicates. And other reports indicate that Mexico is one of the favored destinations of pedophile sex tourists from Europe and the United States.
 
But I’m reminded that it only takes one to affect one.
How can we use our skills and God given talents to help someone in need?  Or bring hope to someone forgotten?

We were originally supposed to do ministry in Guatemala this month, but God had other plans and purposely wanted us in Palenque, Mexico. There are 14 of us here this month, so I pray that he can use each one of us this month to affect someone else. Fourteen people who will be on their knees in prayer over this city – praying that God drives out any Spirits of superstition and prostitution and brings his Spirit of Truth and Freedom. Fourteen people who will be the hands and feet of Good News who will hug babies, visit villages, teach, and share their God stories in Mexican churches, minister to the prisoners, gather with alcoholics at a rehab center to worship and give thanks to the only one deserving praise, and remind people that they are fearfully and wonderfully made in God’s image.  I’m praying I can find my One (or more) in Mexico.

So my question for you is this…

Which one will be your one?