It’s somehow only day 4 here in the Dominican Republic, on Hope mountain, the host home my group is living at for this month, it’s truly magical place. I’ve never seen beauty like this before. This place embodies its name in every way, I’m seriously resting on a mountain of hope. Currently typing these words under the rain in this tree house overlooking the greenest most enchanting mountain range. This place looks like nourishment and growth, and heavenly beauty. I’m just in awe that I’m actually here, the fact that my world is paralleling with people across this world BLOWS my mind.
So much is happening, circumstantially but more so emotionally, mentally, & spiritually. The way I view most things is beginning to radically change. I’m smaller than I thought. I don’t know myself. I don’t know why I’m here. I don’t know God, at least not as much as I thought I did. I’m in a very vulnerable place of uncertainty, confusion, and raw openness.
In all honesty my words don’t do what I’m feeling/ what is happening here justice, but I’ll try.
Today, right now, my heart and mind is heavy.
Heavy and angry and hurting for the victims of human trafficking- sex slavery.
I’m broken for the sickening amount of women and children that are being exploited physically, mentally, spiritually, and emotionally all over the world. Broken for the women and children in this world who don’t have a voice. Broken for this distorted and cruel representation of love and trust and vulnerability. Broken that this is reality. This grief I’m feeling, is a sliver of how the Lord’s heart is breaking for his children. He truly is softening my heart and opening my eyes. I’m speechless.
1 in every 5 women are raped globally.
The human trafficking industry makes $32 billion annually. AND IT’S GROWING.
45+ million people are trapped in enslavement. Right now. Slavery, it’s happening all around us.
These are real lives. REAL HUMAN BEINGS!
They matter. This matters.
I just can’t sit here and do nothing anymore.
I don’t want to be a generation that says they care but chooses to turn a blind eye because it is HARD & terrifying. I mean I’m terrified, but let’s channel our fear and anger and pain and sadness for something good and meaningful. Let’s do something about this. Softening my heart and opening my eyes. This is bigger than me and I don’t have the ability to change the world but magic happens when Jesus steps into the picture. I believe with every bone in my body that this is worth fighting for.
I have hope. Jesus brings hope, he makes hope possible.
PLEASE please please check out this organization if this made you feel something. This website provides a ton of ways to HELP NOW https://www.ijm.org – through donations, prayer, college groups, printable flyers etc.. it’s insane
Romans 12. This passage is everything right now. Every verse is fitting- seriously breaths life and truth and just LOVE!
“So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you. I’m speaking to you out of deep gratitude for all that God has given me, and especially as I have responsibilities in relation to you. Living then, as every one of you does, in pure grace, it’s important that you not misinterpret yourselves as people who are bringing this goodness to God. No, God brings it all to you. The only accurate way to understand ourselves is by what God is and by what he does for us, not by what we are and what we do for him. In this way we are like the various parts of a human body. Each part gets its meaning from the body as a whole, not the other way around. The body we’re talking about is Christ’s body of chosen people. Each of us finds our meaning and function as a part of his body. But as a chopped-off finger or cut-off toe we wouldn’t amount to much, would we? So since we find ourselves fashioned into all these excellently formed and marvelously functioning parts in Christ’s body, let’s just go ahead and be what we were made to be, without enviously or pridefully comparing ourselves with each other, or trying to be something we aren’t. If you preach, just preach God’s Message, nothing else; if you help, just help, don’t take over; if you teach, stick to your teaching; if you give encouraging guidance, be careful that you don’t get bossy; if you’re put in charge, don’t manipulate; if you’re called to give aid to people in distress, keep your eyes open and be quick to respond; if you work with the disadvantaged, don’t let yourself get irritated with them or depressed by them. Keep a smile on your face. Love from the center of who you are; don’t fake it. Run for dear life from evil; hold on for dear life to good. Be good friends who love deeply; practice playing second fiddle. Don’t burn out; keep yourselves fueled and aflame. Be alert servants of the Master, cheerfully expectant. Don’t quit in hard times; pray all the harder. Help needy Christians; be inventive in hospitality. Bless your enemies; no cursing under your breath. Laugh with your happy friends when they’re happy; share tears when they’re down. Get along with each other; don’t be stuck-up. Make friends with nobodies; don’t be the great somebody. Don’t hit back; discover beauty in everyone. If you’ve got it in you, get along with everybody. Don’t insist on getting even; that’s not for you to do. “I’ll do the judging,” says God. “I’ll take care of it.” Our Scriptures tell us that if you see your enemy hungry, go buy that person lunch, or if he’s thirsty, get him a drink. Your generosity will surprise him with goodness. Don’t let evil get the best of you; get the best of evil by doing good.”
This was long, thank you for reading this if you made it down here.
