Thursday, April 1, 2010

Isaiah 60

What if we live and trust that God is going to provide? What if we abandon EVERYTHING for HIS cause? People say it's radical, but what if it is OBEDIENCE?! Giving is the overflowing of the gift inside of us given by our maker.

The raw hard truth about the human trafficking industry is that there is more slaves now than ever before in history. An average cost that a plantation owner would pay for a slave when we first began to enslave African Americans was about $1200. Now, they are being sold for an average of $90, and even lower. There are many circumstances to the cost of the person that you are buying, how old they are, how young they are, diseased or not, whether they are still said to be a virgin, and also if they ask the buyer to use a condom or not. In India children cost LESS THAN CATTLE. There are over 27 million people enslaved in this industry and over 2.2 million children are sold into this business every year. Sex trade makes about $32 billion dollars a year. To give you a small grip of how much that really looks like, it is more than Starbucks, Nike, and Google made in one year COMBINED. The ages of these children, women, adults that are sold into this business are vast, anywhere from 3 years old to in their late 60s, and some beyond that. This is an industry that has such a high demand that it doesn’t continue to get better, but worse. It comes down to the simple supply and demand of the people. We demand this type of service, so there are people who are willing to provide it. This is not a lifestyle choice. Each day in India, more than 200 women and girls are forced into the commercial sex trade. Many of them stay because they are threatened if they leave, and many stay because they don't think they have any other option. We have an obligation to stop it. Dr. Cornel West said that, “Justice is what love looks like in public.” Not only are they powerless but also they are helpless. They don’t get to have a say in the way they live.

I was reading a story online about a woman who had fallen in love with a man and in result he sold her into the sex trade industry. "I was tricked here. I was in love with a man and I came here with him. But when I got here, he sold me," says Simla, a 42-year-old prostitute, originally from Nepal. She has two children and she saves what little she earns to send them to school, desperate that they do not follow her into the sex industry. "I was fooled into this. I will not allow my children to do it."

This is not an industry that is just in other countries or overseas, but it is also in America, neighborhoods that we live in, near, around. It is everywhere and we need to become aware of our call as disciples to love and to abandon our comforts in order to, “give what we cannot keep to gain that which we cannot lose.” Said by Jim Elliot
Because of this HIV positive sex slaves has grown exponentially, especially the younger children because they are more susceptible to disease. These prostitutes don’t even know what HIV is, because if they knew they could no longer be tricked into this lifestyle.
They are sold by their family members, tricked into being sold, and kidnapped. When we ask why is the government not stopping it or why are the officers there not taking charge, the answer is simple. They are just as much of the demand. They use the women for pleasure just like the other customers. They are involved in the use of the women, not helping the cause to stop it.

Sexual slavery or forced sexual slavery is the organized coercion of unwilling people into different sexual practices. It is most common in areas such as Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. Sexual slavery may include single-owner sexual slavery, ritual slavery sometimes associated with traditional religious practices, slavery for primarily non-sexual purposes where sex is common, or FORCED prostitution. It is illegal, but since when does that stop anyone? Prostitution is a flourishing business across India. The court said child trafficking and prostitution were flourishing because of poverty.

I just have a few things laid on my heart that need prayer. Prayer for the Lord’s will, for the funds, and for hearts to be changed and these girls can see themselves as worthy of a maker who loves them more than anything and that He delights in them (Zephaniah 3:17), that they are pure and clean in his eyes and worthy of eternity with the one who created them in His image (Genesis 1:27). Even though they are constantly reminded of how dirty and unclean they are and the impurity that they live in, this is all the more reason to love them and show them that they are no longer made alive in this world, but that they are dead to this world and ALIVE in the Lord (Colossians 2:13). That they have a kingdom that is beyond what they can imagine waiting, just waiting for them. They will be free, they will be clean, and they will be made Holy in the eyes of the Lord (1 Peter 1:16). These are promises of our all-knowing, all-faithful, precious Lord. Just pray for transformation of their hearts. For them to be loved and ministered and cared for with the immeasurable love of Christ that we so easily take for granted. These girls ARE PURE, they are WORTHY, and they are worthy of love in the deepest sense. Prayer that they will be receptive and open to stepping into a love that is so unknown by them.

There is a huge difference between being willing to do what the Lord calls us to do and actually doing what He has called us to do. And that looks different for everyone. But anyone can say they are willing, but how many can say that they are ready? How many are passionately seeking and laying everything out on the table? All of it ready to be used by the Lord. How many have really genuinely questioned where they are and what they are doing to see whose desire it really is. God is not a God who asks us to live in comfort to say the least, He asks us to do scary things that are not going to make sense. But guess what? He says, leave everything comfortable that you are and KNOW THAT I AM GOD! Mark 10, Luke 14

We are called to love one another and live a life of passion, whatever that passion may be. People ask me, where am I going? What am I doing? What am I going to do next? It puts the weight of the world on my shoulders and feeling like I have this status quo to fill. Well for the many that know me well, that is FAR from the life that the Lord has called me to. It is times like these that I run to the Lord for refuge and for strength and to ask Him where I need to be and who He wants me to be. When I was seeking and finding in small and big ways, I just kept finding myself saying, “ this is not for me (college), this is not who I am called to be.” I tried to justify college, and I began to get caught up in the mess of what the world says is right (Jeremiah 29:13). I stood before my God, in front of the one who gave it all, and just began to pray that all that I am was His and to do with as He wanted. That is when I was broken, that is when I stopped making decisions based on what other people thought but as to what my God wanted from me. He began a major transition in my heart. He gave me and revealed to me desires beyond what I could even understand (Psalm 37:4). Now it is important that we DO NOT miss this. It says that we delight ourselves in the Lord and HE, not us, will give us the desires of our heart. Guess what? We don’t get to choose, we get to love the Lord and He will awaken those desires for us. I began spending all of my day with Him and forgetting that I was even of this world because He had captivated my heart in a way that only a father can do for His daughter. I began to seek clarity and just learning to love the Lord with all that I am, and that was enough. Through that He took the weight of the world off of me and said jump. So I jumped. He showed me to love Him like I had never loved or knew I could love. I began to change my mentality from where can I serve, to- I am going to serve you and love you no matter what I get in return, no matter what the cost. Some call it crazy and I call it radical. Isn’t that how we are supposed to live anyway? Live in a way that screams’ trusting in the Lord is not an option, but a lifestyle. God is not a God of confusion but a God of clarity.

How many of us count the cost? How many can say that we have gone to the Lord on His terms and not flirted with Him on ours? Luke 14 is hard, but so good. The Lord didn’t say, “Hey take this lightly. You can claim me, but then not trust me”. NO. The Lord said, in Luke 14:26-27- “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be my disciple. And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.” Harsh, ouch. Conviction? We are treasure in heaven in the Kingdom to come so do not live for this world! Now that looks differently for everyone, but that does not mean that we don’t need to be honest and real with the Lord and come with a heart of love and compassion to His people.
COUNT THE COST.

So what does this mean for me? Well I am trusting to be used by the Lord and provided for by the Lord. I am so excited for this transition He has going on in my heart and that he has called me to India to serve and love these girls that are living this lifestyle. I am working with a group called AIM (Adventures in Mission). I am going on my first trip to India in September! I cannot wait to see how good God is and how much glory is going to be brought to His name and how happy it is going to make His heart when His daughters grasp how vast, wide, deep, and BIG His love is for them.

We will be partnering with a local ministry in Bangalore, India that shows women they do have other options. Rahab's Rope Women's Center is a place that provides food, shelter and protection; a place of education and training; a place where the whole person is ministered to spiritually, physically, mentally, emotionally, socially and financially. It is a place of hope, a place of transformed lives. We will work alongside Rahab's Rope and see the realities these women live in. We will come face to face with the injustice of this world while partnering with an organization that is fighting for justice--one woman at a time. We will also spend time working with a connected orphanage, with AIDS patients or in the local slums.

I know that this is where the Lord has called me. I am confident that He will provide. Guess what, God doesn’t need my back-up plan. God laughs at the thought of us doing it on our own. God says pish-posh to our idea that we need comfort in this world before we can trust in Him and fully give ourselves to a life of service, whatever that looks like for you personally.
If you have any questions about the trip specifically please feel free to ask me or contact me because I love love talking about it!

I challenge you to stand before a Holy God and beg for His heart and His desire to scream at you above all of what you want. I promise, from experience, and from still learning, that HE will transition your heart to desire Him above all. To desire His love about any comfort that this world can give us. Isn’t that the way that we are called to live? That what we see as radical is just OBEDIENCE.
GOD IS GOOD. GOD IS FAITHFUL. GOD WILL PROVIDE.
I don’t see it as a sacrifice to give it all up but as an opportunity to serve my King with all that I am. That is no sacrifice- it is a privilege.

It does come at an actual cost, this trip does. I need to raise about $4500 in order to cover all my expenses to be over there. I know that the Lord is faithful and that He will provide all my needs. Money is just a side note to Him. SO I am asking that if you want to donate anything, even small bits help, it would be incredibly appreciated!
You can send me an e-mail or call me to ask how :)
Thank you so much for taking the time to sit here and read what the Lord has laid on my heart.
I also just ask for prayer. Prayer that the Lord would begin to prepare these girls hearts in ways that only He can. I also ask for prayer in the Lord's will to be done. Safe or unsafe, His will will be done. Prayer also that the Lord continues to work in my heart in preparation for this journey He is about to take us on!

The reality came into terms in my heart when I watched a series by David Platt from Birmingham, Alabama did on Radical. I beg you to watch it, to set aside time and really listen to how we are called to live. As disciples of the King, search your heart and search the Lord’s heart. This is the call to be a disciple. It will radically change your life.