Challenge: Beating a Dead Horse

Challenge.  I write about it pretty regularly.

The challenges of Bipolar Disorder.

The challenges of Anxiety Disorder.

The challenges of homeschooling.

The challenges of parenting.

The challenges of Christian living.

The challenges of helping others.

See, I write about it a lot.  I kind of feel like I am beating a dead horse by writing about it again.

Blame it on Mama Kats.  It’s her writing prompt.

Today I want to write about the challenges of having a burden for others.

Life is complicated enough.  Wouldn’t it be nice to just curl up in our own lives and not bother with the world out there?  Yes, it would be, but most of us are not wired that way.  We are made to care.  We are made to love and get involved.

Over the last few months I have gotten a little involved with human trafficking in our area.  My husband and I help out, when we can, with BRANCH:  A New Beginning Ministries.–you can learn more about our involvement here.  Last night I went to a local meeting as part of the Michigan Abolitionist Project and learned about another ministry:  All Worthy of Love.

I listened to them speak about their ministry with primarily girls and ladies on the street and their efforts to reach out and help them by giving lunches and hygiene kits.  I cried as I heard the statistics of how many  people, 30 million worldwide, are trafficked each year, I drew back in revulsion as I listened to them list suburban areas around me where girls are being brought into bondage by coercion, lies, tricks, any manner of method to bring these girls onto the streets where they are required to make money night after night for someone else, money they never see.  These are cities very near me–cities I have always perceived as safe for my three girls.

And my heart broke.  My heart begged me, challenged me to find a way to help, a way to get involved.

First step:  I helped back hygiene kits at the close of the meeting last night.

Second step:  I signed up to pray for them as they go out each week to reach the girls, boys, men and women caught in slavery.

Third step:  I want to start collecting items for hygiene kits.  I want to collect through sales and through those I know who end up with lots of these items due to traveling.

I can’t change the world.  I can’t save all those caught in slavery, but I can reach out in small ways to help be part of the solution.

Can I challenge you to be part of the solution too?

Please check out their websites and blogs to see how you can get involved as well, with either ministry.  Or look for similar organizations where you live, because unfortunately, there is a great need all around the world.  Your community, your area, is not immune.  None are.