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"For Those Who Have No Voice"

                In recent months I've been signing-off  my emails with "for those who have no voice".  I have a passion to speak out for the over 30 million men, women and children around the world who live in slavery.  However, I have gained some new insights this week into what it really means  to "have no voice."

                Last Friday I realized I my throat was a little sore, but I had a busy weekend and put it out of my mind.  When my last Awareness Event was done on Sunday afternoon, and I was relaxing and debriefing with my daughter, I began to realize just HOW sore my throat had become.  I began to have a raspy voice, and by the time I arrived home late that evening, my voice was totally gone.  Today it is 4 days later - and I still have no voice!  My enforced silence has given me opportunity to do some thinking about what having "no voice" means for those living in slavery. 

• ·         It means physical pain.  My sore throat is nothing compared to the physical pain endured by those living in slavery:  They are controlled by extreme violence.  Women and children trapped in sex slavery experience rape, beatings, and torture on a regular basis.  They are exposed to horrible diseases; many suffer from STDs and HIV.

• ·          It means frustration.  There is nothing more frustrating than having something to say, and not being able to speak.  Slaves  cannot express their feelings due to fear and intimidation.  They may fear for their life; or for the welfare of their family. 

• ·         It means isolation.  When one cannot speak, they are on the sidelines of most conversations.Most slaves suffer alone in their pain and fear.  Enslaved children are often taken away from their families.  Even if living in a group, there is no corporate sharing of grief--each one is engulfed in their own suffering.

• ·         It means hopelessness.  During these days of having no voice, I often thought, "What if I can never speak again?"  Those who are enslaved have no hope.  They see no way out.  They know of no other options to earn a living.  Suicide is rampant among all those living in slavery.

                This experience of not having a voice has caused me to be motivated to not only speak for those who cannot speak for themselves, but to want to give the enslaved an opportunity to speak for themselves.  I want the enslaved to have their own voice!  I want girls and women-at-risk to know that they have a voice, and learn how to use it. 

                How thankful I am that I have the opportunity to partner with organizations who offer freedom to girls and women rescued from sex slavery.  With their new-found freedom, these women are given the most precious gift of hope.  They are given hope for health, self -worth, new relationships, and a bright future.  And most of all, their own voice--to speak truth and to be heard.

Everyday Heroes #5: David & Joyce Moore - Loving Kids @ Risk in Thailand

Let me introduce you to David and Joyce Moore, founders and directors of Abba House Foundation in Chiang Mai, Thailand.  The Moores were anticipating retirement when they went on a vacation trip to Thailand.  While there they were deeply impacted by the hundreds of street children they observed.  Street children may be orphans, runaways, abandoned, or from homes of abuse and neglect.  Sex tourism is a big industry in Thailand's major cities, and the Moores became aware that these young people were vulnerable to and some already involved in sex slavery.  While on their "vacation", they realized that God was calling them to minister to these children.

Joyce says, " In our international travels we discovered the sex tourism problem in Thailand. This was the place we would settle down in 2002, taking in teen girls at risk of exploitation and then later taking on teen boys we found in downtown Chiang Mai, homeless, hungry, and being sodomized for a bowl of rice." 

David, Joyce, and "Family"

Today Abba House is home to boys and girls ages 8 to 22 who have been trafficked in downtown Chiang Mai, Thailand. Some of

these young people have HIV, few can barely read or write. Some are orphaned, children of working prostitutes, raped, abandoned or 

unwanted. At risk to falling into a life of forced prostitution, they are now safe in the care of Abba House. These children are 

given renewed hope, their lives forever changed through love,respect and education,

and the opportunity to get to know their real"abba" -- Father God.

               

For the boys, the staff at Abba House teaches life skills such as construction, motorcycle repair, jewelry making* for half the day. The other half they have Bible School education, Music and English. The girls go to several different school systems in Chiang Mai depending on their needs.  The goal for all the children is to have a safe, loving home, and have marketable skills and education to enter young adulthood.

                 

To learn more about the Moores and Abba House Foundation, I encourage you to go to www.abbahousefoundation.com to learn more about this vital ministry.

                 

*If you would like to check out some of the jewelry made at Abba House, you can see it at betterwayimports.com - OR, ask me!

Everyday Heroes#4 - "Amma" - Missionary/Poet/Song Writer/ABOLITIONIST

     Amy Wilson Carmichael was born in the small village of Millisle, County Down, Northern Ireland in 1867.  She was raised in a Christian family, the oldest of seven siblings.  When Amy was 20 years old, she heard Hudson Taylor at the Keswick Convention and felt called to become a missionary.  However, she was an unlikely missionary candidate as she suffered from neuralgia, a disease of the nerves.  But Amy was determined, and at the age of 26, was sent to Japan as a missionary.  Her stay in Japan lasted less than 2 years due to her health, and Amy returned home.

     Amy never actually received a "call" to go to India.  Rather, she was advised that the climate in Bangalore, India, would benefit her health.  So Amy went to India.  She began her ministry by traveling with several Indian sisters to the surrounding villages, sharing the Gospel message of hope. It was during these early travels that Amy  was confronted with  the horrors of temple prostitution.  Young girls were given to the temple--either because of a "sacred vow" by family members or sold for money. These girls were then dedicated to the gods and forced into prostitution to earn money for the priests/"pimps."

            It was 1901 and Amy had just returned from a year of ministry to the villages when she was greeted by a sweet, seven-year-old girl, Preena (or "Pearl Eyes"). Preena had escaped from the temple and looked to Amy for help. Displeased temple people came screaming and yelling--but slowly their anger subsided and the crowd dispersed. Amy was left with Preena. And so began the work of what would later be known as Dohnavur Fellowship.

            Over the next 50 years, Amy Carmichael rescued over 1000 girls from sex slavery.  In addition Amy, affectionately called "Amma" by her community, made a home and family for many other abandoned children.  Dohnavur Fellowship, situated in Tamil Nadu, thirty miles from the southern tip of India,  is still in existence today ministering to children in need of rescue from destitute poverty, neglect or abandonment.