Freedom 4/24

I want to share something with you that is heavy on my heart. The sex slave industry is rampant in society today, especially overseas. There are 1.8 million prostitutes that live in Thailand, 400,000 are children under the age of 16. Each year 7.3 million men come to participate in this sick industry. Severe poverty delivered these girls over to prostitution, and girls as young as 12 years old are being sold by their own families into this horrific industry. The statistics and images are sickening and heartbreaking. Many girls feel as if there is no hope and that this is all they have to give.

My church, Brentwood Church in Lynchburg, VA has a huge heart for missions. The past few years, members of my church and the church staff have been working with an organization in Thailand called Beginnings. Many members of my church have had such a burden for these girls and have gone over to Thailand several times to work with this organization and get it off the ground to help these women get out of the industry. Our people are going into the bars and clubs and reaching out to the girls to show them there is more to life than prostitution, and that they are worth more than this. Our church is partnering with Beginnings and we are launching a new movement right here in Lynchburg, VA called Freedom 4/24. The mission of Freedom4/24 is to raise awareness of the sexually exploited women in Thailand, while simultaneously providing money to supply these women with alternative means of survival. $24 will purchase a night of freedom for a Thai prostitute, which may result in a lifetime of freedom. I am so excited about this! On Sunday March 22, we kicked off this movement at Brentwood and are trying to raise awareness of the severity of the sex slave industry in Thailand but also to see if other churches or organizations want to partner with us in this effort to raise money and help these girls get out, and learn about God.

Poverty in Thailand has forced hundreds of thousands of women into prostitution. It’s estimated that close to 300 million dollars is transferred yearly to rural families by women engaged in prostitution in urban areas. Imagine finding yourself in a situation where your final means of survival for yourself and your family is to sell the very last thing you have left…your body and self dignity. This is precisely what has happened and is currently happening in areas all over Thailand.

LET THAT SINK IN. No really, think about it…

Right now, as you read this, women are sacrificing their dignity and self worth in order to provide for themselves and their families. This is an issue of poverty. Prostitution produces an approximate annual income of 27 billion dollars for the sex industry. So, what do we do about it? Do we let the enormity of the issue evaporate our empathy towards it? No. We cannot. We must not. Edmund Burke once said, “Nobody makes a greater mistake than he who does nothing because he could only do a little.”

In order to purchase a girl for a night in Thailand, the customer must pay what is called a “bar fee.” The customer must pay this fee to the bar owner, in order to have the right to the girl for the night. This fee is approximately $24. The idea behind Freedom4/24 is that you can purchase the freedom of a girl for 24 hours for a mere $24. This money will be given to an excellent organization called Beginnings. The employees at Beginnings go into the bars, purchase this night of freedom, and then tell the girls about alternative means of survival and opportunities for life that they could never have imagined. These opportunities include: Education, Employment, and Health care (Physical, Emotional, & Spiritual). This is an enormous issue that must be addressed on many different levels. But, the end must begin somewhere. Let it begin with $24. We must make this an unavoidable issue. Get involved. It’s because of your $24 that we have many celebration stories. Here is just one:

Pun was an unwanted child. Her mother gave her to her grandmother to raise immediately after her birth. When Pun was four, her grandmother died and Pun moved to her mother and step-father’s home. Desperate for her mother’s love, she would hide in the bushes by the rice fields waiting for her mother to come find her….but she did not. Pun often slept outside all night and would wander home the next day, only to be used, taunted and rejected by both her mother and stepfather.
At twelve, she took the ten hour bus trip to Bangkok where she worked in a sweat shop for four years until she married a man who was never faithful to her. Together they decided to buy a motorcycle. Because the bank required only one signature, Pun’s husband generously allowed Pun to sign the loan. He left her soon after – on the motorcycle.
Overwhelmed with debt, a friend introduced her to life in the red light district. She worked in a bar that required her to take ten customers a month. Weary, ashamed, broken and HIV positive, Pun came to Beginnings for safety, rest and a new life. There she met Jesus, a man who would not reject her, who would love her unconditionally. He became her peace, her rest, her Savior. She is currently finishing her high school certificate. She has a future and a hope!

This issue has stirred something within me. As I watched the videos and heard my fellow sisters in Christ talk about the stories they brought back from Thailand, my heart broke, and I sat and wept! I have committed to do what I can to help these girls. I have bought a T-shirt and given $24 for a girl’s night of freedom and have committed to pray! Maybe all you can do is pray, tell others, and just be aware of this situation, but if you, your church, family, or friends would like to join Freedom 4/24 please visit the website at: http://www.freedom4-24.com/. Also you can contact Steve Petit our Life Development pastor at Brentwood church at: steve@brentwoodchurch.org. Steve overseas all of the missions organizations at Brentwood and would love to talk to you about partnering with Brentwood and Freedom 4/24. You can also visit Brentwood’s new website at www.brentwoodchurch.org or contact me as well with any questions. It would be so great if your local church or organization could partner with my local church and make a huge difference in the lives of Thai girls!

Thank you for listening to something that is dear to my heart. I am not sure if the Lord will lead me to minister in Thailand one day but I know that He has burdened my heart to pray and support them with the means that I have right now. Thanks so much!

Erin

Fireproof

My heart has been so burdened lately for marriages today! It seems like every few weeks I get more news that a couple I know are getting a divorce. It breaks my heart. Some are mutual, some are one sided, some involve children, some don’t, some have been married for 3 years some have been married for 20. If I am not hearing about couples divorcing, I hear about countless couples that are having problems in their marriage and are miserable. My heart is so heavy! I have lifted all of these people to the Lord, but still a feeling of sadness resides within me. Most of these couples have a similar story….they met, were truly in love, were best friends, and for the most part they just stopped loving each other somewhere in their marriage. I am not sure if the Lord is stirring something up in my heart to show me that He wants to use me to minister to couples, or women going through this, but friends, it breaks my heart! When I think about it I well up with tears! In my last semester of Grad school, I took two premarital/marital counseling classes and really saw the need of solid premarital counselors that are needed in the church today, and also counselors in the church that are there specifically for couples to go to and try to work out their issues to save their marriage. I struggle with the fact that I have no experience whatsoever in relationships, I have never been married, and I know God can use anyone in any way He wants, it’s just daunting to think of being used to counsel married or engaged couples and only have book knowledge, not experience as well.

Friday night I went to the dollar theater and saw the movie “Fireproof” with Kirk Cameron. I have been waiting to see it, and it finally came to the dollar theater so I knew I had to go. As I watched the movie, I spent most of it in tears (as well as everyone else around me), and have not cried that hard in a movie in a long time. I saw so many of my friends, and family members in the characters of that movie. While some of the movie I thought was portrayed a little skewed, for the most part I loved it, I love the way they portray the process of not giving up on the other, of loving the other the way the Lord loves them, and showing real life struggles that men and women are bombarded with every day. A central part of the movie is “The Love Dare” that lasts for 40 days. There are several married small groups in my church that are doing the Fireproof bible study and are doing the love dare with each other, which I think is great! I won’t give away anymore in case you haven’t seen the movie, but I highly, highly recommend you rent it or buy it TODAY!

More than anything, I want to be a wife one day, and experience marriage. I have always prayed but these days I am praying even harder that the Lord will prepare me and my future spouse now for the lifelong commitment we will make one day before Him, before friends, and before family. I know that marriage is hard, that it is hard work, that it takes two people being selfless everyday to meet the needs of the other, and everyday will not be an amazing day, but I pray that I will not have to go through what so many marraiges are going through. I pray that I will continue to be in a church that will support me, counsel me, and be there for me when I need them in those hard times. Please pray for the marriages today! Pray for the Christians who are throwing in the towel, for one spouse being left by another spouse who will not reconcile their marriage, and for couples who are living in misery every single day because they feel divorce is not an option, and feel as if they have nowhere to turn to get help or counsel and feel trapped.

I do know that in the midst of all of this, the Lord has given me a gentle heart for couples going through divorce or hard times, to not judge them, but to pray for them, love them, and be there for them as best I can. I cannot say that I support all of their decisions but I am in no way to judge them or condemn them. I pray God can use me in some way to minister to them, and to show them His love in a very dark time of their life. Here is the song used in the move “Fireproof” called “Love is not a fight” written and performed by Warren Barfield. After seeing the movie, this song makes me cry every time!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1NoIJglsGms

A Wonderful 25th Birthday!

So my birthday was last Thursday the 15th. It by far was the best birthday yet. After my small group celebration on Monday, and my friend Vanessa taking me out on Wed. night, Thursday was a fun day as well! Dina took me out for breakfast at my favorite breakfast spot “Famous Anthony’s” (they have the BEST sausage gravy and biscuits in Lynchburg) where I enjoyed my usual and a cup of coffee. I arrived to my desk to find it COVERED in balloons, confetti, streamers, and signs that said Happy Birthday. There was a “skinny” latte on my desk from Vanessa, and some cards from my friends. After work, I went to dinner at a new restaurant downtown called Waterstone. It is a really cool restaurant known for their amazing pizza, and it’s got exposed brick and stone on the inside; a really cool environment. Then I went home and enjoyed the BEST chocolate, peanut butter cake I have ever had in my life (homemade by my bestest friend who did an AMAZING job on her fist homemade cake. Props to you Dina!). I ended the evening watching Grey’s anatomy, sipping coffee in my PJ’s :0).

On Friday I was told not to plan anything and not to ask questions. I was told to pack clothes and dress warm. So Thursday night I packed like 8 outfits (I didn’t know what I would be doing, where I would be going….so I had to be prepared!) and anticipated my birthday weekend. I went and got my hair cut on Friday afternoon and my friend Sarah did an AMAZING job as usual. I left with a boost of confidence and was glad I cut my hair finally b/c I had been wanting to do it for a long time. She took her time to style it and made me feel beautiful. Friday after work I went home, packed the car, and headed north towards Charlottesville, DC, and Baltimore. I was not sure exactly where we were headed but I knew a bunch of people were going to be wherever we ended up. After an hour and getting off the Charlottesville downtown exit, I realized we were going to a fancy restaurant. We reached our destination in front of the Melting Pot restaurant!!!! For those of you who are not familiar w/ the Melting Pot, it is an upscale fondue restaurant where you sit at a table and share cheese fondue, salad, a main course of a variety of meat and seafood, and a delicious chocolate fondue. I had never been before but always wanted to. I arrived and felt like a VIP! The waiters and waitresses took my coat, offered me a drink, and kept saying happy birthday to me, and even got me a card and all signed it. I got in and realized that one side of the restaurant was reserved just for my party and about 17 of my closest friends were there for it! This had been planned since October and they all managed to keep it a surprise for me!

We couldn’t all sit together but had to sit at 4 different tables, but overall everyone had a blast! I cannot describe to you the overwhelming feeling I had that night other than blessed and grateful. I feel so blessed to have such amazing friends who love me enough to drive an hour away, walk through the cold to get to the restaurant, and pay a lot of money to eat someplace I have always wanted to go. As I sat there throughout the night and looked around at all of my friends having a good time with their fondue (many of them experiencing this for the first time), laughing, talking, and celebrating, I had to smile, and it almost brought tears to my eyes. I have such amazing friends, and am so blessed to have them in my life to share my life with them! After a 3 hour dinner and an amazing chocolate/peanut butter fondue to end the night, everyone bundled up and gave hugs to head back to Lynchburg.

Dina and I drove to Richmond, got there LATE, spend the night at a hotel, and then Saturday woke up, ate breakfast, and headed out to explore parts of Richmond we had never been to before. The lovely GPS “Gwen the Garmin” took us the wrong way and we ended up in the heart of downtown Richmond for a while. It was really cool to see that, and then we made our way to a variety of shops. After a nice day of shopping and relaxing we ended the evening at Red Robin where I got a free birthday meal!

Looking back it was the best birthday ever, and I had soooooo much fun! I am excited for this 25th year of life the Lord has blessed me with. I am excited to see what he does in and through me this year, and what he bring to my life this year as well.

Hello 25!!!!

I'm 25!

Today is my Birthday! I have had such an amazing birthday week! Monday night my small group girls threw me a surprise party! We had breakfast for dinner (my favorite) and just a great time of fellowship. Last night my dear friend Vanessa took me out to Cracker Barrel for dinner and I LOVE Cracker Barrel! It was a fun evening of catching up, laughing, and just having fun w/ each other. Today I came into my office and found my desk completely decked out w/ balloons, confetti, ribbon, and birthday signs! Dina took me out this morning for breakfast at Famous Anthony's (my favorite place to eat breakfast.....the BEST sausage gravy and biscuits!) and then when I came in I found a NF Vanilla latte on my desk from Vanessa w/ cards from my friends and co-workers! So...it has been a GREAT day! I can't wait to see what the rest of the day holds. Dina has so many things up her sleeve, so I am excited! Thank you to all of you in my life, I so blessed to have such amazing people in my life! Thanks for following my journey and keeping up to date w/ my life. :0)

This weekend was fun. Friday night I babysat for some friends. Saturday I got up early, went to Starbucks, did some window shopping, then went to my friend’s daughters 3rd birthday party. It was all adults but it was so cute to see her getting so excited about her cake and her presents. After that I went home to clean up the house a bit, took a nice long nap, and headed to Roanoke to go to a friend’s house for dinner. Their 5 year old daughter really wanted to spend the night w/ me and Dina so we packed her up and took her to our place. Sunday the three of us went to church (having a child to look after can be hard work). Church was great, and Jon talked about forgiveness. It was a challenging sermon and one that I think a lot of people needed, me included. After church I went to my friends Amber and Brian’s house for lunch and then Amber and I talked about a wedding we are planning together in May. Then I finished my house cleaning and enjoyed a relaxing evening.

My birthday is on Thursday (the big 25)so I am excited as the day approaches b/c Dina says there are some fun and exciting surprises in store. Tonight is small group and we are starting our first lesson on the book of Daniel (a Beth Moore study). So, I am excited to see what will happen this week!

Longing to Travel!

First off happy first birthday Gwyneth Rose (check out http://cfhusband.blogspot.com/ for more info). If you haven’t heard of my friends Tricia and Nathan’s journey the past year, please visit their blog to see what they have gone through and what the Lord has done for them!

So Christmas and New years was a good time for me. I went to PA for two days (b/c I had to be back to work on the 26) and it was nice to see family and have fun. It really was a good time this year. Different, but good! For new years I wanted to have a big fancy party w/ lots of friends, but a lot of people were out of town or made prior plans, so Dina and I headed to Roanoke went out to dinner, and stayed at a friend’s house (they were out of town) and we played Rock Band 2 and Wii all night till the ball dropped. It was fun and then the next day we went shopping. I am excited about 2009 and hope it is an amazing year with lots of new things and more firsts ;0)!

So lately I have been kinda down. I am so grateful for my job! I like it, and I love the kind people I work with. The money is not great at all and I feel like I can’t save or get ahead in my student loans, but I know God has me here for a reason, and I daily come to work thanking God for this position and praying that I can be ok with this for now and try not to complain. The thing that is getting me down is that I really want to travel. Lately it is consuming me. I will spend my days looking up cruises, looking up plane tickets, rental cars, and looking up different places I want to go to. I know it may sound silly but I want to travel so badly! The only thing holding me back is no vacation days yet, and no money. I could probably save a lot and travel if not for Sallie Mae (she and I are not friends right now!), but with that huge payment every month it makes it hard!

I have such big dreams, but feel like I can’t do them. I want to go so many places and have a big list of places I want to visit! I look back and in almost 25 years of life, and I have been a lot of places, but I dream of traveling more! I pray that God will provide for me this year so that I can travel! Alaska was so beautiful and I dream of going back there soon to see things I didn’t see this summer and to see the Northern Lights! I want to go to Hawaii, the Mediterranean, Europe, Australia/New Zealand, the Caribbean, I want to visit every state in the US, and go to Cabo San Lucas Mexico just to name a few! So, hopefully 2009 will allow me to meet some of these dreams! I also pray that I can continue to trust the Lord and trust that this is where He wants me right now and that when He wants me to move on He will let me know and that He will open doors for me.

Lynchburg is home, and I love it. Lord let me ok w/ where you have me, and continue to show me where you want me, and show me what my dream is! Please don’t let me get angry, bitter, and unhappy like I was a year ago! Thank you for everything!