Horrific Tragedies

It wasn't until about three months ago my heart grew a real desire to know more about sex trafficking...kinda random I know, but not really. It does make sense with this dream of mine...I do believe one day I will have the opportunity to share Jesus' love and freedom to some victims of this heart wrenching catastrophe. So, I started researching and was blown to tears with how often this horrific act takes place in not only our country but in OUR OWN CITY! Did you know the average age a girl (even typing the word "girl" feels so wrong) falls into the trap of prostitution is 12...12 years old!!!! There are at least 300,000 victims of sex-trafficking in the US every year. Twenty-nine Somali gang members were arrested last fall in Nashville for sex trafficking young girls. The U.S. Court reported that these Somali gang members "transported underage Somali and African American girls from Minneapolis to Nashville from 2000 to 2010 for sex acts in exchange for money or other items. The gangs allegedly recruited girls under age 18 – including some under age 14 – and force them into prostitution."
http://memphis.fbi.gov/dojpressrel/pressrel10/me110810.htm
This week here in Rutherford County, specifically Smyrna, a man was accused of selling a minor for sex, and now police are looking for more victims of his enterprise. These girls are not child prostitutes, they are VICTIMS of sex trafficking. http://www.wsmv.com/rutherford/26545423/detail.html
I used to think that sex trafficking happened far far away. I used to think it only occurred in China and Europe...but how I was so wrong. It's happening in our very own back yards!!
Research says that human trafficking is the fastest growing criminal enterprise in the world. It takes on average 48 hours for a runaway girl to be picked up by a pimp and there are an estimated 450,000 runaways each year. The life expectancy of a girl after they become a prostitute is 7 years. We wonder why these sick people sell girls? Why not guns or drugs?? Well, you can sell a gun only once, you can sell a drug only once, but you can sell girls over and over and over. UGH! These girls are chosen because they are already vulnerable....vulnerable because they come from dysfunctional homes, have been exposed to domestic violence, drugs/alcohol, probably have a history of sexual, physical, and/or emotional abuse and we all know brain washed by the media. This is a formula for sheer destruction. I was recently shown lyrics to a rap song by 50 Cent an it blatantly talks about sex trafficking. How can this be allowed on the radio??!!

“Now shorty, she in the club, she dancin' for dollars;
I spit a little G man and my game got her;
A hour later have that a** up in the Ramada….
I could care less how she perform when she in the bed;
Bi*** hit the track, catch a date, and come pay the kid….
I let em' do as they please, as long as they get my cheese;
Even if they gotta freeze, or if it's a hundred degrees;
I keep em' on they knees, take a look under my sleeve;
I ain't gotta give em' much, they happy with Mickey D's…”

DEVASTATION!! There aren't even words to express how angry this makes me. Angry enough to do something about it. However, I kinda feel like my hands are tied. Like what is a young lady like me going to do about it...I felt a small voice say 'get the word out, that's what you can do." So I am. I also know that we serve and worship a HUGE GOD that died once for our FREEDOM!! I believe He can heal and restore these girls. My prayer is that God would continue to prepare my heart for working with these girls one day.

One last thing. I watched this video this morning and thought I'd share it. It's a short video on how one girl bought into the lies of sex trafficking.



I know a lot of this stuff is super depressing...but I'm not going to leave it there...Mercy Ministries has a wonderful website where you can get involved in stopping this horrific epidemic. http://www.endsextrafficking.com/ Please visit it and sign up to receive more information on how you can help!! ALSO you can sign this petition. Apparently sex-trafficking sky rockets around the Super Bowl. By signing this petition you can help bring awareness and hopefully help deter the buying of children during the Super Bowl. http://www.change.org/petitions/view/ask_the_super_bowl_host_committee_to_stand_up_and_protect_children

Writing is one thing...withdrawn is another...

So, you may asking yourself what in the world does she mean by "writing is one thing...withdrawn is another." Good question. When you write a check that will change your life forever it's one thing but when you see it withdrawn from your account it's another. I had written a check out to a wonderful attorney who is helping me with this whole "non-profit status" process. He rocks. Doing this all alone would really stress me out. So, I sent him my first payment about 2 months ago and it wasn't until last week that I saw the money withdrawn from my account. Talk about swallowing the largest horse pill of all mankind...I mean, I knew I wrote it, put it in an envelop, sealed it, mailed it, he got it, BUT seeing it withdrawn....whoa, it's another story. I felt like I officially have been "pushed out of the boat!" You see, I struggle with taking that first step out of the boat...so sometime I just have to be pushed!! I'm glad I was "pushed out!!" This week I was told by him that G.I.R.L.S Ranch had been approved for step 1 of this process and is now an official non-profit in Tennessee. Now we just have to work on making it official through the IRS. I don't know what it takes to make it official in the state of Tennessee...it doesn't really matter to me...that fact that it's "official" on one level makes me want to jump out of my skin with excitement. I can't tell you how tempting it was for me to go outside and run around my house screaming.....WWWWWWAAAAAHOOOOOOO!!!! It's cold so I didn't.
So join me in Praising our Jesus that things are moving forward and looking good!