"I RUN in the path of your commands, for you have set my heart free." Psalm 119: 32
Dear friends-
I have so much to share with you and catch up on, but for right now I just wanted to let you know of a wonderful opportunity that I'll be having this coming week and to ask for your prayers to be upon this journey.
Lots of you are already familiar with Freedom Firm, a ministry in the neighboring state to Kerala, in Ooty, Tamil Nadu. Freedom Firm is a ministry that rescues minor girls from the sex trafficking industry. They find girls trapped in brothels, collect information from them by posing as customers, and then take the information to the local police. The police then step in and the girls are liberated in a "raid." Freedom Firm then brings them back to Ooty for rehabilitation, where the girls learn about how precious they are in God's sight and discover God's plan for their lives. The rescued girls live in community, receiving therapy, spending time in the outdoors with activities like rock climbing and horseback riding, and learning crafts such as jewellry-making and weaving, and then are reintegrated into mainstream society after rehabilitation. Freedom Firm does more than just rescue the girls and help them discover a new way of life, they also are committed to seeking justice against those who have profited from their misery, convicting the brothel keepers, who begin to realize that it's too risky for them to hire underage girls and hopefully cease hiring them. This is Freedom Firm's strategy towards unabashedly working towards the end of child prostitution in India.
Please visit Freedom Firm's website at freedom.firm.in.
Memorial Park, my home church, established a partnership with Freedom Firm over a year ago, and since then, our church community has been deeply involved in supporting Freedom Firm. Within the last year, the founders, Americans Greg and Mala Malstead, visited Memorial Park, and our head pastor Dean and my friend Lauren visited Freedom Firm.
I had planned on visiting the ministry at some point during my year here. When my mom was here, she told me that Roger Rumer, a good friend and husband of Betsy, one of our pastors, would be coming to Freedom Firm in February. He is visiting Freedom Firm this upcoming week to lead a staff retreat! After hearing that Roger was coming, I asked if it would be an okay time for me to visit as well. Not only was Freedom Firm okay with me coming during the retreat, but they invited me to join in the retreat and to lead worship with Roger! They offered to take care of my travel and accommodations, and all the pieces just fell into place perfectly. I am so amazed at how it all worked out...God has so abundantly provided!!!!!!
So I leave on Wednesday to travel to Ooty where I will meet up with Roger. The retreat will be from Thursday to Sunday of this week. I am so excited to visit this incredible ministry that I have been hearing about for so long, to spend time with Roger, to attend the retreat, to lead worship, and to meet this particular group of God's servants who do this difficult and courageous work.
Please join in this retreat by praying...
1) For safe travel for all coming to the retreat, gathering from all over India and coming even from the U.S. Please pray for my train travel to and from Ooty.
2) For a time of rich encouragement for all during this retreat, for God to speak and minister to each person present.
4) For the worship Roger and I will be leading and for the movement of the Holy Spirit.
5) For the protection and strengthening of our hearts as we meet these girls and hear their stories.
6) For the work of Freedom Firm, for the team of incredibly dedicated workers, and for God's Spirit to really strengthen and help this ministry grow.
7) Pray especially for the girls in hostels right now awaiting rescue who do not know that anyone, let alone Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior, loves them.
Thank you for your prayer support and I look forward to sharing all about it when I get back.
Dear friends-
I have so much to share with you and catch up on, but for right now I just wanted to let you know of a wonderful opportunity that I'll be having this coming week and to ask for your prayers to be upon this journey.
Lots of you are already familiar with Freedom Firm, a ministry in the neighboring state to Kerala, in Ooty, Tamil Nadu. Freedom Firm is a ministry that rescues minor girls from the sex trafficking industry. They find girls trapped in brothels, collect information from them by posing as customers, and then take the information to the local police. The police then step in and the girls are liberated in a "raid." Freedom Firm then brings them back to Ooty for rehabilitation, where the girls learn about how precious they are in God's sight and discover God's plan for their lives. The rescued girls live in community, receiving therapy, spending time in the outdoors with activities like rock climbing and horseback riding, and learning crafts such as jewellry-making and weaving, and then are reintegrated into mainstream society after rehabilitation. Freedom Firm does more than just rescue the girls and help them discover a new way of life, they also are committed to seeking justice against those who have profited from their misery, convicting the brothel keepers, who begin to realize that it's too risky for them to hire underage girls and hopefully cease hiring them. This is Freedom Firm's strategy towards unabashedly working towards the end of child prostitution in India.
Please visit Freedom Firm's website at freedom.firm.in.
Memorial Park, my home church, established a partnership with Freedom Firm over a year ago, and since then, our church community has been deeply involved in supporting Freedom Firm. Within the last year, the founders, Americans Greg and Mala Malstead, visited Memorial Park, and our head pastor Dean and my friend Lauren visited Freedom Firm.
I had planned on visiting the ministry at some point during my year here. When my mom was here, she told me that Roger Rumer, a good friend and husband of Betsy, one of our pastors, would be coming to Freedom Firm in February. He is visiting Freedom Firm this upcoming week to lead a staff retreat! After hearing that Roger was coming, I asked if it would be an okay time for me to visit as well. Not only was Freedom Firm okay with me coming during the retreat, but they invited me to join in the retreat and to lead worship with Roger! They offered to take care of my travel and accommodations, and all the pieces just fell into place perfectly. I am so amazed at how it all worked out...God has so abundantly provided!!!!!!
So I leave on Wednesday to travel to Ooty where I will meet up with Roger. The retreat will be from Thursday to Sunday of this week. I am so excited to visit this incredible ministry that I have been hearing about for so long, to spend time with Roger, to attend the retreat, to lead worship, and to meet this particular group of God's servants who do this difficult and courageous work.
Please join in this retreat by praying...
1) For safe travel for all coming to the retreat, gathering from all over India and coming even from the U.S. Please pray for my train travel to and from Ooty.
2) For a time of rich encouragement for all during this retreat, for God to speak and minister to each person present.
4) For the worship Roger and I will be leading and for the movement of the Holy Spirit.
5) For the protection and strengthening of our hearts as we meet these girls and hear their stories.
6) For the work of Freedom Firm, for the team of incredibly dedicated workers, and for God's Spirit to really strengthen and help this ministry grow.
7) Pray especially for the girls in hostels right now awaiting rescue who do not know that anyone, let alone Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior, loves them.
Thank you for your prayer support and I look forward to sharing all about it when I get back.
No comments:
Post a Comment