Monday, August 6, 2012

Wonder Woman, Wonder Bras, and the Fight for Justice!


Oh the wonders of Wonder Woman! Between the ages of 5-7 years old, she was who I wanted to grow up to be. She was absolutely amazing with her flashy indestructible bracelets that deflected bullets with a quick flick of her wrists and her magical lasso of truth.
I giggle now as I recall leaping around the yard, swinging from the monkey bars or tree branches in my wonder woman underoos! (Yes! I wore them outside.) 


Even when my mother caught me and I was forced to cover my fantastic Underoos with normal everyday clothing, I still felt this spark of confidence and a responsibility to fight for justice while secretly wearing those bold red, blue and gold colors. My little eyes were watchful and ready for any forms of injustice to appear, for danger to be lurking around the corner or behind a suspicious tree. I had super powers, I just knew it.

Fast forward to my teen years, my Underoos long since out grown, but this desire to fight for freedom and justice is still burning inside of me. I remember watching documentaries about the 60's and 70's, of women in the streets protesting for equality, and respect. 
I found it exhilarating thinking back on the stories I read about the suffragettes who fought for the right for women to vote. I even cried as I read accounts from former slaves that followed underground rail road to freedom from the slavery and oppression they were facing here in the U.S. Or later as African-Americans fought for the freedom to vote, and for the freedom from segregation laws. They fought to work, eat, attend school, and live where they chose.
Norman Rockwell's depiction of Ruby Bridges as she walked to school.
He called it, "The problem we all deal with."

 I was in awe of this passionate and fierce breed of women and men who were so bold and daring as to fight the mainstream culture for freedom. I remember dreaming of what I could do someday for those in need of freedom. What would be my "cause" to fight for some day? 
Now here I am, a wife, a crazy homeschooling mother of three creative and beautiful children, and I am a christian. What does God want me to do? His cause should be mine as well.
 Today I am writing to you about two of the many ways we can get involved with a call God holds dear to His heart. He calls us to follow Him and to fight for the oppressed, and to bring justice to the hurting. You can see it in the following verses,

Isaiah 58:6-10
verse 6 especially where the Lord says, 
 Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke?



Psalm 10:17-18
Psalm 9:9
Psalm 146:7-9

But...But...What can I do? Have you been there friends? Have you been longing to join an epic battle, to try and save the world from injustice, but to scared, or busy, or overwhelmed to even attempt it? Consider with me for just a moment that you just might be called to don your inner super hero clothes and to fight injustice here or across the world! 
(QUICK! Keep reading before you start listing to yourself all of the reasons for why you cannot possibly do this, I promise it is worth it!)


Today I want to share with you that slavery is still very much alive today. Actually there are more slaves now than in any other time in history. I shared with you last week that I would show you a variety of ways we could get involved in missions. 

Here are 2 avenues you could choose to get involved in that do not cost you a dime, only a little of your time, and you too can be a super hero in the fight for justice for those caught in the grips of Human trafficking.

Human/Sex Trafficking is the fastest growing industry in the world and is second only to the illegal drug industry. Sex trafficking is horrifying and devastating on every level. Sadly, sex trafficking is not a problem that is far away in distant lands, but right here, in our cities, towns, hotels, in our apartment buildings, and in our neighborhoods. (If you do not believe me click here, Trafficked in the US, ABC news, or Human Trafficking in Michigan, MLive)

Right now the International Justice Mission is launching a post card campaign to get the attention of our Federal Congress. Congress has been stalling legislation that would help to protect and defend those that have been forced into this industry.
This will cost you zero dollars, but a little of your time. IJM (The International Justice Mission) will even cover the costs of postage.
Take a moment and check it out. Please consider standing up for the women and children who are being kidnapped and forced into the sex trafficking world with little hope of escape in our very own nation.
http://www.ijm.org/100-postcard-challenge
****Update**** I received my post cards, I will need to cover the postage to mail them back, but that is it. So far it is an easy and powerful way to get the word out while getting signatures. :) **********



With the Free the Girls campaign, you can help provide job opportunities for women who have been rescued or escaped from sexual trafficking just by collecting used braziers.  (Yes, that's right... I just said, "used bras!") 
You can have a party with your friends, your church, or business and collect gently used bras for these women to sell in the used clothing markets of Mozambique. These braziers are a luxury item which means, you are helping these women to not only survive, but thrive! They make 3-5 times the amount of minimum wage doing this, allowing them to provide a safe home for their children, and so on. 


You can watch a video by CNN hereCNN coverage of Free the Girls
Click this link here to learn more about bringing freedom and opportunity to these woman, just by collecting bras.

So what about you? Will you join me in the fight for justice for the oppressed?

Here are a few statistics and facts on Human Trafficking. 
Human Trafficking Facts


$32 BILLION:
The total market value of illicit human trafficking is estimated to be in excess of $32 billion

27 million:
Currently 27 million men, women and children are being held as slaves—more today than in any other time in history

80% women and girls:
Women and girls comprise at least 80% of the world’s trafficking victims, and up to 50% are minors.  They are exploited in fields and brothels, in homes and conflicts, and in factories and fisheries. More women are being pushed out of developing countries due to economic, familial, and societal pressures – becoming ever more vulnerable to modern slavery.

Women continue to be enslaved in commercial sex around the world. They are often arrested for participating in a crime that victimizes them when they should instead be provided with services and benefit from a well-trained police force implementing proven and compassionate victim identification measures.

Women continue to toil in sweatshop factories without food or break, sewing garments, peeling shrimp, and weaving carpets under threat of violence. Bonded by debt and force, they pick cotton, mine conflict minerals, and harvest rice alongside their children. They toil in diplomatic households and suburban residences as domestic workers often without anyone knowing they are there let alone being abused.

2 million:
According to UNICEF, as many as two million children are subjected to prostitution in the global commercial sex trade. Sex trafficking has devastating consequences for minors, including long-lasting physical and psychological trauma, disease (including HIV/AIDS), drug addiction, unwanted pregnancy, malnutrition, social ostracism, and possible death.

(Sources: Trafficking In Persons Report 2010, Kevin Bales, Disposable People,  U.S. State Dept)





WIPWednesday
Beholding Glory

19 comments:

  1. Awesome! I love how you developed this post from your early childhood through the present. Great information and call to action, too. You rock girl! God bless you and your efforts!

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  2. Thank you Mandy for the encouragement!:) Do you have any gently used bras you would want to donate? ;) I am going to do a collection. Yes, I may be crazy, but I think it sounds like fun. ;)

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  3. I love this post! First, I definitely used to run around my backyard in my Wonder Woman underoos. I think we even have a picture of it! Second, the topic is one that is close to my heart, as well. My husband and I have been sponsoring IJM for years now. He even went on a mission trip with them before we met. I wrote about sex-trafficking and another organization that is working to fight against it on my blog this week. Stop by if you get the chance. www.heatherablondi.com

    I am going to try to organize a bra collection at my church. Might make those older Baptist men a little nervous though :)

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    1. Yay! A fellow Wonder woman underoos wearing chica. :)I really appreciate you sharing your blog. It is powerful. Tonight we just unrolled our Free the Girls campaign. We are creating it as a top secret ladies only bra smuggling ring. ;) Our teen/college girls are the collectors and the Women's ministry will "smuggle" the bras in to them. Tonight someone brought a few in and the fun began. (It also keeps from having any nervous men at church.) :)

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  4. What I wouldn't give to have had a pair of wonder woman underoos!! You are sooo lucky. What a fabulous post for an incredible cause. Blessings today.

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    1. Thank you for visiting Rachel! And oddly enough while I searching for a picture of the underoos, I discovered they have them still for women on Amazon. (Just a tank top and undies, but all Wonder Woman.)Too funny. :)

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  5. Wow, what a great story! I found this to be very informative and inspirational. I took some time to read some of the articles you linked about human sex trafficking, and they brought me to tears. I guess the saying is true, "Out of sight, out of mind". I am ashamed of my ignorance. I am definitely going to follow up with some of these organizations that are trying to put a stop to this. It is the least that I can do. Thank you for taking the time to post about this. I will be passing it along! God Bless!

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    1. Thank you for reading and sharing! My prayer has been that God could use it to inspire more women to get involved with this cause. You have brought me great encouragement. God Bless you in your endeavors to help fight Human Trafficking!
      P.S. Let me know if you decide to do a Bra drive. I am hoping to link up multiple groups and have a facebook page to encourage each other, post pics, and share about getting involved in this cause.

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  6. I only recently became aware of this issue. Thank for using your space to spread more awareness!

    Thanks also for linking up with WIP Wednesday!

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    1. Thank you for stopping by! I really enjoyed reading some of your posts from your site. You have such a welcoming site you are very encouraging!

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  7. Amen! You are so right...there is always a cause for freedom in every generation and we should be fighting for those who cannot fight for themselves. I love your underoos beginning. I'm an older generation, but my daughter wore them proudly : )
    Great motivating post.
    Gail (BibleLoveNotes.com)

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    1. Thank you Gail for coming by. I am glad you got a kick out of the underoos. :) They need to bring them back. My girls would love them. ;)

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  8. Oh what God can do through you! I see it in this post...
    This is such an easy issue for most of us to ignore and yet you're right. Slavery is worse than ever before. God needs us to rise up.

    So thankful we were neighbors over at Thought-Provoking Thursday so I knew to think on this today. Thank you!

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    1. Thank you for visiting Nikki! I am very grateful God is using this post. It is part of a series on simple ways we can become involved with being God's hands and feet. If you have any ideas of other opportunities please feel free to let me know. Blessings! :)

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  9. This is such a crazy/terrible/extreme issue that someone gets brushed aside by all the media to focus instead on the prettier sides of poverty and crime. Raising awareness is such an important part in the process of fighting for this cause, and you've done a great job laying it all out in this post! Thanks for writing this, and keep it up!

    Tyanne

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    1. Thank you for the encouragement Tyanne. You are right it does get too quickly swept under the rug. I am hoping/praying we can do something to change that. :)

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  10. As I was reding about fighting for justice I hoped you would talk about sex trafficking. Such a huge hung in need of many freedom fighters. Great post with a great call to action. I also have a heart for these kids and women ( who can't after hearing what's going on). That's why 100% of my author proceeds go to agape international missions. ( they partner with Ijm).

    Great post!!!

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    1. Wow that is awesome Laura! I will have to hop over and check them out. I am always looking into more opportunities for and ministries for people to choose to get involved in. Thank you for your support and information! I love that the proceeds go to fight this. Awesome!

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  11. Beautiful post from a beautiful heart. I look forward to getting to know you better. IJM has been on my radar for some time now, but I'm super happy to hear about FREE THE GIRLS. I will add that to my own blog on my Favor Shares page and look forward to passing on some bras of my own!

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