Why fight human trafficking? Why Redeemed Ministries?

Recently I’ve been asked several times why I’m involved with Redeemed Ministries & the fight against human trafficking…
And I discovered there’s not one reason, there are so many:

1. because of Brent & Courtney Orrange, my beloved friends, who have spent 10+ educating & preparing to fight trafficking on foreign soil,
2. & because I remember the B.C. version of me who looked just like a human trafficking victim in my heart & my choices,
3. & because my heart longs to live the life of a missionary & my God has kept me in Houston, so I don’t need to raise support & be commissioned to give my whole life to His Work
4. & because the children waiting to be adopted in foster care are the same adults we encounter in commercial sex, & as the Body of My Christ, I restore peace by sewing up the holes in the fabric of society with His Love, His Grace, His Hope,
5. & because the best way to escape the rat race of this earth is to live like THE KINGDOM HAS COME & HIS WILL WILL BE DONE!

Could your teen become a Human Trafficking statistic?

As I’ve become a human trafficking abolitionist, I’ve come face to face with more memories of God’s grace in my life.

And since these memories are not horror stories with bad endings, most of them are secrets. Secrets I have kept silent to protect the heart of my most amazing mommy.

But I think part of abolition is EDUCATION. Education about risks.

So here’s a memory…

Today is Fat Tuesday, the end of Mardi Gras. As a lifelong Protestant, I barely know what it stands for.

But as a teenager, I knew it stood for one thing.
PARTYING!
In Galveston, only 45 mins from where I grew up, Mardi Gras festivities imitated the New Orleans activities. Parades by day, street parties by night.

As a deceptive teenager, I planned a “night at the movies” with my friends, and jumped in the car with another 16-17 yr old. We headed across the big bridge to the party. We parked on a secluded street and headed into the darkness.

My mom liked to keep track of me, so she paged me at one point, and I hiked to find a pay phone to report that I had gone to a later movie… Oh and could I spend the night with my friend?

She made the same plan. To spend the night at my house, that is.

And we wandered into the night.

No where near where we said we were.
Completely vulnerable.

Graciously, God brought me home from this particular night & many others when I did not take my safety into account, going to parties in cheap hotels or houses rented by adults who threw parties for teens.

Honestly, I wasn’t trying to get hurt.
I was just trying to have fun.
I thought my mom was just afraid my car would break down.
I DID NOT KNOW THE RISKS.

I did not know that the world was full of perpetrators.
The people in my life, my family, my community, had always cared for me.
This may sound dumb, but my world was so good I didn’t know about rape or sexual abuse.
My safe life BLINDED me to the real world.

Like I said, this story doesn’t have a bad ending. That night, I came home unharmed. Truly, I believe I was wrapped in the prayers of my mother as a shield around me. She did not know the details of each lie, but she knew I was running from her & from God.

The moral of this story:
1. Pray for your kids.
2. Don’t assume they understand what it means that 12-18 year olds are prime victims for trafficking.
3. Pray for your kids.

Judging the beggar on the corner

I’ve been confused about how to deal with the homeless person with the sign on the corner for a long time.

Last night, as I sat in my car getting organized at Ecclesia, a beggar knocked in my window. He caught me off-guard, made me feel invaded…
I had to decide (again) how to respond

I have had many conflicting inputs:

• In my childhood memories, there are many times my mom stopped to help someone along the side of the road, giving them a ride home or to a shelter.
• While dating, Joel & I went with The Grove Church to deliver food under Pierce Elevated in downtown Houston. We made a few friends & started taking food & stuff to them as a way to flee pre-marriage temptation. Each person had a story…and factor that lead them to life on the street.
• When working for a large local church about 8 years ago, I was riding with several pastors. One explained to me that the corner beggars commonly make $60,000/year tax free… And who knows what they do with it.
• I spent 2001 & 2005 working at the Star of Hope Women & Family Homeless Shelter. Lots of people were trapped in the poverty cycle & disappointed me.

Last year, I started reading Luke aloud to my kids.
I got to Luke 6:30… and the answer seemed pretty straight forward:

Give to everyone who begs from you, and from one who takes away your goods do not demand them back.

But how do we know if they will use it wisely? Or if they are making more then me by this profession?

The same questions could be asked when we ask for help…Was I a perfect steward of every dollar given to me? Did I buy a latte, get my nails done, pay for a movie, etc.?

What matters on my end is how the Lord will view my choice to help…

Matthew 25:35-40

For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’

So last night, I made the wrong choice first: judgement. I was offended (by choice) that he knocked on my window. He should have known not to invade my space. So I spoke curtly, telling him I might help when I got out to enter the building.

And my heart ached.
I wouldn’t have spoken to Jesus that way. I wouldn’t have spoken to any of you that way.

Fortunately, I was still in that place. I could look in my rearview mirror, image he was Jesus, or even imagine I was the beggar.

Then I acted.

Redeemed Ministries

If you follow me on Twitter (@heatherburdeaux) or Facebook, you have probably seen me mention Redeemed Ministries in the last 9 months.

Redeemed Ministries is a group of Christians trying to bring hope, rescue, & redemption to the lives of victims of commercial sex trafficking.

I first heard of them in 2009.
Honestly, I was so intimidated by the problem of human slavery (human trafficking), I was scared to go to Redeemed’s orientation meeting.
I was afraid I would be expected to have ideas, or a plan. So I didn’t go.

I finally made it in February 2011.

What I learned was heartbreaking. Houston is full of spas/brothels/massage parlors with enslaved women being forced to perform sexual acts!

There are more factors working to keep the spas in business, than assistance to escape.

But Redeemed is working to change that.
We are an army of volunteers trying to light the path of escape, then trying to be Christ’s arms around them as they make a new life.

Join us!
We meet to organize the 2nd Saturday of every month.

Sisters

Sisters are something I’ve thought about a lot… Especially for someone without sisters.

I see a loyalty & connectedness in sisters that friends can’t duplicate but only imitate.

Think about it.
You maybe the “best friend forever”…bur who’s the maid-of-honor”?

Enough said.

Read about what’s being done to keep 4 sisters together in Cazale, Haiti.

Joyful stressless busy-ness

This year has been transformational for me.
It all started in February, with One Thousand Gifts.
It continued in the summer with prioritizing.

And here I am now, living a different life.

It is wonderful.

My generational sin, shared with my mother, is busyness for busyness’s sake. Overcommitment.

The problem isn’t WHAT was keeping me busy. Often I was busy with good things, but they were keeping me from doing the important things, the things laid on my heart by God, the eternal things.

So February was the beginning of a purge of “good” but extra things keeping me busy.
July was a reminder that I relapsed… replacing the purged items with new “good” things.

Then September & October were a blur of job-related chaos that I had no say or control over.

But then came NOVEMBER!

I think November has been the most joyful stressless peaceful busyness if my life.

In November, there was finally room for Redeemed. Volunteering with Redeemed has been a wonderful busyness. I have made a new sweet friend Kelly Summers, spent lots of time with my Karen, and been able to share ministry with my daughter.

I love today!

The one that got away

You may be wondering, as I do several posts in a row about other people’s adoptions, how this all relates to me:

1. The obvious: Darin, my precious present, God brought us by adoption.

2. The memory: Jean-Roni, the one that got away.
Last summer in Haiti, Karen, Amanda, & I took care of Jean-Roni. He was a tiny, malnourished baby boy who came into the Real Hope for Haiti clinic while we were visiting.
We cared for him day & night for the majority of our trip.
We were told that he would not live at the size, age, and progression of his malnourishment.
And so don’t get attached.

That didn’t work.

So we dreamed & calculated how to bring him home with us.

But when we left, he stayed.
And 35 days later, while my arms still ached for him, Jean-Roni died.

We must fight everyday to save AS MANY CHILDREN AS WE CAN.
Our humanity requires this.

Bring Heaven home!

There’s another Houston family working on adopting a child with Down syndrome!

I met Nancy at a recent DSAH conference & learned about Heaven!

They are in the early fundraising & approval stages but already have a giveaway that ends 11/30/11.
Donate $10+ & you will be entered to win!

Go here!

Urgent!!! Help save 2 boys with Down Syndrome from life in an orphanage

Listen to this amazing story!

A Houston mom, Julie Kehm, has 2 biological children… Lilah and Kai, who has Down syndrome & attends the Rise School with my son Darin.
Through Reece’s Rainbow, they found Peter, who has Down syndrome and is waiting to be adopted in an orphanage on the other side of the world. He will be their 3rd child, and 2nd child with Down syndrome. They have been planning for his adoption for months.
They also met Ty on Reece’s Rainbow – he lives in the same orphanage as Peter, and also has Down syndrome. They have been donating toward Ty’s potential adoption, and watching to see if a family picked him the whole time they have prepared to adopt Peter.
Last week, as they waited to get a travel date to pick up Peter, they decided they will be bring Ty home, too.

Summary: (Kai + Lilah) + (Peter + Ty) = 4 kids, 3 with Down syndrome!
Read Julie’s full version of this story on Around the World in Seven Months!

These people are God’s hands for these boys!

So let’s back them up! They need an extra $4,000 to bring both boys home… they just (on 11/25) received notice they need to be in eastern Europe on December 6, so they will travel on 12/3.

CAN YOU GIVE $10?
1. Donate here with Paypal.
2. Leave a comment on A Perfect Lily to enter a raffle for donating to bring Ty & Peter home to the Kehm family!

Adoption and child sponsorship

As you know, I love adoption. I think it is an amazing vehicle of restoration of Shalom… a way to knit back together the broken fabric of society.

But adoption is costly and complicated. You need to be ready to raise a child, with a community of support, a stable job, and more.

And there are many child around the world in need, who have parents they don’t want to leave… they still need help.

So, how can we help children in a simple way?

Child Sponsorship.
Many organization like Compassion International offer a partnership – they will do the legwork to meet the children where they are, and we can provide prayer, love, and funds.

Today I read this blog post by my beloved Ann Voskamp (One Thousand Gifts:
A Dare to Live Fully
Right Where You Are), being struck by this section:

When he shows us his bedroom, there are no photos of his father on the wall. Or mother or brother. Just a trio of smiles— a photo of a family, a long haired girl, a cluster of kids. It’s good to find smiling here. We brush at wet cheeks and smile too and ask who are these beautiful friends of yours, Jonathan?

I look towards our translator. She asks Jonathan and she turns to us —

“These are his Compassion sponsors.” The the only family he knows, right there, hanging over his bed, the only things hanging on the walls of this hut. Love is always our only art.

“These are the letters they write me.” A smile flickers. The scrawling script under the Compassion logo talks of snow and dogs and school. “I love Mr. Andrew and his family very much.”

He whispers it.

Love is always our only hope.

On the wall of an abandoned 15-year old in the Amazon are letters and pictures from his Compassion sponsors.

Have you sponsored a child? Do you picture your letters there?
Have you written one to hold that position of honor?

I wrote my first on-line letter today. And you can even upload pictures!

If you have a sponsored child, share your thanksgiving holiday with them by sending a letter.
If you don’t have a sponsored child, sponsor one today. Some of these kids have been waiting over 3 years for someone to spend $38/month on them.
Isn’t that just an impulse-buy of a pair of shoes? How about impulse-sponsoring a child?