Friday, April 16, 2010

A special Mother's Day...

And this is what I'm asking for.....


An organization that we strongly support as a family, Children's Hopechest, is partnering with Adoption Fathers to bring us these beautiful and unique necklaces for Mother's Day this year.  Proceeds will go to help stop sex trafficking in Moldova.  Here is the info I just got in my inbox from Tom Davis, the director of Children's Hopechest : 

I'm on my way home from Russia after various flight cancellations and re-routes due to this volcanic ash cloud. Hopefully by the time you get this I'll be headed toward US soil.

While on this trip, I heard a powerful story that is weighing on my heart to share with you. It is an encouragement and a strong reminder that girls absolutely MUST be protected from sex trafficking. Not optional. Here's the story.


This week, I met with "Masha," a bright young lady who visits our Ministry Center in Kostroma.


She told me about the day some professional women came to her technical school in Kostroma and promised her a new job with lots of money, clothes, and jewelry.


Instead, they trapped her in a rundown apartment, beat her when she asked questions, and forced her to work in a strip club.


Scared and alone, Masha was terrified at what came next. "You'll have sex with 10 men each day," they told her. But before that, some men would come to her apartment to "teach her" what to do.


Masha managed to escape the apartment and ran to the HopeChest Ministry Center for help. Our staff immediately called the authorities, and brought her to a safe place to live.


Fortunately, Masha avoided a life of forced prostitution and stolen dignity, thanks to the intervention of the HopeChest Ministry Center in Kostroma.

My wife and I have seven children-including two daughters from Russia-and the thought of them being raped makes me extremely angry. When I heard Masha's story I wanted to do something to protect her, like I would protect my own children.


Today, you also have a unique opportunity to help protect and defend girls like Masha. Buying a Mother's Day Gift from HopeChest is just one way to join the fight against sex trafficking and forced prostitution and provide a safe haven for orphaned girls in their time of greatest need.

When you buy this necklace for your mother, wife, sister, or daughter, proceeds will go directly to support young women like Masha, and other girls who benefit from programs at the Ministry Centers. Each necklace provides one of the following:



2 weeks of direct assistance for a women in our Young Mothers Program


Nearly 1 month of mentorship, counseling, and discipleship at our Ministry Center
 
I encourage you to check this out!  We have been supporting this ministry for a few years now and have adopted a child in Swaziland through them.  For the past two years we have sent teams of people from our church who have actually spent time in our little guy's home and held him on their lap!  The came back with funny stories of him and we've been able to send personal photo albums and letters to him hand delivered by our friends here.  This is a worth while organization I can assure you!!

No comments:

Post a Comment