tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-82920205323368404402024-03-14T00:41:07.881-07:00Running for Rubymy 365 mile race vs. sex traffickingstephanie clairehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17694224701940390923noreply@blogger.comBlogger80125truetag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8292020532336840440.post-79078888543025239972012-09-02T11:58:00.003-07:002012-09-02T11:58:37.014-07:00Day 68: For the Woman at the WellWell hello again! It's good to be back. As you may have noticed, I took a break from writing for about a year, but I'm back to finish the project. The Lord brought a lot of things across my path last year that required my full attention, and though I missed blogging and running, I knew that at such a point in my life, it had to take a back burner. Thank you so much for being patient. I'm back in action, ready for a new season of writing and activism for the glory of my loving, merciful Savior!<br />
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Running for Ruby is going to take a bit of a different spin. I am as passionate as ending the sex trade as ever, but I also want to so more than just ask for donations. I am asking the Lord to reveal another way to help. I have a few ideas, and I would love for you to join in with me! I will still continue to post stories of victims of human trafficking for the sake of education and prayer. I will also include, hopefully, interviews with some people on the front lines of this issue. Finally (and this is what I am most eager for!) I am going to highlight fair trade products in an attempt to make a sort of shopping guide, so that when you purchase every day necessities, you can help victims of human trafficking at the same time! I mean, we need the stuff anyways, so why not help people when we buy it?! The Lord has laid it on my heart to adopt a new lifestyle, in which I buy everything certified fair trade from organizations and one-for-one companies. I'd love for you to try it with me! I'll still leave the World Vision link up if you'd like to donate there (I never did reach my fundraising goal), but fair trade shopping is another great way you can donate while receiving the products you need at the same time.<br />
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This post is two-fold; it's the end of one season and the beginning of another, and I'm so thankful you're here for the transition. I finished my project with a run of half-marathon distance Thanksgiving morning of 2011. For the first time in my life, I think I truly grasped the meaning of Thanksgiving day. This final post is a tribute to a woman who knows the depths of thanksgiving in her heart more deeply than most. I've known her story my whole life, and I am so thankful that I know the man who saved her. This one is for him. Thanks for reading, and may the Lord make himself known to you.<br />
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<i>Now Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that he was gaining and baptizing more disciples than John— although in fact it was not Jesus who baptized, but his disciples. So he left Judea and went back once more to Galilee.</i></div>
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<i>Now he had to go through Samaria. So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about noon.</i></div>
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<i>When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?” (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.)</i></div>
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<i>The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.)</i></div>
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<i>Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.”</i></div>
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<i>“Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his livestock?”</i></div>
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<i>Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”</i></div>
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<i>The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.”</i></div>
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<i>He told her, “Go, call your husband and come back.”</i></div>
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<i>“I have no husband,” she replied.</i></div>
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<i>Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say you have no husband. The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.”</i></div>
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<i>“Sir,” the woman said, “I can see that you are a prophet. Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.”</i></div>
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<i>“Woman,” Jesus replied, “believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.”</i></div>
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<i>The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.”</i></div>
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<i>Then Jesus declared, “I, the one speaking to you—I am he.”</i></div>
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<i>Just then his disciples returned and were surprised to find him talking with a woman. But no one asked, “What do you want?” or “Why are you talking with her?”</i></div>
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<i>Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?” They came out of the town and made their way toward him.</i></div>
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<i>Meanwhile his disciples urged him, “Rabbi, eat something.”</i></div>
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<i>But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you know nothing about.”</i></div>
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<i>Then his disciples said to each other, “Could someone have brought him food?”</i></div>
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<i>“My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work. Don’t you have a saying, ‘It’s still four months until harvest’? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest. Even now the one who reaps draws a wage and harvests a crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together. Thus the saying ‘One sows and another reaps’ is true. I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labor.”</i></div>
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<i>Many Samaritans Believe</i></div>
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<i>Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I ever did.” So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with them, and he stayed two days. And because of his words many more became believers.</i></div>
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<i>They said to the woman, “We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world.”</i></div>
<i>John 4</i></div>
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13.1 miles for the Woman at the Well<br />
365 miles for Jesus Christ, for his kingdom and his glory<br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #323232; font-family: inherit; line-height: 18px;">Ruby</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #323232; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #323232; font-family: inherit; line-height: 18px;">Sandra</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #323232; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #323232; font-family: inherit; line-height: 18px;">Berchewkan</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #323232; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #323232; font-family: inherit; line-height: 18px;">Mani</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #323232; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #323232; font-family: inherit; line-height: 18px;">Sophea</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #323232; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #323232; font-family: inherit; line-height: 18px;">Janna</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #323232; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #323232; font-family: inherit; line-height: 18px;">Syowai</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #323232; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #323232; font-family: inherit; line-height: 18px;">Ka</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #323232; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #323232; font-family: inherit; line-height: 18px;">Stephanie</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #323232; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #323232; font-family: inherit; line-height: 18px;">Alex</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #323232; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #323232; font-family: inherit; line-height: 18px;">Mai</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #323232; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #323232; font-family: inherit; line-height: 18px;">Khamta</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #323232; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #323232; font-family: inherit; line-height: 18px;">Adaze</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #323232; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #323232; font-family: inherit; line-height: 18px;">Jayati</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #323232; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #323232; font-family: inherit; line-height: 18px;">Boloztuya</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #323232; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #323232; font-family: inherit; line-height: 18px;">Prettygirl</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #323232; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #323232; font-family: inherit; line-height: 18px;">Theresa</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #323232; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #323232; font-family: inherit; line-height: 18px;">Esperanza</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #323232; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #323232; font-family: inherit; line-height: 18px;">Xuan</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #323232; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #323232; font-family: inherit; line-height: 18px;">Geeta</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #323232; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #323232; font-family: inherit; line-height: 18px;">Debbie</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #323232; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #323232; font-family: inherit; line-height: 18px;">G.Q., N.H., and S.O.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #323232; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #323232; font-family: inherit; line-height: 18px;">Anuradha</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #323232; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #323232; font-family: inherit; line-height: 18px;">Veronica</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #323232; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #323232; font-family: inherit; line-height: 18px;">Martina</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #323232; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #323232; font-family: inherit; line-height: 18px;">Shauna</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #323232; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #323232; font-family: inherit; line-height: 18px;">Rosa</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #323232; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #323232; font-family: inherit; line-height: 18px;">Jaycee</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #323232; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #323232; font-family: inherit; line-height: 18px;">Charlotte Awino</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #323232; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #323232; font-family: inherit; line-height: 18px;">Kikka Cerpa</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #323232; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #323232; font-family: inherit; line-height: 18px;">Jana</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #323232; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #323232; font-family: inherit; line-height: 18px;">Lannie</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #323232; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #323232; font-family: inherit; line-height: 18px;">Samira</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #323232; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #323232; font-family: inherit; line-height: 18px;">Mari</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #323232; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #323232; font-family: inherit; line-height: 18px;">Sarah</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #323232; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #323232; font-family: inherit; line-height: 18px;">Mao Mao</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #323232; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #323232; font-family: inherit; line-height: 18px;">Keisha</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #323232; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #323232; font-family: inherit; line-height: 18px;">Brittany</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #323232; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #323232; font-family: inherit; line-height: 18px;">Gabriella</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #323232; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #323232; font-family: inherit; line-height: 18px;">Akemi</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #323232; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #323232; font-family: inherit; line-height: 18px;">Olga</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #323232; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #323232; font-family: inherit; line-height: 18px;">Alissa</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #323232; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #323232; font-family: inherit; line-height: 18px;">Karina</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #323232; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #323232; font-family: inherit; line-height: 18px;">Maira</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #323232; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #323232; font-family: inherit; line-height: 18px;">Amita</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #323232; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #323232; font-family: inherit; line-height: 18px;">Josephine</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #323232; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #323232; font-family: inherit; line-height: 18px;">Sabine</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #323232; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #323232; font-family: inherit; line-height: 18px;">Mylee</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #323232; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #323232; font-family: inherit; line-height: 18px;">Samantha</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #323232; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #323232; font-family: inherit; line-height: 18px;">Kurshida</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #323232; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #323232; font-family: inherit; line-height: 18px;">Colegiala</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #323232; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #323232; font-family: inherit; line-height: 18px;">Bharti</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #323232; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #323232; font-family: inherit; line-height: 18px;">Irina</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #323232; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #323232; font-family: inherit; line-height: 18px;">Neary</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #323232; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #323232; font-family: inherit; line-height: 18px;">Jane</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #323232; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #323232; font-family: inherit; line-height: 18px;">Yeu and Dep<br />Asha<br />Shauna</span><br />
the Woman at the Well<br style="background-color: white; color: #323232; line-height: 18px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #323232; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #323232; font-family: inherit; line-height: 18px;">Because He first loved me,</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #323232; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #323232; font-family: inherit; line-height: 18px;">Stephanie</span>
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stephanie clairehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17694224701940390923noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8292020532336840440.post-24234522889792434932012-02-19T11:06:00.000-08:002012-02-19T11:06:59.934-08:00Day 67: for ShaunaNice home. Nice parents. Nice friends. A safe neighborhood. Shauna is the last person I'd expect to see on the international sex market, yet at $300,000, she was one her way to become one of Texas' most desired prostitutes by no fault of her own. The title of this article was "Sinister Sleepover." If you ask me, "sinister" is a euphemism.<br />
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Shauna's story...<br />
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<em><strong>Internal Trafficking often means little distance travelled and Sexual Assault to break down resistance may take place only blocks away from home.</strong>Shauna Newell was fortunate when she was abducted two years ago. Thanks to her mother and Klaas’ organization, which organized a search for her, she was rescued after three days. She’s gone public to warn other girls about how easy it is to be kidnapped and trafficked.<br />
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A typical 16-year-old in a middle-class home in suburban Pensacola, Fla., Newell’s nightmare began innocently enough: A new friend she had met in high school asked her to come to her home for a sleepover.<br />
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Newell’s mother, Lisa Brant, didn’t like the idea, but after weeks of lobbying by her daughter, Brant met with the girl and the man she said was her father to make sure her daughter would be safe. <br />
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But the girl’s “father” was really a convicted felon, and the girl, who had a record of prostitution in Texas, was an accomplice in the abduction. “Her dad took us to this house and said he'd be right back and he left us there,” Newell recounted in a taped interview. “And I asked for some water because I was thirsty. And I drank the water and I blacked out.”<br />
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The water had been laced with a drug. When she woke up, Newell was groggy and couldn’t move.<br />
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“My legs were being held down, and the guy that was raping me was holding my hands back,” she said in a quiet voice. “I kept screaming, ‘Stop, please don't do this. Leave me alone.’ But I was so weak, I couldn't fight them off. Like I was, I was so really out of it. And I blacked out a few times and I kept coming back to. And I was still being raped every time I woke up.”<br />
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Left alone for a moment, Newell managed to call her mother.<br />
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“My cell phone rang. And all I heard was, ‘Mommy, help me,’ ” Brant said. “And the phone went dead. And I freaked!”</em><em><strong>Lisa Brant, whose daughter, Shauna Newell, was abducted and gang-raped.<br />
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------</strong>She called police, but they told her that Newell had probably run away from home, and they wouldn’t be able to treat it as a missing-person case until 72 hours had elapsed.<br />
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“He was like, 'Oh, well, you know, there's nothing I can do. You know teenagers,’ ” Brant said. <br />
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A stroke of luck<br />
With law enforcement unwilling to act, Brant and Newell’s siblings started their own search. They were fortunate in that Brad Dennis, an investigator for KlaasKids, was based in the area because the Florida Panhandle is an epicenter of human trafficking.<br />
<br />
By sheer luck, one search party stopped at a convenience store for something to drink, and Newell’s 14-year-old brother spotted his sister in the back seat of another car that had stopped at the same store. She was rescued, but her abductors managed to flee.<br />
<br />
After three days of being raped and beaten and drugged, Newell was dirty, bloody, bruised and barely alive. She was airlifted to a hospital and had to be resuscitated twice. In addition to her serious injuries, she had been infected with an STD. <br />
<br />
Newell said that her captor told her she had been sold on the Internet for $300,000 to a man in Texas. Fortunately, she was rescued before delivery could be made. During Newell’s ordeal in Florida, her captor took money from a number of men who raped her. When she screamed, he held a gun to her head and threatened to blow her brains out. <br />
Afraid for her life, Newell later moved in with her boyfriend and now has a child of her own. Her family continues to lobby for national legislation that will provide aid for Americans forced into the sex trade similar to aid that is provided for girls and boys who are brought into the country and forced into prostitution.<br />
<br />
Vieira asked Lisa Brant what advice she has for other girls.<br />
<br />
“Listen to your parents. Just don’t stop believing. Be strong,” she said. “Follow what your parents say fully, fully. There are people out there who will help you. Speak up. Everybody needs to speak up. Girls that have gone through this, they’re scared."</em><br />
<br />
<a href="http://jammedtruestories.blogspot.com/2008/10/sinister-sleepover.html">source of Shauna's story</a><br />
<br />
3.2 miles for Shauna<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">344.37 miles to date.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Ruby</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Sandra</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Berchewkan</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Mani</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Sophea</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Janna</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Syowai</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Ka</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Stephanie</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Alex</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Mai</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Khamta</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Adaze</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Jayati</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Boloztuya</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Prettygirl</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Theresa</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Esperanza</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Xuan</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Geeta</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Debbie</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">G.Q., N.H., and S.O.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Anuradha</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Veronica</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Martina</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Shauna</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Rosa</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Jaycee</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Charlotte Awino</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Kikka Cerpa</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Jana</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Lannie</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Samira</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Mari</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Sarah</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Mao Mao</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Keisha</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Brittany</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Gabriella</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Akemi</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Olga</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Alissa</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Karina</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Maira</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Amita</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Josephine</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Sabine</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Mylee</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Samantha</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Kurshida</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Colegiala</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Bharti</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Irina</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Neary</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Jane</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Yeu and Dep<br />
Asha<br />
Shauna</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Because He first loved me,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Stephanie</span>stephanie clairehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17694224701940390923noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8292020532336840440.post-12999461317253698362012-02-18T11:55:00.000-08:002012-02-18T11:55:36.298-08:00Day 66: for Asha"The gods have forgotten you. This is your fate," the girl said sadly. Frightened, exhausted and hungry, Asha surrendered.<br />
<br />
Last week, I watched the movie Courageous. If you haven't seen it, man, you have to! (MOVIE SPOILER WARNING.) This movie is a story of God's beautiful grace to a family after they lose their nine year old daughter Emily in a car accident. We watch Emily's father, mother, and brother journey through the grief and learn to trust and honor God in the process. I cried from beginning to end.<br />
<br />
One scene that really broke me was one of Emily's mother the day after the accident. She laid in Emily's bed, sobbing, begging of her husband, "Make sense of this for me; make sense of this!" The man sat down shell shocked, while their son sat one room over drowning out reality with a video game.<br />
<br />
Losing a child, a nine year old little girl, has to be one of the most devistating happenings we could ever imagine. We do everything to keep children safe. Can't you just hear your own parents saying, "Buckle that seatbelt," "Hold my hand," "Let me cut that for you," "Don't touch that," "Don't talk to strangers"... need I continue?<br />
<br />
Imagine the overwhelming grief of losing a little girl, a rare but still terrible reality of America today.<br />
<br />
But what if you were forced to hand over your own daughter's life to survive? What if you were part of a society of selling off daughters to make it through? What if you not only lost a daughter, but gave her up, not to meet the Lord in heaven, but to perform unspeakable, disgusting acts every single day for the rest of her life?<br />
<br />
Asha was nine years old, and such was the reality for her family.<br />
<br />
<em>She should have been playing with dolls. Instead, the bright-eyed little girl was sold by her father and became a "doll" in a Mumbai brothel. Asha was only nine when her father sold her to a procurer. She came from a very poor family. Seven children had been born to Asha's parents. They certainly could not afford a girl.<br />
The bright-eyed little girl had no idea what was going on or how her life was about to change forever. She only knew that the lady named Kala had told her she was going on a trip to a very special place, that she would have new clothes, and that she would be working for a nice family who lived in a big house. The lady asked Asha if she was willing to work hard. Asha nodded. "Will you do anything that is asked of you?" Asha said she would try. Asha wanted her family to be proud of her.<br />
The adventure began at the bus station in Katmandu. Asha had never ridden a bus before. Asha wondered how many other girls would be fortunate enough to go to a big city like Mumbai. Perhaps this was what her father meant when he talked about good karma. She couldn't wait to say her pujas (daily prayers), as her father and mother had taught her to give thanks for such good fortune. Asha looked excitedly out the window as the Nepali hills rolled by. The bus trip lasted much longer than she expected - 14 hours just to get to the border town of Nepalgunj.<br />
Once there, they walked across the border where they boarded another bus for the trip to Delhi. Asha asked Kala if they were almost there. Kala told her that Mumbai was very far away and they wouldn't be there for several days. After what seemed like forever, Asha asked again. Kala glowered at the little girl. Asha decided that perhaps she should not ask such questions.<br />
The stifling heat and the exhaust fumes made Asha sick to her stomach. She wondered if Mumbai would be like this. All that day the bus bumped and swayed over the dusty roads of North India. Asha began to realize that wherever Mumbai was, it was a long way from home. She wondered if her parents would come to see her.<br />
Finally, after three days and hundreds of nameless Indian villages, the driver announced the good news - they were in Mumbai. Asha became excited. What will the family be like? What about their big house? When Asha and Kala climbed down from the bus there was no one to meet them. Asha was confused. She looked around. Kala grabbed her hand and nearly jerked her off her feet. "Come, child!"<br />
They walked quickly through the busy station, past the beggars who swarmed the sidewalk outside, and to the taxi stand. Asha had never been in a car. Kala spoke crisply to the driver. "Falkland Road." This must be a very special place, she thought for the driver instantly nodded his head in recognition. It was night when the taxi wound its way through Mumbai's crowded streets, but unlike Nepal, it wasn't dark. Everywhere she looked, Asha saw lights, lots of lights with strange markings. Asha did not know the meaning of the strange markings. She had never been to school.<br />
After an hour's drive, the taxi turned onto what seemed to be the busiest street of all. The taxi stopped. Kala pulled her arm again. "This is where we get out," the woman said crossly. This was a strange place. "Where's the pretty house?" Asha asked shyly. "Quiet!" Kala barked. "This is your new home."<br />
Women and girls lounged in the doorway. Their faces were painted in ways Asha had never seen. Asha stopped and stared. Kala roughly pulled the little girl through the door. They walked down a series of long, poorly lit corridors. Asha could feel the wet garbage under her bare feet, oozing between her toes. There was heaviness in the air. This did not seem like a happy place.<br />
Suddenly, a woman was standing in front of them. "Here she is," Kala said tersely, "That'll be 40,000 rupees" (about $100 U.S.). The woman took Asha to a little room. "This is where you'll stay," the woman declared without emotion as she pushed the child through the door. Asha shivered when she heard the dead bolt slam into place. Something seemed very wrong. Asha felt frightened - and alone. She prayed to the family gods. It didn't seem to help. Asha went to sleep wondering what kind of place she had come to. When she woke up, she couldn't tell whether it was day or night because her room had no windows.<br />
After a long while, the woman returned. She sat down on the bed and opened a little bag. She started putting make-up on Asha's face. Asha winced. A few minutes later the woman came back with a man. The woman told Asha what to do. Asha did not want to do such things. The woman slapped her. Asha cried. The woman slapped her again. "No! No! I will not do such things." The woman cursed Asha in Nepali and then left.<br />
A few minutes later, she returned with another man. His lip curled in a mocking snarl. She had never seen such a look. "So, you don't want to work, eh?" He pulled off his belt and began to beat Asha. He beat her until the pain filled her body. Then he left. Asha curled up on her cot and whimpered softly.<br />
Later that day the woman came back. "Ready to work, little doll?" Asha cried and pleaded with her. "Please don't make me do those things." The man with the belt came back. Three times that day he beat her. When the time came to eat, they brought nothing to Asha. Still the little girl resisted. The torture lasted for days. Without light, Asha lost track of time. Without food she grew weak.<br />
One of the other girls told Asha it was useless to resist. She told Asha of another girl who had been put in a room with a cobra until she changed her mind about doing as she was told. It didn't take long, the girl reported. "The gods have forgotten you. This is your fate," the girl said sadly. Frightened, exhausted and hungry, Asha surrendered.<br />
In those first days, Asha often cried herself to sleep, wishing she was back in her village, homesick for her mother. She hated life in the brothel, hated what she saw, hated what she did. She hated what happened to the other girls - especially the sick ones. But the tears grew less and less, and Asha became accustomed to her new life.<br />
Seven years passed. Seven years without seeing her mother or brothers. Seven years in what she and the other girls called "that place." Seven years watching girls become sick with the "Bombay Disease." Seven years of watching them turned out on the streets to die. Asha dreamed of buying her freedom and going home to Nepal, but she knew there was little hope of that.<br />
By her sixteenth birthday, Asha had forgotten what hope was. Until she met a man named Devaraj. Devaraj was different than the other men she had known. She met him at a small church near Falkland Road. There he taught messages of hope that lifted her spirits. He talked of freedom. She visited there as often as she could. She longed more than ever to be free from Falkland Road, but she still lacked the money to pay the "investment" the brothel owner had made in her.<br />
One night after service, Devaraj told Asha she could leave the district. Asha could hardly believe what she was hearing. "How is this possible?" Asha asked. Devaraj explained that some "friends" had given a gift to purchase her freedom. In a few days, Asha left the brothel that had been her home since she was a young girl and moved into a "Home of Hope." Now she is learning how to live. She is learning a new trade. And thanks to people who care, Asha's life is no longer surrounded by pain and disappointment. It is full of hope and optimism for the future.</em><br />
<a href="http://jammedtruestories.blogspot.com/">source of Asha's story.</a><br />
<br />
3.2 miles for Asha<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">341.17 miles to date.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Ruby</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Sandra</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Berchewkan</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Mani</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Sophea</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Janna</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Syowai</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Ka</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Stephanie</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Alex</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Mai</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Khamta</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Adaze</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Jayati</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Boloztuya</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Prettygirl</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Theresa</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Esperanza</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Xuan</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Geeta</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Debbie</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">G.Q., N.H., and S.O.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Anuradha</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Veronica</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Martina</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Shauna</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Rosa</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Jaycee</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Charlotte Awino</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Kikka Cerpa</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Jana</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Lannie</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Samira</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Mari</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Sarah</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Mao Mao</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Keisha</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Brittany</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Gabriella</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Akemi</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Olga</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Alissa</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Karina</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Maira</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Amita</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Josephine</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Sabine</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Mylee</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Samantha</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Kurshida</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Colegiala</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Bharti</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Irina</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Neary</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Jane</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Yeu and Dep<br />
Asha</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Because He first loved me,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Stephanie</span>stephanie clairehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17694224701940390923noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8292020532336840440.post-57373299215576374162012-01-30T09:51:00.000-08:002012-01-30T09:53:30.209-08:00Day 65: for Yeu and DepPlease note: all the names are changed in this story for security. Friends and family members who know names, please do not share them. Thank you.<br />
<br />
I came down the stairs and awkwardly found a seat at the kitchen table. It was one of those family Christmas parties at my aunt and uncle's house... the kind where you get only 3 hours to make conversation with the people that you only see once a year. On my dad's side of the family, I have a ton of cousins, including 13 cross-culturally adopted cousins all from the same family. I usually spend the first 20 minutes of the Christmas party trying to pick out who is who, and the family is always growing, so when I saw two new Asian girls in the kitchen, I wasn't surprised at all. I opened my ears to their conversation to try to grab their names.<br />
"You don't have to do that!" My Aunt Thabitha was doing all she could to wrestle the dirty dishes from the girls's hands, but they were adamant on washing them.<br />
"Yes we do! We have to help!" one replied.<br />
"They never stop cleaining," my cousin June chimed in. "And they always want to do our nails!"<br />
"Your mom does everything for us! We have to help," the other girl replied.<br />
<br />
My Aunt Elle, mother of the 13, slid down at the table next to my mom and I. She began whispering, and the expression on my mom's face subtly grew into complete shock. Noticing my bewilderment at the new additions to our family, Aunt Elle then turned to me, and filled me in on what was going on.<br />
<br />
These two girls were Yeu and Dep and they were Vietnamese. They used to work in the nail salon my Aunt Elle frequented. Having travelled to Vietnam to adopt some of my cousins, my aunt knew a bit of the language, and got to know the two girls.<br />
<br />
One day, they decided to take a leap of faith and trust my Aunt Elle with information that could have ended their lives. In Vietnam, they were offered great opportunity in America: good jobs, education, medical care, and every opportunity they would want, so they followed a man onto an airplane, trusting him with all of their paperwork. When they arrived in America, it was all a plot. They were enslaved, forced to work long hours in the nail salon, then clean the entire house. They were taken advantage of in many other ways.<br />
<br />
Aunt Elle was the right person to trust. After several phone calls to the FBI, information-gathering manicures, and night raids to the York home, Yeu and Dep were now in my Aunt's kitchen. Human trafficking was so close, that I literally stumbled upon it.<br />
<br />
So much for the land of the free... <br />
<br />
Yeu and Dep's story:<br />
<br />
Lynda Phan essentially enslaved two young women from Vietnam to work in her West Manchester Township nail salons for three years.<br />
Three years of working long hours, often seven days a week, for no pay -- and under emotionally demoralizing circumstances as the former Fairview Township salon owner reportedly demeaned the women she greedily exploited.<br />
On Thursday, she was sentenced in federal court on guilty pleas to human trafficking and other charges.<br />
Her sentence?<br />
Three months in jail.<br />
Three months for three years of forced labor.<br />
It just doesn't add up.<br />
A co-defendant in the case got off even easier: Duc Cao Nguyen must serve one year of probation.<br />
Shouldn't the jail time for engaging in modern American slavery be at least equal to the amount of time the victims suffered?<br />
Three years? Maybe six if you count each case separately and run the sentences consecutively?<br />
Many people who commit nonviolent crimes get more time in jail than Lynda Phan will get for creating an emotional and mental prison for two young women who came to America -- granted, illegally -- to help their families by sending home money.<br />
Yes, she also must serve house arrest for 270 days, bringing her loss of freedom closer to a year.<br />
Yes, she must pay restitution to the victims.<br />
Yes, she lost her home and other possessions.<br />
Still, three months in jail followed by nine months of hanging around wherever she's living now doesn't seem like much retribution -- or deterrent to others who might consider exploiting young immigrants with American dreams and desperate families in their homelands.<br />
At least these two young victims -- named A.V. and T.V. in court documents -- weren't forced to be sex slaves, as authorities have alleged in some other local human trafficking cases.<br />
But the ordeal has left emotional scars for T.V., who said in court through a translator that "you treated me worse and worse" and "I was punished in many different ways... . You broke my heart and my spirit was broken little by little."<br />
T.V. graciously forgave Ms. Phan, saying that "nothing good comes from hating a person or treating them harshly."<br />
That's a nice sentiment -- and probably a healthy approach to life.<br />
But with all due respect, true justice in this case demands that Ms. Phan be treated more "harshly."<br />
<br />
<br />
<strong>Facts about the nail salon case: </strong><br />
Lynda Phan, Duc Cao Nguyen and Justin Phan were charged with conspiracy to commit forced labor trafficking, forced labor and marriage fraud for keeping two young Vietnamese nationals in a Fairview Township home and forcing them to work at an area nail salon under threat of being turned over to immigration services.<br />
The result: All three pleaded guilty in October. Lynda Phan and Nguyen were sentenced Thursday in federal court -- Phan to 90 days in jail, 270 days house arrest and one year probation and Nguyen to one year of probation. Lynda Phan has paid $250,000 of $300,000 in court-ordered restitution. Justin Phan is scheduled for sentencing next month, and his plea agreement calls for one year of supervised probation.<br />
<br />
<strong>Also of interest:</strong><br />
From York Daily Record/Sunday News files: In 2006, Immigration and Customs Enforcement uncovered a network of brothels along the East Coast, including two in York County, where women were kept as sex slaves. The network smuggled South Korean women into the U.S. and forced them to work in the parlors to pay off their transportation debts. The women were told that, if they left the business before paying off their debts, they would be turned over to police or immigration authorities, federal complaints stated.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.yorkblog.com/yorktownsquare/2010/02/human-trafficking-york-county.html">source</a><br />
<br />
6 miles for Yeu and Dep<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">337.97 miles to date.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Ruby</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Sandra</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Berchewkan</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Mani</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Sophea</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Janna</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Syowai</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Ka</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Stephanie</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Alex</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Mai</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Khamta</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Adaze</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Jayati</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Boloztuya</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Prettygirl</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Theresa</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Esperanza</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Xuan</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Geeta</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Debbie</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">G.Q., N.H., and S.O.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Anuradha</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Veronica</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Martina</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Shauna</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Rosa</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Jaycee</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Charlotte Awino</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Kikka Cerpa</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Jana</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Lannie</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Samira</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Mari</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Sarah</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Mao Mao</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Keisha</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Brittany</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Gabriella</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Akemi</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Olga</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Alissa</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Karina</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Maira</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Amita</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Josephine</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Sabine</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Mylee</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Samantha</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Kurshida</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Colegiala</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Bharti</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Irina</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Neary</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Jane</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Yeu and Dep</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Because He first loved me,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Stephanie </span>stephanie clairehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17694224701940390923noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8292020532336840440.post-7811553981219816502012-01-12T10:15:00.001-08:002012-09-02T11:35:34.965-07:00Day 65: for Lisastephanie clairehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17694224701940390923noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8292020532336840440.post-75232137142842583152012-01-12T09:48:00.000-08:002012-01-12T09:50:06.212-08:00Day 64: for Jane<span style="font-family: inherit;">I was watching one of those state trooper TV shows the other day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the episode, a lady had intrusively parked her trailer on another lady's land in eastern Montana.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The landowner called the police to get her off.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While the police were on the way, the landowner discovered that there was another lady in the trailer- a young, Asian woman, and together, the two women were handing out flyers for "MASSAGES- 100% HOT YOUNG ASIAN WOMEN!"<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When the officer arrived, he interviewed the young Asian.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>"I don't know about this massage.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I came from New York to be a housecleaner.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She promises me $30,000 per month for cleaning... I mean $3,000."<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As she spits out excuses, the officer stares at her dumbfounded, holding a flyer with her erotic picture front and center. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The woman had paperwork... a passport, nonetheless.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She was clearly a US citizen and not a victim of the international sex trade, yet here she was, willingly putting herself in the center of human trafficking- to be used and passed, used and passed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The trooper asked a lot of questions to get the details of the case, but then he asked one question that I'm pretty sure we were all asking: Why?<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Jane was a lot like this lady.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She says she doesn't remember much about her childhood of drug-feuled abuse and molestation, occuring in both her home and the day care she attended on a daily basis.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At age 14, she found herself in the hands of Jay, a family friend who promised her a better life in Oregon, but ended up forcing Jane into prostitution.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Alone, empty, and unloved, Jane grew more and more depressed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She knew she was being abused, but the attention from Jay felt good.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How can something so wrong and sick feel so much like a solution?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“I trusted him even after all this stuff. After he abused me, I still thought it was love — I thought that this is how it was supposed to be. … Most of our arguments were about money,” she said, adding that she had sex with six men a day, sometimes eight or nine. “I was bringing him $600 a day, but he wanted more.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Just like this Asian lady, she could have gotten out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She could have found a job.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But something was holding her back, tying her down to the prostitution beast.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Ain't that how it goes, though?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We have these needs, so deep that we would do anything to fill them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The need to be loved.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The need to be respected and come out on top.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The need to lose weight and feel beautiful.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The need to build muscle feel strong. The need for a father, or a mother, or a grande french vanilla chai with extra foam and a drizzle of caramel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If only he would notice me!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If only I had the courage to talk to her!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If only I hadn't done it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If only I didn't have all these needs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Paralyzed and defeated, we dig ourselves into a hole too big to climb out of, only increasing our eternally growing lists of "If only, if only"s.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Author Kary Overbrunner calls these holes our "given names"- the names that the world gives us, and that we give ourselves. Names like "promiscuous," "unloved," "lazy," "awkward.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We all have them, and they keep returning us to that place we hate to be, to our Jay. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">What is immobilizing you?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I challenge you this week to make a list of your given names.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For a little guidance, if you like, check out Overbrunner’s website and try step one of the </span><a href="http://www.yoursecretname.com/test/"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Secret Name Test</span></a><span style="font-family: inherit;">.<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" /> <br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" /> If you thought this project was about freedom for sex trade victims, you were only partially right.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This blog is about freedom for everyone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is not only about awareness of the sex trade, it’s awareness that we, the church, can do so much more!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But just like the world, just like Asian prostitutes, just like Jane… we’re stuck. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So in these last few entries, lace up your bootstraps because we’re going to do some serious soul searching.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I very rarely get to say this, so I'm really thrilled to inform you that Jane's story does have a happy ending :) She was rescued by the police and taken in by the Children of the Night center. She earned her GED and is now attending college and "getting help from people who actually care about me."<br />
<br />
</span><a href="http://m.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/apr/23/sex-trafficking-us-called-epidemic/"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Read Jane's full story in the Washington Post here.<br />
</span></a><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">5 miles for Jane</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">331.97 miles to date.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Ruby</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Sandra</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Berchewkan</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Mani</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Sophea</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Janna</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Syowai</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Ka</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Stephanie</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Alex</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Mai</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Khamta</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Adaze</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Jayati</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Boloztuya</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Prettygirl</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Theresa</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Esperanza</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Xuan</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Geeta</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Debbie</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">G.Q., N.H., and S.O.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Anuradha</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Veronica</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Martina</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Shauna</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Rosa</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Jaycee</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Charlotte Awino</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Kikka Cerpa</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Jana</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Lannie</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Samira</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Mari</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Sarah</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Mao Mao</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Keisha</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Brittany</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Gabriella</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Akemi</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Olga</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Alissa</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Karina</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Maira</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Amita</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Josephine</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Sabine</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Mylee</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Samantha</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Kurshida</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Colegiala</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Bharti</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Irina</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Neary</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Jane</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Because He first loved me,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Stephanie </span></div>stephanie clairehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17694224701940390923noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8292020532336840440.post-63666722739037084232012-01-12T09:03:00.001-08:002012-09-02T11:35:34.922-07:00Day 64: for JaneI was watching one of those state trooper TV shows the other day. In the episode, a lady had intrusively parked her trailer on another lady's land in eastern Montana. The landowner called the police to get her off. While the police were on the way, the landowner discovered that there was another lady in the trailer- a young, Asian woman, and together, the two women were handing out flyers for "MASSAGES- 100% HOT YOUNG ASIAN WOMEN!" When the officer arrived, he interviewed the young Asian. "I don't know about this massage. I came from New York to be a housecleaner. She promises me $30,000 per month for cleaning... I mean $3,000." As she spits out excuses, the officer stares at her dumbfounded, holding a flyer with her erotic picture front and center. The woman had paperwork... a passport, nonetheless. She was clearly a US citizen and not a victim of the international sex trade, yet here she was, willingly putting herself in the center of human trafficking- to be used and passed, used and passed. The trooper asked a lot of questions to get the details of the case, but then he asked one question that I'm pretty sure we were all asking: <em>Why?</em><br />
Jane was a lot like this lady. She says she doesn't remember much about her childhood of drug-feuled abuse and molestation, occuring in both her home and the day care she attended on a daily basis. At age 14, she found herself in the hands of Jay, a family friend who promised her a better life in Oregon, but ended up forcing Jane into prostitution. Alone, empty, and unloved, Jane grew more and more depressed. She knew she was being abused, but the attention from Jay felt good. How can something so wrong and sick feel so much like a solution? “I trusted him even after all this stuff. After he abused me, I still thought it was love — I thought that this is how it was supposed to be. … Most of our arguments were about money,” she said, adding that she had sex with six men a day, sometimes eight or nine. “I was bringing him $600 a day, but he wanted more.” Just like this Asian lady, she could have gotten out. She could have found a job. But something was holding her back, tying her down to the prostitution beast.<br />
<br />
Ain't that how it goes, though? We have these needs, so deep that we would do anything to fill them. The need to be loved. The need to be respected and come out on top. The need to lose weight and feel beautiful. The need to build muscle feel strong. The need for a father, or a mother, or a grande french vanilla chai with extra foam and a drizzle of caramel. If only he would notice me! If only I had the courage to talk to her! If only I hadn't done it. If only I didn't have all these needs. Paralyzed and defeated, we dig ourselves into a hole too big to climb out of, only increasing our eternally growing lists of "If only, if only"s.<br />
<br />
Author Kary Overbrunner calls these holes our "given names"- the names that the world gives us, and that we give ourselves. Names like "prostitute,"stephanie clairehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17694224701940390923noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8292020532336840440.post-69539556860610242962012-01-06T11:22:00.000-08:002012-01-06T11:22:34.173-08:00Day 63: for NearyI run so that girls like Neary will not have died in vain. I wish I had more to give for all they went through.<br />
<br />
Neary's story:<br />
<br />
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">Neary </span>grew up in rural Cambodia.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Her parents died when she was a child, and in an effort to give her a better life, her sister married her off when she was 17.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Three months later, they went to visit a fishing village.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Her husband rented a room in what Neary throught was a guest house.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But when she woke the next morning, her husband was gone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The owner of the house told her she had been sold by her husband for $300 and that she was actually in a brother.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For five years, Neary was raped by five to seven men every day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In addition to brutal physical abuse, Neary was infected with HIV and contracted AIDS.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The brothel threw her out when she beame sick, and she eventually found her was to a local shelter.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She dies of HIV/AIDS at the age of 23.</span><br />
<br />
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;"><a href="http://www18.georgetown.edu/explore/organizations/sstop/?Action=ViewPage&ID=16726">source of Neary's story</a></span><br />
<br />
3.2 miles for Neary<br />
326.97 miles to date.<br />
<br />
Ruby<br />
Sandra<br />
Berchewkan<br />
Mani<br />
Sophea<br />
Janna<br />
Syowai<br />
Ka<br />
Stephanie<br />
Alex<br />
Mai<br />
Khamta<br />
Adaze<br />
Jayati<br />
Boloztuya<br />
Prettygirl<br />
Theresa<br />
Esperanza<br />
Xuan<br />
Geeta<br />
Debbie<br />
G.Q., N.H., and S.O.<br />
Anuradha<br />
Veronica<br />
Martina<br />
Shauna<br />
Rosa<br />
Jaycee<br />
Charlotte Awino<br />
Kikka Cerpa<br />
Jana<br />
Lannie<br />
Samira<br />
Mari<br />
Sarah<br />
Mao Mao<br />
Keisha<br />
Brittany<br />
Gabriella<br />
Akemi<br />
Olga<br />
Alissa<br />
Karina<br />
Maira<br />
Amita<br />
Josephine<br />
Sabine<br />
Mylee<br />
Samantha<br />
Kurshida<br />
Colegiala<br />
Bharti<br />
Irina<br />
Neary<br />
<br />
Because He first loved me,<br />
Stephaniestephanie clairehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17694224701940390923noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8292020532336840440.post-15914426716256302552012-01-06T11:10:00.001-08:002012-01-06T11:23:16.552-08:00Day 62: for IrinaIrina was a 16-year-old high school student from the southern Russian Federation when she accepted a family friend's proposal to take a quick trip to the Middle East. The offer of US$ 500 for her help in bringing back merchandise to sell in the Russian Federation seemed lucrative. Irina was introduced to Renat, and within days, she received a passport, a tourist visa and a plane ticket.<br />
<br />
In the meantime, Irina's new friends had "improved" her travel agenda. She was now to work as a waitress in a local café for US$ 1,000 a month. Irina's mother was suspicious but was quickly assured that her daughter was in good hands. Renat also warned Irina's mother that the travel arrangements had cost him a lot of money, and if her daughter cancelled the trip, she would owe him US$ 1,000.<br />
Upon arrival at her destination, Irina found out that she would not be a waitress, she would be a prostitute. Her passport was taken away, and she was threatened if she refused to obey or tried to run away.<br />
<br />
Irina's life became a series of hotel rooms, boarding houses, "madams" and clients until she finally tried to escape. She stole her documents and some cash and hailed a taxi. As soon as Irina entered the airport, she was stopped by the police. The "madam" was with them and claimed that Irina had stolen her money. Without asking questions, the police ordered Irina to return with the "madam". She was resold to another hotel owner and saddled with a new debt of US$ 10,000 to compensate for her misbehaviour. News from the Russian Federation of Renat's arrest following a petition by Irina's mother brought added threats and abuse.<br />
<br />
But Irina did not give up trying to escape. Six months into her ordeal, she finally managed to contact the Russian Embassy. There, she found out that her name had remained in the Interpol "missing persons" files for months.<br />
<br />
With the assistance of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the Russian Embassy, Irina was safely repatriated. Her case was investigated by the police and is being heard in court.<br />
UNODC combats human trafficking through a global awareness raising campaign and works to strengthen the capacities of governments to help prevent stories like Irina's from being repeated. UNODC projects also support the re-entry of victims, like Irina, into society.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.unodc.org/newsletter/en/200501/page008.html">source of Irina's story</a><br />
<br />
3.2 miles for Irina<br />
323.77 miles to date.<br />
<br />
Ruby<br />
Sandra<br />
Berchewkan<br />
Mani<br />
Sophea<br />
Janna<br />
Syowai<br />
Ka<br />
Stephanie<br />
Alex<br />
Mai<br />
Khamta<br />
Adaze<br />
Jayati<br />
Boloztuya<br />
Prettygirl<br />
Theresa<br />
Esperanza<br />
Xuan<br />
Geeta<br />
Debbie<br />
G.Q., N.H., and S.O.<br />
Anuradha<br />
Veronica<br />
Martina<br />
Shauna<br />
Rosa<br />
Jaycee<br />
Charlotte Awino<br />
Kikka Cerpa<br />
Jana<br />
Lannie<br />
Samira<br />
Mari<br />
Sarah<br />
Mao Mao<br />
Keisha<br />
Brittany<br />
Gabriella<br />
Akemi<br />
Olga<br />
Alissa<br />
Karina<br />
Maira<br />
Amita<br />
Josephine<br />
Sabine<br />
Mylee<br />
Samantha<br />
Kurshida<br />
Colegiala<br />
Bharti<br />
Irina<br />
<br />
Because He first loved me,<br />
Stephaniestephanie clairehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17694224701940390923noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8292020532336840440.post-40993250477096577162012-01-06T11:02:00.000-08:002012-01-06T11:02:46.442-08:00Back in ActionHey Everyone!<br />
As you probably noticed, I haven't posted in quite a while! After Thanksgiving, I took some time off of blog wirting to make sure I finished my first semester of college on a strong foot. By God's grace, I finished my 365 miles on Thanksgiving morning! These last few entries have been a long time in coming, but the victims have been on my hearts in prayers. Here it is... the last leg of my journey! Thanks for coming along with me :)<br />
<br />
Because He first loved me,<br />
<br />
Stephaniestephanie clairehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17694224701940390923noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8292020532336840440.post-9915539024715957112011-11-06T19:59:00.001-08:002012-09-02T11:35:51.368-07:00Day 62: for Nicoletastephanie clairehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17694224701940390923noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8292020532336840440.post-91060883523578572482011-10-30T19:33:00.000-07:002011-11-29T21:24:49.787-08:00Day 61: for BhartiThe other day, my friends and I were joking around in the car. "Please," one said, "if he marries anybody, it won't happen for <i>at least</i> ten years." We all laughed, but for a second I thought, "Wow... ten years is a long time to wait for one guy." I felt kind of bad for the girl who was interested in him.<br />
<br />
Compare that to Bharti's story. She had to wait 10 years too... not for the Bible college man of her dreams to take the hint, but rather, 10 years to get out of her cage... literally. 10 years until she would no longer be raped 20 times a day, 10 years until she could get medical attention for her STDs, 10 years to see her family, 10 years to have a shot at going to school, 10 years to be free from having her life controlled by men who were using her every single day, completely disregarding the fact that Bharti was a human with a soul. 10 years to get out onto the street with no money, no job, no one to love her and no place to go... and yet that was freedom compared to what she is coming from. <br />
Bharti's story:<br />
<br />
<i>When Bharti Tapas was 14, she says she was sold into slavery, beaten and forced into prostitution. </i><br />
<i> "When I arrived at the brothel, I refused to do what they told me to and they beat me and starved me for 10 days," says the softspoken girl. "I thought I would rather kill myself than be forced to work as a prostitute." </i><br />
<br />
<i> She was just a schoolgirl when she found herself in Bombay, along with thousands of other girls who are beaten, locked in tiny cages or hidden in attics. Some are forced to have sex with as many as 20 men a day under the watchful eyes of madams and pimps. </i><br />
<br />
<i> "They are not given enough to eat. There are no beds. They have to sleep on the floor. Sometimes they are raped," says Ruchira Gupta, a social worker and documentary filmmaker who spent months investigating the horrors of Bombay's brothels for her film The Selling of Innocents. </i><br />
<br />
<i> It can take 10 years for a woman to buy her freedom — if she doesn't first succumb to AIDS, other STDs, complications from repeated abortions, malnourishment, malaria, or TB. Most don't make it to the age of 40. </i><br />
<br />
<i> "There's high rates of suicides among these girls because they have no escape," says Gupta. "Once or twice I know of girls who tried to get out and they were beaten black and blue and locked up all over again." </i><br />
<br />
<i> One Man's Crusade </i><br />
<br />
<i>Though prostitutes can be seen openly soliciting on the streets in the red-light district, police often pay no heed. Asked what role his department plays in rescuing these girls, the Bombay police commissioner says, "Prostitution is said to be the oldest profession in this world … The society has been accepting it, demanding it and then encouraging it … We are not social workers … we are law enforcers."</i><i> </i><br />
<i><br />
</i><br />
<i>And yet, it is one civilian — and not the police — who has taken on a personal and very dangerous crusade to rescue abducted girls. So far, Balkrishna Archarya, a Bombay businessman, says he has rescued 187 underage girls. </i><br />
<i><br />
</i><br />
<i>One of those girls was Bharti, whom he saved with the help of ABCNEWS' hidden cameras. Bharti was then reunited with her family. Though she still fears the stigma of being shunned by her family and village for having worked as a prostitute, she is back in school in West Bengal.\</i><br />
<br />
<i> The Intersection of Poverty and Sexism </i><br />
<br />
<i> According to Gupta, it is often the parents who send their children away, thinking they may be going to do domestic work, when in fact they will end up in prostitution.</i><br />
<br />
<i> </i><br />
<i> "It is the intersection of poverty and sexism," says Gupta, who recalls a father of four children who worked as a bricklayer in Kathmandu. "At the time I met him, one of his kids had tuberculosis. The family was literally starving," she says. "He thought if he would let one child go at least the other three would survive." </i><br />
<br />
<i> So he sold one of his girls for approximately $80. What he did not know was that he had actually sold his daughter to Gupta, who filmed the transaction for her documentary. Gupta not only supported the child whom he had sold, but also put all four of his kids through boarding school in Kathmandu. </i><br />
<i> Gupta then set up an organization called Apne Aap, in an attempt to put an end to prostitution and reduce HIV transmission. </i><br />
<i><br />
</i><br />
<i>"We are trying to create a system of support for these girls who want to get out of prostitution," she says of her organization, which has reached out to about 17,000 women. Based in Bombay's red-light area, Apne Aap also seeks to protect the daughters of prostitutes from being sexually exploited. </i><br />
<i> "Literally we are buying time from the brothel madams for the daughters of the prostitutes to stay in school," she says. </i><br />
<br />
<i><a href="http://abcnews.go.com/2020/story?id=132685&page=1">source of Barthi's story</a></i><i> </i><br />
<i><br />
</i><br />
3.2 miles for Bharti<br />
320.57 miles to date.<br />
<br />
Ruby<br />
Sandra<br />
Berchewkan<br />
Mani<br />
Sophea<br />
Janna<br />
Syowai<br />
Ka<br />
Stephanie<br />
Alex<br />
Mai<br />
Khamta<br />
Adaze<br />
Jayati<br />
Boloztuya<br />
Prettygirl<br />
Theresa<br />
Esperanza<br />
Xuan<br />
Geeta<br />
Debbie<br />
G.Q., N.H., and S.O.<br />
Anuradha<br />
Veronica<br />
Martina<br />
Shauna<br />
Rosa<br />
Jaycee<br />
Charlotte Awino<br />
Kikka Cerpa<br />
Jana<br />
Lannie<br />
Samira<br />
Mari<br />
Sarah<br />
Mao Mao<br />
Keisha<br />
Brittany<br />
Gabriella<br />
Akemi<br />
Olga<br />
Alissa<br />
Karina<br />
Maira<br />
Amita<br />
Josephine<br />
Sabine<br />
Mylee<br />
Samantha<br />
Kurshida<br />
Colegiala<br />
Bharti<br />
<br />
Because He first loved me,<br />
Stephaniestephanie clairehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17694224701940390923noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8292020532336840440.post-64822262781305725202011-10-30T19:19:00.000-07:002011-10-30T19:19:07.514-07:00Day 60: for ColegialaThe girl in this story is unnamed; I called her "Colegiala" because it is Spanish for "schoolgirl," and "Colegiala" sounds way more feminine than "schoolgirl." Before you advance, click on this link and read <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1299844/How-schoolgirl-fell-clutches-gangs-forced-sex-slave.html">Colegiala's story</a>.<br />
<br />
I've written 60 of these articles now and have been working on this project for most of this year, but this article gave me my first glimpse yet of the face of a human trafficker. As I look into the eyes of the men who commit these grotesque violations of life itself, my blood just runs cold. Here is a really young girl, eighth or ninth grade, difficult home life, morally lost, and looking for love in all the... well, you know the song. These are the times when the church should be pulling her in the front doors, surrounding her in love and prayer, and carrying her before the throne of God, where her every sin will be forgiven and her deepest longings will be fulfilled. Instead, we have nine disgusting, selfish excuses for men, pinning down their opportunity to satisfy their own sinful cravings, ignoring the fact that there's a soul somewhere inside this young girl.<br />
<br />
Honestly... we need to step it up and be the church. Stop reading this blog and do something already.<br />
<br />
3.2 miles for Colegiala<br />
317.37 miles to date.<br />
<br />
Ruby<br />
Sandra<br />
Berchewkan<br />
Mani<br />
Sophea<br />
Janna<br />
Syowai<br />
Ka<br />
Stephanie<br />
Alex<br />
Mai<br />
Khamta<br />
Adaze<br />
Jayati<br />
Boloztuya<br />
Prettygirl<br />
Theresa<br />
Esperanza<br />
Xuan<br />
Geeta<br />
Debbie<br />
G.Q., N.H., and S.O.<br />
Anuradha<br />
Veronica<br />
Martina<br />
Shauna<br />
Rosa<br />
Jaycee<br />
Charlotte Awino<br />
Kikka Cerpa<br />
Jana<br />
Lannie<br />
Samira<br />
Mari<br />
Sarah<br />
Mao Mao<br />
Keisha<br />
Brittany<br />
Gabriella<br />
Akemi<br />
Olga<br />
Alissa<br />
Karina<br />
Maira<br />
Amita<br />
Josephine<br />
Sabine<br />
Mylee<br />
Samantha<br />
Kurshida<br />
Colegiala<br />
<br />
Because He first loved me,<br />
Stephaniestephanie clairehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17694224701940390923noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8292020532336840440.post-43242428632281865172011-10-29T11:00:00.000-07:002011-10-30T18:55:53.675-07:00Day 59: for KurshidaI have a photo on my nightstand of my friend Deborah. God took her home when we were 15 years old. I believe in Providence, and I know that God is sovereign, but sometimes when I look at her picture, I wonder that if I had the courage to talk to her about the trouble with drugs I knew she was going through, if I took the time to love her through it instead of pretending I didn't see it in her eyes and smell it on her clothes, then maybe, drugs wouldn't have been responsible for her early parting.<br />
<br />
It's hard to speak up. No one wants to be the jerk, the snitch, the know-it-all, the goody two shoes. I know I don't. But sometimes, it's worth it to take the hit. It may just save a life. Like Kurshida's:<br />
<br />
<i>PASCO -- Former child trafficking victim Khurshida Begum wonders how many people saw her during the years she lived in slavery south of Olympia and wondered about her, but did nothing.</i><br />
<i>Begum and eight of her family members were bought by a man who visited her impoverished village in Bangladesh when she was 3 and convinced her father that he would be selling her into a better life in the United States.</i><br />
<i>But rather than the American education promised, she and her siblings were tortured, beaten, raped and forced to work on an isolated farm day and night, she told more than 100 people at Columbia Basin College in Pasco at a Friday event sponsored by the Tri-Cities Coalition to Stop Human Trafficking.</i><br />
<i>They repeatedly were taken to emergency rooms for injuries that doctors and nurses were told were "accidental," but that Begum said were the result of abuse.</i><br />
<i>No one ever reported this man with nine Bangladeshi children who didn't speak English, and who suffered frequent injuries, she said.</i><br />
<i>It took the suicide of her 14-year-old cousin -- after Begum had been captive for more than a decade -- to bring official attention to the situation and set them free.</i><br />
<i>And her captor served only 18 months in jail, she said.</i><br />
<i>That was in the early 1990s, well before Washington had anti-human trafficking laws.</i><br />
<i>Human trafficking is in effect modern day slavery, in which people -- including children -- are sold into forced labor, prostitution, debt bondage, or forced marriages through fraud or coercion.</i><br />
<i>It has been a crime in Washington since 2003, and the Legislature gradually has added more and more teeth.</i><br />
<i>But Attorney General Rob McKenna said there is more work yet to be done. </i><br />
<i>The state needs stiffer penalties and stronger tools for tackling the use of the internet in the human trafficking trade.</i><br />
<i>McKenna, as president of the National Association of Attorneys General, has made it a mission to go after the backpage.com website, which he said is used to advertise for the sex trade.</i><br />
<i>"The attitude from backpage.com's owners brought to my office is that these ads are from hardworking entrepreneurs who have chosen to sell their bodies," McKenna said. </i><br />
<i>"What we have learned about human trafficking is there are very few volunteers. They are not prostitutes. They are people who have been prostituted. We need to understand this basic fact and realign our thinking."</i><br />
<i>Begum said we also need to be willing to stand up for victims and take action -- even if it's as simple as making a phone call -- if we think something is wrong.</i><br />
<i>"If you see something, if you suspect something, do something," she said. "Take some action." <a href="http://www.thenewstribune.com/2011/10/29/1884524/human-trafficking-victim-speaks.html">source</a></i><br />
<br />
6.4 miles for Kurshida Begum<br />
314.17 miles to date.<br />
<br />
Ruby<br />
Sandra<br />
Berchewkan<br />
Mani<br />
Sophea<br />
Janna<br />
Syowai<br />
Ka<br />
Stephanie<br />
Alex<br />
Mai<br />
Khamta<br />
Adaze<br />
Jayati<br />
Boloztuya<br />
Prettygirl<br />
Theresa<br />
Esperanza<br />
Xuan<br />
Geeta<br />
Debbie<br />
G.Q., N.H., and S.O.<br />
Anuradha<br />
Veronica<br />
Martina<br />
Shauna<br />
Rosa<br />
Jaycee<br />
Charlotte Awino<br />
Kikka Cerpa<br />
Jana<br />
Lannie<br />
Samira<br />
Mari<br />
Sarah<br />
Mao Mao<br />
Keisha<br />
Brittany<br />
Gabriella<br />
Akemi<br />
Olga<br />
Alissa<br />
Karina<br />
Maira<br />
Amita<br />
Josephine<br />
Sabine<br />
Mylee<br />
Samantha<br />
Kurshida<br />
<br />
Because He first loved me,<br />
Stephaniestephanie clairehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17694224701940390923noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8292020532336840440.post-31301181663546675602011-10-29T10:46:00.000-07:002011-10-29T10:46:41.689-07:00Day 58: for SamanthaOne of my favorite John Mayer Songs, <em>Daughters:</em><br />
Fathers, be good to your daughter.<br />
Daughters will love like you do.<br />
Girls become lovers who turn into mothers,<br />
So mothers, be good to your daughters too.<br />
<br />
I've noticed that for just about every girl I've run for, the problems started at home. Long before boyfriends and partners and pimps and clients, there was one man that failed them, one man that set the bar really low for every relationship to follow.<br />
<br />
Samantha knows how that goes. She's been spending her whole life in darkness, not realizing that there is better out there for her. But how can we expect anything else of her? It's all she's ever known.<br />
<br />
<em>Samantha was born in Feira de Santana [Brazil] and grew up in poverty and with little education. At 15, she ran away from home to live on the streets after being sexually and physically abused by her father. A woman she met offered Samantha a job as a maid in another city in the state. Samantha accepted, excited by the opportunity to both earn money and move further away from home. But the destination house turned out to be a brothel, and Samantha was forced into prostitution and drug abuse. She was stripped of freedom and overcome by fear and sadness. After cycling through various assistance programs, government agencies, and shelters, Samantha went back to Feira de Santana, where she lives with a partner and his brother and sister. Her partner beats her and she still occasionally has sex with men for money. <a href="http://www.state.gov/g/tip/rls/tiprpt/2011/164225.htm">source.</a></em><br />
<br />
Through Christ, every girl can have a loving Father who will never fail. Through Christ, every father can have the Holy Spirit to give the strength and the courage to be a real, responsible family leader. Through Christ, we find the healing that we are all so desperately aching for.<br />
<br />
I love how this song phrases it: <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pkM-gDcmJeM">Courageous, Casting Crowns</a><br />
<br />
6.4 miles for Samantha<br />
307.77 miles to date.<br />
<br />
Ruby<br />
Sandra<br />
Berchewkan<br />
Mani<br />
Sophea<br />
Janna<br />
Syowai<br />
Ka<br />
Stephanie<br />
Alex<br />
Mai<br />
Khamta<br />
Adaze<br />
Jayati<br />
Boloztuya<br />
Prettygirl<br />
Theresa<br />
Esperanza<br />
Xuan<br />
Geeta<br />
Debbie<br />
G.Q., N.H., and S.O.<br />
Anuradha<br />
Veronica<br />
Martina<br />
Shauna<br />
Rosa<br />
Jaycee<br />
Charlotte Awino<br />
Kikka Cerpa<br />
Jana<br />
Lannie<br />
Samira<br />
Mari<br />
Sarah<br />
Mao Mao<br />
Keisha<br />
Brittany<br />
Gabriella<br />
Akemi<br />
Olga<br />
Alissa<br />
Karina<br />
Maira<br />
Amita<br />
Josephine<br />
Sabine<br />
Mylee<br />
Samantha<br />
<br />
Because He first loved me,<br />
Stephaniestephanie clairehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17694224701940390923noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8292020532336840440.post-6194990826514303052011-10-06T10:36:00.000-07:002011-10-06T10:40:09.431-07:00Days 55-57: for MyleeWhen I read Mylee's story, honestly, I came up speechless. (and if you know me, that's rare.) Her situation was so unfathomable to me, I almost felt that trying to write about it and make a connection with her would be patronizing. I read the story a second time and I placed myself in Mylee's shoes, and one word stuck in my mind: courage. Mylee had every reason to fear, to listen, to tolerate the constant abuse of her employer, but yet she didn't. She clung to hope even when there was none, and when every bit of value was stripped away from her by those around her, she still maintained her dignity. My running is not even a taste of what Mylee had to endure, but I know that if Mylee can make it through, then I can finish 365 miles, and maybe even run 365 more...<br />
<br />
Mylee's story:<br />
<br />
<em>For Mylee, a young single mother from the Philippines, employment as a maid for a family in Saudi Arabia was a possible route out of poverty. Her employer was an officer in the Saudi Royal Navy. While his wife was away, he raped Mylee. She was subsequently raped repeatedly but was too scared to run away.</em><br />
<br />
<em>Mylee was given just one piece of bread to eat at meal time. When she fell and cut herself while cleaning, blood gushed from her wound, but her employer refused to take her to the hospital. He told her, “You might as well die.” Mylee wrapped the wound with her own clothes.</em><br />
<br />
<em>After several months, Mylee managed to contact Philippine labor authorities in Saudi Arabia, and they arrived at her residence with local police. While they gathered outside, Mylee’s employer raped her for the fifth time. The police finally rescued her after hearing her screams from outside the house, and they arrested her employer. The criminal investigation is ongoing.</em><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.state.gov/g/tip/rls/tiprpt/2011/164225.htm">source of Mylee's story</a><br />
<br />
19.6 miles for Mylee<br />
301.37 miles to date.<br />
<br />
Ruby<br />
Sandra<br />
Berchewkan<br />
Mani<br />
Sophea<br />
Janna<br />
Syowai<br />
Ka<br />
Stephanie<br />
Alex<br />
Mai<br />
Khamta<br />
Adaze<br />
Jayati<br />
Boloztuya<br />
Prettygirl<br />
Theresa<br />
Esperanza<br />
Xuan<br />
Geeta<br />
Debbie<br />
G.Q., N.H., and S.O.<br />
Anuradha<br />
Veronica<br />
Martina<br />
Shauna<br />
Rosa<br />
Jaycee<br />
Charlotte Awino<br />
Kikka Cerpa<br />
Jana<br />
Lannie<br />
Samira<br />
Mari<br />
Sarah<br />
Mao Mao<br />
Keisha<br />
Brittany<br />
Gabriella<br />
Akemi<br />
Olga<br />
Alissa<br />
Karina<br />
Maira<br />
Amita<br />
Josephine<br />
Sabine<br />
Mylee<br />
<br />
Because He first loved me,<br />
Stephaniestephanie clairehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17694224701940390923noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8292020532336840440.post-23915544062731897732011-10-04T08:33:00.000-07:002011-10-04T08:33:03.045-07:00Day 54: for SabineI've read Sabine's story three times now trying to think of a relation between our lives to write about, but honestly, I have none. The crimes Sabine suffered are so unspeakable, the violation so distrubing, the exploitation so sickening, I just read speechlessly. Why does Sabine suffer while I enjoy God's blessings? Why did God put me here, where I am loved and provided for and blessed beyone my comprehension, and put her there, where any ounce of self-esteem that she may build up is quickly beaten out of her? Why do I prosper while Sabine is degraded?<br />
<br />
All I can say is that there is a God who loves is and never lets go of us. He knows what it's like to be stripped, beaten, mutilated, degraded, despised, rejected, and just flat out denied. He knows our deepest hurts, Sabine's deepest hurts, and he loves us all the same.<br />
<br />
As I run for Sabine, I run for my Savior.<br />
<br />
Sabine's story:<br />
<br />
<em>Sabine was 23 when her parents gave her to another family as partial payment for a used car. The family who took Sabine used her as a domestic slave for three years, making her look after their seven children and hiring her out to other men for sex. They burned her with an iron and cigarettes and beat her with iron bars and sticks, took her identity papers and claimed her unemployment benefits for themselves, and chained her up in a squalid shed at night to prevent her from escaping. They threw scraps of food on the ground for her to eat, treating her worse than an animal. When Sabine fell ill, the family dumped her outside a Paris hospital. She had no teeth and weighed less than 84 lbs. Her nose and ears had been mutilated, and she needed corrective surgery. A French court sentenced Sabine’s parents to 30 years in prison, the maximum sentence under French law. Ten other defendants received prison sentences of between 2 and 25 years.</em><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.state.gov/g/tip/rls/tiprpt/2011/164225.htm">Click here for Sabine's story.</a><br />
<br />
6.4 miles for Sabine.<br />
281.77 miles to date.<br />
<br />
Ruby<br />
Sandra<br />
Berchewkan<br />
Mani<br />
Sophea<br />
Janna<br />
Syowai<br />
Ka<br />
Stephanie<br />
Alex<br />
Mai<br />
Khamta<br />
Adaze<br />
Jayati<br />
Boloztuya<br />
Prettygirl<br />
Theresa<br />
Esperanza<br />
Xuan<br />
Geeta<br />
Debbie<br />
G.Q., N.H., and S.O.<br />
Anuradha<br />
Veronica<br />
Martina<br />
Shauna<br />
Rosa<br />
Jaycee<br />
Charlotte Awino<br />
Kikka Cerpa<br />
Jana<br />
Lannie<br />
Samira<br />
Mari<br />
Sarah<br />
Mao Mao<br />
Keisha<br />
Brittany<br />
Gabriella<br />
Akemi<br />
Olga<br />
Alissa<br />
Karina<br />
Maira<br />
Amita<br />
Josephine<br />
Sabine<br />
<br />
Because He first loved me,<br />
Stephaniestephanie clairehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17694224701940390923noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8292020532336840440.post-53520775814201983412011-09-29T20:39:00.000-07:002011-09-29T20:39:19.172-07:00Day 53: for JosephineJosephine's story:<br />
<br />
The Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), an armed group that originated in northern Uganda 20 years ago, now operates in the border areas of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), South Sudan, and the Central African Republic. When the group attacked Josephine’s village, she and her family had too little time to flee. A group of about 80 LRA men surrounded her house. They tied up the family and shot and killed Josephine’s grandfather in front of her. They took Josephine and her three brothers into the bush. After an hour of walking, the men separated the children into pairs. Josephine and her 14-year-old brother Patrick never saw their other two brothers again. Josephine remained on the move with the LRA for eight months, never staying in one place for more than a week. She was forced to carry heavy loads, find food, and cook. She and other girls, some as young as 12, were forced to become LRA “wives.” Josephine was assigned to a boy who had also been kidnapped and forced to be an LRA fighter. She watched as the men forced him to kill another boy by striking him on the back of the head with a machete. Josephine managed to run away one day when she was sent out to look for food. She walked 40 km and found safety in a village in Sudan. Her brother Patrick escaped two months later during a Ugandan army attack on the LRA.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.state.gov/g/tip/rls/tiprpt/2011/164225.htm">source of Josehpine's story</a><br />
<br />
3.2 miles for Josephine.<br />
275.37 miles to date.<br />
<br />
Ruby<br />
Sandra<br />
Berchewkan<br />
Mani<br />
Sophea<br />
Janna<br />
Syowai<br />
Ka<br />
Stephanie<br />
Alex<br />
Mai<br />
Khamta<br />
Adaze<br />
Jayati<br />
Boloztuya<br />
Prettygirl<br />
Theresa<br />
Esperanza<br />
Xuan<br />
Geeta<br />
Debbie<br />
G.Q., N.H., and S.O.<br />
Anuradha<br />
Veronica<br />
Martina<br />
Shauna<br />
Rosa<br />
Jaycee<br />
Charlotte Awino<br />
Kikka Cerpa<br />
Jana<br />
Lannie<br />
Samira<br />
Mari<br />
Sarah<br />
Mao Mao<br />
Keisha<br />
Brittany<br />
Gabriella<br />
Akemi<br />
Olga<br />
Alissa<br />
Karina<br />
Maira<br />
Amita<br />
Josephine<br />
<br />
Because He first loved me,<br />
Stephaniestephanie clairehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17694224701940390923noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8292020532336840440.post-81446797074889161832011-09-29T20:33:00.000-07:002011-09-29T20:33:29.892-07:00Day 52: for AmitaAmita's story:<br />
<br />
Amita came to London from the Middle East as a domestic servant for a family that treated her well and paid her decently. When her employer moved into a high-level job that provided house staff, the family no longer needed Amita. They helped her find work with another family. Amita’s new employers took her passport as soon as she arrived and made her sleep on the floor in the living room to prevent her from stealing things and hiding them in her room. They did not pay her or allow her out of the house, and they threatened to report her to the police as an illegal if she tried to run away. Amita worked in the family’s house from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. After that, she was taken to clean various office buildings until midnight or early morning. One night, the employer’s son and his friends were drunk in the house and attempted to rape Amita. After that, she decided to run away and managed to escape with the help of a security guard.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.state.gov/g/tip/rls/tiprpt/2011/164225.htm">source of Amita's story</a><br />
<br />
3.2 miles for Amita<br />
272.17 miles to date.<br />
<br />
Ruby<br />
Sandra<br />
Berchewkan<br />
Mani<br />
Sophea<br />
Janna<br />
Syowai<br />
Ka<br />
Stephanie<br />
Alex<br />
Mai<br />
Khamta<br />
Adaze<br />
Jayati<br />
Boloztuya<br />
Prettygirl<br />
Theresa<br />
Esperanza<br />
Xuan<br />
Geeta<br />
Debbie<br />
G.Q., N.H., and S.O.<br />
Anuradha<br />
Veronica<br />
Martina<br />
Shauna<br />
Rosa<br />
Jaycee<br />
Charlotte Awino<br />
Kikka Cerpa<br />
Jana<br />
Lannie<br />
Samira<br />
Mari<br />
Sarah<br />
Mao Mao<br />
Keisha<br />
Brittany<br />
Gabriella<br />
Akemi<br />
Olga<br />
Alissa<br />
Karina<br />
Maira<br />
Amita<br />
<br />
Because He first loved me,<br />
Stephaniestephanie clairehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17694224701940390923noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8292020532336840440.post-70099241228661874232011-09-29T20:29:00.000-07:002011-09-29T20:29:47.381-07:00Day 51: for MairaMaira's Story:<br />
<br />
Maira was 15 when two well-dressed men driving a nice car approached her and two friends in a small Honduran village. They told the girls they were businessmen and offered to take them to the United States to work in a textile factory. Maira thought it was the perfect opportunity to help her single mother, who struggled to support seven children.<br />
But upon arriving in Houston, the girls were held captive, beaten, raped, and forced to work in cantinas that doubled as brothels. Men would come to the cantina and choose a beer and a girl, sometimes as young as 12. They would pay for the beer and sit with the girl while she drank it. If they wanted to have sex with the girl, they would take her to the back and pay cash for a mattress, paper towels, and spermicide. The captors beat the girls daily if they did not make enough money.<br />
After six years, Maira was able to escape the cantina and return to her mother with the help of a kind American family. Her two friends remain missing.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.state.gov/g/tip/rls/tiprpt/2011/164225.htm">source of Maira's story</a><br />
<br />
3.2 miles for Maira<br />
268.97 miles to date.<br />
<br />
Ruby<br />
Sandra<br />
Berchewkan<br />
Mani<br />
Sophea<br />
Janna<br />
Syowai<br />
Ka<br />
Stephanie<br />
Alex<br />
Mai<br />
Khamta<br />
Adaze<br />
Jayati<br />
Boloztuya<br />
Prettygirl<br />
Theresa<br />
Esperanza<br />
Xuan<br />
Geeta<br />
Debbie<br />
G.Q., N.H., and S.O.<br />
Anuradha<br />
Veronica<br />
Martina<br />
Shauna<br />
Rosa<br />
Jaycee<br />
Charlotte Awino<br />
Kikka Cerpa<br />
Jana<br />
Lannie<br />
Samira<br />
Mari<br />
Sarah<br />
Mao Mao<br />
Keisha<br />
Brittany<br />
Gabriella<br />
Akemi<br />
Olga<br />
Alissa<br />
Karina<br />
Maira<br />
<br />
Because He first loved me,<br />
Stephaniestephanie clairehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17694224701940390923noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8292020532336840440.post-50930107474614586452011-09-17T16:50:00.000-07:002011-09-17T16:50:10.957-07:00Days 49 and 50: for KarinaLately, I feel so blessed. I was lying on my back in a field last night, looking at the moon, and I was struck by the realization that this great big God who makes the moon and the stars chooses to love me... and he even makes the moon and the stars just for me to enjoy. I felt so connected with God, so far from sin, so loved, so full of joy, and so refreshed by the Holy Spirit. They say that love conquers all fear... well, in that moment, love conquered everything in me. Jesus himself said "I have come so that you may have life, and have it to the full." By the standards of my Savior, my life was "to the full" as it has ever been.<br />
<br />
I hate that there are people in this world who are carrying so much fear, more than I could ever comprehend. I hate that there are people who are wounded from understanding true love by no fault of their own. I hate that as I lie in a field in the arms of my Savior, there are thousands of girls around the world lying in the beds of strangers against their wills. "Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration." Fear is the reason that, until God opens her eyes otherwise, Karina's life is over, even though she is still alive<br />
<br />
<em>Karina was 19 when Nestor, an acquaintance from her neighborhood, offered her a job at a restaurant in the capital. Karina thought it was a great opportunity for her to leave her small town and earn her own income. She went to Lima with Nestor and began to work as a waitress in a seafood restaurant. She soon fell in love with Nestor’s friend Edy, who, after gaining Karina’s trust, forced her to have sex with men in various Lima nightclubs. Edy then moved Karina around among nightclubs in various cities, including one in her own home town, for two years. With a friend’s help, Karina managed to escape and returned to her family. Edy continued to call her with threats and demands. He also started threatening the friend who helped Karina escape. Although she has filed a police report against Edy and has the support of a public attorney, Karina continues to live in fear, without any protection for herself or her family.</em><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.state.gov/g/tip/rls/tiprpt/2011/164225.htm">source of Karina's story</a><br />
<br />
7.5 miles for Karina<br />
265.77 miles to date.<br />
<br />
Ruby<br />
Sandra<br />
Berchewkan<br />
Mani<br />
Sophea<br />
Janna<br />
Syowai<br />
Ka<br />
Stephanie<br />
Alex<br />
Mai<br />
Khamta<br />
Adaze<br />
Jayati<br />
Boloztuya<br />
Prettygirl<br />
Theresa<br />
Esperanza<br />
Xuan<br />
Geeta<br />
Debbie<br />
G.Q., N.H., and S.O.<br />
Anuradha<br />
Veronica<br />
Martina<br />
Shauna<br />
Rosa<br />
Jaycee<br />
Charlotte Awino<br />
Kikka Cerpa<br />
Jana<br />
Lannie<br />
Samira<br />
Mari<br />
Sarah<br />
Mao Mao<br />
Keisha<br />
Brittany<br />
Gabriella<br />
Akemi<br />
Olga<br />
Alissa<br />
Karina<br />
<br />
Because He first loved me,<br />
Stephaniestephanie clairehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17694224701940390923noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8292020532336840440.post-5111158684626388092011-09-15T13:36:00.000-07:002011-09-15T13:36:04.339-07:00Day 48: for AlissaIn biblical times, slavery was a very different thing. A slave would almost become one in the family, and would usually sign himself to a master to pay off some sort of debt. Slavery wasn't tied to racism, abuse, or any of the awful things that have come to be associated with it... it was simply what you had to do to make ends meet. A term lasted 7 years, the last year being a year of rest. After that, the debt was considered paid and the slave could go free. In some circumstances, though, a slave would become so content working for his master and living in his home, he would decide he didn't want to go. As a sign of loyalty for life, the master would pierce his ear. The slave would be branded: proud to live and work in the home of his master.<br />
Stating the obvious: slavery has been twisted immensely since them. Alissa also found herself branded, but not out of her own will, and she found herself enslaved, but not indebted.<br />
<br />
<em>Alissa, 16, met an older man at a convenience store in Dallas and after a few dates accepted his invitation to move in with him. But soon Alissa’s new boyfriend convinced her to be an escort for him, accompanying men on dates and having sex with them for money. He took her to an area known for street prostitution and forced her to hand over all of her earnings. He made Alissa get a tattoo of his nicknames, branding her as his property, and he posted prostitution advertisements with her picture on an Internet site. He rented hotel rooms around Dallas and forced Alissa to have sex with men who responded to the ads. The man, who kept an assault rifle in the closet of his apartment, threatened Alissa and physically assaulted her on multiple occasions. The man later pled guilty to trafficking Alissa</em>.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.state.gov/g/tip/rls/tiprpt/2011/164225.htm">source of Alissa's story.</a><br />
<br />
Maybe someday, Alissa will see that she doesn't have to carry the names she's been branded with... that Christ already carried that burden up the hill of calvary and crucified it right there in front of everyone. Maybe someday, she'll know that she is loved and prayed for and valued. Maybe someday, human trafficking will lose and Jesus will win. Alissa, 7.0 miles because you are loved.<br />
<br />
Isaiah 43:1-19<br />
<br />
<sup class="versenum" id="en-NIV-18507"><strong><span style="font-size: x-small;">1</span></strong></sup> But now, this is what the LORD says— <br />
he who created you, Jacob, <br />
he who formed you, Israel: <br />
“Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; <br />
I have summoned you by name; you are mine. <br />
<sup class="versenum" id="en-NIV-18508"><strong><span style="font-size: x-small;">2</span></strong></sup> When you pass through the waters, <br />
I will be with you; <br />
and when you pass through the rivers, <br />
they will not sweep over you. <br />
When you walk through the fire, <br />
you will not be burned; <br />
the flames will not set you ablaze. <br />
<sup class="versenum" id="en-NIV-18509"><strong><span style="font-size: x-small;">3</span></strong></sup> For I am the LORD your God, <br />
the Holy One of Israel, your Savior; <br />
I give Egypt for your ransom, <br />
Cush<sup class="footnote" value="[<a href="#fen-NIV-18509a" title="See footnote a">a</a>]"><strong><span style="font-size: x-small;">[</span></strong><a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Isaiah%2043&version=NIV#fen-NIV-18509a" title="See footnote a"><span style="color: #651300; font-size: x-small;"><strong>a</strong></span></a><strong><span style="font-size: x-small;">]</span></strong></sup> and Seba in your stead. <br />
<sup class="versenum" id="en-NIV-18510"><strong><span style="font-size: x-small;">4</span></strong></sup> Since you are precious and honored in my sight, <br />
and because I love you, <br />
I will give people in exchange for you, <br />
nations in exchange for your life. <br />
<sup class="versenum" id="en-NIV-18511"><strong><span style="font-size: x-small;">5</span></strong></sup> Do not be afraid, for I am with you; <br />
I will bring your children from the east <br />
and gather you from the west. <br />
<sup class="versenum" id="en-NIV-18512"><strong><span style="font-size: x-small;">6</span></strong></sup> I will say to the north, ‘Give them up!’ <br />
and to the south, ‘Do not hold them back.’ <br />
Bring my sons from afar <br />
and my daughters from the ends of the earth— <br />
<sup class="versenum" id="en-NIV-18513"><strong><span style="font-size: x-small;">7</span></strong></sup> everyone who is called by my name, <br />
whom I created for my glory, <br />
whom I formed and made.” <br />
<sup class="versenum" id="en-NIV-18514"><strong><span style="font-size: x-small;">8</span></strong></sup> Lead out those who have eyes but are blind, <br />
who have ears but are deaf. <br />
<sup class="versenum" id="en-NIV-18515"><strong><span style="font-size: x-small;">9</span></strong></sup> All the nations gather together <br />
and the peoples assemble. <br />
Which of their gods foretold this <br />
and proclaimed to us the former things? <br />
Let them bring in their witnesses to prove they were right, <br />
so that others may hear and say, “It is true.” <br />
<sup class="versenum" id="en-NIV-18516"><strong><span style="font-size: x-small;">10</span></strong></sup> “You are my witnesses,” declares the LORD, <br />
“and my servant whom I have chosen, <br />
so that you may know and believe me <br />
and understand that I am he. <br />
Before me no god was formed, <br />
nor will there be one after me. <br />
<sup class="versenum" id="en-NIV-18517"><strong><span style="font-size: x-small;">11</span></strong></sup> I, even I, am the LORD, <br />
and apart from me there is no savior. <br />
<sup class="versenum" id="en-NIV-18518"><strong><span style="font-size: x-small;">12</span></strong></sup> I have revealed and saved and proclaimed— <br />
I, and not some foreign god among you. <br />
You are my witnesses,” declares the LORD, “that I am God. <br />
<sup class="versenum" id="en-NIV-18519"><strong><span style="font-size: x-small;">13</span></strong></sup> Yes, and from ancient days I am he. <br />
No one can deliver out of my hand. <br />
When I act, who can reverse it?” <br />
<h5 class="passage-header">God’s Mercy and Israel’s Unfaithfulness</h5><sup class="versenum" id="en-NIV-18520"><strong><span style="font-size: x-small;">14</span></strong></sup> This is what the LORD says— <br />
your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: <br />
“For your sake I will send to Babylon <br />
and bring down as fugitives all the Babylonians,<sup class="footnote" value="[<a href="#fen-NIV-18520b" title="See footnote b">b</a>]"><strong><span style="font-size: x-small;">[</span></strong><a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Isaiah%2043&version=NIV#fen-NIV-18520b" title="See footnote b"><span style="color: #651300; font-size: x-small;"><strong>b</strong></span></a><strong><span style="font-size: x-small;">]</span></strong></sup> <br />
in the ships in which they took pride. <br />
<sup class="versenum" id="en-NIV-18521"><strong><span style="font-size: x-small;">15</span></strong></sup> I am the LORD, your Holy One, <br />
Israel’s Creator, your King.” <br />
<sup class="versenum" id="en-NIV-18522"><strong><span style="font-size: x-small;">16</span></strong></sup> This is what the LORD says— <br />
he who made a way through the sea, <br />
a path through the mighty waters, <br />
<sup class="versenum" id="en-NIV-18523"><strong><span style="font-size: x-small;">17</span></strong></sup> who drew out the chariots and horses, <br />
the army and reinforcements together, <br />
and they lay there, never to rise again, <br />
extinguished, snuffed out like a wick: <br />
<sup class="versenum" id="en-NIV-18524"><strong><span style="font-size: x-small;">18</span></strong></sup> “Forget the former things; <br />
do not dwell on the past. <br />
<sup class="versenum" id="en-NIV-18525"><strong><span style="font-size: x-small;">19</span></strong></sup> See, I am doing a new thing! <br />
Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? <br />
I am making a way in the wilderness <br />
and streams in the wasteland. <br />
7.00 miles for Alissa<br />
258.27 miles to date.<br />
<br />
Ruby<br />
Sandra<br />
Berchewkan<br />
Mani<br />
Sophea<br />
Janna<br />
Syowai<br />
Ka<br />
Stephanie<br />
Alex<br />
Mai<br />
Khamta<br />
Adaze<br />
Jayati<br />
Boloztuya<br />
Prettygirl<br />
Theresa<br />
Esperanza<br />
Xuan<br />
Geeta<br />
Debbie<br />
G.Q., N.H., and S.O.<br />
Anuradha<br />
Veronica<br />
Martina<br />
Shauna<br />
Rosa<br />
Jaycee<br />
Charlotte Awino<br />
Kikka Cerpa<br />
Jana<br />
Lannie<br />
Samira<br />
Mari<br />
Sarah<br />
Mao Mao<br />
Keisha<br />
Brittany<br />
Gabriella<br />
Akemi<br />
Olga<br />
Alissa<br />
<br />
Because He first loved me,<br />
Stephaniestephanie clairehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17694224701940390923noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8292020532336840440.post-15613322160921784472011-09-13T11:42:00.000-07:002011-09-15T13:14:57.399-07:00Day 47: for Jane<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Today, God's love has really been on my mind. I was sitting outside, just thinking of how far God has brought me and how much he has blessed me. My prayer is that I live a life that says "thank you" to him. That's kind of how it goes when we love someone... we want to spend time with them, do things for them, bless them in whatever way we can.<o:p></o:p></span> <br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 12pt; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">But what God establishes as sacred, the enemy is always ready to destroy. I truly believe that God designed us with a desire for love so that he could fill that void with his own Holy Spirit, and then after that, show us how true human relational love is supposed to function. Without God, though, we are just filling a bottomless pit with things that do not satisfy. Jane wanted that love so badly, and she thought she finally had it, but how disillusioned she truly was...</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0in;"><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Jane’s fall into the world of sex trafficking began in May 2008, just before her 15th birthday. Jackson, her pimp, forced her to work as a prostitute in Portland. When she protested, he beat her. “He made me believe I was not human and I was just for one thing — to make money for him,” she said, calling her life a nightmare and suffering bruises and scars from many beatings.</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0in;"><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Asked why she didn’t leave, she said, “I had nowhere to go. I didn’t know anybody. Where was I to go? He threatened to kill me all the time.”</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0in;"><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">On one occasion when he got mad because she had not made enough money, she said, he pushed her down and punched her in the face, saying, “You are going to die tonight.” She said she pleaded for her life and promised to do whatever he said: “Just don’t kill me. I thought I was going to die.”</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0in;"><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Of that beating, the FBI later said, “She awoke to find Jackson holding a firearm at her head and swearing on his mother’s life that he would kill her.” The bureau said that “several times a week,” Jackson choked her, pulled her hair, pushed her and struck her with his hands, a belt and a coffee pot, and that he “tried to bite off her finger.”</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0in;"><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“I trusted him even after all this stuff. After he abused me, I still thought it was love — I thought that this is how it was supposed to be. … Most of our arguments were about money,” she said, adding that she had sex with six men a day, sometimes eight or nine. “I was bringing him $600 a day, but he wanted more.”</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0in;"><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Jane got out of that life when she was arrested in October 2008 and an FBI agent asked her whether she wanted to go to Children of the Night, where she now lives. She said it was the first time she was treated like a victim instead of a criminal. “I had the FBI on my side. I could actually tell they were trying to help me,” she said.</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">This is only a small portion of Jane's story. The whole thing is definitely worth reading. You can find it here: </span><a href="http://m.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/apr/23/sex-trafficking-us-called-epidemic/?page=1"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Jane's story.</span></a> (Just a head's up, this one contains more adult content than usual... but hey, the sad truth is, that's life.)</div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">3.2 miles for Jane<br />
254.47 miles to date.<br />
<br />
Ruby<br />
Sandra<br />
Berchewkan<br />
Mani<br />
Sophea<br />
Janna<br />
Syowai<br />
Ka<br />
Stephanie<br />
Alex<br />
Mai<br />
Khamta<br />
Adaze<br />
Jayati<br />
Boloztuya<br />
Prettygirl<br />
Theresa<br />
Esperanza<br />
Xuan<br />
Geeta<br />
Debbie<br />
G.Q., N.H., and S.O.<br />
Anuradha<br />
Veronica<br />
Martina<br />
Shauna<br />
Rosa<br />
Jaycee<br />
Charlotte Awino<br />
Kikka Cerpa<br />
Jana<br />
Lannie<br />
Samira<br />
Mari<br />
Sarah<br />
Mao Mao<br />
Keisha<br />
Brittany<br />
Gabriella<br />
Akemi<br />
Olga<br />
Jane</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br />
Because He first loved me,<br />
Stephanie </span></div>stephanie clairehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17694224701940390923noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8292020532336840440.post-22370022245929637622011-09-12T18:14:00.001-07:002012-09-02T11:35:51.323-07:00Day 47: for JaneToday, God's love has really been on my mind. I was sitting outside, just thinking of how far God has brought me and how much he has blessed me. My prayer is that I live a life that says "thank you" to him. That's kind of how it goes when we love someone... we want to spend time with them, do things for them, bless them in whatever way we can.<br />
<br />
But what God establishes as sacred, the enemy is always ready to destroy. I truly believe that God designed us with a desire for love so that he could fill that void with his own Holy Spirit, and then after that, show us how true human relational love is supposed to function. Without God, though, we are just filling a bottomless pit with things that do not satisfy. Jane wanted that love so badly, and she thought she finally had it, but how disillusioned she truly was...stephanie clairehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17694224701940390923noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8292020532336840440.post-9664095802791950832011-09-11T18:14:00.000-07:002011-09-11T18:14:38.552-07:00Days 40-46: for OlgaTomorrow, I have an interview for a job on campus. The only real fear I have are tripping over my words and wearing something too casual. It's pretty much a general understanding that job interviews are supposed to be at least a little bit daunting, but honestly, we have it so easy. This week, I ran for Olga who moved from Moldova to the United Arab Emirates in search of a job. I know a little bit of the intimidation she must have felt about moving to a new area. I feel the same nervousness she probably felt meeting her new supervisor. But nothing I've ever been through could ever relate to what happened to Olga next...<br />
<br />
<i>Olga, 23, came to Dubai from Moldova on a visitor visa after hearing about a job opportunity there. A Russian woman and an Indian man picked her up at the airport when she arrived. They took her to their apartment and told her she would instead be prostituted. When she refused, they beat her and threatened to kill her and bury her in the desert. They threatened to harm her if she did not pay them back for her travel expenses, and then sent Olga to a local hotel to meet customers and collect money from them. After two weeks, Olga met another woman from Moldova in the hotel and told her about her condition. The woman advised her to report her situation to the police, who raided the apartment and arrested the suspected traffickers.</i><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.state.gov/g/tip/rls/tiprpt/2011/164225.htm">source of Olga's story</a><br />
<br />
23.00 miles for Olga<br />
251.27 miles to date.<br />
<br />
Ruby<br />
Sandra<br />
Berchewkan<br />
Mani<br />
Sophea<br />
Janna<br />
Syowai<br />
Ka<br />
Stephanie<br />
Alex<br />
Mai<br />
Khamta<br />
Adaze<br />
Jayati<br />
Boloztuya<br />
Prettygirl<br />
Theresa<br />
Esperanza<br />
Xuan<br />
Geeta<br />
Debbie<br />
G.Q., N.H., and S.O.<br />
Anuradha<br />
Veronica<br />
Martina<br />
Shauna<br />
Rosa<br />
Jaycee<br />
Charlotte Awino<br />
Kikka Cerpa<br />
Jana<br />
Lannie<br />
Samira<br />
Mari<br />
Sarah<br />
Mao Mao<br />
Keisha<br />
Brittany<br />
Gabriella<br />
Akemi<br />
Olga<br />
<br />
Because He first loved me,<br />
Stephaniestephanie clairehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17694224701940390923noreply@blogger.com0