Search and Rescue {be a part of a team}

I don't really like waste. Not food or water, and especially not time. So I try to find simply what matters most and do that. Call me a walking triage. Only, it's not straightforward very often. Not in my life, and not right now. Not here.

It's not simple, though I haven't stopped pursing it. What matters most is a complicated, 10,000 piece puzzle, when all the pieces are scattered and lost. So far from simple; I think I've lost again.

Well - I do what I know, when I don't know what to do. I pray.

Evening, morning, and noon I will plead;
    I will grumble and moan before Him
    until He hears my voice.
18 And He will rescue my soul, untouched,
    plucked safely from the battle,
    despite the many who are warring against me." 
-Psalm 55:17-18 (VOICE)

Then I wait. Listen. Stop, slow, pause. It comes like a soft rain - again, like always. The next page.

But his answer was: “My grace is all you need, for my power is greatest when you are weak.” - 2 Corinthians 12:9 (GNT)

The suffering of victims shoots pain into my soul like stuck thorns, thrice asked to be removed. But no - His grace is sufficient. How? I don't know. But I do know it is. He's never been anything but faithful to me. And He is much better at control than I am. So I surrender it to Him again, and do what I can. Encourage others to do the same. Let Him have the rest. Or maybe let Him have it all. Let go of the burden I wasn't meant to carry, and just bear the load He shares, bear it with Joy.  Because where else can I go? He holds the Truth. He is the One.

And I find seek hope, even through the pieces. Like this:

Tattoo artist helps trafficked victims

Sevenly's project this week: Help for rape victims


This week I'm reading I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou. Hopefully I'll have a review for you next week. Her writing halts me. By far this is the best and worst thing I've read in years - this description of trauma she bore:

Then there was the pain. A breaking and entering when even the senses are torn apart. The act of rape on an eight-year old body is a matter of the needle giving because the camel can't. The child gives, because the body can, and the mind of the violator cannot.

And yes - that is the horror millions of girls experience every day - sold, bought, raped. 

So, if like me, you're ready to do something - give this a try: I got this from The Exodus Road, the coalition for whom I blog - and I'm hoping you'll join a team. I am!

The number one question we get as we talk about the work of investigations and rescues is a logical one. You’ve asked us time and again:
“How Can I Help? What Can I DO?”

And this is the question, I think, that haunts most of us. We long to make a difference in the world that is human trafficking, and we want to see sex slaves freed. Yet the obstacles loom large, and they primarily involve the reality that the majority of us physically can’t do the actual work of investigation and rescue– particularly in the areas of the world where sexual slavery is rampant. 

And we’ve racked our minds about this for six months, because we live the tension, too. And while we do our best to bring people to the front lines of the rescue efforts we’re involved in through social media and communications, we wanted to develop a program where people who couldn’t go physically could actually hire someone to kick down a door on their behalf.Enter the Search and Rescue Program.

This week we are launching a program that we think will effectively answer the question of how you can personally fuel and empower literal rescue. Essentially, we’re inviting you onto a real-life investigative team. From our experience, it takes about $35 for a night for one of our investigators to engage in local surveillance. Since we already have teams on the ground and since most of our teams are volunteers, we are able to fund investigations with a fairly lean financial model. If you’d like to join a team, you will be “hiring” one of our investigators to go literally look for children and victims on your behalf in some of the darkest corners of the globe. Investigators will then take that intel to local police partners and will develop cases and raids from that initial intelligence.
The search fuels the rescue. And by investing in our teams, you would be putting boots on the ground, sending eyes to look for the enslaved. 
It’s the closest thing to the front lines we can get you. And it’s the most direct way we can find to give everyone the opportunity to fight for rescue.

Interested in Joining the Rescue Movement?
Stop by our new Search and Rescue Program landing page. You might want to check out our Search and Rescue FAQ page, as well. Read over the teams available for sponsorship and see which connects most to you. Follow the links to adopt your team, and we’ll be mailing you a welcome packet with information about your investigators and several small thank you items from our home office here in Colorado.
And then moving forward, every time you see a rescue shared or an update given from the field connected with your team name, you’ll know that you were a valuable part of that success.
We had a field investigator say to us the other day,

  “Tell me how many kids you want to rescue, and if I have the resources, I think our team could make that happen.” – Exodus Road Coalition Partner

And this statement from a team that has rescued 150 victims of sex slavery in the last month alone because of their commitment to justice and the funding we were able to provide them. (This is our Bravo Team, actually.) 

If you’ve been asking the question, “What Can I Do?” Perhaps this could be your answer. Check out the Search and Rescue program, please tell your friends, and consider joining the (literal) rescue movement. 

I'll leave you with prayer today.

Father, when nothing makes sense and everything is a mess all around and we can't triage what matters most, we remember it's You. You matter most so we seek Your face to find Your hand. We pray for direction and You show us how to love what You love and hate what You hate. You give us open doors to help those in need. Those who suffer and cry and groan for Your help. You've provided their answer. It's us.  So we say Yes to search and Yes to rescue. And we do what we can. Trusting it all back into Your Hands.  Thank You. We don't have to be afraid. May Your name be praised. Amen.