It's All About "the one"

How incredible is it that I have been in this country for a month already! It feels as though I just stepped off the plane, but also feels like I have been here for ages. Each day I am growing more accustomed to life here. I am learning how to be a city dweller: discovering which bus/ferry/taxi to take to get where I need to go, knowing which supermarkets, vegetable vendors, and bakeries to shop at for the cheapest price, how to best j-walk the streets full of passing cars, and my favorite: practicing the city-dweller walk. Those that have lived in a large city (my city housing over 20 million people) understand what I mean when I mention the walk. The key to this art form is to maintain composure by always looking like you know exactly where you are going. You direct your gaze straight ahead and walk with confidence. There is a certain toughness to this walk (no it is not a swagger), and it simply sends a message saying “it would be unwise to mess with me.” I laugh to myself each time I practice this city-dweller walk because I am sure I look foolish. I am that girl who usually smiles too much and laughs way too loud. Looking tough has never been a part of who I am so it is strange to have to put on the face for safety. I always just pray that living in a city this large would never cause me to become hard or cold. This city is immense in size and it is easy to forget that each person you pass has their own personal story. They are all going through different experiences and trials in their life. Being emerged in such a vast sea constantly makes this reality harder to grasp. 

I believe the vastness of the city can also relate to the overwhelming size of the sex trafficking problem. It is easy to look at the issue and feel discouraged because there are so many women affected and too much corruption, governmental complacency, and organized crime that stand in the way of bringing lasting change. Even in the work we are doing I get discouraged because there are so many more women who need rescuing and rehabilitation than just those in our program. I get frustrated with the lack of justice which is desperately needed to take down the pimps, mafias, and corrupt police officers who hold these women in bondage. While feeling overwhelmed, frustrated, and discouraged by the immensity of sex trafficking, I discovered a beautiful quote in a book I am reading. I am currently reading “Terrify No More” by Gary Haugen. It is a book written about International Justice Mission who does incredible work of partnering with local governments around the world to rescue and rehabilitate the victims, while also ensuring through local legal systems that the criminals are prosecuted. In the chapter called “It’s All About The One” IJM employee, Sharon, explains “While there are millions of girls and women victimized every day, our work will always be about the one. The one girl deceived. The one girl kidnapped. The one girl raped. The one girl infected with AIDS. The one girl needing a rescuer. To succumb to the enormity of the problem is to fail the one. And more is required of us.” 

God doesn’t call us to solve all of the major issues in the world. If we are being realistic and honest, it would be impossible to do so. He calls us simply to love the person in front of us. He has placed us all in certain places and roles for a reason- to love those he has put in our lives. What a tragedy it is when we overlook these people because we are too focused on solving what is seemingly a more important issue. Change starts with that person. It all begins with loving “the one.” This is such an encouragement and really shows us the character of God. God has impeccable attention to detail.  There is not one person he does not know. No one is ever overlooked or their problems deemed too small to be important to God (and he has concerns of enormity that we can’t even dream of!) 

There are certain days here where my work can become repetitive or even seem mundane. I may think to myself: what is buying groceries or watching Beauty and the Beast for the million time with my little boy doing in the grand scheme of things to fight Sex trafficking? God once again has shown me that it is through the small acts of faithfulness every day that he works. By being consistent in my love and diligent in the work he has given me, I believe God can and will do great things. He has the big picture and I honestly am only certain about today. It is God who conquers and redeems, not I. This realization is both humbling and immensely comforting. If the fate of taking down the whole sex industry was left up to me, I would not have a clue what to do. God knows. Therefore I will just continue to faithfully love the ones he placed before me. I owe it to them and to God. 

We are continuing to renovate the building in the red light district. I was just there on Monday. We scraped paint, plastered walls, super cleaned the floors, and raged war against the black mold. We are hoping to have a refugee family from Iran move there as soon as possible. We are slowly beginning to meet our neighbors who are all very curious why we are there. One lady is extremely concerned at the state of our filthy windows (an understandable concern, yet if she saw the inside of the house she might have a heart attack.) Slowly but surely the house is being fixed up. We have been incredibly blessed with so many hands willing to help.

 Life at the safe house is going well. I introduced the new Disney movie Tangled to the little boy living with me. He always says to me “I like girl” and “she is very sweet.” Safe to say he is crushing on a cartoon. We have implemented our schedule and classes are going on every day. It is still a challenge coming up with things to cook (proud to say I made a delicious stir fry for dinner.) Hopefully this will prepare me for feeding myself when I return to college. A new woman just moved in tonight. She is from Turkmenistan and has been living in Turkey trying to make money to send back to her four children. Please pray that she will feel safe and welcome here. 

Speaking of prayer, I heard from a friend that my church back home spent some time on Sunday praying for my work here. I just wanted to thank you all for taking the time to pray for me! Prayer is always needed and I really do feel the impact of them. How awesome it is to be supported by believers back home!

Final Words: I finally found hummus! You would think that the Middle East would be the land flowing of hummus and flatbread but in actuality I had to really search to find this treasure. Now I will be putting hummus on everything to make up for the lost time I had to spend without it! 

Greetings to all of my family and friends back in the states. I actually felt quite homesick this week and that’s because there are so many amazing people there! You make home feel like home and I can’t wait to see all of your faces in August!