Shouting for the World to Hear

I leave for India tomorrow!  As I reflect on the months that have brought me up to this point, I remember this reflection I wrote about a month ago.  My heart is ready to see what's going to happen over these next few weeks, and I can't wait!  Although I could pass on the plane...

Another book that we were required to read was the story of Project Rescue itself: Beyond the Soiled Curtain.  I’ve read it before, actually a couple of times; but there’s something powerful behind the stories when you are looking forward to seeing this with your own eyes.  As I sit in the airport, waiting to catch a flight to Charlotte to Des Moines, where I will arrive home to a loving family, a house with broken air conditioning (that is hopefully getting fixed today), a church that embraces me and encourages my faith…I think of how that compares to the girls I will meet in India.  Some of them have a mother in the brothels and no hope of ever knowing who their dad is; but they have found a new family in the Home of Hope where they are loved and cherished.  Some of them have known nothing but the brothels for many years (or perhaps their entire lives); but they now have a safe place with a bed and a roof where no man can hurt them.  Some have known only the religion of money, where money buys them and hopefully someday buys freedom; but now they have found hope and love in a God that loves them more than they could ever imagine.

The final paragraph has become my anthem for these girls, and I want to shout it for all the world to hear:

“It is our prayer that individuals, churches, organizations and even businesses will join Project Rescue in declaring to the world, ‘Exploited women and children matter.  We will give them a home.  We will fight for their freedom.  We will tell them that their Creator loves them and He has prepared a place for them in heaven where they will walk the streets of gold with their heads held high…because they are children of a King!” [emphasis added]