WHY would Jen run 26.2 miles?
I have run on the Dream Center marathon team once previously - in 2013 and it was an experience I will NEVER forget. I remember running with a girl for a couple of miles who I had never met before the race. I asked her if she was doing the full 26 mile marathon (I was curious because we were at mile 12ish and a lot of people were almost done with their part of the 13 mile 2-person relay...and I was very very jealous). She looked at me like I was crazy. She said "yea of course I'm doing the full marathon; it's the least I can do. The Dream Center saved my life." She was way faster so between my emotional response to her statement, and her superior fitness level, I didn't see her after mile 13.
So....Of course I am running the LA marathon this year. That girl changed my perspective. I can't possibly complain about the pain of running after reading some of the stories of human trafficking victims. I am definitely not in shape to be running 26.2 miles and unfortunately I have not given myself the time I would have liked to have to fundraise for this cause. I just know it is worth a shot. It felt like no coincidence to me that the sermon at church today was about the 5 loaves and 2 fish. These are my loaves and fish. I pray and trust that God will bless it as He is continuously blessing the work of the Dream Center.
A Dream of Changing Lives
Founded in 1994, The Dream Center is a volunteer-driven organization that finds and fills the needs of over 80,000 individuals and families each month.
They provide hunger relief and medical programs, residential rehabilitation programs adults, a shelter for victims of human trafficking, transitional housing for homeless families, foster care intervention programs, job skills training, life skills, counseling, basic education, Bible studies and more. They bring hope and a way off the streets.
In this way, more than 100 independent Dream Centers have been launched nationally, as well as internationally. Many more churches and ministries have become more effective as we teach those who give their time and talent to do what we do. Many who once needed our services also go on to help others.
- See more at: http://www.dreamcenter.org/about-us/#sthash.ia55SVPx.dpuf
Human Trafficking is Real
Sometimes it’s easier to think horrible atrocities like slavery, forced child labor or human trafficking only happen far away from where we live. Lacey’s* story reminds us that it’s real, and it could be happening right under our noses.
“Growing up, my parents were abusive drug addicts,” she says. “When I was 13 they gave me to a man that sold me for sex. My pimp kept me as drunk and high as he could.”
If Lacey didn’t meet her $500 a day quota, she’d be severely beaten.
“Things kept getting worse,” she says. “I was getting death threats from my pimp all the time.”
Finally, Lacey was able to escape.
She called The Dream Center, where we run one of the few ministries in the United States equipped to rescue these women, keep them safe and transition them to a productive life.
Since arriving, Lacey has become a whole new person.
“I’ve never felt safer, happier and as close to God as I do today. I thank God everyday for opening this door for me!” Lacey says.
Lacey is one of the lucky ones. Up to 10,000 women are being held in Los Angeles’ underground brothels. Statistically speaking, 99% of them will never be rescued.
Through the human trafficking program we are able to reach out to women like Lacey and give them the specialize care, support and safe shelter they need to escape the horrors of their past.
Every week, Dream Center teams hit the streets to reach out to women forced into prostitution and show them there is a way out.
*Name changed for privacy
- See more at: http://www.dreamcenter.org/uncategorized/human-trafficking-is-real/#sthash.4HV1r6Hv.dpuf
U.S. Statistics:
Human trafficking exists all over the United States, but California is is a hot spot for domestic and international human trafficking because of its large population, international borders, large economy, extensive ports, and metropolitan regions.
- The average entry age of American minors into the sex trade is 12-14 years old.
- Many victims are runaway girls who have already suffered sexual abuse as children.
- California harbors 3 of FBI’s 13 highest child sex trafficking areas in the nation: Los Angeles, San Francisco, and San Diego.
- Foreign nationals are also brought into the U.S. as slaves for labor or commercial sex through force or fraud.
- The prevalence and anonymity of the internet has fueled the rapid growth of sex trafficking, making the trade of women and children easier than ever before.
God is long-suffering and merciful to you: this you experience many times every day. Be long-suffering and merciful to your brethren, also fulfilling the words of the Apostle, who thus speaks of love before everything: "Love suffereth long, and is kind." You desire that the Lord should rejoice you by His love, rejoice on your part the hearts of others by your tender love and kindness.
St. John of Kronstadt, My Life in Christ.
Pray for jen