2021 Year in Review

By Becky McDonald, President & Founder
January 20, 2022

2021 By The Numbers

And the Unheralded Heroes!

Looking back on 2021, I see God’s hand in profound accomplishments. Some stories we can tell. But, honestly, most are never known as confidentiality and security are so vital. I want to shine a light on one of the most profound, secretly incredible aspects of the House of WAR…four types of unsung heroes who made 2021 an amazing success.

The Staff of The House of WAR

In a year of uncertainty lurking behind every corner, WAR staff quietly, intentionally, and tirelessly lifted the broken, threatened, hurting, starving, tortured, beaten, despairing, and worse. They faithfully lifted others even when their own lives were wracked by cancer, accidents, loss, COVID, worry, and more. The ties of loyalty to a cause greater than ourselves were stronger than the global threat to pull us apart, fraying all around. They were a community to the least of these and especially to each other. Together, lights kept burning, emergency phone lines stayed open, rescues happened, reporting continued decently and in order, partners were encouraged, wounded listened to, customers attended to…the list goes on. They served with a lilt in their voice, a prayer offered, a plan of escape, offering lives with dignity. It is not unusual to hear the sounds of laughter ringing in the Halls of WAR in the face of chaos. They did not run, hide, or fear, but embraced the ‘risk’ with a passion to be a circle of protection to all. Missing kids were found; families reunited; rescues enabled; funds raised to start social enterprises; products lovingly cared for, knowing the hands that made each piece…the list goes on. I salute WAR’s staff, the unsung heroes. They made 2021 a success!

The Volunteers of The House of WAR

Other amazing unsung heroes were our volunteers. Under lockdown, they came to the back door and took things home to do. Now, they come to HQ once again, keeping our costs down. With the best job, they are like Santa’s elves tagging every single new product, attending events to sell the handiwork of our rescued, and the list goes on. I salute WAR’s volunteers all over the world. They made 2021 a success!

The Giving Partners of The Family of WAR

A miracle happened! Like the widow’s oil that never ran out, God multiplied every gift! We stayed debt-free and raised funds to do amazing rescues locally and globally. The gifts allowed immediate intervention in Myanmar, Afghanistan, the USA, Nepal, India, African and Central American lands, and more. I don’t know what the future holds. But I know the loyalty of this family kept the oil flowing where it needed to. It let us be strong for the weak, brave for the threatened, calm in the storm, wise in distribution, and lifted those at the brink of disaster. These gifts accomplished really impossible feats. I salute the generosity, sacrifice, prayers, and encouragement brought to the House of WAR. As your gifts came in, our staff were encouraged to keep on keeping on. You are truly our own circle of protection, allowing us to be a safe place to those we harbor. They have a second chance thanks to YOU!

The Partners of The WAR World

These are who you hear about the most…as it should be! They pour out their lives daily as a drink offering, fighting the fight in the trenches, often alone. Knowing that these unsung heroes are behind them is what keeps them going. I know! I was in those trenches for years and jump in and out of them on a regular basis!

Let’s move into 2022 with renewed passion to sing freedom’s song, learning lessons from 2021:

  • Blessed to be debt-free and found grants to help partners when sales struggled under COVID.
  • Web sales doubled thanks to each of you who shop with a purpose, knowing your gift lifts the lives that made them. You are not giving a handout but a hand up! As my thank you, please use the code BECKYSGIFT to receive a 10% off one regularly-priced item!
  • Lockdown gave time to sit, rethink, reorganize, and work toward new structures.
  • Risk escalated and made our job load heavier. We know this will continue into 2022.
  • COVID taught our partners what our warnings could not. Those who diversified fared better.
  • The WAR family showed strength, resilience, courage, and sacrifice, creating a community that can go further together than alone. Thank you for believing in us!

Often in life, the truly great things are done by people who never get a medal, their name on a plaque, in the paper, or a statue erected in their honor. Every one of you did that in 2021! House of WAR… you are the unsung heroes! Walking into 2022, we take up our crosses and follow dignity for each and every one!

STRONGER TOGETHER MARCHING INTO 2022

P.S. Read more stories and stay up-to-date by visiting my Facebook page at www.facebook.com/WARfounder!

WAR Chest Relief Fund

By Becky McDonald, President & Founder
August 26, 2021

Dear WARriors,

As a little girl, I saw what happens in war. My playmate and many others were attacked. War is carnage. Remember the fall of Berlin in 1945? In Berlin alone, 100,000 women and girls were raped, that number increasing to two million across German territory. The plight of Afghani women is so horrific I can’t write about it in detail or without weeping. It’s vile and x-rated. I’ve testified in courts of these women’s plight at the hands of extremist Islam during peace times. War’s chaos only makes it worse.

IMAGINE… as a child you are married to someone you’ve never met, and you then live with your mother-in-law who’s abusive. You run away. The military finds you. Your husband holds you down as they cut off your nose, forever marking you with the “scarlet letter” to tell the world that you were disobedient. The front cover of Time Magazine featured this young woman years ago. True story.

IMAGINE… you have a baby girl. You shave her head bald, dress her as a boy and then veil yourself from head to foot so you can leave your house to buy a loaf of bread. You must not go in public without a male… even if the “male” is a newborn. You certainly don’t want anyone to know you have a girl. You’re forced to decide whether or not to raise your daughter dressed as a boy and hope no one discovers otherwise. We’ve told one woman with a child to hide her infant. True story.

IMAGINE… you have a daughter. I have one daughter and four granddaughters. You are told to mark your house with an “X” if you have a daughter age 12 or older. The military comes and takes her to be a bride to a soldier. If you don’t comply and they find her, they will execute your whole family. True story.

WAR sent $2,000 by faith for 20 displaced families. This covers a basic kitchen kit ($100 each) of plates, cookware, glasses, and a tablecloth. Culturally, families enjoy meals sitting on the ground on a plastic tablecloth.

$150 will feed a family of five for a month at a survival level, providing some flour/rice, protein such as beans, cooking oil, and local spices. If possible, it will provide fruit and vegetables, too.

We can’t feed or rescue everyone, but we can do something. Some of you have given to this fund already, and it is on the way to feeding terrified families. If you wish to send $150 for a month of food or $100 for a basic kitchen kit, you can do this. I sent 20 kits immediately even though we did not have that much money in the fund. I know the WAR World; it will lift up mommies and daddies who need to feed their little ones. We will start small in what we send and do it through nationals on the ground who shop locally AND help restart their own economy. We will do it quietly, carefully, and further assist once the dust settles. For now, this is where we start.

The Taliban took Afghanistan in one week, Kabul in a weekend. People fled to large cities filling open spaces and parks. In villages, the Taliban often kills every able-bodied man and kidnaps all unwed women from age 12 and up to serve as wartime brides to soldiers. In cities, families must put an X on the door if they have girls over 12 years old. If found hiding a girl, death is instant. People have fled with nothing more than the clothes on their backs and are in need of basic food and shelter.

You know I grew up as an American among Muslims, studied Islam in college (intended to be a professor of world religions), and served for years in Muslim countries with my husband. Why do I share this? I want you to pray specifically for the hearts of Afghans. Those using “god” to do evil are not the enemy. They are captives of the enemy. Can we pray for them?

An ancient Islamic tradition says God has 100 names, and man only knows 99 of them. The Camel is the only one who knows the 100th…and that is why he looks so haughty! Pray that they will come to see the 100th name as Jesus, The Prophet Esa…our Prophet, High Priest, and King! Pray their eyes will be turned to true freedom in this Prophet they already revere but do not know.

WAR, Int’l has opened a WAR CHEST RELIEF FUND for Afghan women and girls. We will distribute funds as it is safe to do so. If it is the call of your heart, please consider donating so that these mommies may be able to feed their babies.

Laugh or Cry, Giggle or Gag… AND BE ALERT!

By Becky McDonald, President & Founder
October 14, 2020

My office millennials tell me there is an “issue” brewing on the internet. Maybe I should say “boiling.” It is a weird video by Kraft on Mac & Cheese with a play on the words “nood” (as in noodle) and “nude” (as in porn). Because kids are the main consumers of Mac & Cheese, it is rather odd that Kraft sanctioned this. It is obviously not professionally done. The woman’s eyes keep darting. But believe it or not, I’ve been asked to comment. I have three things to say.

  1. GO MOMS: Three cheers for moms that are ALERT to the smallest things. Usually, I avoid these kinds of things because “commenting” on some things just leads to further foaming at the mouth. Moms, however, do have a duty, and I love the fact that they are “watching” for what is inappropriate for their children. I doubt my mom, whom I love, would have even “known” of such a video. I know I didn’t—I had to be told by a mom of five tiny little men. Fortunately, I am no longer raising little people. Go moms for noting this and drawing other moms’ attention to it.

  2. SEXTORTION: Right now is the time to be extra vigilant in all things on the internet that your children might see. I just wrote an article for WAR, Int’l about a new trend in trafficking and warned that I would be speaking about the issue of Sextortion. For sure, a child might naively be drawn into something that you do not wish. I’m preparing RIGHT NOW for an eight-hour training on how to recognize the subtle signs of trafficking.

    I’m NOT saying this is trafficking. However, I am drawing people’s attention to SEXTORTION. This is real. The camera on your computer stays on even after you’ve turned your computer off. Through this lens, predators can watch your children dressing for bed (if in the bedroom), view your bank records (while I was on the East Coast a couple’s entire bank account was wiped out because there were bank documents lying in view of the camera on their computer), etc. To understand this better, read the breaking News Post below.

    https://www.wnky.com/tennessee-teen-accused-in-sextortion-case-targeted-girls-who-attend-warren-central-high-school/

    I’m told Bill Gates puts his phone in a freezer. You needn’t do that—just put a post-it note over the camera when you’re done using your computer! This is an issue WAR, Int’l has been speaking into for over five years and has asked the Supreme Court of Michigan to address. It is finally coming to the attention of others. Pictures are acquired either through the camera or, as in the alleged case of the teen mentioned above, through targeting local girls. The “extortion” comes in when the predator shows the picture and threatens to “send it to their entire group of friends,” unless they are given more pictures. From there it escalates.

    I will be teaching about this very topic on Saturday, October 17, 2020, at our Civilian First Responder (CFR) training conference, and you are welcome to attend either in person or online. You can register for this training at https://warinternational.org/upcoming-events/

  3. LAUGH OR CRY, GIGGLE OR GAG. A word of caution to moms: Do NOT, I repeat Do NOT overreact. If you do and your children see it, you just drive them to the very thing you are seeking to avoid. Always remember that your reaction is where your children take their cue. If you’re afraid, so are they. If you’re freaked, they’ll wonder why and want to understand. You need to put on a stoic face and brush things off in their presence with an honest but unflappable demeanor. Let’s get real, please. I know we want to lock our kids up and let them out on their wedding day, but that ain’t happening. If you lock them in a tower, they will be Rapunzel and just climb down. If this does come up, please have a sense of humor and just talk it through.

    For your “homeschooling pleasure” (that’s a joke), I looked up the word “nude” in over 20 languages. Use this opportunity if it comes up—and you must—to be interesting, not frigid and condemning. I choose to laugh rather than cry and giggle rather than gag. Well, I’m not really giggling over this one… the news video, that is. But I did giggle at some of the words that mean “nude” in other languages. Just for you moms… here are a few:

    • Bengali: Nunga Punga (my kids know this word well)
    • Hmong: Liab qab
    • Irish, Maltese, Welsh, and Zulu: Well, they just say “Nude,” so maybe we are descended from those races.
    • Polish: Nagi
    • Swahili: Uchi (sounds like an allergic itch)
    • Igbo: Igba oto (Where is that language even spoken… hello?)
    • Catalan, French, Portuguese, and Galician: Nu
    • German: Nackt (Pretty sure I remember that from my grandma)
    • Icelandic: Nakinn
    • Bosnian, Croatian, Czech, and Serbian: Akt (sounds like Hogan’s Heroes)
    • Basque: Biluzik (sounds like bed bugs)
    • Danish: Nogen (I thought that was your head)
    • Dutch: Naakt
    • Albanian: Lakariq
    • Cebuano: Hubo (some Hobos are hubo)

    Just in case you decide to travel… (just kidding) beware! Seriously though… please read the link to the teen accused of sextortion. This is something you need to KNOW.