March for Freedom

March Against Human Trafficking 1Summer blesses us with a renewed sense of freedom. We dust off our shorts and flip flops, swing open the prison doors of home, and venture into the warm sunlight to eat barbecue, go swimming, and dangle marshmallows over roaring bonfires. For many of us, this time of year is filled with life, joy, and memory-making.

Yet the season can be a challenge for rescued women and children. During Christmas, hordes of shoppers stream into WAR Chest Boutique to purchase products. In February, boyfriends, husbands, and fiancés scramble to find their significant others the perfect Valentine’s Day gift. Children pool their money together in May to buy their mom a pretty piece of jewelry for Mother’s Day. But after that, a lull in sales strikes, and life gets a bit trickier for women and children in our safehouses.

But you can make a difference in their lives this season: encourage your community to shop with a purpose by rallying in your local Fourth of July parade! Whether you belong to a group like Boy Scouts, or whether you simply have a passion for empowerment, you can take part.

Don’t know where to start? Here are some steps and ideas to get you going!

  1. March Against Human TraffickingSnag a spot. Complete an application to participate. To do this, contact the Parade Association or your city’s Chamber of Commerce. Parade spots often fill up fast, so sign up today!
  2. Find your people. Grab your friends, family, church, neighbors, or anyone else you can find to join you on the March for Freedom!
  3. Make a scene. Stroll down your streets with WAR, Int’l banners and signs lifted high. Sit in style on a fancy float adorned with red, gold, and black trim. Sing, dance, shout, play an instrument, make some noise. Your march can be as simple or elaborate as you want; no matter what you do, your presence will raise awareness and stir the audience to take action!
  4. Let us help you. WAR, Int’l can provide you with materials to make your march awesome. Email us at volunteer@warinternational.org to receive printable images for signs and banners. If your local parade will allow it, shoot us another email for coupons and pass them out at the event.
  5. Become a model. Adorn yourself with jewelry, clothing, purses, and more from WAR Chest Boutique. You’ll support a woman with your purchase, as well as advertise the beautiful products they make.
  6. Embrace other cultures. Check out the different countries that WAR, Int’l supports and don the clothes that they might wear during festivals and special events. Declare that freedom and justice is for all—no matter where they live or work!
  7. Don’t forget to snap some pictures! We’ll post them on our website for all to see.
  8. Have any other brilliant ideas? Let us know at volunteer@warinternational.org.

If you’d like to know more, call our office to receive an informational packet about this great opportunity. Parades can be a powerful mechanism for change, and on a day when we already celebrate our country’s liberty, you can help make freedom a reality for everyone—both nationally and internationally.

Rescue without Thinking

Giving in everyday life

Sometimes giving can be tricky. When you’re already paying for food, clothing, heating, internet, water, gas, education, insurance, and anything else you may need to get by, it’s easy to forget about charitable donations. Several retail companies have invented solutions, constructing programs that seriously simplify the process of helping your community. Here are some programs that allow you to give women and children a hand-up. Best of all, each one has a signup fee of $0.

 

  1. Gordon Food Service’s Fun Funds
    WAR, Int’l’s Organization Number: 2553356

Nowadays, giving can be as easy as buying groceries, especially through GFS’s Fast Funds. When you sign up for this program, you will receive a card. Present it to the cashier, and each item you purchase will earn WAR, Int’l anywhere between 1 and 10 percent rebate. As an added bonus, you’ll receive monthly emails that feature specials and coupons. To sign up for this program, either visit GFS’s website and fill out the form, or talk to a GFS Store Manager. Customer service will then give you a card that you can use every time you shop at GFS.

 

  1. Amazon Smile
    WAR, Int’l’s Listing: Women at Risk International Inc

Whether you’re buying a college textbook or a birthday gift for your nephew, Amazon Smile offers an easy way to give while you shop. Simply stop by their website (smile.amazon.com), sign in with your usual Amazon account, and type the name of the organization you’d like to support. Every time you make a purchase through Amazon Smile, a portion of the proceeds will go to WAR, Int’l.

 

  1. Meijer Community Rewards (MCR)
    WAR, Int’l’s Code: 515687

If you prefer to do your weekly grocery shopping at Meijer, MCR is a great option for you. Sign up online or in-store to receive a Meijer 1 Card, which you can swipe when paying with cash or a debit card. You can also take advantage of MCR with a Meijer credit card (which offers greater rewards). Apply for one online or in-store, or call 1-800-962-7011 to add an MCR account to an existing Meijer credit card. Either way, Meijer will send along a portion of their sales to WAR, Int’l.

However you choose to give—be it a direct donation to WAR, Int’l or an indirect donation through one of these programs—know that every penny counts in the struggle to save at-risk women and children.

Introducing Tea Trade Café

WAR, Int’l shares a vision that is dynamic. Moving against the grain, we press on, investing time, energy, and hope into the lives of wounded women. It is our goal to create circles of protection around rescued and at-risk women, inspiring them to trust again. This can only be accomplished through love, encouragement, and most essentially; growth. In our US Training Center, women progress through five tiers of training. Each tier focuses on building a sense of belonging, responsibility, and the basic skills necessary to live as healthy, tea-trade-cafe-2self-sustaining members of society. For the past year, at-risk women have harnessed their skills and talents by crafting jewelry in our USTC. Over time, their skills sharpen and their lives reshape, opening up new possibilities. These women begin to realize that the hope of a future, full of dreams and possibilities, dances on their horizons.

WAR, Int’l wants to offer more. Empowering women goes beyond jewelry making, fortified through diverse skill sets, experiences, and vocations. Along with jewelry, WAR, Int’l will offer a second path through which women, exposed to this opportunity, can learn basic but sought-after skills. Tea Trade Café is coming soon to WAR, Int’l Headquarters! Located on 44th Street, Tea Trade Café will train women in business skills and as “baristas,” giving them mobility across the nation and a resume to nullify their past.

This dream includes you. The community is welcome to enjoy the café and pour into the lives of these women. Come by for a casual, creamy cup of coffee or a classy, relaxing tea party. Soak up and delight in an atmosphere of hope and renewal. Besides beverages and pastries, Tea Trade Café will also have a stage. This is the place to share your talents by singing, playing an instrument, performing spoken word, or whatever other ability God has given you.

If you find you live far away, it is still possible to get involved in real, significant ways. To complement the efforts of Tea Trade Café, WAR, Int’l hopes to launch a Tea Trade Circle. If you have tea cups you no longer want or use, WAR wants them. Send us your cup with a story, even just a sentence, of what it means to you. We will either sell it or take donations for them in our café and let your story travel across the nation. Any donation made to Tea Trade Café will be matched, and therefore doubling all contributions. This is a movement with the potential to impact the lives of many, and we need your help. Come along side WAR, Int’l and aid us in creating a program that will flourish. No matter your cup of tea, we encourage you to take part in Tea Trade Café and create a place of security and restoration for at-risk women.

Love Mom, Love Justice

Host a Mother’s Day party with purpose!

This May, what better way to celebrate Mother’s Day with your mom or daughter than by hosting a product party with WAR, International? At no cost to you, you can spend a meaningful evening in your home with family and friends, mothers-day-2015perusing our beautiful products from more than 25 countries. You can try on jewelry selections, buy intricate handmade journals and gifts, and learn how women around the world are empowered through the programs of Women At Risk and the support of people like you.

From scarves and headbands to soaps and hand-beaded jewelry, there is something for everyone at a product party. Surprise your mother with a fun party in her honor, or invite your daughter and her friends to each pick out their own special gift. However you choose to do it, hosting a party in honor of Mother’s Day is a powerful and generous way to celebrate the mothers and daughters in your life. You’ll bring joy to your guests and empowerment to women around the world. Just $250 in sales can keep a rescued woman in a safehouse for one month! For Mother’s Day, give the gift of fellowship and fun with a product party as you give the gift of dignity and hope to the world’s at-risk women.

Sweetie Update

A letter from our president

Dear Prayer Warriors,

Get down on your knees fast! Pray hard. Stop what you are doing and pray. This week we received word from our Indian partners that the Madame in charge of Sweetie, who beats her and who I have befriended, has asked for a special meeting to discuss Sweetie’s future. For the first time, she initiated a conversation about Sweetie and implied that she is thinking about talking to her boyfriend (Sweetie’s owner). You might recall that I have spent a long time with this man, begging him for Sweetie. Our hope is that she be raised in a loving Indian home where she could go to school. He just watched me coldly, without any facial expression, basically saying, “No thank you.” Why would he allow his “property,” being raised for sale to the highest bidder, go for free? Because she is owned by a corrupt official, a police raid will not work.

I’m tempted to get on a plane and fly out there tomorrow in order to be at this meeting. But time, commitments to safehouses and programs, and last minute costs make it unwise. Anyway, God doesn’t need me. He can set the captive free! I just spoke at the Pentagon and will be in twelve states in six weeks, so I need to keep my feet to the fire and stay put with my knees on the ground. That’s where I need your help!

This is the first glimmer of hope we have seen. Although we are wary that this might just be words and may lead down a dead end path (which has been every path we have pursued so far), we see that wheels are spinning and the option is still on the forefront of the Madame’s mind.

The Madam moved out of the brothel that she still controls. Another “madam” moved in and there is competition between them for customers. She built a house and lives there and manages from afar. One time, we arrived at the brothel area to find the two in a physical fight and we had to separate them. Moving out and still controlling the women that are “hers” is a face-saving way of continuing to do her “business.” She moved Sweetie into her own home too. Sadly, that doesn’t mean Sweetie is safe. child-slave-sweetieHer home is likely just another brothel site. It does mean that Sweetie is separated from her “biological mom” who is rarely in the original brothel, as the “Madam” often ships her to her sister’s brothel across the country. It also means that Sweetie is not tied to the pole anymore. The Pack ‘n Play that we traded for the red cord that bound her went to the new home. And it means that Sweetie is not in the brothel where creepy customers show attention to Sweetie. That is good news, and I am grasping at straws of good news for this baby who has stolen my heart and the heart of the WAR world.

Last time I was in India, I took a high-end house warming gift from America to give the “Madame” as a good will gesture. Gift giving is very typical Asian tradition. It simply reminds her that I have not given up; I am her friend; I want Sweetie and the conversation will not go away as long as I live. In Asian culture, there is no other hope except to build a relationship that requires “give and take.” There is really nothing this woman can give me so the unspoken hope is that she will be constantly reminded of my passion for this tiny baby. Relationships in Asia mean everything, and that is where the true power and ability to “call in chips” comes from. Not only that, but I also genuinely care for this Madam who God thrust in my path. She too is a little girl whose cries were never heard, but who grew up to be the “owner” rather than the “owned.” She is still controlled by the man she calls her “boyfriend,” who is the corrupt government official. If he gives me Sweetie, maybe I’ll pray for him. Okay I’ll start now, in faith.

We are asking you to gather up your prayer warriors near and far and take this week and month to pray on bended knee for God’s mighty hand to move in the hearts of both the Madame and her boyfriend. God’s plan for the future is unknown, but we do know that His hand is on this precious child and He has promised to “never leave nor forsake” her. Let us pray together for His will to be done.

If Sweetie is to be released to a safe home, where she will hear of freedom in Christ, it will be because of the prayers of God’s people who cry out to the Father of the Fatherless. As we move into Mother’s and Father’s Day…let’s make this our prayer. Then, God alone will receive the credit for this miracle! Scripture repeatedly tells us to be the voice for those who have no voice! That is our earthly calling!

Fighting for Sweetie until there is no breath left in me,

Becky McDonald

President

Women At Risk, International