Thank you

A presidential message | Rebecca McDonald

“Our commitment is for the House of WAR to be a sanctuary. In this season, we see a spike in the number of 911 scenarios as winter brings its own dangers to those hiding under a bridge or running for their lives barefoot—or wishing they could. Some stories are messy and still ongoing, and one haunts both my waking and sleeping moments as we continue trying to bring about a resolution. Every life is precious to the WAR family, and we are determined to fight for her.”

Women At Risk, International’s (WAR, Int’l) 911 Rescue Fund is weekly responding to emergency calls of varying urgency from across the nation and globe. At this very moment, vulnerable individuals are seeking out WAR to rescue and make a way for them.

Primary need: When a crisis hits, there’s no time to gather funds. The money is needed right away. WAR, Int’l partners need to make quick decisions when a life is in imminent danger. Only after the intervention can we take the time to recount the details of the rescue (as much as can be safely shared while also respecting confidentiality) and raise funds to replace the expense. We regularly drain this fund which then requires us to bring the balance back up so that rescues are not dependent on finances.

The 911 Rescue Fund allows WAR Int’l and its partners to rush to the aid of those in imminent danger. We have rescued children as young as three weeks, six months, and six years—all tender ages. We’ve rescued women hiding in barns and under bridges. They often need immediate medical care and don’t have papers to go through normal channels. Through our 911 Rescue Fund, they receive immediate assistance including but not limited to shelter, medical care, transport to safety, a dead drop (pickup at an undisclosed location), legal aid, bedding, furniture, set-up in a safe place, moving services when crisis requires moving company or hired help, court appearances, bus passes, cost of maintaining that 911 line, related costs, etc.

Following are powerful and life-altering stories of rescue made possible by your kindness and generosity.

Angel’s Story

The day COVID-19 hit the U.S. in 2020, Rebecca McDonald, founder and president of WAR, Int’l, hid a young woman in her car.

Freedom is costly.

When you help a woman escape exploitation, you see firsthand the devastating loss that comes from fleeing slavery. In leaving behind abuse, women often leave behind everything they’ve ever known. Starting over is exhausting, and is only made worse by navigating the rough waves of trauma and healing. Freedom is not free–it is painfully expensive in a thousand different ways.

Angel had been running barefoot from her traffickers for hours before she secured WAR, Int’l’s number from a national hotline. After she courageously reached out to us, we ran to her aid. Angel was tucked safely away in Becky’s car while we arranged safe housing.

Today, Angel is flourishing. Not only have pro bono lawyers cleared her name of all crimes claimed against her, but she is excelling as a legal secretary, spreading the seeds of justice that were planted in her own life. She has been reunited with her kids. Through your generosity, she has also been provided with a car. Once stereotyped due to riding a bicycle to and from work, Angel now possesses the resources to reflect her inner potential.

Margaret’s Story

Far too often, traffickers aren’t strangers. This was Margaret’s story. Her boyfriend betrayed her, forcing her to sleep with other men in exchange for the drugs that fueled his addiction.

Margaret waited in anguish for an opportunity to escape. Seeing her only chance, she fled while clutching the arm of her teenage daughter. Like so many others, they left with nothing but the clothes on their backs. As the two of them fearfully hid in a hotel, Margaret reached out in faith to WAR, Int’l.

Due to generous contributions to our 911 Rescue Fund, WAR, Int’l was able to respond immediately in Margaret’s hour of need, providing food, clothing, and other basic essentials. We also arranged the transportation that reunited Margaret and her daughter with their family in another city, restoring them to a circle of belonging and protection.

Ramona’s Story

Responding to a call from a federal agency, WAR, Int’l took Ramona shopping for an outfit she could wear to court. Despite unimaginable circumstances and lingering hurt, Ramona had resolved to testify against her traffickers.

We often emphasize how important it is to shed light on the realities of human trafficking and bring perpetrators to justice but forget that it requires real human cost. WAR, Int’l leapt into overdrive to surround Ramona and prepare this courageous survivor to be the key witness against a trafficking ring. Ignoring the attention we attracted by shopping under armed guard, we watched Ramona’s countenance transform from fear to confidence!

Touched by our compassion for her, Ramona whispered, “Why do you care for me when you don’t even know me?”

We at WAR, Int’l love that question! The 911 Rescue Fund allows us to respond, inform, and reach into lives with action. It permits us to be the hands and feet of Jesus. We were honored to be a part of Ramona’s story and are so inspired by her resilience.

The Next Story

Because of your generosity, WAR, Int’l is a sanctuary. Together, we partner in the Lord’s work to bestow beauty instead of ashes.

Our 911 Rescue Fund seeks to be the hands and feet of Christ, showing up for survivors in their hour of need. Empowered by your gifts, there is no need to which WAR, Int’l turns a blind eye.

We hide the hunted, clothe the exposed, and nourish the hungry. To those on the run, we provide rest and respite. The hurting are set on a path to healing and the homeless are embraced. Each woman, man, and child is welcomed and grafted into the WAR family.

Behind each of these initiatives is a story of a survivor who was earnestly pursued and wrapped in compassion.

Your generosity will write the next story. Your Giving Tuesday gift will embolden us to continue to intervene, bringing precious survivors out of darkness and into marvelous light.

Give online here.

Send a check to:
Women At Risk, International
2790 44th St. SW
Wyoming, MI 49519.

(If you write a check, please be sure to note on the memo line that it is for our Giving Tuesday campaign.)

Dear Survivor


(inspired by two survivors stories she heard)

Author: Liz, a survivor

Liz is a survivor of human sex trafficking. She was groomed and trafficked by a fake boyfriend in her teens. Thankfully, she escaped and is now married to a wonderful man, and they have 2 young boys.

To the survivor who feels all alone, to the survivor who wasn’t welcomed back home,

To the survivor who was told she was lying, to the survivor who was criticized for not crying,

To the survivor who didn’t have a place to stay, to the survivor who was turned away,

To the survivor who told someone they thought they could trust, to the survivor who was returned in nothing but disgust,

To the survivor who feels broken, and stolen and used, to the survivor who feels bruised and abused,

There are more like you, you are not alone, and if you need a place to stay you can come to my home,

I wont turn you away I wont look on you with shame, I will welcome you in for we are the same,

Our scars may be different but they all bleed red, so dont let that stop you just rest your weary head,

For the things they told you were myths and a lie, and at the foot of my doorstep is where those labels die,

So to the survivor who has needed a friend and a place, look to my face and know with me you are safe.

MORE THAN A NECKLACE

IT IS MORE THAN A NECKLACE
From one mother to another this means WAR

Author: Liz, a survivor

Liz is a survivor of human sex trafficking. She was groomed and trafficked by a fake boyfriend in her teens. Thankfully, she escaped and is now married to a wonderful man, and they have 2 young boys.

It’s more than just a necklace…

Far more than the twirls and pearls that cascade down your neck.

The meaning is much deeper than the colors that hover for it was made from the love of a mother.

The wire that twists round your wrist was once designed by someone who only knew a fist. Now free with the help of “Women At Risk.”

Much heavier than the chain that they braid the memories of the pain, of their mental chains that were broken the day they were offered a way out of the insane.

To be invisible as small as a bead, she now threads those beads and has rescued her family and now they are all seen!

The writing of the stories that are gut-wrenching to hear, but with each written page it offers them generational change.

It’s more than just a necklace, it’s more than just a chain, it holds a soul and a lifetime of pain, it holds a story, it holds a hand of a child who was once forgotten and not able to stand.

Substance to the product made from sweat and tears, your purchase starts to heal the hurt they’ve felt for years.

It’s more than just “some jewelry” bought for feel-good gain, the once lost and abandoned heart will smile now once again.

Call to action ~ shop to rescue and empower at the WAR Chest Boutique here.

2023 – By The Numbers

By Becky McDonald, Founder & President
-January 2024

2023 IN REVIEW

Dear WARriors:

WHAT A YEAR THIS HAS BEEN! It’s been a wild ride in many ways, yet I see God’s hand in every detail. We have a God who loves to concern himself with both big and small things.

• It took a year to recover from what we call “Noah’s Flood” at our HQ, but our building is finally put back together. Given a choice, I would never put a bathroom on the 2nd floor!

• As the fighting in Ukraine continues, we quietly continue to rescue women and children into Moldova and provide thousands of loaves of bread to the Ukrainian front lines.

• In India, orphans who are blind started learning lifelong skills and making state-of-the-art baked goods. We’d never have dreamed that possible, but our partner’s wife sure did!

• We’ve spent months in Africa setting up the Dayspring Ministry Center, and the women’s ministry potential is mind-boggling! I cherish the 10 women already working there and the leadership team who dare to dream with me.

• In Zambia, we’ve seen almost two dozen foundations poured and most of the building completed. The clinic is slowly coming together as God brings in the funds. I can’t wait to take medical teams to address the many unmet needs, many of them so easy to deal with yet so vital to wellness.

• In answer to prayer, a fire at the Dayspring Ministry Center stopped short of the main property. It reminds us that we are totally dependent on the protection of God himself.

• We led anti-trafficking trainings in medical, military, university, industry, and faith-based settings.

• We witnessed rescues resulting from anti-trafficking trainings, survivors telling their stories, 911 Rescue calls, and WAR programs. It pours steel in our backbone to witness lives set free!

• We’ve created new products, trained more women to live with dignity, seen their beautiful products delight the buyer, and had corporations ask how they can help.

• We’ve seen America slowly awaken to the reality of human trafficking as a worldwide problem. It’s our goal to teach them how to respond to the largest danger facing our children today.

• We are witnessing a moving among men to rise up and be protectors.

• We willingly serve as we are increasingly invited to share and encourage audiences to join our work.

• WAR, Int’l has felt a deep joy in the hard work of rescue and aftercare. Our staff continue to faithfully invade the darkness and diligently work behind the scenes to set captives free.

• YOU have had our backs, been our own circle of protection, and made all we do a reality! We couldn’t have done our job without YOU!

In partnership with you,
Rebecca McDonald
Founder & President

The Love of a Father

Title: The Love of a Father: My Calling for a Higher Purpose
Date: June 2024
Author: Noah

This Father’s Day I can’t help but feel undeserving. I have a father who loves and cares for me unconditionally. No matter what I look like, no matter where I am, no matter how I act—he loves me. This love is the kind of expression that makes me feel as if it has not been earned. But the reality is, true love never has to be earned. True love always has to be shared. These are the conditions instilled in me by my father who I try to emulate with every breath I take. I interpret the love shown to me as a contractual obligation, as my father expects me to give what I get. On my own terms, I have opted in. Unconditional love is the condition of my perspective, and it leads me to care deeply about those who are robbed of the love they deserve.

I am a Christian. I am a man. My father is a man too. He is a righteous man. He is a just man. And he is a man, like me, who is the son of a woman. The heaviness felt in my heart understanding that one in six women in America alone have been victims of an attempted or completed sexual assault is indescribable. That is just what is reported. I have heard more women tell me stories of being sexually compromised to varying degrees of trauma than I have not. It is almost always a man who commits these heinous acts. Statistically, 99% of the time, it is a man. To undermine women on the basis of their biology is to undermine God on the basis of His humanity. To ignore the cries for help is to ignore His will. They are not crying wolf. The wolf is in the room with them. You just don’t want to see it. Facts don’t lie.

Underrepresented and historically ostracized communities face an insurmountable challenge worldwide, a challenge that remains undefeated in the face of masculine pride and societal ego. Our widely-taught world history of male dominance has constructed a culture that is afraid to trust the stories of those who disrupt the established narrative. People are given passes for humanitarian evils based on identity and accolades alone. The narrative that encourages patriarchal exploitation in our communities is the same narrative that breeds degenerate ideologies reducing women to nothing more than possession and object, product and property. This story needs to change.

This is why I chose to help Women at Risk, International (WAR, Int’l) in their mission to create circles of protection around those at risk. My perspective fosters a deeper understanding of the traditional masculine culture that directly and indirectly influences the diminishment of women’s voices every day. For me, the desire to support WAR, Int’l stems from a divine sense of responsibility—a responsibility not only to those directly affected by the injustices of this world but also to future generations bound to the trauma of those before them. Like a father to the fatherless, I am compelled to stand in the gap, to advocate for those who cannot safely advocate for themselves, and to ensure that every individual, regardless of circumstance, is afforded the opportunity to be loved.

My relationship with my father is a reflection of our shared humanity, our interconnectedness, and our inherent dignity as creations of a higher power. Though not always explicit, there is an undeniable spiritual component to our work—a recognition that we are called to be stewards of justice and compassion, and to embody the values of empathy and solidarity in all that we do.

Supporting WAR, Int’l is deeply intertwined with my walk in faith and my understanding of fatherhood—a concept that transcends mere biological relation and encompasses a broader, more encompassing sense of responsibility. Like the Father I put my faith in, I am compelled to stand as a pillar of strength, to provide guidance and support to those who have been left to navigate the complexities of life on their own.

This sense of paternal duty is not driven by obligation but by a deep-seated empathy that reveals the profound impact that a father figure can have on the life of a child, and the lasting scars that can result from its absence. It is a calling that beckons me to step forward, to fill the void left by abandonment and neglect, and to become a steadfast ally in the journey towards healing and restoration. My Father has shown me the power of grace, sacrifice, humility, and forgiveness. I intend to mirror these teachings in order to bring refuge to those who need it.

Moreover, my involvement with WAR, Int’l is not confined to geographical boundaries or cultural divides. It is a global movement, a chorus of voices united in pursuit of a common goal: a world where every individual is valued, respected, and empowered to reach their full potential. Knowing that my small contributions to WAR, Int’l have a global impact on those at risk gives me hope that others will walk with me on this journey to enlightenment.

In this sense, my support for WAR, Int’l is not merely an obligation—it is a blessing. It is a privilege to be part of something greater than myself and to contribute to a legacy of hope and resilience that transcends generations. It is a privilege to bear witness to the transformative power of compassion and solidarity and to see firsthand the profound impact that a single act of kindness can have on the trajectory of a life.

In supporting WAR, Int’l, I embrace the role of a father to the fatherless, recognizing that my actions have the power to shape the destinies of those in need. Whether I speak of my own relationships, advocate for economic empowerment initiatives, or simply offer a listening ear and a compassionate heart, every act of support is a testament to my commitment to nurturing and protecting the most vulnerable among us.

My role as a father to the fatherless extends beyond mere material assistance; it is a spiritual commitment to the well-being and flourishing of people struggling to use their voices. It is a commitment to instill a sense of belonging and worth, cultivate resilience and self-confidence, and empower those I serve to realize their full potential.

Join our mission:
1) Get invloved by taking action
2) Get trained by attending a CFR Training Conference
3) #ShopToResuce by hosting a Pop-Up Boutique