Gazelle Girl 2017

Sunday, April 23rd

Walk, run, or strut with #teamwar in the annual Gazelle Girl run as we strive to raise $50k for our Rescue 911 fund!

The theme is “Our Sweat for their Tears.” We run to raise awareness and to support men, women, and children trapped in the bonds of exploitation around the world.

There will be three options for this race: a 5K, 10K, & half-marathon. Prizes will be given to those raising over $100, $250, $500, & $1000 in sponsorships. Check out our fabulous prizes below!

 
gifts
 
To get started, follow these two simple steps:

  1. Sign up for Gazelle Girl by following this link and using code: GGWARTEAM17 to receive $5 off registration.
  2. Join our free Team WAR page by following this link. All you have to do is join our team and set up your fundraising page.

Don’t live in the Greater Grand Rapids Area? You can still run in a race near you that weekend and raise money for Rescue 911! You can also create your own race that weekend. If you will be participating in a race outside of Gazelle Girl, skip step 1 and go straight to step 2.

We will be with you every step of the way as you raise funds and train for this awesome race! Call us at 616-855-0796 if you have any questions.

Make sure to like our Facebook page by clicking here.

Weathering the Storm

An Update on Our Partners in Haiti

Hurricane Matthew has destroyed what many people have fought to build.

For more than four days, Matthew ripped through coastal areas along the North Atlantic Ocean, sustaining winds of over 130 miles per hour. According to the United Nations, the devastation wreaked by the storm left hundreds dead, thousands displaced, and more than 1.4 million people in need of urgent aid. The hardest-hit area was Haiti, with over 800 people killed and outbreaks of cholera threatening to push the death toll even higher.

Many survivors in these ravaged Haitian communities have lost everything they own—again. In a struggling economy still suffering from the destruction of the 2010 earthquake that killed more than 200,000 people, countless women have already made terrible sacrifices to survive. These sacrifices include working in inhumane conditions, giving up children to orphanages, and even selling themselves to provide for their families.

At Women at Risk, International, we understand the hard choices that Haitian women face, and we work to make sure they know they’re not alone. We do this through partnerships with three Haitian charities, helping them to empower the wounded and at-risk in this impoverished island nation. When disaster strikes, we reach out across the world with promises of hope and circles of protection. Here’s an update on how our Haitian partners are faring in the aftermath of Hurricane Matthew.

Our partnering safehouse weathered the storm with all residents and staff safe and facilities undamaged. However, others in their neighborhood were not so fortunate. This includes many of the thirty-five women enrolled in the safehouse’s new community outreach, an educational and vocational training program set to launch this month. Most of these women and their families have lost the majority of their personal belongings. The safehouse is collecting donations to put together hygiene kits for these women and others affected by the hurricane. The safehouse hopes that by covering these basic needs, they can encourage and empower both the women and the communities they serve.

The eighty-one children housed in our partnering orphanage are safe, as the orphanage also escaped destruction. A mountain shielded most of the town from the full force of the winds, but the orphanage still experienced a three-day power outage, and some of its thirty-seven employees lost their homes. The orphanage is gearing up to house and serve additional children in the face of this national crisis.

All facilities at a partnering micro-enterprise program remain intact. The program’s local school may have taken on some flooding, but the building itself is still standing. Workers are currently providing hot meals for the displaced. They are also assessing property damage as locals struggle to live without walls or a roof to keep them safe.

Here in the United States, several of our partners were in or near the path of the hurricane. Matthew passed over most of them without invoking serious damage. One of our partnering safehouses, however, is experiencing significant flooding; workers have already started planning on how to best restore the properties.

In the aftermath of Hurricane Matthew, WAR, Int’l encourages you to join us in supporting these programs. Pray for the people of Haiti, that they will recover from this devastating storm. Pray for our international partners, that they can reach the women and children who need their help. Finally, pray for our domestic partners, especially for the flooded safehouses, that God would continue to provide for them and their ministries.

Wonderful News

Wonderful News

An Update from the President

July, 2016

Wonderful news! Sweetie has been picked up by her nation’s version of Child Protective Services and transferred from the madam’s house to a government home! I do not want to go into too many details right now for security reasons. I’ve been at this long enough to know that even while rejoicing in the baby steps forward, I have to brace myself (and you) for possible steps backwards.

A Summer Camp That Could Change Lives

By Bethany Winkel, WAR, Int’l Staff Writer

A bewildered teen, having recently aged out of the orphanage that had been her home, steps off the bus and is approached by a friendly middle-aged woman offering help. Another young woman, seeking respite from the abuse that darkens her home life, falls for the smooth-talking pitch of a man promising a way out. Yet another ventures into the city looking for work and is lured by an irresistible offer of a good job at a high-end hotel abroad.

Seizing what she believes is an opportunity to better herself, each of these young women chases a promise to an overseas destination, unaware that she is walking into the hands of traffickers. By the time she realizes she has been scammed, it is too late—those she trusted have turned on her. Alone and without help in a foreign country, she is locked up, beaten, and forced into sexual servitude with little hope of escape.

eastern europe map

These heart-breaking scenarios play out time and again in a small, poverty-stricken Eastern European country, where dire economic conditions, widespread government corruption, and lax trafficking laws have created a hotbed for Middle East and Eastern European trafficking rings. Preying on vulnerable young women desperate for opportunities, traffickers lure them across borders with promises of jobs and better lives.

“Rebecca,” our partner in a neighboring country, has seen far too many of these girls trafficked into her own region and has begun working diligently to stop the tide. Risking her own safety, she has made multiple trips to this nation, seeking to educate young women about trafficking risks. Traveling to schools, group homes, and orphanages, Rebecca educates her teen audiences on the lures commonly used by traffickers in their country and shares the trafficking stories of girls from her own program.

Being present at the trafficking prevention programs may very well have made the difference between their continuing freedom and a future as sex slaves.

The impact on the girls who listen to the presentations has been tremendous. Some have been aware of the presence of traffickers but have not taken the danger seriously. Some have had sisters and friends accept overseas job offers and have never heard from them again. Several have been literally on the verge of accepting overseas job offers, only to realize during the presentation that these offers were really trafficking scams. For these girls, being present at the trafficking prevention programs may very well have made the difference between their continuing freedom and a future as sex slaves.

Having seen the effect of her educational outreaches, Rebecca wants to carry the message to even more young people. With this end in mind, she has arranged a one-week camp this summer for at-risk teens, with the dual goals of providing an enjoyable week of fun and equipping them with tools to avoid trafficking snares.

Along with arranging for group homes and orphanages to send their teens to the camp, Rebecca has also issued invitations to families in rural villages. She and her small army of volunteers are expecting 150 campers! For many of these teens, it will be their first and only exposure to trafficking prevention information. Rebecca and the rest of the camp team are excited for the opportunity to positively influence so many lives with this crucial message.

PJ Day Photo

To help raise money to send girls to the camp, WAR, Int’l held a pajama day for employees at Headquarters. Staff paid for the privilege of wearing pj pants, slippers, or both, with all payments and donations going to support this good cause!

While trafficking awareness will be a primary component, the camp will not be all doom and gloom. As with summer camps everywhere, campers will enjoy activities such as arts and crafts, swimming, and games. They’ll get a chance to learn dance, music, and sewing, along with brushing up on their English skills. Most importantly, they will experience worship and learn about the God who loves them and cares about their futures.

For these teens, growing up in one of Europe’s poorest nations, a week of enrichment and activities like this is a rare treat. For many, it will be their best week of the year; for some, it may be the most important week of their lives.

Rebecca’s passion for the girls of this country cannot change the country’s economic and political conditions, nor can it change the unfortunate situations in which many of them live. However, her efforts and the efforts of her supporters can make a tremendous difference to their present and future well-being. It is her hope and prayer that the camp will not only be a wonderful respite for these campers but will also change the course of their futures by giving them tools to ensure their continued freedom and safety.

For many, it will be their best week of the year; for some, it may be the most important week of their lives.

WAR, Int’l is pleased to partner with Rebecca in this endeavor and has agreed to sponsor a number of girls to attend the camp. If you would like to be a part of this outreach and make a lasting impact on these teens, we welcome donations of any amount.

Afterword – Fall 2018: The first camp was a great success, as were the second (held in 2017) and third (held this past summer). Rebecca is now preparing for the fourth annual camp, to be held during the summer of 2019. WAR, Int’l has sponsored campers each year and is collecting donations now for next year’s camp sponsorships. Please consider partnering with us to help more teens experience this life-changing camp!

Note – Because of the situation in this country, we practice a high degree of confidentiality with this partner. For the safety of our partners and those they serve, we have chosen not to reveal the country where the camp will take place.

Lakshmi

In light of some new information that has recently come our way, we have made corrections and updates to this story.

From the Heart of Our President:

lakshmi-1

Several years ago in India, I met a Nepali girl named Lakshmi. I was speaking to the leaders of her safehouse, reinforcing their brilliant and powerful dream of lifting tiny lives to dignity and wholeness, urging them to persist against incredible odds. They dreamed big for their land. Lakshmi was their first rescue from sexual slavery. She cowered in the corner, twitching and acting out bizarre behavior while I spoke. Having grown up in that culture, I knew their world, and I watched her from the corner of my eye. When I looked away from her, she stopped twitching and acted normal and attentive, shaking her head at the appropriate times—obviously understanding even the English—and acting “smart.” When I’d look at her, she’d twitch again. Smart girl! She’d learned that acting weird made customers leave her alone and helped her avoid abuse. When I saw her body language go from dead to alive and alert, I knew there was a thriver hiding in the wreckage. Beneath the brokenness was a very alert mind and a survival instinct.

Sold by a family member, she had been taken from her homeland and trafficked to India. Abused repeatedly in a particularly vicious ceremony, she had a vehement fear of blood. We learned not to speak of “the blood of Christ.” Instead, we talked about the Lamb of God. She was fascinated with a God who loved her, stood in her stead and protected her from wrath. She had only ever known wrath. As she came alive, her relentless drive to share this God of love with others also came alive.

Yet I also saw in her a grieving mommy. Soon after coming to India she had given birth to a son, then was sold to a faraway brothel while he was still quite young and had never seen him again. Though now flourishing, she was desperately lonely for her baby. The day I met her and saw her hollow eyes and broken mommy heart, I took Lakshmi on in my own heart. She knew I saw the mommy in her—something no one else in her life had seen. I bought her all the beads the market held, and we paid her to make baby bracelets in her son’s memory. Though she longed to find him and prayed for him daily, she eventually found peace in knowing that God was taking care of him.

Her longing for her son grew into a deep desire that others come to know the SON. She used to go back to the red light districts to share her testimony of the God Who Changes Lives. After a few years, she decided to visit her family in Nepal to reconnect with them, forgive them, and share the gospel. Her sister chose to believe!

On the day she was to return to India, she did not show up. Her family said she had died in her sleep. We sent a local non-profit to investigate and discovered that the police were also investigating. Her death was fraught with shadows and lies. All we know is this: she arrived in the village, professed that she no longer served a god that dripped blood, and declared the Lamb of God. She ended up dead. My partners grieved and held a memorial service, planting a tree in her memory in their garden.

We later found out that Lakshmi had shared the gospel to the very end of her life. She chose to live the last days of her life sharing Jesus with those who sold her: her own family, whom she chose to forgive. When she knew she was about to die, she sold all her jewelry and used the money to buy samosas and sweets for the village children. The next day, in unspeakable pain, she lay down on her bed and, with her Bible on her chest, passed away into glory.

I carry in my Bible a picture Lakshmi gave me of her dressed as a bride on the day she declared she was now a Daughter of the True and Living God. Safehouse staff had given her a brilliant red wedding sari, wedding makeup, jewelry, and a full party. She was so proud of her status as a Daughter of this God of Refuge. The village spoke of the fact that she would not back down on this God! It makes me wonder what really happened. God knows. Whatever happened, her death was not in vain. Those in her village saw how Lakshmi lived out her life and they, too, wanted to know the One who helped her to forgive. In a neighboring village, known for its traffickers, there had been a dormant church. Because of Lakshmi’s choice to live her last days sharing the gospel, this church is now growing in number, with members actively sharing their faith.

I want a portion of the memorial garden slated for the front and side of our headquarters to be named the Lakshmi Memorial. We have 2000 patio tiles that make up the garden. We will raise $100 dollars per tile to finish the memorial garden in her name: a forever reminder of a Daughter of the King who died trying to tell others of the Lamb of God and the greatest rescue of all.

lakshmi-2The Memorial Garden will have a dozen stations where you can stop, meditate, pray, and reflect on the sorrow and JOY we address as the Family of WAR, Int’l. In honor of Lakshmi’s beloved son, there will be one stop in memory of children ripped from their moms, the Sweeties of life. Your gift will help make this place of healing, reflection, and memory a reality. On a wall at Headquarters, there will be a Tree of Life with the donors’ names on leaves. It is fitting that Lakshmi in Indian lore is always connected to the Lotus flower that grows in muddy water rising to bloom above the darkness. Life began in a Garden (Eden), was restored in a Garden (Gethsemane), and will be returned to a Garden (the Garden City of Heaven).

Donate to Lakshmi’s Memorial Garden