Run Toward Justice 5k for Created

During Justice Week, FIGHT put on a 5k to benefit Created. All of the proceeds from the Run Toward Justice 5k went to benefit our ladies with Created! Thanks FIGHT!

Oasis from a volunteer's point of view

*Please do not share this post, especially on social media-Thank you!

One of our women worshiping on her knees

Singing and praising God

Singing and praising God

Our Oasis last night with the women was extremely powerful!

I want to share with you a blog post from one of our volunteers who was attending Oasis for the first time. I could not have described last night any better.

My First Oasis

 MARIA CIRILLO

The dictionary defines an oasis as “a fertile spot in a desert where water is found.” Oasis is Created’s dinner and time of worship and Bible study with vulnerable women we have formed relationships. I can’t think of a more fitting name: the living water of Jesus is present at Oasis, creating fertile ground for us to take refuge in.

It was my first time attending and I was slightly nervous and didn’t know what to expect. I’ve been on outreaches before but this would be different: much more one-on-one, a longer time period, intimate conversation. How would I react? What would I talk to them about? What would it be like?

Once again, the Lord opened my eyes and blew away all my expectations. The first thing I noticed was that it wasn’t awkward at all. It wasn’t like the ladies were thinking “oh here’s this new girl who’s part of the team ministering to us.” They simply welcomed me with open arms as a new friend. And I realized that I had been harboring a lot of fear and if I’m totally honest, preconceived judgments. I had an idea in my head of what these women would be like and I was completely wrong. They’re not just “women who were in bad situations,” they’re my sisters in Christ. They were no different than any other person I’ve ever met. It was like getting to know anyone else except they were totally open and honest with each other and the Lord. It was refreshing. Once I gave everything to the Lord and saw who they really are, the presence in the room changed.

Each one of my sisters filled me with such joy and showed me a new aspect of Jesus. The Created team showed me leadership and humility. The ladies that we serve showed me something I don’t think I’ve ever seen before: a total devotion to and awe of Jesus. Watching them worship God and hearing their thoughts and desire to know the Father more deeply was inspiring. I was amazed at their reverence and love of the Lord despite where they’ve come from. I could see the grace of God and the Holy Spirit in each of them uniquely.

I’m so thankful for God bringing this ministry into my life because I know that I’m learning more from them than I think they’ll ever learn from me.

“Praise the Lord, my soul, and forget not all his benefits-who forgives all your sins and heals all your disesases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.”- Psalm 103:2-5

Women's event at CCC for Created

Such a wonderful evening of fellowship and putting together gifts and hand-making cards for the women we (Created) minister to on club outreach.Thank you so much ladies!

Big changes happening!

Over the course of the last couple of months’ doors have started closing for me on Bulgaria. Being completely confused, I prayed and meditated on what was happening, asking God to open the doors back up to me again. I continued support raising, but I felt in my heart that something was off, changing, and l prayed HARD, asking God for clarity. As you know, I have been working with Created, a local anti-trafficking organization, for the last year. In October (when I stopped working at ReQuest) I increased my involvement with Created to which God has been breaking my heart for the women of Gainesville: on the streets, in the strip clubs, and in the prison. I've been building relationships with these women and mentoring them. It has become crystal clear to me in the last couple of weeks that God has been preparing me all along for this ministry here in my backyard. I have been asked to come on staff with Created full time as their co-director and I would be running their residential program, heading the counseling for the women while they are in the house, and starting an educational prison ministry to teach the women what abuse/trafficking looks like and how to avoid it and/or get out of it. After a lot of prayer, I have decided to take this position and stay here in Gainesville. This was a very difficult and bittersweet decision because I really love the MTW organization and have learned so much from them; on the other hand, this has also been an easy decision because I truly feel as though God has called me to work with Created. I want you to know that I have not taken this decision lightly, nor have I figured this out alone. I have reached out to close friends, my pastor, a counselor, and my mentor, all for advice on this situation; however, I truly heard the answer clearly from God. That being said, Created, is a Christian organization and I still need financial support. By the end of the week, your support with MTW will be stopped, you do not need to do anything on your part with MTW. However, I would love for you to remain on my team, fighting against human trafficking. I hope that you are still willing to support my ministry with Created, and I will send you the link to begin your giving with them. I want you to know that my biggest fear through this is that I will be letting down and/or disappointing you all as my supporters. Please know that my heart is passionate about helping these women who are hurting and being abused, and I pray that you will join me on this new adventure. I am EXTREMELY excited about it and I know God has big things in store for Created! If you want to learn more about my involvement with Created, I am more than happy to meet with you. Also, this Thursday, February 4th at 7pm, Christ Community Church in Gainesville will be hosting a women’s event to support Created by making gift bags and writing letters of encouragement to the women we serve. I will be speaking at this event about Created and I would love to have you there if you are able!

We call ya'll the church ladies

Last night we went on club outreach. The first thing we noticed as we pulled into the parking lot was that it was packed...much busier than the usual Wednesday night crowd. We mentioned this to the manager as we entered the building and he said there was a "back up" on the highway (which I later found out was a massive car accident with a fatality and several others in critical condition causing GHP to close down all lanes NB and SB) causing truckers and others to pull off the highway. What made me extremely sad was that the unfortunate incident and worst day of someone's life was pushing people to go to a strip club to avoid waiting in traffic rather than taking an alternate route as many others did. Prayers to the people involved in the accident and their families.

We prayed before going inside that we would be able to have any time with the girls at all since it was so busy. It was a different attitude as we walked in tonight, all the tables were full of men and they stared at us confused as we made our way past the stage, past the bar, all the way to the dressing room. We usually don't make eye contact with anyone as we walk to the back but one man caught my eye and he looked away ashamed as soon as we locked eyes; it was as if he felt convicted immediately. I hope this sticks with this man and he thinks twice before he enters into a club again.

We walked into the dressing room, which like I said before is the size of a closet, There was one girl in there that I had never met before, but she knew my team leader and was instantly excited to see us. She has been "working" in other clubs and had not been there in a while. She said, "I was just talking about ya'll this morning! I was sayin' I hadn't seen the church ladies in a while. We call ya'll the church ladies." She laughs and says how much she loves seeing us and that there weren't any "church ladies" at the other clubs she worked in. We talked to her for quite a while which was very encouraging. 

Another girl came running into the dressing room while we were there saying she was on stage when we got there, but she just had to come talk to us. She was a girl we had not met before because she said was never there at the same time we were, but she had heard about us and received some of the gifts we had left in the past. She wanted to hug us and tell us how much she appreciated us coming and that us reaching out made her feel as though she was cared for and that God must love her. She ran out as quickly as she came in so we didn't get to have an in depth conversation with her, but we pray that we will be able to in the future. 

Last we had another girl come in to the dressing room saying that she also had just been talking about us earlier in the week with another girl from the club. We are so glad that we are causing chatter between the girls and provoking conversation that we hope is God filled. Please continue to pray for these girls as they are all on different journeys. 

First Street Outreach with Created

Friday night...time creeped on...9pm, 9:30pm, 9:45pm...I was getting tired and we weren't meeting to go on outreach until 10:30pm. I decided to take a quick nap, woke up and dragged myself out of bed (would have been easy to stay cuddled with my puppy) at 10:15pm, made myself some coffee and left to meet our 5 person team to go out to the streets. Thank God I didn't miss going on outreach.

Our 5 person team included 2 males-one driving, the other in the front passenger seat, and 3 females (myself and 2 others) to get out and talk to the women on the streets. Our driver is new to Gainesville and so he did not know the area very well; we used this as a way of just allowing the Holy Spirit to guide us and take us wherever He wanted us to go...and He definitely did!

We weren't driving around more than 15 minutes or so before we came across a woman, P, walking back and forth along a sidewalk in front of a homeless shelter. Our team leader recognized her right away as we got out of the car and approached her. She was being trafficked by her pimp in that area about a year ago before she disappeared. Per our team leader, the streets have been extremely rough on her: she looks about 10 years older, has no teeth, and has lost most of her hair. She seemed extremely jumpy and kept looking over her shoulder. She was really surprised that our leader remembered her and she said she was going to give away the food that we gave her to the "others" along with the toiletries. We asked what we could pray about for her and she only gave us a one word response, "safety."

The second person we came across was waving at our male drivers so we knew that she was "working" so we pulled over to talk to her. As we approached her and tried to talk to her it was apparent that she was a male dressed as a female prostitute. S/he did not want to talk to us, refused our gift bag, shook her head and walked away. We prayed for her/him.

At this point it is getting close to midnight and we drove down a new, and busier street. We witness a man yelling at and hitting a woman on the street corner. We slow down and turn down the street where she is being attacked. We weren't sure if the man was her pimp, or a john hurting her so we kept our distance at first. The man eventually crosses the street and walks away leaving the woman, T, crumpled on the ground crying as we approach her. It turns out that the man was her husband and her pimp. She was so sad and confused as to why her husband thought it was okay to sell her to other men for money. She said that she is tired and doesn't want to do that anymore and that she doesn't want her husband to "rape" her any more either. She said she knew that just because they were married, if she said no, then it was rape. She also told us that she used to have a job at Subway and was going to school before she met this man. We ended up taking her with us and drove her to a safe place where she could sleep for the night, as she was homeless. In the car, I was able to counsel her a bit about what abuse is and that she needed to stay away from her husband who was also her pimp. We were able to share the love of Christ with her by letting her know that God led us to her and that He wants her to be safe and healthy because He loves her. We pray that T is strong enough and able to stay away from her abuser in order to stay safe. We gave her our contact information and we also pray that she reaches out to us for further help. She was extremely grateful for our help in getting her to safety and the gift bag that she received full of food and toiletries.

We finished out the night by going to the homeless section of town to see if there was any activity going on there. It was pretty quiet.

One thing I realize is that NONE of us are immune from evil. The women we met on the street could be me, you, your sister, mother, daughter, or friend. In the economy we live in, we could all easily be one paycheck from living on the streets and getting trapped by a trafficker/abuser/pimp. I am thankful to God for where I am today and that I have the ability to help and counsel these women who are less fortunate than me.

What's a Hero?

First United Methodist Church of Clermont asked me to be a part of their preschool children's "Heroes Program" as an adopted hero. 

"Each class is going to adopt a hero (policeman, fireman, military personnel, missionary etc) for the entire school year. Throughout the year they will send their hero a note of encouragement, craft project etc. to help share the love of Jesus and show their gratitude to you. Our goal is for the students to learn what it means to be a disciple, to share the love and Word of God, what it means to be a real hero, and the importance of gratitude."

I feel so honored to be asked to be a part of this program and share what it means to be a missionary and a warrior for Christ. This is such a neat opportunity and I am excited that missionaries are thought of in this way.

This invitation really got me thinking about what being a hero actually means. I looked up the definition and this is what I got:

he·ro

noun

1. 1.

   a person, typically a man, who is admired or idealized for courage, outstanding achievements, or noble qualities.
2. 2.

   another term for submarine sandwich.

Sooooo....I don't feel as though I fit any of those descriptions (especially the "typically a man" or being a "sandwich" heehee). So, I looked into what the Bible says about heroes...

“Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God." Matthew 5:5-9

When a person is acting as a hero, they are doing what God called them to do and has allowed them the opportunity to achieve because of Him.

I realize that just as in Philippians, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. God gives me my courage, my achievements are for His glory, and any noble qualities I possess are not of my doing. I am human and a broken person that has answered the call to follow Christ to which I have been given the title, hero.

What I know is that Jesus Christ is my hero. He is the only one who has never made a mistake, lived a sinless life, lived without fear, never possessed selfish anger, was not prideful, could not be outsmarted, loved everyone, both God and man, and He died for my sins. THAT is what a true hero is and does.