Friday night I was blessed with the opportunity to share a table with The Mission at Serenity Ranch at the Kingwood United Methodist concert event to raise awareness on human trafficking.
Cheryl, the founder of Serenity Ranch, which is in the process of building ‘My Daughter’s House’ a safe house for survivors that will aid in the restoration and rehabilitation of survivors, called me earlier in the week and insisted I join her.
What a gift this was to Hopeful Hearts as I made so many more connections and hope to work with them in 2013. One special connection was with a husband and wife team that had the table right next to ours. They work for Traffick 911 and are the ‘parents’ of a safe house. As the concert carried on it felt as if the rest of us were hosting our own personal survivor forum.
What a validation to speak with another couple that has endured a similar journey as Neal and I. She too struggled with accepting her husband’s love and found herself sabotaging the relationship, pushing him away and practically begging him to find someone else ‘normal’. He refused even though she nearly succeeded in convincing him she would never come around he said God reminded him the vow he made to her was unbreakable. So he told her he would fight for her even when she wouldn’t fit for herself.
He didn’t give up because God wasn’t going to give up. It wasn’t easy but they soon found themselves equally yoked in faith and on the same page which eventually led them to this ministry of saving young women from a life of hell.
I also took the opportunity to promote the latest project Hopeful Hearts is doing and that is to raise funds for the cast of the Hopeful Hearts Logo to be made into sterling silver charms. The charms will be given to survivors of abuse as a symbol of their strength, worth and hope for a brighter tomorrow. Simply reading about this project brought forward three survivors of abuse that night. The idea that we can have a symbol of our strength to wear, and as one of the survivors pointed out, to recognize on someone else offers the gift of solidarity.
The Hopeful Hearts Logo has a great meaning:
3 HEARTS LOGO:
Each heart is made up of an upside down M and a V.
3 M’s = 3 Examples of Strong Women Survivors
Mary (Mother of God)
Mary Magdalene
Maria Goretti
A SURVIVOR = 3 V’S
Value
Veneration
Victory
If you are interested in helping to support this new project please make your donation here:
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Blessings
Shannon