Freedom Friday: A Black Friday Alternative

This Holiday Season, Give the Gift of Freedom

According to the lastest reports, it has been estimated that nearly 30 million men, women, and children are trapped in Modern Day Slavery across the globe. This includes unskilled labor, child explotiation, and sex work.

Beauty From Ashes Ministries is one of the leading organizations right here in the United States that is working to rescue women and young girls who've been bought, sold, sexually exploited, and unable to escape the sex trade.

This January, I have the opportunity to join them in the fight to end Human Trafficking. But in order to do so, I need your help. This year, on Black Friday (Friday, November 29, 2013), I am asking everyone to give $10.

 Your donations will not only be used to raise awareness about Human Traficking issues throughout the world, but it will also enable me to spend a year working with Beauty From Ashes Ministries where I will be able to not only help rescue women and girls, but also walk alongside them through the recovery process.

So, this holiday sean, give the gift of FREEDOM.

How many lives will your $10 save??

Rape Culture: When Women Fall Prey to Victim-Blaming

"You'd think she would've learned her lesson all those years ago when that man raped and nearly killed her."

All those years ago.

I was young. I don't remember how young I was exactly, but I do remember. I remember hearing the news and then seeing her for the first time. I remember her being bruised and battered. I remember the black eye and marks around her neck. I remember that she couldn't talk for weeks because he'd nearly crushed her windpipe in an effort to keep anyone from hearing her screams.

But in all these years, I'd thought that she'd only been beaten. I never knew that she had been raped that night. And I was way too young to ask to even suspect. But yesterday, in the back seat of a Nissan Altima, on my way to celebrate my grandmother's 85th birthday, a deep sadness began to well up in me as well as complete shock from the utter lack of compassion from the other three women in the car.

And at three in the morning, lying in my bed, unable to fall back asleep, I wondered how we ever got here. How we exist in this Rape Culture where victims of rape and sexual assault are held at least partially responsible for being attacked. They are put on trial and questioned about their sexual history, about what they were wearing, what time of night it was, and how much they'd had to drink. And these questions and the answers are used as a means to justify the crime.

And I wondered how so many women had bought into it. But I guess it makes sense. If we as women can find fault in the actions of the woman who was raped, then we are able to build up this false sense of security. It makes us feel safer. More protected, because we would be careful not to be so "naive" or make the same "foolish" and "stupid" mistakes.

But the moment we begin to shift the blame and place fault on the rapist instead of the victim, our wall of protection begins to develop holes. All of a sudden, it doesn't matter if it's broad day light, you're wearing a turtleneck with a skirt that reaches your ankles, and you've never had a drink in your life. None of that matters when we acknowledge that it is NEVER a woman's actions that result in being raped, but instead, it has everything to do with the rapist and the beliefs, ideas, and forces that drive the evil behavior.

I am 24 years old. I am a woman. And one of my biggest, most deeply rooted fears has always been being raped. It's part of the reason why I didn't mind being 350lbs. I used to believe that being 200lbs overweight somehow protected me. That it placed me in the un-rapable category because only really pretty, thin girls got raped and who would ever want me??

But rape isn't about sex or physical attraction. It's about power and control. And excess weight doesn't deter rapists or outweigh their desire to take and dominate. And I've had to remind myself of that as I continue on this journey of getting to a much healthier size. But I will not hide anymore. God created me female. And I want to live my life fully embracing everything He created me to be without living in fear that being a woman makes me a target and puts me at risk.

So, in the words of Andrea Gibson, a very talented spoken word poet, the questions should not be "what are we going to tell our daughters?" but "what are we going to teach our sons?"

Please Note: 1. Women are NOT the only ones who are and have been raped. Men are and have also been the victims of rape. 2. Not all rapists are men. Women are also very capable of rape and have been the perpetrators of such crimes.

New Laptop

As a Hadassah intern with Beauty From Ashes Ministries (BFA), one of my main job descriptions is to raise awareness about domestic sex-trafficking and the role that BFA plays in helping to put an end to it. I do this through social media outlets (i.e. Twitter, Facebook, etc) and writing for the BFA blog.

 

However, in the last two weeks, I have been unable to do so because my laptop of four years died. That said, I am in need of a new one, specifically a macbook so that it will be compatible with the software used at Beauty From Ashes, The cheapest I have found is a refurbished Macbook Air for $850.

 

Because my internship with Beauty From Ashes is a fundraised position and I am unable to afford this on my own, I am seeking donations towards this new laptop as well. If you feel led to give, you have one of two options:

 

For a tax deductible gift, please make a check out to 'Beauty From Ashes Ministries' and be sure to indicate that your donation is for: LaShondra Riddle.

 

All checks should be mailed to: 13300 S. Cleveland Avenue, Suite 56, Fort Myers, FL 33907.

 

To give conveniently online, simply click on the Paypal "Donate" button to the right of this blog and follow instructions.

 

All gifts and donations are highly appreciated!! Thanks you so much!!

 

LaShondra

One For Men who Buy Women

Last week, I made a trip down to the federal prison here in Atlanta. And as I drove onto the premises, a very familiar tug began to take place in my heart and before I knew it, everything in me wanted to be on the inside. To go behind the barbed wire so that I could stand before a group of men and women who are housed there and proclaim that there is freedom to be had. That their freedom has already been bought and paid for. That two thousand years ago, the Son shed His blood so that they could walk free. That they could take hold of that very freedom even while living inside the U.S. Penitentiary.

During my senior year of college, I spent eight months interning at a jail in Boston. On the very first day of my internship, I sat and listened to woman tell me how, at fourteen years old, a drug dealer in her neighborhood raped her with the barrel of a gun before raping her himself. From there, her life began to spin out of control and before she knew it, she found herself on the streets, selling drugs and involved in prostitution. Her story left me unsettled, reminding me of statistics that found that two-thirds of all women behind bars have a history of childhood physical and sexual abuse.

I only spent two days working on the women’s unit. The rest of the eight months was spent working with the men in the re-entry and drug treatment units. And there, my heart broke too. Their stories of abuse, of neglect, of loss, of alcoholic and drug addicted parents left me just as upset. I wanted more for them. And what made me more angry than anything else was the lies that they were believing. They were believing lies about themselves and the world that they live in. And those lies kept them bound and returning to a life of bondage over and over and over again.

Lies that are not much more different than the ones men who buy and sell women for sex believe. They have all been lied to and as a result, we find ourselves living in a world where human trafficking and sex slavery runs rampant. It is not enough to simply rescue the women, children, and lady-boys who are caught and trapped in the sex trade. Instead, sex trafficking has to be fought at both ends.

Why?? It’s basic economics. If the demand no longer exists, there is no need for a supply. If men don’t desire to pay for sex, then women can stop being provided. The problem is that our men are just as bound, just as enslaved, just as much in need of being rescued and having their lives restored and redeemed. And the only thing that can bring that kind of freedom to their lives is the truth of God about who they are and what they were created for.

Truth that says: It will never satisfy. No matter how much money you have or how many women you sleep with, it will never EVER satisfy. Your heart was created for more. And you, too, are worth so much more. You, too, were created for radical, life-altering freedom. You, too, are loved beyond measure. And there is nothing you can do to separate you from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus because Jesus shed His blood for you. You are sons of the King and all of creation is waiting for you to rise up and fight. To take a stand against the lies and schemes of the enemy and say “HELL NO!! You can’t have me and you sure as hell can’t have our daughters.”

I’ll never be on just one side of this issue….or of any issue for that matter. My heart will always break for both the oppressed and the oppressor. The victim and perpetrator. The slave and the master. Because both reside in the heart of our God. And I honestly wouldn’t want to have it any other way. Whether we are talking about the shackles of the oppressor or the chains that drape the oppressed, I want the condition of my heart to be as such: that the suffering of any human being leaves me unsettled and ill at ease to the point that a fight so strong rises up in me to see both set free.

If you would like join me in this fight, I am still looking for a team of people who can commit to giving either a one-time donation or a monthly gift of $25, $50, $100. All donations go towards rescuing women and children from the sex trade through an internship with Beauty From Ashes Ministries. If you feel led to give, simply click on the "donate" button to the right and go from there. Thank you for all of your support!! It was more than appreciated!!
 　

Update, Prayer Requests, and Needs

I first found out about Beauty From Ashes Ministries 5 months ago while I was living right-smack-dab in the middle of the slums in Kenya. There, my team and I learned about the hardships of many of the girls who grew up and lived in Makuru. We were actually living in a rescue home for girls who had been taken out of their own homes due to sexual abuse and violence. After hearing story after story after story about some of the girls that one of the social workers counseled, we decided to put on a Women’s Conference for the girls and young women who lived in Makuru.

As one of the conference’s keynote speakers, I got the opportunity to share my own story of childhood sexual abuse and trauma with the women who showed up that day and talk about how Jesus had transformed my own life and restored me back to a place of emotional and spiritual health. It was one of my favorite days on the World Race and it has become one of favorite ways for God to use me. For Him to take the painful parts of my life and use them to minister to other young girls and women who desperately need to know the love of Christ and believe in the hope of redemption.

That is one of the many reasons why I am eager to begin my internship with Beauty From Ashes Ministries. However, in order to do so, I need several things to be in place before I am able to relocate to Fort Myers, Florida.

Therefore, I would like to invite you to partner with me both through prayer and through financially investing in this next year of my life. In order to intern with Beauty From Ashes Ministries, I need to raise a total of $15,000. This will cover the cost of food, housing, transportation, and ministry expenses throughout the entire year. Your donations would not only provide me with the opportunity to be a part of this ministry and the work that BFA is doing, but it would also serve to help put an end to human trafficking and sex slavery.

If you feel led to give, you can give right here online by clicking the "Paypal Donate" button to the right where you have the option of giving a one-time donation or setting up a monthly-recurring donation.

A second option is to make a check out to “Beauty From Ashes Ministries” indicating that your donation is for LaShondra Riddle. All checks made out to Beauty From Ashes Ministries are tax deductible and should be sent to: Beauty From Ashes Ministries, 13300 S. Cleveland Avenue, Suite 56; Fort Myers, FL 33907

Thank You So Much!! Below is a break down of my financial deadlines and a list of Prayer Requests:

 

Financial Break Down and Deadlines 

•$1250/month (Rent, Utilities, Food, Transportation, Ministry Supplies)

•October 31th - $4000 (This will cover the first 3 months and get me moved to Fort Myers)

•January 31st- $8000 (total raised)

•April 30th- $12,000 (total raised)

•July 31st- $15,000 (total raised)

 

Prayer Requests/Needs

• Housing in Fort Myers/Roommate: Ideally, I would love to be living in Christian community while I'm down there. So yeah, please pray that my roommate(s) would be hand-picked and ordained by God.
• Reliable Transportation/Vehicle to take to Florida
• Church Home and Community while I'm there
• This transition period

 

Women and Nations Inside of Them

One night, while praying on a balcony in Chiang Mai, Thailand, I asked the Lord a question that had been heavy on my heart after touring two Buddhist temples the previous day: What would it take for a country that is 94% Buddhist to be turned upside down on its head? His response: They need to see Christ.

That month, I was working with an organization called Lighthouse in Action, founded by Emmi Khanthana, an incredible woman of God who is dedicated to ending human trafficking in Thailand. That month, I went out to the bars where women and lady-boys were being bought and sold every night. But when I walked into the bars, they didn’t need to see another Christian missionary. They needed to see Christ.

That same night, God brought me to John 12:24, which says, “I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.” I needed to die. I needed to learn what it looked like to really die to myself and instead, have Christ come fully alive in me. To walk in the freedom that He has already given me. The freedom that is already mine. The freedom that was just waiting for me to wake up, grab hold and take possession of it.

Why?? He answered so clearly: “Because there are nations inside of you. There are nations inside of the women in those bars.” And I believe that there are nations inside of the women in the U.S. who are being trafficked every single day in our own back yards. People groups who are waiting for them to encounter God in such a way that propels them to go out and set other captives free.

Not too long after that, the Lord really began to open my eyes to the war that has been raging against women and why the enemy so desperately seeks our destruction. In Genesis 3:14-15, God cursed Satan, saying,

Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and all wild animals! You will crawl on your belly and you will eat dust all the days of your life. And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.

I will put enmity between you and the woman. Enmity is defined as “hostility; the extreme ill will or hatred that exists between enemies.” When God created woman, He gave her the name Eve, which translates to ‘life bearer.’ But since that fateful day in the garden, women have been seen as enemies to the kingdom of darkness and Satan has used every tool in his possession to destroy the very bearers of life because he knows that to destroy a woman is to destroy the nations that the Lord has placed inside of her.

Sex slavery and human trafficking has got to be one of the cruelest and most devastating ploys of the enemy to destroy the life inside of a woman. But here we are, in 2013, with approximately 27 million people enslaved in the Sex Trade. And that doesn't include the men who buy them; the men who are just as bound, just as enslaved, just as much in need of being rescued and having their lives restored and redeemed. We can't afford to sit and do nothing. So in the words of Elie Wiesel, I leave you with this:

There may be times when we are powerless to prevent injustice, but there must never be a time when we fail to protest.

The Heart Behind the Fight

It's been almost 2 months since I returned to the United States after spending a year overseas on a missions trip called The World Race. And it was one of the hardest, most incredible adventures I've ever been on with the Lord. But during the last year, the Lord has taught me so many things.

One of the biggest takeaways for me on the Race, outside of having my identity as a daughter of the King firmly rooted and established in my heart, was that I have a voice that is both powerful and carries authority. And it is coupled with a deep conviction to live out Proverbs 31:8-9: “Open your mouth for the mute, for the rights of all who are destitute. Open your mouth and judge righteously. Defend the rights of the poor and needy.”

Over the last year, the Lord has been calling me out of hiding and calling me out of silence. And I believe that He is calling me to use my voice to fight against oppression and injustice. To open my mouth and speak up for those whose voices have been stripped away. For those who have lost the will to fight for themselves. That is the Lord’s call on my life and I believe that He is calling me to Beauty from Ashes Ministries to begin living that out.
 
Before this year, I’d never really had a heart for women. In fact, after spending four years attending a women’s college, I was quite sick of hearing people talk about women’s right and fighting against women’s oppression. But during this past year, the Lord began to break my heart for women, specifically those trapped in the sex industry and the sex trade.

While in the Philippines, I got the opportunity and distinct privilege of working with a ministry called Wipe Every Tear. While there, I lived with women who had been bought, sold, and forced into the sex trade. Women who had been betrayed by the very people who were supposed to love, care for, and protect them. I met girls on the street who looked like they had barely hit puberty. 12 and 13-year olds who climbed into cars with grown men who took them to God knows where for the night.

And my heart broke. And it still breaks. Because they are worth SO. MUCH. MORE. They were created for more. They were designed for more. They were made for freedom. Radical, life-altering, liberating freedom. The kind of freedom that sets others free. And more than anything, I desire for their hearts to be set free.

That is my desire for my own heart as well and what I hope to acquire by interning at BFA. My desire is to spend another year being discipled and working in an environment where the truth about my worth and my value will continue to be ingrained in my own heart and where I will be pushed to deeper levels of freedom in Christ.

In doing so, my prayer is that the Lord would use me, my story, and my voice to pour into the lives of the women I get to meet over the next year and that they would encounter the God of the universe who desperately longs to fulfill the promises of Isaiah 61 in their lives.

If you would like to be a part of this journey and join in on the fight to rescue women from the sex trade, please check out My Campaign and pray about what God would have your role to be.