Our newest Resident Advisor Meghan Cross and and newest Intern Casey Bishop serving today at the Texas Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church.

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I first became vaguely aware of human trafficking through the movie Taken. I remember with the movie Taken, I didn’t pay much attention to trafficking as an issue. It was simply part of the plot, just another awful thing terrorist people will do. Then I saw a documentary clip I watched of young boys being sold by their parents in Asia somewhere. The young boys would be wandering the streets going up to people in cars, being solicited and soliciting for jobs. THAT was horrifying. I was blown away. No vague impression there. I felt terrible. Even today, remembering that clip, I feel terrible for those kids and pray that God will have rescued them. I remember with that clip hearing that many of the customers are American men. That infuriated me. We were possibly talking about men that would mix in “civilized” circles back at home, members of “good society,” who would then go on to be utter monsters and beasts elsewhere. It ticked me off so much, and I wished someone would get a hold of these men and drag them into the light so they could see their deeds for what they truly were.

Later, I read a book about a former drug addict turned evangelist who talked about going to Thailand on a mission trip and she came across a ministry called Rahab’s Corner or something like that. What it was was a beauty salon right smack-dab in the middle of the red-light district used a headquarters of Christian ministry. The prostitutes would come into the salon, and it was this peaceful oasis of loving Christian women who would do all the typical salon things but then they would talk to them of Christ and have Bible studies with them and pray with them, etc.. I thought that was just amazing! To open an oasis of Christ’s love right smack-dab in the middle of a place of such perversity and abuse. On that same trip, they talked of ministering to an orphanage of children also caught in the whole web of despair from human trafficking. I used to think, wow, I’d like to get involved and help, but I don’t know how I could with Cambodia and Thailand and places like that so far away.

Then about a year ago, I went to a Christian concert and saw a booth for Redeemed Ministries. They had flyers. As the year went by, I started researching Redeemed Ministries as well as other local ministries dealing with human trafficking. This February, I went to an Aftercare Training from Redeemed, as well as watching some Netflix documentaries and reading some recommended books. First, I could not believe that the US was such a hotbed of trafficking, and then I was shocked that Houston was such a major spot of human trafficking! I could not believe that while I was thinking of places like Cambodia and Thailand, it was going on right next door! When the Aftercare Orientation started talking about FM 1960 and massage parlors in strip malls, I could visualize exactly what they were talking about. When I watched a news documentary, and they mentioned Craigslist, I went online and saw a lot of red flags that I had learned about in Aftercare Training right there bold as you can please on Craigslist.  I couldn’t believe it. It made me angry. It made me want to search all those places down and report them. I also told everyone I knew and started posting things on Facebook and sharing videos and sites.

I learned a lot of things in my research and in my reading books and watching documentaries:

*I read this quote: “Houston has a huge commercial sex industry and there’s some quotes that say that there’s more SOBs, which is sexually-oriented businesses, in Houston per square mile than there are in Las Vegas.”

*I learned that many immigrants are preyed upon…they are told they can come here for a job and when they get here, they are told some huge amount they have to pay back…when they obviously can’t pay it, they are forced into prostitution

*I learned that for everyone on the outside who wonders why don’t people just leave these situations, they don’t realize that many of these women or girls are threatened that their families will be harmed (and there’s been enough actual violence for them to believe it), many of the young females in particular have been seduced into this so they have an emotional bond with the pimp, and many of the victims are coming from broken homes or terrible situations such as abject poverty and a lack of education, so they don’t feel they have anywhere to go

*I learned that two places in particular are hotbeds for prostitution and trafficking: cantinas and massage parlors…in the cantinas the ladies are told to charge the men extra for a beer, like $10, and the men are told they can put their hands all over the women…as a woman, hearing things like this made me so sad and angry—1) that the women have to be pawed and treated as if they are worth nothing and just have to put up with it and 2) that there are men in this world who have such a lack of humanity and compassion…made me wonder, does their conscience not prick them at all?? (but then I started to learn how porn, and oversexualization in entertainment has contributed to this…as a country, we’re truly reaping what we have sown in some ways)

*I learned the scary fact that many young girls are being kidnapped…I heard one particular hair-raising story of a young girl who became friends with another young girl (the recruiter) and when she went to spend the night at the other girl’s house, she was locked in a room, given massive drugs, and raped by 35 men over a period of a weekend…this was a typical American girl…I was absolutely heartsickened by this…again, how can anyone treat someone else like this? As a man, how can you walk into a room with a young girl, drugged out of her mind, and just use and abuse her like that? (but again, I’m starting to understand how we have come to see certain girls and women in our culture as pure sex objects and not see them as valuable human beings)

*I learned that the pimps and buyers perpetrating this abuse are like cockroaches…as we’re gaining success in one area by shutting down parlors, they are fanning out in other areas, such as residences…more than ever, you learn 1) it’s a problem that must be prayed heavily about and 2) you have to get at the source and root of the problem: the girls who feel so lost and alone and have such low self-esteems, they end up as prey and the boys who grow to be heartless men who prey on girls for money and power

*Finally, I learned that we are in our era of accountability, which is scary and puts you to the test. Most of us are super comfortable and we don’t want to be put to the test. But there it is. This is our era—we find ourselves in the midst of a massive injustice—people being abused and enslaved literally right under our noses. Are we going to go about our business like the Germans watching the Jews being carted off to concentration camps or the whites watching the blacks suffer as slaves? Or are we going to speak up, get involved, and give our hearts and lives to help? Honestly, most of us want to close our eyes when God reveals to us something that is so ugly, something that demands our attention and that will take us of our comfort zone. The good thing is that God will help us with our selfishness, our fear, our complacency…Isaiah, Chapter 1, has a passage that says, “cease to do evil, learn to do good…” Remember that when you read the passage below. It also says to “seek justice, rebuke the oppressor…” I can’t think of anything more appropriate for this ministry. Pray for me, and I’ll pray for you! )

“Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? 7 Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—when you see the naked, to clothe them, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood? 8Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard. 9 Then you will call, and the Lord will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.” Isaiah 58

I’m attaching a very well-written article written in 2010 about Houston’s dark undercurrent:

Human Trafficking: Houston’s Hidden Problem

October 4, 2010

by: Laurie Johnson

Houstonians drive by literally dozens of strip centers every week without realizing some of the establishments in those retail malls are fronts for trafficking. And the criminals aren’t just peddling drugs or guns — they’re selling people. Laurie Johnson reports.

If you live in the Houston area, chances are you’ve seen at least one of the city’s many 24-hour studios, massage parlors or stress management spas.

“Houston has a huge commercial sex industry and there’s some quotes that say that there’s more SOBs, which is sexually-oriented businesses, in Houston per square mile than there are in Las Vegas.”

Steven Goff is the project director for Houston Rescue and Restore Coalition. He says what many people don’t realize is the women working in those establishments are often there against their will.

“A lot of people think that trafficking just occurs in seedy places, you know in dark alleys or something like that. And while it does, it also occurs in plain sight. There are places that people in Houston pass by on a daily basis where there’s possibly human trafficking — modern-day slaves — inside those places, that are housed there for two to three weeks at a time and then rotated somewhere else.”

Which is why Rescue and Restore started conducting a bus tour, taking Houstonians through their own neighborhoods. They point out adult plazas with blacked out windows, and cantinas surrounded by fences topped with razor wire.

Dr. Bob Sanborn is president of Children at Risk, a child welfare advocacy group. He says many of the so-called women in the sex trade are actually children.

“Maybe they’re dressed up as adults and we’ll say they’re adults, but then upon further investigation we find out these are children. And the other thing that’s really shocking is we’re finding that the average age of entry into this child trafficking, this child prostitution, is about 12 or 13 years old.”

And it happens more often than you might think. An estimated 17,500 women and children are trafficked into the U.S.
every year. That’s not counting domestic trafficking, which is harder to track. Advocacy groups believe about 300,000 girls are bought and sold in the United States annually. Texas accounts for 25 percent of that business.

Sanborn says law enforcement and non-profits are working together to write laws that will help prosecute these businesses and traffickers. But he says the underlying issue is a culture change.

“We really need to end the demand for this. Guys in our city, guys in our state, thinking that this is a normal thing — that it’s normal to go to a sex club, it’s normal to call an escort service. Those are the things that really prompt a lot of this demand for children, for young prostituted girls — it’s this demand that we perceive as normal in the city of Houston that really is not normal.”

Children at Risk and Houston Rescue and Restore will discuss these issues at the state’s first international conference on human trafficking. It’s being held in Austin this Wednesday and Thursday, and includes the U.S. State Department along with U.N. Ambassadors from Vietnam, the Philippines and Russia.

According to the Department of Justice, Houston is one of the most intense human trafficking regions in the country, with one out of five trafficked persons passing through this city.

The post How I Become Aware of Human Trafficking appeared first on Redeemed Ministries.

Please join us for dinner, live performance by Home Free acapella group, lots of raffles, silent & live auctions and many opportunities to support and partner with Redeemed Ministries to fight Human Trafficking.

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“To all the wonderful people that donated money toward my cervical cancer preventative procedure and all the people that made this Christmas a great one, thank you! I’ve spent the last few years feeling like no one cared about me and not caring about myself. It means so much to me to know that people care so much. It also means so much that I had a real Christmas. This year it was about so much more than the gifts. It felt so amazing to be surrounded by loving people and knowing that out of all of the amazing gifts I received, the best one is the gift of God’s everlasting love. So thank you to everyone who donated and sent the Sparrows warm wishes this year.”

~ Sparrow 31

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Friday, April 5, 2013 from 6:00 PM to 10:00 PM, Redeemed Ministries is holding a New Wind Dinner & Gala at the Bayou Music Center.

Please join us for dinner, live performance by Home Free acapella group, silent & live auctions and many opportunities to support and partner with Redeemed Ministries to fight Human Trafficking.

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A little over a month ago, I agreed to take on organizing Christmas gifts for 10 of our Sparrows and 2 interns.  Within 24 hrs of posting, every Sparrow and intern had been adopted!

The response was so great that others began to gather gift cards for them, and we have filled the car 3 times delivering them!  Watching the delight on their faces as we dropped the gifts off has made this one of the best Christmases ever for me.  There have been stunned expressions, excitement, and “nobody’s ever done that for me” from the Sparrows, and they are all a-twitter, trying to guess what’s in each package.

This picture shows only about HALF of the presents received.

Our goal is to expand this program to providing gifts for not only Christmas, but also for birthdays and other holidays throughout the year.  If you are interested in helping with this, please contact mel@redeemedministries.com

If anyone still wishes to donate something for our Sparrows, we could really use Visa, Walmart and Home Depot gift cards.

These cards help to provide wants and needs for our Sparrows year round, and also help to pay for their coaster making supplies – allowing them to put more into their bank account.  Contact us at info@redeemedministries.com for more information, or go to http://www.redeemedministries.com/donate-now/ to use a credit card to donate to the ministry (don’t forget, it’s tax deductible!).  

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We have even more requests from last week!

Linda W. – On Nov. 7^th I signed for two years TDCJ.  I need prayer for strength, grace and courage to make through this ordeal.  I also need prayer that I’ll be able to be in a spiritual dorm in Dayton.  I really feel I need this in my new walk with Jesus!  Also pray for Aamori and keep her safe in my absence.  Thank you and God Bless.

Shannon – I would like prayer for change!  Change in mentality.  Guidance, strength, and mercy in doing what is right.  Prayer for a good court outcome.  Thank you!  God Bless You!

Mary K. – Pray for my son Allen Kelly and family, wife and four kids, the a/c and heating system caught on fire.  Pray for my daughter Misty K., she is having a hard time with pregnancy, single mom of a daughter.  Thank you for all the prayers for my children, but keep the prayers coming.  Thank you and may God Bless you for you all have helped me.  I get out 12/18/12, moving to my daughter’s for a few weeks. Thank you and God Bless You!

Lisa C. – I pray that I do the right thing and be a better person for my kids.  So they will not be in this type of place once they are older.  And I hope my family forgives me for everything wrong I have done.  I wish I could change everything.

LaSondra C. – God, pray for my release so I can go home to my family and my job so I can continue on a great journey and new path in life!  Thanks, much love.

LaShontaye – Could you pray for my family, friends and Enemy and for my kids who truly missing me and especially my mom that’s always there for me and helps me build my faith stronger daily.

Crystal G. DJ – Please pray that I find good work that I can grow with.  I also need guidance and steadfastness with all things in family, hobby, church, faith, work and court.  I pray for grace in the courts and for my lawyers to be able to open the DA and Judge’s heads.  Overall, I want to be able to support myself finally and remain healthy.

Dee – Protect and watch over my children.  Prayer for their guardian’s strength and patience.  Prayer for employment.

Anonymous – Help me stay on the right path and make me and my father’s relationship stronger and guide my daughter and help her stay on track and not stray away.

Felicia – Pray for stability.

Cheryl – I would like prayer for my family and my upcoming court date 11/26/12.  Please pray for me.

Kim – Please pray that I make it home for the holidays to be with my children.

Emily – I pray for my pregnant mom who is in the hospital until the child’s birth, that my five younger brothers to be strong, my step-father to be able to provide for them all while I’m away.  I pray with the faith of a child that the Good Lord send me home and keeps me in the heart of my judge for my hearing on Nov. 30^th.  No matter what my Father is always with me.

Tiffany T. – Pray for my wisdom.  And my family.

Mila – Please pray my mom, JoEllen, does well on her job interview, she’s been without work a while with my son and it’s hard while I’m in here.  For peace and prosperity for JoEllen, Mikal (four years old), Mila (self).  Jonathon and his Grandmaw.  I go home in 26 days, give my son hope and health and love (and my mom) until I can be with them soon.  Thank you.

Tyla – Thank you Lord for bringing me back from the dead and never leaving me.  Thank you Lord for blessing me with strength, understanding and wisdom.  Thank you for taking addiction away and protecting my family with the blood of Jesus.  You say Believe and have Faith, ask and I shall receive, so thank you Father.  The things I ask are already received.

Stephanie – Prayer for safe return of volunteers, family near and far, and thankful for the blessings and changes in my life.  Prayer for marriage and emotional and spiritual help for my husband, Mike.  Hope and strength for the world with just enough for me.  In Jesus name.  Thank you and God Bless.

Sarah – I’m sick!!!

K – Please pray for transition from County to TDC prison.  I have been given a five year sentence and will be up for parole in seven months, April 13^th.  My attorney and his parole attorney friend feel there is no reason why I should not be granted parole.  Thank you, God Bless

Melinda A. – My aunt is in the hospital, please pray for her health and my dad’s.

Bentranique J. – Pray that I continue to do well with my fasting in silence, and that God will rain a supernatural breakthrough.

Shayla – I ask for prayer for my family and friends on the outside, I ask prayer for their health both mentally and physically.  I also pray that my walk with Christ is perfected and that God gives me strength to resist temptation.

Demetrice H. – Please pray I go home soon.  Thanks, God Bless!!

Keewanda G.  – Can you pray for my mother, she is in the hospital and she ain’t doing good.  Pray that she find God so that she could go to heaven.

Dona F. – PRAY REPEAT PRAY I go to court Wednesday, please pray I get a 1244A and go home to my children.  I really miss them and want to be home for Christmas and start teaching them about the wonderful man I met here.  GOD.

Victoria – I received pictures and a letter from my dad today.  Pictures of my family house and doggies who just had puppies.  Please pray for angels watching over them and help me with my homesickness.

Lori P. – I need prayer to help me keep strong with my court date coming up on 12/13/2012.  Also to help me have patience with being bonded out before the holidays get here.

Catalina T. – November 13 court, prayer for probation.

Tracie & Eusebio – Please pray for  me and my husband.  Our court date is November 16, 2012.  Our case will hopefully be dismissed.

Ceakarsheme B. – Pray my strength in the Lord.  I need longer patience with taking care of things without getting angry and giving up.

Clara Y. – Please pray for my sister Eryka young for a speedy recovery.  She totaled her vehicle on Saturday.  Ran off into two ditches and hit a light pole.

Anonymous – Please pray for my husband Leroy P., my sons Rudy V (26), Richard V (24), Ryan V (22), grandson Richard Jr. (4).  Thank you!

Samantha R. – Prayer.  I go to court on November 15, 2012, Thursday, please pray for me.

Kesha – I want prayer for my family so they can be sensitive to my needs as a Believer and my spiritual growth.

Shana – Please pray for my family, please pray for release between today’s date and court on November 29^th.

Yalonda – 1) Pray for my strength in the Father and keeping His commandments…  2) Pray for my pregnant daughter … I am not there and I am constantly worried about her…

The post WINGS Ministry Prayer Requests appeared first on Redeemed Ministries.

This is a relatively new part of our ministry, but God is already at work. WINGS mentors share with these women on a weekly basis and have had extensive training for this specific ministry. They hold Bible studies and talk about God’s view on relationships and self-identity. Mentors also help to prepare these women for seeking a new life outside of prison and prostitution by equipping them with job and interview skills. The first week they ministered to 48 women!

Last week the WINGS mentors asked these ladies if they might share their prayer requests with volunteers and supporters of Redeemed Ministries on our blog. They said yes! In fact, they were touched by the thought that they would be prayed for by so many people.

Will you join us in covering these requests with prayer? He will meet these ladies where they are, amen?

Michelle  – That God’s will is for me to go home to my two sons.  That God lets the Judge have mercy on me to home.  That my kids and family are safe with no worries.   Thank you!

Lindy  – Please pray for my family and I.  To stay strong and safe thru this difficult time I’ve put them thru and that I get out tomorrow or soon and my relationship with my family is reborn.  Please keep them safe for me, til’ I return to them.  Thank you and God Bless.

Geneva – Pray for me tomorrow when I go to court and when I walk out of here.

Kendall – Please pray for my continue walk with God.

Adrienne  – For my husband and infant son to be watched over and kept safe for the remainder of my sentence.  Thank you.

Emily  – I pray that I understand God’s will, that he watches over my sick mom and five baby brothers.  I pray I am favored in court that my Judge sees I am new, out with the old.  Pray to the Lord I stay with a right head, as determined for the Good as I have been, I pray for peace of mind.

Linda – my children are James, Joseph, Amber and Aamari.  I would love for you to pray that we will be reunited very soon.  That God will open my heart and soul to his plan for me so I will do things His way and not my own.  Thank you and God Bless You All.

Tamika – I’m asking that a prayer is said to help me with my new walk with the Lord and my family to become back closer with me.  I’m needing prayer for my business.  In Jesus Name, Amen.

Amanda – Pray for me.  I am tired and torn apart.  Need prayer to get through this battle.  I’m drifting day by day.  Sick and Tired.  Tired.  Sick.

Mila  – Please pray for God to continue to work and grow in my life in ALL aspects of my life.  To guide me in the right path for success.  For Mikal, my four year old to know his mommy loves him and will be home December 9^th, for God and Jesus to walk with him in these lonely times with me as well.  For PEACE for my mom and son and self.  Forgiveness from my mom and family.  Happiness and Health for Jonathon and Gmaw and both families.

Weslayan  – Can you pray for my family and wan I go home.

Latisha – Please pray for me that I am going to get through my trials and tribulations and that  the Lord has all my problems in his hands and Ima come home soon and I love her dearly.

Donnelly – To be reconciled soon to my family and to stay focused in my surrender to God, and to grow even closer to Him, for my transition to rehab to be smooth and for my children to be blessed and safe.

No Name – Please pray for my boys to be safe until I get home Scotty and Travis R..  Also for my relationship to be strong enough to still be there when I get out I have to go to TDC.  Please pray for Marilyn r. and Michael K. to stay as in love with each other as always, stand the test of time.

Roxanne – Pray for my husband, children and grandchildren and parents.  Give us strength as I go to serve my time at TDC drug program.

C. Davis – I would like pray for my family.  Pray for the Judge.  For all these ladies in here.

T. Cox – Pray for me to no longer to struggle with addiction, also to strengthen my walk with the Lord, and put me back with my family, especially my kids.

Elva – This evening I’m requesting to be on the prayer list.  For grace.  Pray for me that I am walking in with Christ and that I stay covered in the blood of Jesus.  Please pray that I have a peaceful life.  Thank you!

Ashley – Please pray for my daughter, Dylan G., my mom and dad and stepdad, Becky K., Earl J., Tom K., Rigby and Mason.  And please pray that I find God’s strength with me when I leave to do His Will.  Thank you!

Crystal – For all my relationships, my family, friends and spouse to repair all the damages in all our lives.  To bring peace to all of our hurts so that our hearts can heal and recover so that we can all be forgiven and forgive all the pain there is in our lives.  Especially my mother’s heart, she didn’t deserve this.

Amanda – Please pray for my family’s safety and please be sure to pray for my kid’s safety also pray for my husband in TDC.   Pray for me for I’m about to go to ISF please pray I will be alright.

Evelyn – Please pray for my family and me that I get a better understanding in the word and a new beginning in life with the Lord.  A positive job so that I won’t go down the wrong rode again.  Pray my mother don’t go astray and stay on the walk with Jesus.  Thank you.

Darneisia D. – I just want you to pray for me on getting my daughter back and getting my self back on the right track with God.  I want you to pray for my mother on her illness and just hope she gets better.

Lori – I need prayer for my walk with God to grow and grow each and everyday.  I want to be able to keep walking the walk and talking the talk for my daughter.

Mary K. – Please pray for my children my son Allen K. needs help find a good job he the father of 4 girls and one son a baby on the way in January.  My daughter Misty K. single mom has a little girl and a baby boy that will be here early and no way or one to her daughter because I hope to get out in November.  But my out date is Dec 8, 2012 will not be for 3 for 1.  But I believe with prayer God will if it is His will.  Thank you very much for all the prayer.

Shayla – I ask in prayer that the Lord forgives me for all my sins and that He blesses my two daughters Layla and Kayla.  Also for everyone in this re-entry program to think positive and be positive.

S. Coleman – I would like for you to pray for my strength and over coming this bad situation I’m in and hopefully I will be going home soon.  Thanks a lot…

Taylor – Lord please allow me to receive 14 months in the county jail so I can move on with my life and be the best mother and future wife and daughter.   Amen.  P. S. Pray for K. B!

C. Young – I would like to pray for my family and me surviving this jail sentence.  Thank you Redeemed Ministries.

Thank you for joining us as we lift up these prayers.

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