NCM Magazine/Summer 2018

ANSWERING A CALL TO FOSTER P. 26

EMPOWERING CHANGE IN VANCOUVER P. 12

INTO THE RED-LIGHT DISTRICT: SHOWING HOPE TO WOMEN IN EXPLOITATION P. 16

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MAGAZINE SUMMER ISSUE 2018 NCM Magazine aims to tell stories of the church living out Christ's compassion.

Our hope is that all of us would hear the call to compassion as a lifestyle.

Following the example of Jesus, Nazarene Compassionate Ministries partners with local congregations around the world to clothe, shelter, feed, heal, educate, and live in solidarity with those who suffer under oppression, injustice, violence, poverty, hunger, and disease.

NCM exists in and through the Church of the Nazarene to proclaim the gospel to all people in word and deed.

NAZARENE COMPASSIONATE MINISTRIES 17001 Prairie Star Pkwy, Lenexa, KS 66220 (800) 310-6362, info@ncm.org

Magazine Design | VESSYL MEDIA Cover Illustration | JENNIFER LYTLE

FOR A FREE SUBSCRIPTION visit ncm.org/magazine SUBSCRIPTION CHANGES email info@ncm.org or write to NCM Magazine, 17001 Prairie Star Pkwy, Lenexa, KS 66220 QUESTIONS? COMMENTS? email info@ncm.org

TO LEARN MORE VISIT: ncm.org/2020

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) of the Bible, copyright 1989 by Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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FEATURES BUILDING DIGNITY | P.12 An organization in Canada has made it their mission to empower people in a neighborhood known for homelessness and drug abuse.

RED-LIGHT REDEMPTION | P.16 Hope is growing in India, where God is changing lives through a ministry to women who are trafficked and prostituted.

WELCOMING CHILDREN | P.26 Families called to foster and adopt share their stories of both the hard and hopeful.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

FINDING GOD IN A BROTHEL | P.32 12

In Germany, where prostitution is legal, one group wants to be sure women who are prostituted know that God is everywhere and loves them deeply.

DEPARTMENTS CONNECTION POINTS | P.5

GO DEEPER | P.37

VOICES | P.36

SNAPSHOT | P.38

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O PE N IN G N OTES

SEEING WHAT IS HIDDEN

By Nell Becker Sweeden

C I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?

I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.

— I s a i ah 43: 19

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ompassionate work is often hidden. Many areas of compassionate response are not visible because they address brokenness in the darkest places of the world. In fact, in many of these places the despair is so great it is unspeakable. Extreme poverty, human trafficking, and violence are systemic sins that pervade our world. Such sin often remains hidden from view with the most vulnerable people—often women and children—trapped and enslaved by it. In these pages, you’ll read the stories of women and girls who are prostituted, a life that millions are forced into.

Yet, as Christians, we trust that God hears cries of desperation and we are prompted to act as agents of release, rescue, and healing in Jesus’ name.

Often we cannot talk about the hidden areas—sometimes because we, too, are afraid of the sin that resides there, and sometimes because it makes us uneasy and uncomfortable. But, at times, we cannot talk about it because it is not safe to speak about what is happening publicly and openly.

This magazine features how the Church of the Nazarene resides in the midst of extreme

brokenness, desperation, and hopelessness. Not everything about these stories can be shared; publishing some names and places could risk safety. I hope what is conveyed is the power of God’s transformation working to combat sin in our world.

The stories of transformation in this issue of the NCM Magazine represent our church going to the margins—often where darkness resides—to bring the light of hope in Jesus. We believe that God is present, even in the heaviest veils of darkness. We believe that God is currently rescuing persons trapped in poverty and oppression. We believe that God is making known His unwavering love for them.

Still, many others who are trapped in brokenness are hidden from view. Children whose families struggle with homelessness, brokenness, and addiction sometimes live in our very communities. Their pain may go unnoticed, even as their brokenness is real and deep.

Our God calls us to those places because hopelessness is where the light of Christ is most needed.

May the call for compassion awaken us to see through the veil of darkness to the things that are hidden and bring light.

C O NNEC T IO N PO INT S

PHOTO COURTESY OF JUANITA RALSTON

sponsorship spotlight

“Due to his long hours at work and little time for relaxing, I didn’t expect him to want to be involved in doing the work,” Juanita says. “Instead, he insisted on helping as much as possible.”

Both Steve and Juanita are fully committed to their project. Chores that they would have hired professionals to do, including cleaning The Ralstons (West Virginia, USA) gutters, cutting grass, trimming bushes, and raking teve and Juanita Ralston didn’t start out leaves, became ways to “earn” more money for planning to sponsor six children. Their sponsorship. Juanita says that it has changed the sponsorship story starts the same way many way they think about saving. do: with one child.

“Like most people, we have always strived to The couple learned about Nazarene save money,” she says. “When we started paying Compassionate Ministries’ child sponsorship ourselves and knowing where the money was program through their going, it gave us a completely pastor’s son, who sponsored different perspective.

"WE WERE ALREADY SPONSORS, BUT children after volunteering as IT OCCURRED TO ME THAT WE SHOULD Somehow, it made [the work] a missionary. Inspired, they fun, as strange as that may SPONSOR MORE CHILDREN AND THOUGHT decided to sponsor a child, sound.”

WE COULD STRIVE TO SPONSOR SIX." too. Then, after a Sunday Along the way, the service featuring sponsorship, Ralstons have discovered a they felt they could do more. few surprises, most notably in their relationships “We were already sponsors, but it occurred to me with their neighbors and friends. When people that we should sponsor more children and thought we ask why they don’t hire out help, it opens a door could strive to sponsor six,” Juanita says. to share their faith. They also enjoy the sense of The challenge then became finding the space in accomplishment that comes with doing the work their budget for five more sponsored children. Within themselves, especially knowing the reason. weeks of setting their goal, they were listening to “Being able to make a positive impact on a a financial management podcast that encouraged child's life and to be able to pray for them and their listeners to put money aside for savings by “paying families is the biggest blessing,” Juanita says. “We themselves.” Juanita says a light went on for her. She are so thankful for the church's sponsorship and all proposed an idea to her husband: what if they paid associated with the program.” themselves for the work they would normally pay Steve and Juanita live in Fairmont, West someone else to do? Then, that money could go toward Virginia, where they both work for a government sponsorship. contractor.

EARNING TO SPONSOR

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PHOTO COURTESY OF NCM AFRICA

global focus

HEARTY & HEALTHY Agricultural innovation fights hunger Reporting by Samuel Oketch, Samuel Ouma Lengo, Ezekiel Odero, and Naphtali Obumba (NCM in East Africa)

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n a village called Njangoe in Kenya, where heat waves and drought make farming both risky and demanding, a group of 60 children have grown a patchwork of thriving crops.

About a third of the children attend Njangoe Secondary School, where they learn about farming systems and technology.

“Instead of sitting idle … my team and I choose to spend our free time on the farm,” Sharon*, one of the students, says. “So most of the time when we don’t have classes, you will find us on this farm doing one or two things.”

The farm provides the group with food for nutrition as well as surplus for sale. The students are involved with everything from preparing the farm to weeding and watering. Water is pumped from a nearby river and stored in an elevated reservoir. And the young farmers have learned other tricks to help their farm thrive, too.

“One of our top secrets is crop rotation,” Sandra says. “See, crop rotation is key as it suppresses pests and diseases that might attack particular crops and not others.”

They have also learned how to care for the land sustainably, and they are working on a drip irrigation system that will prevent soil erosion and use water more

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wisely by targeting roots directly.

In a different town to the south, John Ayieko’s farm is thriving, too. And so is the Ayieko family of nine, which includes four orphaned children.

John’s maize used to endure attacks on both sides of its growth. Below ground, a parasitic weed robbed the maize of nutrients. Above ground, stem borer larvae weakened the plant even further.

The small farm barely produced enough to feed John’s family, and he certainly didn’t have enough to sell. The family regularly went hungry, and there was no money for his children’s schooling.

Then John learned about the push-pull method of farming, which pairs maize with Silverleaf desmodium and Napier grass to help mitigate the pests and improve the soil. A few years ago, he used seeds from Nazarene Compassionate Ministries to plant a push–pull plot on his farm, and he has continued cultivating crops on that plot ever since.

At the end of the first season, he harvested twice the usual amount of maize from the plot, and by the end of the second season his harvest had multiplied again.

Three years after planting the first plot, John was able to save money and buy a cow, which is fed with the Silverleaf desmodium and Napier grass. The milk and manure from the cow benefit John’s family dramatically.

“In the past, I was sad and used to beg quite a lot, but these days, I get what I need from the farm,” John says. *Children’s names are changed for their protection.

around the world

The northern border is home to the Himalayas, the world’s tallest mountain range.

India was the first mission field opened by the Church of the Nazarene. The first Nazarene missionaries started working there in 1898, and the first Nazarene church was opened in 1919.

With a population of more than 1.3 billion, India has the second largest population in the world.

It is the only country in the world home to both tigers and lions.

India has six main languages, although the estimated number of spoken languages is more than 1,000.

To read about a ministry in a red-light district in India, turn to page 16.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF JEROME LIANA

C ON N EC T I ON P OI N T S

STITCHED TOGETHER Tailoring training combines discipleship and livelihoods

By NCM Communications

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t Trinity Nazarene Church in Myanmar, discipleship and livelihood training became a joint ministry.

From April to August 2017, the church partnered with Nazarene Compassionate Ministries to launch a tailoring training program for women. The training included basic to advanced lessons in sewing from a professional tailor. While the goal was to provide women with marketable skills so they can earn a living, it also became a path to mentorship.

In Myanmar, more than a quarter of the population lives in poverty. In the community around Trinity, many people work as day laborers, including a large number of the congregation. The work is grueling and unpredictable; there is no way to know what the earnings will be long-term.

Because of the scarce and unpredictable job opportunities, supporting a family can be grueling and discouraging. Jerome Liana, Nazarene Compassionate Ministries coordinator for southeast Asia, says tailoring is a good way to pursue economic stability.

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“There are very limited job opportunities in the community,” he says. “So, with this skill they can earn money for their family.”

The church’s pastor came to each training session to open it with prayer and a devotional before a professional tailor began to teach practical skills and job training.

To make sure that the classes remained as effective as possible, the number of students was limited to six women. The training lasted four months and ranged from basic to advanced sewing.

Often, women and girls are dependent on their families for support. The skills they gained will empower them to make money on their own.

“It is a highly valued skill since there are not many jobs that can provide for all the family,” Liana says. “Women and girls are normally dependent on the family, so it is important to equip them with this skill.”

What makes the program unique, though, is the focus on mentorship combined with handson learning. The hope is that the women who participated will continue to grow as Christlike disciples in the areas where they start their businesses.

STANDING ON HOLY GROUND PHOTO COURTESY OF WESTON BENNETT

People living as refugees create a global church

By Brandon Sipes

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bout halfway between Greece and Germany lies Croatia. When the border passages to the rest of Europe shut, people fleeing violence and persecution found themselves stuck there, stranded between their landing point in Greece and their destination in Germany.

And so it is there that they now try to make a life for themselves, many living in old buildings repurposed into refugee camps.

The Nazarene church in Zagreb, Croatia, is ministering to individuals and families stuck in that middle space, providing clothing, food, educational programs, assistance with residency, and spiritual support. Two of our main hosts on a recent visit were Mahdi* and Amira, who are refugees themselves. They had arrived in Croatia like the rest, but connected with the Nazarene church at a crucial time.

The Scotts, Nazarene missionaries in Croatia, were praying for leaders to connect more deeply with people living as refugees. It turned out Mahdi worked with a Christian ministry previously and had taken coursework for pastoral licensing.

When we visited makeshift camps in the old buildings, Mahdi and Amira guided us into many rooms and we spoke with families who told stories that were all too familiar. Some had had to leave behind family members.

Some had experienced the loss of loved ones or the pain of not knowing what has happened to them. All had fled violence and persecution.

We had met other residents the night before at a church service held in a storefront in the city. The place was a beautiful mess of activity, with people kindly maneuvering their way through crowded spaces to set up food, prepare music, or just talk with each other.

There were several foreign volunteers in the rooms and a few who were local to the Balkan region. The vast majority were refugees.

The city seems to be the middle point, a layover in a long journey. But what became clear while we stumbled through multilingual singing in the church service was that this was holy ground.

In the midst of songs in six languages, we sang one in English, “No Longer a Slave.” We heard people sing of God’s deliverance from their enemies and the abatement of their fear. We heard those who had been cast about in inflatable rafts, desperate for solid ground, sing about the God who split the sea for their safety. We saw people lifted from a middle ground to holy ground.

This country was not the chosen landing place for many living as refugees, and being stuck there feels like a burden. It’s not a life they chose. But at least some have found a healing and a place of rest in our church: a holy ground where they’ve found new life.

*Names are changed for protection and security.

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Milanesa (Argentina)

Photo by Aaron Phelps

recipes

THE WORLD IN YOUR KITCHEN

1. Pound the cutlets to just under 1/4-inch (remember to look for steaks with little fat and no sinew, which will make the milanesa curl up as you cook it). You can ask your butcher to tenderize the meat or cut it to the correct thickness.

By Stefanie Phelps

2. Whisk together the eggs, parsley, milk and garlic. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Children share favorite recipes Camila lives in Buenos Aires, Argentina, with her mother, father, and younger sister.

She enjoys swimming, playing the piano, and attending Sunday school.

At home, she helps her mother with chores, too. Sometimes she gets to help make milanesa a la napolitana, a breaded veal cutlet topped with ham and cheese. It’s her favorite food!

PREPARATION:

We love the way Nazarene child development centers care for the whole child, including their families. So we asked sponsored children to share their favorite recipes to make at home.

Here is Camila’s*.

INGREDIENTS: • 6 veal/beef cutlets, about ¼ inch thick, ideally from a round roast or eye of round (meat cut for chicken fried steak) • 2 large eggs • 1/2 cup (15g) finely chopped parsley • 3 Tbs. (15mL) milk • 2 cloves garlic, chopped • 1-2 cups (160g–320g) dry breadcrumbs • 1 8oz can tomato sauce • 6 slices ham, optional • 18 slices queso fresco or mozzarella, thinly sliced • Dried oregano to sprinkle on top • 1 tsp. (5mL) sea salt and 1 tsp. (5mL) freshly ground black pepper, to taste • 1/4 cup (60mL) sunflower or vegetable oil

3. Leave the cutlets soaking for 30 minutes to an hour in the fridge.

4. Spread the breadcrumbs out in a shallow bowl and one by one place the cutlets into the crumbs, turning and pressing firmly until they are well covered.

5. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Lightly cover a baking tray with oil and heat it up in the oven. Cook for 3-5 minutes or until golden brown.

6. Turn over the milanesa and spread on a layer of tomato sauce, a piece of ham, if using, and three pieces of cheese. Sprinkle with oregano.

7. By the time the cheese has melted the bottom should be nicely browned, 3 to 5 minutes more. (For best results, use the broiler for half of the suggested cooking time in this step to melt the cheese.) *Children’s names are changed for their protection.

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everyday compassion

SIMPLE WAYS TO CARE Mother Teresa once said, “We think sometimes that poverty is only being hungry, naked, and homeless. The poverty of being unwanted, unloved, and uncared for is the greatest poverty. We must start in our own homes to remedy this kind of poverty.”

So what can compassion look like in our everyday lives? Perhaps it simply starts with caring for the people we encounter every day.

Here are a few ideas:

1

TURN OFF YOUR PHONE.

While smartphones give us fast access to information, we can’t be fully present with another person if we’re splitting our attention with a screen. So try powering down for at least an hour a day.

Put away your phone and focus on conversations with people. Ask good questions and listen to the answers. Find out how people are hurting and offer compassionate words of encouragement and healing.

2

PRAY FOR OTHERS.

Henri Nouwen called prayer “the very beat of the compassionate heart”—something that has to be regular and often, not just every once in a while.

Make a list of people you want to pray for. Consider using specific Scriptures as you pray. As you read stories in the news about people in need, add them to your prayer list, too. You may not know them personally, but their lives have intersected with yours through stories. As you pray for others who’ve experienced oppression and trauma, you’ll find that God gives you more compassion for them.

3

USE KIND WORDS.

Scripture is filled with reminders that the words we use matter.

Colossians 4:6 reminds us to let the words we use “always be gracious.” In the daily stresses of our lives, it’s easy to default to complaining and criticizing others. Compassionate conversation is a choice we make. Try going a full week using only kind, uplifting words. Tell a coworker that you appreciate a job well done. Give a child a reason he or she is special and valued. Find a way to thank a family member for the little things that often go unnoticed.

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A ministry in Vancouver gets people off the streets and into jobs

BY CALLIE STEVENS PHOTOS BY BRITNEY BERRNER

12 SUMMER 2018

Teams of associates help clean up Downtown Eastside by picking up needles, trash, and leaves.

Second Row: J and Loretta, middle, both found Mission Possible at a critical time.

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or the people in Vancouver’s Downtown executive director and CEO, says it’s been a Eastside neighborhood in British journey to learn and adapt to meet the needs of the Columbia, Canada, hope can seem neighborhood’s residents. distant. The neighborhood is infamous “Probably we’ll find other iterations into the for rampant drug use, homelessness, future,” he says, “but we’re really just trying to and poverty. And since 1992, Mission leverage what we have to make a difference for the Possible has served right in the middle of it. people who are here.”

Of the approximately 18,000 who call Today, Mission Possible provides six-month Downtown Eastside home, more than half positions for people who are trying to turn their struggle to meet their basic needs. A large lives around through two social enterprises, MP number experience Maintenance and MP Neighbours. chronic homelessness, Those hired join full time "Work itself is part of being and many struggle with employees in cleaning up the human, and people are deprived streets and engaging with the addiction, too. of that when they depend on a In the 25 years people who call them home. it’s been serving the “The success for us is when system to provide for them."

Downtown Eastside, people aren’t dependent on us Mission Possible, a and we’re not providing for them, Nazarene compassionate [but] they’re providing for their ministry center, has transformed to better serve own needs,” Matthew says. the community. In its early days, the center focused on meeting immediate needs, such as A JOURNEY OF RECOVERY meals and clothing, but over time, the leaders recognized they weren’t doing enough to address J Hockley found Mission Possible just when long-term needs. About 10 years ago, it started he needed it. He had been struggling with bouts of developing employment opportunities to get depression and addiction and ended up in Downtown people off the streets for good.

Eastside to blend in, he says.

The ministry began to focus less on what “I just kind of came to the end of myself, or rock people lack and more on the God-given dignity bottom, or whatever term you want to use,” he says. that everyone–no matter where they are in “And that’s when I came into my faith and came into life–has. Matthew Smedley, the organization’s the Lord.”

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Employment and training enables people to take control of their own stories, develop deep relationships, and transition out of homelessness.

Shortly after giving his life over to God, J was living in an SRO, or single room occupancy, which is a form of affordable housing. It just so happened that his SRO was just across the street from the drop-in center run by Mission Possible. J wanted to make sure he didn’t fall back into the patterns that had taken him to rock bottom. Thankfully, a friend helped him apply for a six-month transitional job with MP Neighbours.

“Working here at Mission Possible, it’s provided me with stability, it’s provided me with meaningful work, and it’s provided me with deepened relationships to connect with the community,” J says. “Self worth, dignity–all of these things come up, and that’s all really through employment here.”

J had a gap in his employment while he battled addiction, and gaps typically make it more difficult to find a job. What struck him was the way Mission Possible took a chance on him anyway. He took advantage of that chance and worked hard. Then, at the end of his six months, he was offered a full-time position.

Now, J serves as the coordinator of MP Neighbours.

EMPOWERING ANSWERS Many of the individuals who start work with Mission Possible have experiences similar to J’s and may not have the skills or knowhow to keep a job. The six-month contract is designed to give people a chance to learn and become comfortable with the expectations of

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employment again.

A coaching model is one of the things that makes Mission Possible unique. Rather than giving advice, coaches help employees identify their own strengths and use them to achieve their goals. Short-term employees meet with coaches bi-weekly, and one team member’s time is dedicated to helping them search for permanent jobs.

J was trained as a job coach. He helps people identify what barriers might be preventing them from working and what they can do to make it over them.

“Once you give them a safe space and just the freedom to express themselves honestly and authentically, they come up with their own answers,” he says.

LIGHT OUT OF DARKNESS Loretta John found Mission Possible through an advertisement in an elevator. Before that, she says, she was lost in her addiction.

Abuse from both her parents and grandparents and generational alcoholism brought her to Vancouver. She lived in the Downtown Eastside for years. When she saw the advertisement, she had just gotten out of a drug and alcohol detox program and was off the streets for the first time in a long time.

Loretta was hired for the six-month contract and then took a full-time position as the lead patroller of MP Neighbours. She wants to share the healing she’s experienced with people still living on the streets, because she knows how addiction can make people forget who they are.

“Just by … sharing that compassion, it helps lift you up out of that darkness,” she says. “When you’re in that darkness, that’s all you can see.”

Loretta teaches job etiquette, such as making sure shifts are covered, calling before being late or absent, and learning how to act professionally.

When you’re out of the workforce for a while, these are skills that are easy to forget, she says. She tells people that she can help them, but they have to want to change.

According to Loretta, Mission Possible “teaches people a different way of doing their life journey.”

OPPORTUNITIES FOR AGENCY Long-lasting life change doesn’t happen overnight. It takes hard work and commitment— Mission Possible has been present in the Downtown Eastside neighborhood for decades.

While helping people become financially stable is certainly one of the goals, it’s the mental paradigm shift that is key.

“The quality of life stuff is good, but it’s really the dignity and self worth that … are the lynchpin,” Matthew says. “Those … hold it all together and make it a success, when people are able to see their own self worth. From the Christian perspective, it’s

helping them know they’re valued and loved.”

It all comes back to affirming dignity in individuals who are made in God’s image. The coaching is designed to teach people how to develop their own goals and solutions. The jobs are designed to push people toward finding employment, which is why the contracts are kept short. That sense of agency becomes transformative.

“Work itself is part of being human, and people are deprived of that when they depend on a system to provide for them,” Matthew says. “It [dependency] takes away a lot of that sense of dignity and agency and capacity.”

Anyone who encounters Mission Possible will find that their goal is to reveal the inherent worth of all humans.

“We’re here to support people in every way,” Loretta says.

To learn more about Mission Possible, visit mission-possible.ca.

Transform lives from your office.

Through Workplace Giving, you can make a difference for families and children around the world.

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RED-LIGHT R E D E M P T I O N

16 SUMMER 2018

A CONGREGATION IN INDIA GIVES WOMEN AND GIRLS A WAY OUT OF EXPLOITATION WORDS & PHOTOS BY BETH CLAYTON LUTHYE

"Hope for Life is somebody who will hold your hand and walk with you toward something else— out of this life."

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utside a small, two-story building on the edge of a large city in India, a set of rust-red metal steps leads to a small opening. It’s just large enough to allow one adult to climb through. On the other side lies a small room, about 10 by 10 feet. A large, decorative window lets light into the clean, bright space, which holds a table, three chairs, and a small sewing machine. On a weekday afternoon, about 15 women have squeezed through that opening and are sitting on the floor. They’ve gathered together to pray.

Down below is a row of small dwellings about the same size. These rooms are darker, with no windows and small doorways. Inside each, a bed takes up most of the space. These rooms line both sides of a lane within a small red-light district.

The women gathered in prayer live here.

A nearby Nazarene congregation has turned the upstairs room into a drop-in center. They call it the "Hope for Life" center, and that is what they want the women and children who come here to experience.

A TOO-COMMON STORY An estimated 2 million-plus women and girls are forced into prostitution in the red-light areas of India. Most are victims of human trafficking.

They were sold to a pimp or madam who then forced them to sell themselves to anyone willing to pay. Others are not technically victims of human trafficking but came out of a desperate desire for survival. Poverty is the driver that keeps the engine of exploitation running.

Many girls wind up in this red-light area because their parents couldn’t, or wouldn’t, bear the cost of feeding another mouth. Unlike boys, girls in communities throughout India are seen as a financial burden: they require the cost of a wedding and dowry only to go and live with a husband’s family. Many families decide it’s easier to sell a daughter to a trafficker at a young age.

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The women at the Hope for Life center meet every Thursday to pray, a break from lives of exploitation into which they were forced.

"Regardless of how or why they arrived, every one of the girls and women here have this in common: they are victims of inhumane exploitation."

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Parents might sell a daughter for a few hundred dollars (USD), but often they pocket as little as $15 (USD) in the transaction. Oftentimes, girls are forced to marry as child brides, only to then be sold by their husbands to traffickers.

A number of young women here were dedicated as small children to be “married” to a deity. Once a devadasi reaches puberty, her virginity is auctioned off to the highest bidder.

When she becomes a teenaged mother, she is then discarded and sent to live out her days as a brothel worker.

Another group are the girls and young women who were lured to the city with the false promise of a legitimate job. Most are from small villages in India, with a smaller number coming from neighboring countries, including Nepal and Bangladesh.

Others came here in their 20s after their husbands died or abandoned them and their children. These single mothers were left to play a cruel, reallife game of “Would You Rather?” The impossible question posed was this: Would you rather sell yourself or watch your children starve? These mothers chose not to watch their children die.

Regardless of how or why they arrived, every one of the girls and women here have this in common: they are victims of inhumane exploitation. Day by day, each one sits outside one of the rooms on this lane until someone wants to purchase her, and she is forced to service men 10 or so times a day. For the cost of 100 to 300 rupees ($1.60 to $4.80 USD), a buyer can do as he pleases to his rented property.

Reshma* is the woman who owns the room that houses the Hope for Life center. She came to the city as a victim of human trafficking. Her parents died when she was a teenager, and afterward

she was forced into prostitution by a trusted family member. She tried to leave but eventually stopped fighting after she was brutally “broken in.” Then this life became her identity, and she became a gharwalli, a madam, herself. At 45, she has never married or had children.

When the congregation wanted to start a drop-in center, Reshma offered this upstairs room. Over time, she opened up to a counselor at Hope for Life about her feelings of hopelessness.

“I don’t have hope for life—no relationships, no love, no respect, no one who can stay with me,” she said. “I am all alone in this life. Now I am getting old. I have gained all things but lost all things.

For a prostitute it is very difficult to leave in old age.”

When I ask Reshma why she opened her space for the congregation’s drop-in center, she says she wants to keep young girls from having to experience what she did. She shares how she has been able to help five children escape this area by putting them in a home for children whose parents cannot provide for them, known locally as a hostel.

“One girl is in grade 11,” she says.

“Another has gotten married.” As she talks, her face lights up and her voice fills with pride.

“None are in this work,” she says, pointing toward the lane below.

During the afternoons and evenings, Hope for Life becomes a safe space for 25 children, ages 4 to 12. Without it, children would either be in the room while their mother is being exploited or left unattended on the neighborhood’s streets.

The center provides a way to escape the horrors below for a period of time.

Children get to experience the innocence of childhood through crafts, games, singing, and education. Many are learning to read and write for the first time. Here, they are also able to talk to trusted adults

"I don’t have hope for life— no relationships, no love, no respect, no one who can stay with me.

I am all alone in this life.

Now I am getting old."

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about their thoughts and feelings.

While no one wants the young girls here to have to experience the same fate as their mothers, the reality is that many will unless something breaks the cycle of intergenerational exploitation.

HOPE FOR LEAVING

WHAT IS HUMAN TRAFFICKING? Human trafficking is a form of modern-day slavery that affects every country in the world. Traffickers use force, fraud, or coercion to exploit people through forced labor or forced commercial sex.

Simply, it is the buying and selling of human beings for profit. In fact, it’s a multibillion dollar transnational criminal enterprise. More than 45 million individuals in our world are living in slavery, according to the 2016 Global Slavery Index.

While this story has focused on the sexual exploitation of women and girls, it’s important to understand that boys are also victims of sex trafficking.

To learn more, visit these sites: ncm.org/trafficking endinghumantrafficking.org endslaverynow.org polarisproject.org

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None of the women here want this life. Every one of them would rather earn money any other way.

A 30-year-old named Kyra was brought here by a friend at 16 years old. Now she’s a mother of young children and says she wants to provide for them by doing what she calls “outside work.”

Another woman, Prisha, says, “I want to leave, but what can I do?”

In fact, Prisha did leave once. She got out, married, and had children. Then her husband had an accident and could no longer work. The family still needed to eat, so she returned to the only thing she knew.

A core component of Hope for Life is vocational classes that offer women a chance at outside work. They currently offer tailoring and beautician training. Women also come to the center for counseling and to attend workshops on topics including HIV/AIDS awareness, child care and parenting, self-protection, and nutrition.

“I came for the sewing,” says Anaya, a 35-year-old mother of two. She says she entered the red-light area when she was 10 or 11 but desperately wants a different life for her daughters, who are 15 and 12.

“If I can learn stitching properly, then I can— we can—leave,” she says. “I want my girls to get an education.”

Diya, 45, came here many years ago from a small village when her then-husband sold her to a trafficker. Going back home has never been an option because of the stigma that is misplaced on victims of sexual abuse and exploitation.

“I live here because the people of my village won’t allow me to come back,” she explains. “But Hope for Life gives me hope for leaving to go somewhere else.”

Diya was able to send two daughters, grades 4 and 9, to her home village to live with extended family, but she has to send money back to cover their expenses. Lately, Diya says, she has been going out of the red-light area to do work as a “rag

picker.” She digs through garbage dumps, where she collects anything that can be sold as recyclables. That work doesn’t bring more than $1 (USD) a day, but picking up garbage is better than being treated like it.

“What are your hopes for your daughters?” I ask.

Without hesitating, she answers, “I hope for them to learn to stand on their own feet and to live in society with respect.”

The reality, though, is that Diya doesn’t know if she’ll ever get to see this hope fulfilled. She is HIVpositive and won’t likely live to see her daughters grow into adulthood.

This is the story of many women in India’s red-light areas.

Still, Diya sings a song about the way God makes her “kushi, kushi,” or “happy, happy.”

Reshma, who owns the building that houses the center, says she wants to keep young girls from prostitution. Each week the center becomes a safe space for more than 20 children.

FINDING FAITH Besides hope for the future, Hope for Life is also helping women find hope in the present. Every Thursday, 15 to 20 women cram into this space to pray.

“Coming here and praying—it feels good,” Anaya says. “I’ve also started going to [a congregation].”

After praying and listening to someone read from Scripture, a few women stay behind. Knowing pieces of their stories, I ask, “Do you believe that God loves you?”

“I know God loves me and is asking me to pray for others,” Diya says.

Kyra smiles as she answers, “Yes, I do. And I trust in God.” That God is present here, working to lift the veil of darkness, comes as no surprise to me. But to hear women who have been abused and exploited in the most vicious ways so easily express trust in God? That was a surprise.

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22 SUMMER 2018

Naveen, a pastor, reads Scripture to women at Hope for Life. He and his wife, Chandni, went against cultural taboos to care for the women in the red-light district.

The women I speak with have been told over and over, both in words and actions, that they are worthless. They have been made to believe their value is found only in the number of men willing to pay to abuse them each night. That these women can say with certainty, “I know that God loves me”—surely that is a miracle.

Hope for Life was birthed out of the sincere belief that God does love the women here and wants new life for them.

The center was the dream of Naveen and Chandni. Naveen has been serving as pastor of a congregation near this area for more than a decade. His visits to families brought him to the neighborhood that circles this red-light area. He and Chandni prayed for a way to minister to the women and children here.

Eventually, they found support to start a drop-in center. Chandni, a licensed social worker who had worked for various organizations, took on the task of managing the program.

They chose the name Hope for Life because “we need to give them life in that darkness and to give life, we need to give hope,” she says. “We are giving a small plant and hopefully it will grow into something bigger.”

It’s important to understand that talking about what happens in redlight districts is generally taboo within congregations in India. Those who have been exploited are often seen not as victims but as damaged goods.

So why did this pastor choose to ignore those cultural taboos?

“I read Scripture,” he says with humble sincerity.

Naveen says that throughout Scripture, he reads teachings about God’s desire for justice. He mentions Micah 6:8—“He has shown you, O mortal, what

is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God”—and says he has taught on this passage many times.

“It [Hope for Life] is from God,” he says. “We were praying for these women and children.”

In fact, they continue to pray. Every Friday a group gathers to pray for women and children in the red-light area. “I arrange my schedule around that,” Naveen says. “I never skip that prayer meeting.”

The ministry “has changed the hearts of [our] members,” Chandni adds.”Before, people thought of the ladies as separate, as dirty. But now they are accepted.”

The congregation runs a second Hope for Life drop-in center in their building, which is located in an impoverished neighborhood.

Each morning, 25 children come for tutoring, singing, crafts, and stories from Scripture, plus a small meal. The focus of this center is prevention.

The children in this neighborhood live in poverty, and many live in unstable or abusive family situations. This combination makes them highly vulnerable to being trafficked.

Many of the children are sent out to “pick rags” in the garbage piles. Instead of going to school, they spend their days digging through trash to collect anything that can be sold. The Hope for Life staff have worked hard to help parents and guardians understand the importance of education.

They’ve helped to re-enroll several children who had dropped out of school. The center also hosts classes for parents on how to care for children.

In the afternoons, women who are under-employed or under-educated come for classes in tailoring or beautician training.

They also meet with their self-help groups.

These groups of about 15 women work

"We are giving a small plant and hopefully it will grow into something bigger."

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together to save and support one another.

They each add a set amount of money each week, and once their collective coins add up, they give small loans to members of the group to start small businesses.

“I feel good that I can do all these things,” one self-help group member shares.

“I believe I can do anything.”

A few women get up to share a song.

They sing a refrain that says, “Woman is soft, but she is very strong.”

TAKE MY HAND Back at the Hope for Life site in the red-light district, no one who meets the women here could doubt that they are very strong. That strength is what has kept them alive through years as victims of dehumanizing abuse. This strength is also what enables them to hope for and move toward a different future.

A woman named Amna has been working as a counselor at Hope for Life for more than eight months. During that time, she has seen three women leave this life, and she is working with five more who are in process of leaving.

“I’ve seen women go from hopeless to hopeful,” she says.

Reshma is among the hopeful. When she invited the congregation to turn a small room into a drop-in center, she was still keeping other women in prostitution and was engaged in prostitution herself. As she got to know the staff of Hope for Life, she started to open up and began attending the weekly prayer meetings. As she began to experience and understand God’s love for her, she came to faith and stopped doing “the work,” as she calls it.

Over the course of another six months, she began to understand that if she was able to end her work in a brothel, then she must allow others that freedom, too. Now she works for Hope for Life as a peer leader, encouraging other women to work toward a new way of life.

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When asked to describe the center, Reshma says, “Hope for Life is somebody who will hold your hand and walk with you toward something else—out of this life.”

Reshma says she will do what she can to help offer women ways out of this life.

“God has chosen me,” she says. “I have a role to play to care for children and women.”

A year ago, Reshma volunteered to share her place so a congregation could open a drop-in center.

Today, this upper room in a red-light area has become sacred space.

YOU CAN HELP

A second Hope for Life site focuses on trafficking prevention by providing vocational training for women and education for children. Here, women practice henna art as part of beautician training.

On the way out, Reshma has one request. “Pray for me,” she says. “I need God’s grace and mercy to help others into the light.”

*All the names in this article are pseudonyms. The names of the women in the red-light area have been changed to protect their privacy and dignity, but their stories are all too real. The names of congregation and drop-in center staff members have been changed for security reasons.

Last year, hundreds of local congregations around the world participated in Freedom Sunday, a day to unite in prayer against the evil of human trafficking.

Many collected a freedom offering as part of the event, and those funds are being used to support Hope for Life as well as other anti-human trafficking ministries led by local congregations around the world.

Helping women and children transition from a life of exploitation into something new is a long process that requires ongoing commitment and support.

To learn more about how you can support the work of Hope for Life, go to ncm.org/hope or email info@ncm.org.

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PHOTO COURTESY OF MEGAN ALBAUGH

26 SUMMER 2018

STORIES OF GOD AT WORK THROUGH FOSTER CARE

BY CALLIE STEVENS

It won’t be easy.

Almost unanimously, the families interviewed for this story agreed on that point.

They also all agreed, independently, that they felt called to take in children through foster care anyway.

While the number is constantly changing, more than 400,000 children in the United States live in foster care. In 2017, that number increased for the fourth consecutive year in a row. As the epidemic of opioid addictions grows, that trend is expected to continue.

As with anything involving people and relationships, the simple concept of foster care

can become complicated very quickly.

When parents are unable, for a variety of reasons, to care for their children, state governments have systems to place them in foster care. While the goal of foster care is to reunify children with parents or family members, this is often not possible; sometimes children are adopted into new families, but other times they bounce from home to home.

At its best, though, foster care is meant to provide safe spaces for vulnerable children. Fostering can be a microcosm of the way God welcomes children into His kingdom.

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PHOTO COURTESY MEGAN ALBAUGH

The Albaughs started fostering Caleb when he was less than a month old.

THE ALBAUGHS’ STORY

part of a foster parent’s job is to aid with family reunification. Because of that, the Albaughs When they picked up 27-day-old Caleb, weren’t sure if they would be a temporary or neither Megan nor Ryan Albaugh knew what the permanent home for Caleb. next year would bring. Although he was less than “One of the obvious challenges that comes a month old, Caleb had already been shuffled to with fostering is the uncertainty of it,” Megan multiple homes. says.

The Albaughs live in Mesa, Arizona, where As the months progressed, the weekly visits Ryan serves as associate pastor at Mesa First with Caleb’s biological mother had decreased Church of the Nazarene. Both had adoption on until they weren’t happening at all. Then, at a their radar before they married, particularly since final court meeting, Caleb’s mother pulled Megan Ryan has a history of adoption in his family. Still, aside and asked her to adopt Caleb. it was a shock when they “I now know became foster parents how hard that must overnight, even with a "The Bible tells us to care have been,” Megan supportive community says. “But she just for the orphans and widows. to help. knew she wasn’t I just felt the need to provide Caleb came with a quite well enough to that safe and loving home for unique set of challenges. give him the care he a child that needed it."

The social worker had needed, and we were warned the Albaughs ready to do it.” that Caleb might be “a little fussy.” But that was A year after they welcomed him into their an understatement; for the first few weeks, he home, the Albaughs adopted Caleb. Now, Caleb went through periods where he was inconsolable. and his younger sister are often mistaken It also took several months before he would make for twins. Though their story was smoother eye contact with anyone. During those difficult than many foster stories, there continue to be weeks, Megan also discovered she was pregnant. challenges. Megan says that even in the best “All I can tell people is that God sure has a of circumstances, fostering will be harder than sense of humor,” Megan says. “Never before have anticipated.

I felt so unsure of how I was going to get through “The Bible tells us to care for the orphans something, but we got through it.” and widows,” Megan says. “I just felt the need to The foster system is designed to keep provide that safe and loving home for a child that biological families together if possible, and needed it.”

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PHOTO COURTESY JAYME LENKER

WHEN KIDS AGE OUT

For the Lenkers, fostering is part of participating in Kingdom living.

THE LENKERS’ STORY Jayme Lenker and her husband, Keegan, saw fostering as an act of restoration. However, with two young children already in their family, the choice to foster wasn’t easy.

“We told our kids, ‘They’ll be with us until their parents are healthy enough for them to come home,’” Jayme says.

The Lenkers welcomed four foster children into their home in Los Angeles, California, before moving to the Seattle, Washington area, where they now serve as pastors at Gig Harbor Church of the Nazarene and plan to continue fostering.

For the Lenkers, nurturing relationships with the biological parents of their foster children is important. In Los Angeles, Jayme invited all of the parents of their foster children to parenting classes. One child’s teenage parents took the city bus to the classes, which in Los Angeles was not an easy journey. They transformed from teenagers who thought it was good to give their baby soda to responsible parents who wanted to make sure their daughter had the right nutrition.

“All of our [foster] kids got reunified with their families, and that’s so beautiful,” Jayme says. “To me that’s God at work because the restoration process worked.”

Even though the Lenkers have a heart for family reunification, letting go takes an emotional toll. To foster well, families open their homes—and hearts—to children fully. And then they have to say goodbye. Still, the Lenkers see foster care as a representation of how Christ welcomes people into His church.

“Because the Kingdom spills out into the messiness of life, this felt like a tangible and intentional way that we

Every year, more than 23,000 teenagers age out of the U.S. foster care system. That means they are legally emancipated but without a permanent home or family support. Statistically, their chance at succeeding alone is greatly lowered. According to the National Foster Youth Institute (nfyi.org), foster children who age out have less than a 3 percent chance of earning a college degree, even though 70 percent say they would like to attend college. Only half will be gainfully employed by age 24, and about 70 percent of girls who age out will become pregnant before they turn 21.

Nearly 60 percent of young men who age out are convicted of a crime. This isn’t because foster kids are flawed; it’s because they don’t have the support they need to succeed. If you or your church want to help the most vulnerable, search for organizations in your area dedicated to finding care and support for aged-out youth.

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could step into the unknown, knowing full well that we could step into the beauty of it and circle back to the loss,” Keegan says.

The Lenkers knew that foster care was a calling for their family, despite the challenges

"It’s definitely the most difficult and most joyful thing I’ve ever done. … It’s a calling, and it’s for the long haul. It’s not for the faint of heart." they and their children would face. They’re also quick to point out that not everyone will have that same calling. “Maybe someone’s calling is to support someone [else] who is doing foster care,” Jayme suggests.

“It’s definitely the most difficult and most joyful thing I’ve ever done,” she says. “It’s a calling, and it’s for the long haul. It’s not for the faint of heart.”

PHOTO COURTESY OF LYNNE FRIBERG

The Fribergs always felt they would foster someday.

Now a family of ten, they continue to follow that calling.

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THE FRIBERGS’ STORY It stays true to the theme of these stories to say that Trent and Lynne Friberg always felt they would end up fostering some day. When three of their four biological children were attending school, they began to sense the time was right.

“We just felt an urgency and began to ask [ourselves] why we were waiting to help,” Lynne explains. “At that point, we signed up to attend our training classes.”

Today, the Fribergs are a family of ten with four biological children, three adopted children, and one current foster child. The children range in age from 2-months-old to 15-years-old.

Lynne admits they didn’t expect to have such deep love and compassion for the biological parents of their foster children. When biological parents aren’t able or willing to do the best for their

children, it can be difficult not to pass judgment. And yet, welcoming all people is what the church is meant to do.

“We believe that God … challenges us continually to humanize these parents and want the best for them through these difficult times and circumstances,” Lynne says.

One of the criticisms of the foster system is that siblings are often separated and sent to different homes.

The Fribergs experienced this firsthand when a 3-year-old boy was placed in their home. His brother was born after he was living with the Fribergs, and the new baby was sent to another family. Believing siblings should be together, the Fribergs applied and were approved to foster both.

“The joy on the face of the older brother when he saw his baby [brother] was something I will always remember,” Lynne says.

For anyone considering becoming a foster parent, Lynne shares this advice: “It will be one of the hardest things you have ever done, but these kids and the families they come from are worth it.”

FOSTERING HOPE While we believe the Bible calls us all to care for vulnerable children, not every family is best positioned to foster children who have experienced trauma or come with complicated family dynamics. But everyone can do something to support foster children, according to Krystle Bowen. She and her husband, who serves as a worship pastor at Medford First Church of the Nazarene, are foster parents themselves. Here are few ways churches and individuals can get involved: 1) CONNECT WITH LOCAL ORGANIZATIONS. Groups such as Care Portal (careportal.org) and Safe Families (safe-families.org) are designed to support families in crisis. Both provide tangible ways churches can support the needs of hurting children and families.

2) ASSEMBLE CARE PACKAGES. “A lot of kids come into it [foster care] with nothing, so we encourage people to make welcome boxes,” Bowen says.

Children are often removed from their homes and placed in foster care with few of their own personal clothes or possessions. Find out from your local agencies what items foster kids need most.

3) CONSIDER BEING A CASA. Court-appointed special advocates (CASAs) are volunteers who represent the interests of children in the foster system. Learn more at casaforchildren.org.

4) LEARN ABOUT FOSTERING. If you’re considering being a foster family, do your research. The Child Welfare Information Gateway (childwelfare.gov) offers helpful links. Go to “outof-home care” under the topics to find general foster care information and resources for foster families. Search for your county’s family services website for specifics in your area. You can also search for local trainings and informational meetings to attend.

5) PRAY. Lift up kids in foster care, the families they come from, and the families who are caring for them.

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A CHURCH IN GERMANY SHARES GOD’S LOVE WITH WOMEN IN PROSTITUTION

BY CALLIE STEVENS

F

or the individuals who live in Germany’s brothels, the Kingdom of God seems far away. They consider the brothels to be like hell—why would God come there?

PE/IX is a ministry of Kirche in Aktion, or Church in Action, that hopes to help reveal God’s presence to those experiencing terrible situations.

“We bring that message and light that God really is everywhere,” says Robert Stößer, a KIA pastor who is strongly engaged in the work of PE/IX.

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Germany legalized prostitution in 2002, arguing that legalization would prevent human trafficking and provide sex workers with benefits like health care. Everything from large, institutionalized brothels to street-side prostitution has become commonplace. In reality, though, conditions for people who are prostituted remain dangerous, and trafficking has not disappeared.

Criminals are still buying and selling humans, enslaving them in prostitution.

CHURCH IN ACTION Kirche in Aktion (KIA) is a mission-agency affiliated with the Church of the Nazarene based in Germany's Rhein-Main area. The church holds services in multiple locations throughout Frankfurt, Mainz, Wiesbaden, and Durmstadt. The different locations are especially relevant to PE/IX: teams are sourced out of church sites in the same communities as the brothels, making both church and resources accessible.

The PE/IX ministry has been sending out trained groups to minister in brothels around the cities of Frankfurt, Wiesbaden, and Mainz since 2015. They bring donated cosmetics, as well as translated Bibles, verses, and testimonies of people who have escaped prostitution. These help build a bridge so that relationships can develop.

The groups have to be careful with what they say and how so they don’t risk losing their access to the brothels. They can’t directly encourage individuals to leave prostitution; instead, they provide emotional, spiritual, and logistical support.

BUILT ON RELATIONSHIPS PE/IX has worked hard to cultivate relationships with individuals who are prostituted.

Right now, they have close relationships with about 100 people and estimate that they have come into contact with 1,000.

One of those relationships is with Faith*.

Originally from Spain, the 41-year-old mother of two works regularly in a large brothel. When she was young, she felt as if life was beautiful and easy.

But then she realized she was pregnant with her oldest child, and she wasn’t earning enough money to support both of them. Sleep deprived and hungry, she couldn’t work enough jobs to make ends meet.

Someone whom Faith considered a friend—she now calls her a “friend”—told her she knew of a job

she could get in a brothel. Desperate, Faith felt that she had no other choice. Though she found the idea repulsive, what else could she do?

Faith eventually moved to Germany, where she had heard she could make more money.

Unfortunately, that proved to be as false as the idea of fast money. Now, she only gets to see her children every two months.

“It breaks my heart to be able to see them so seldom,” she says. “But somehow I have to earn money to offer them something.”

Faith is very lonely. Though she speaks Spanish and English, German has eluded her. The language barrier makes it impossible to find friends outside the brothel, except for the women from PE/IX who visit her every two weeks. She expresses disbelief that they would come to such a dark place for her.

“My belief in God is the only thing that strengthens me next to my children, and I’m so glad that I finally have people who come to God with me for my family,” she says.

PE/IX also develops relationships with those who can act as resources, including trustworthy people in law enforcement, doctors, medical support providers, government offices, and other organizations. There is also a dentist and a gynecologist within their group of supporters who provide medical treatments for women who wouldn’t be able to have them otherwise.

“We consider ourselves a link between other helper systems,” Stößer says.

A VENEER OF CHOICE Though there are other projects on a weekly basis, the PE/IX teams visit brothels every two weeks. The same groups of people visit each time, and they go out at night. Sometimes, the volunteers stay out until after midnight, remaining as long as they think they’re needed.

At first, it was difficult for men to be part of the groups. Women had an easier time entering the brothels without causing suspicion. But the church also feels that it’s important for women in prostitution to have positive experiences with men who aren’t paying them for anything.

Most of the women in the brothels are from outside Germany. Some, like Faith, came to the country on their own terms, though they remain entangled in the work. Others were coerced, deceived, and exploited. Individuals often find themselves in prostitution as a result of both

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poverty and pressure. The brothels are also mixed up with crime organizations, Stößer says. Gangs and pimps work behind the scenes and go to extreme lengths to keep individuals under their control. In these cases, there may be a veneer of personal choice covering force.

The teams have met many women with children in home countries who desperately depend on their income. Anna works so she can pay for her son’s expensive medical school. He doesn’t know what her job is. And Mary’s husband and young son still live in Eastern Europe. Back home, everyone thinks she is in Germany working as a waitress.

The multi-billion dollar industry becomes a cycle that is difficult to break. In the large brothels, which are run like corporate businesses, the price of renting a room is 150 euros, or about $185 USD. These are considered the “high-end” institutions. There is usually one owner and often security. Still, there is no way to ensure that those in the rooms aren’t being trafficked.

IMAGINING ANOTHER LIFE When the group from PE/ IX first met Darina, she was most excited about the cosmetics they gave her. If she didn’t have to spend her money on makeup, she could save it or spend it on things she actually needed. She tells the group that she doesn’t actually like wearing makeup, but she knows it comes with the territory.

Originally from Bulgaria, Darina sends most of the money she makes to her parents and keeps very little for herself. She needs to see at least three men a night just to pay for her rented room. In total, she normally sees 13 men each day.

In some conversations, Darina has opened up about her hopes for

34 SUMMER 2018

the future. She can only see men in light of her work right now. She often orders food to be brought to the brothel because she is worried about going outside and garnering attention from them, and when she does go outside she can imagine what they would ask of her. Still, she dreams of changing her perception of men, and she hopes for an education and a different job. She hopes that she will have a family someday.

But Darina feels trapped, unable to realize any of her dreams while she still has to save money and look after her parents. This is work she knows, and because of that she knows that at the end of the month she will have enough money to send. She says she can hardly imagine or hope for another life.

social streetlife

MINISTRY OF PRESENCE The exploitation of men and women forced to provide sex for money is normalized in Germany by its legalization. Coming every two weeks to talk and pray won’t change that. God would be present in the brothels and on the streets whether PE/IX were there or not. What the continued presence does do, though, is provide a reminder of God’s presence to individuals struggling to experience it.

Recently, one of the women the group met in a brothel joined the church services. She has also decided to join other church members on a trip to Thailand this summer, where she will minister to women who are also being prostituted. Another woman left a brothel to return to her home country in Eastern Europe. PE/IX sees this as God’s hope at work.

“Slowly but surely, [the message of God’s presence] enters their hearts and minds,” says Stößer. “... This is heaven on earth entering in.” *The names of all the women in the brothels have been changed for their protection.

The PE/IX logo pays homage to the ancient Christian symbol Chi Rho (XP), which is combines the first two letters of the Greek word ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ, which means Christos.

As a symbol, it commemorates the liberation that can be experienced through Christ and connects with the purpose of the project, which is to give people freedom and to convey appreciation.

GOD'S PEOPLE WORKING TOGETHER TO END HUMAN TRAFFICKING

SEPT. 23, 2018 NCM.ORG/FREEDOMSUNDAY

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VOICES

AN IMAGINATION FOR JUSTICE

N

o imagination rivals God’s. The God who put the “sliding shutter” on the lizard’s eye and created more than three hundred kinds of hummingbirds has a boundless effluence of creativity. Each person bears God’s signature and expresses that uniquely. Our God is Beauty, Goodness, Truth, and the fount from which all its many expressions come. The greatest evidence of this is the incarnation, life, death, and resurrection of God. Here God’s imagination is borne in mysterious, self-offering love that begins the re-creation of a fallen world that will one day become a new heaven and a new earth. …

We desperately need worship that enlivens and enlarges our vision for seeking and doing justice. One of God’s primary antidotes to our small-minded, human-bounded lives is the practice of cultivating a life that feeds from and imitates the imagination of God. This is one of the gifts that worship can give us. It is a telling cultural indictment that the church today is one of the last places people expect to see acts of imagination. At the same time, in a culture that often defines imagination by spectacle, God’s people should be using their imagination to put us in the vanguard of imaginative acts of love and justice. …

Prayer can be a great help in stimulating our imagination for the things of God. This means developing ongoing conversation with

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God about the people and events before you, about living beyond your own self-interest, about wanting God’s heart of compassion and mercy for others. Praying for the ability to see empathetically gives us new vision. Compassion literally means “to suffer with,” and prayer is one of the best ways we can grow in compassion.

It involves standing in the presence of God, carrying the burdens of someone else. …

Another part of our new environment is dwelling in God’s love and seeing what only love can imagine. Love enables us to see what is beyond the moment, beyond the surface. If this can be true of our love, how much more is it true of God’s love.

God’s justice is an embodiment of his loving wisdom, which is radically different from the apparent wisdom of the world. We grow in this wisdom through deeper knowledge of, reflections on and living out God’s written Word. Our growth in Scripture by the Spirit extends, deepens and strengthens our roots in God. Too many of us read the Bible the way we do everything else: for our own sakes. But living in the new environment of God’s life asks more of us, namely that we do things out of love and concern for others.

This excerpt is from The Dangerous Act of Worship: Living God’s Call to Justice by Mark Labberton.

Go Deeper

LISTEN The Ending Human Trafficking podcast series has more than 165 episodes dedicated to exploring a wide variety of issues and nuances surrounding the problem of human trafficking in our world. Learn from experts and survivors.

G O TO : E N D I N G H U M A N T R A F F I C K I N G . O R G / P O D C A S T

REFLECT Dan Boone’s 40-day devotional, You Say You Want a Revolution?, takes you through the Book of Luke, exploring Jesus’ radical commitment to compassion and justice as He embraces those living on the margins and introduces God’s kingdom on earth as it is in heaven.

AVA I L A B L E F RO M T H E FO U N D R Y P U B L I S H I N G

READ In Courageous Compassion: Confronting Injustice God’s Way, Beth Grant challenges the idea of a timid approach to compassion. She combines biblical insights with stories of people who have been enslaved through sexual exploitation in India, illustrating the transforming reality of God’s light in the face of great darkness.

STUDY NIV God's Justice: The Holy Bible is the Bible-plus.

In addition to the words of Scripture, from Genesis through Revelation, this version includes introductions, study notes, prayers, and reflections that speak to the problem of injustice in our world. The publisher worked to provide a global perspective by including 57 contributors representing 22 different countries.

NCM.ORG

37

Snapshot

"You may choose to look the other way, but you can never say again that you did not know.�

- William Wilberforce

To read about how how a ministry in India is caring for children and preventing exploitation, turn to page 16.

38 SUMMER 2018

N A Z A R E N E C O M P A S S I O N A T E M I N I S T R I E S

A PATH OUT OF POVERTY

Sponsor a child online at NCM.ORG/SPONSOR or simply cut off and mail this form using the prepaid envelope. l I would like to sponsor a child for $30 a month. I would like to sponsor: l Greatest Need I would like to sponsor a child from:

l Greatest Need l Eastern Europe

l Africa l Asia l Latin America

l Boy

l Asia-Pacific l Middle East

l Girl

l Caribbean

Name / Group____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Contact Person (if different)_______________________________________________________________________________________________ Address / City / State / ZIP_______________________________________________________________________________________________ Phone ________________________________________ Email ____________________________________________________________________ Church to receive 10% giving credit ______________________________________________________________________________________ You can mail this form to: Nazarene Compassionate Ministries, Child Sponsorship

17001 Prairie Star Parkway, Lenexa, Kansas 66220 No payment is due now. You will receive information by mail about your sponsored child and payment options.

NAZARENE COMPASSIONATE MINISTRIES Church of the Nazarene 17001 Prairie Star Pkwy Lenexa, KS 66220 (800) 310-6362 info@ncm.org

WILL YOU LEAVE A

THROUGH A CHILD SPONSORSHIP ENDOWMENT, YOU CAN ENSURE A CHILD IS SPONSORED IN YOUR NAME IN PERPETUITY. For more information, contact the Church of the Nazarene Foundation at 866-273-2549 or email us at info@nazarenefoundation.org

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