When someone is seriously injured, the first step is to stop the bleeding. But after this has been done, we must move onto surgery and then ongoing care. Simply stopping the bleeding does not bring healing and set the injured on the road to health. Instead, the wound will become infected and usually result in a long and painful death.
For someone whose life is in crisis because of homelessness or addiction, we cannot simply stop at relief. Their life has become unmanageable. Chaos has become the norm. They need more than a few bucks or a place to crash for a night. They need deep friendships and community. They need a life and heart transformation. Like all of us, they need Jesus Christ.
Jefferson Street Baptist Center’s Fresh Start program exists for these very things.
100% of the profits from the sale of this Spendyourself shirt are used to bring hope, healing and restoration to the homeless of Louisville by funding the Fresh Start program.
This t-shirt is about Christ transforming the homeless and hurting. It is about God setting us free from our cages and making us into new creatures.
Jefferson Street Baptist Center exists to extend gospel-centered mercy to the homeless and hurting of the greater Louisville area. JSBC’s Fresh Start is a 6-month Christ-Centered, grace-based, disciplined and structured program which offers men a practical experience in a safe and comfortable environment and is designed to assist men who are struggling with life dominating issues.
Jesus Christ alone brings true transformation. Like the phoenix, we are meant to die in order to be reborn. For the men who are a part of JSBC’s Fresh Start program, most have spent many years trying to do life in their own way and on their own terms. But like the phoenix, they must die in order to be reborn.
The Fresh Start program is about more than just making good citizens of the United States. It’s about Christ bringing new citizens into the Kingdom of God. The community that surrounds men during their time in Fresh Start includes Christian mentors, urban missionaries, biblical counselors, biblical teachers, life skill teachers, the local church and other men in recovery. It is about Christ working through community to bring transformation to the homeless and hurting.
Did you know:
The San Francisco earthquake of 1989 was at the same time of day as the Haiti quake, and was of the same magnitude. Over 200,000 Haitians died. EIGHTY NINE San Franciscans died. How could that be?
Simple. Most of Haiti’s buildings wouldn’t meet required inspection codes in the US. The roofs simply fell flat onto the occupants. Is this the fault of the Haitians? Not at all. The infrastructure is of a low grade because of the extreme poverty. The poverty exists in large part, not because the Haitians haven’t made a strong effort to develop their country – it exists because to develop their country, the Haitian government reduced trade and agriculture tariffs to secure International Monetary Fund loans, and to attract foreign investors. The unfortunate result? Foreign privatized agriculture practically wiped out local rice farms, and when the competition was gone, prices were raised up to 141%. Exploitation, plain and simple.
The pressure being placed on rich foreign countries (profiting from Haiti’s poverty) is making a difference though. Just this month the G7 countries unilaterally forgave Haiti’s debt. Haiti still however, owes a staggering amount to the International Monetary Fund. While progress is being made, the poor are still suffering, day by day. You can make a difference.
Friend, this is a nation enslaved in debt, and because of this disaster, it’s not certain they’ll ever recover. You can help. Buying a Haiti shirts directly helps the poor. At a time like this, where their future looks so bleak, you can make a direct difference. The proceeds of this shirt go directly to our partners on the ground, in Haiti and fund relief efforts for the suffering.
If you’ve already bought a shirt, we sincerely thank you! Please share this link with like-minded people who want to make a real difference.
To read more about the work being done in Haiti, please click here.
The story behind our Espere shirt. Two members of Spendyourself were able to travel with Northside Christian Church and film this video as part of their Advent Conspiracy event in December. We thought it certainly helped tell the story as to why we feel so strongly about this project. To read more about the story behind this shirt, please click here.
I first met Chris when he came to Haiti last summer. He came with Zach, who I already knew from college. Their trip was short and hectic, as we flew and drove all over the Northwest department of Haiti. Luckily, within the few days of the trip we had several moments to sit and discuss some of the things that they saw and experienced.
We ate Dominoes under the awning of the Coconut Hotel in Port au Prince, and discussed everything from inner city ministry to social justice, church politics to t-shirts, and sweatshops to college basketball. The problems of Haiti were a recurring topic.
They asked me my opinion on Haiti’s most pressing needs, specifically in the area in which NWHCM works. My response was the lack of trees/erosion along with access to clean water. In many ways the two topics are interwoven. Trees and water go hand in hand, and I think this idea is portrayed in the shirt that they put together (pictured above). Without trees desertification of arable land becomes an issue. Without trees, erosion will pollute not only drinking water sources, but also the ocean, driving off fish that are an essential part of the Haitian economy and diet. Polluted water sources, or the lack of water sources in general, cause a myriad of diseases and other health issues. In a country where children die from the dehydration caused by diarrhea, clean sources of water are not things to be taken lightly. The lack of drinking water also hits the Haitian home economically. Many people are forced to buy clean water by the jug or bucket, others pay expensive medical bills at government hospitals for illnesses that could have been prevented by access to a clean source of water.
If one dug deep enough would they find that there are other underlying factors that contribute to the lack of clean water and trees in Haiti? Most likely, and so a holistic ministry that teaches responsibility and respect is crucial in this work to help Haiti. We have yet to see the long-term results from the disastrous earthquakes that hit Haiti earlier this month, but one can almost guarantee that they will affect every aspect of Haiti life, including access to clean water as well as food production.
The folks over at Spendyourself have put together a shirt the proceeds of which all go to support NWHCM. They have already raised a large amount of money for the purpose of buying equipment to drill wells for some of the remote areas in the Northwest. Since the earthquake they had to call an audible at the line and are now diverting some of the funds from the shirts towards earthquake relief as well. This has been a long process that started with a trip to Haiti and some great conversations between the people at Spend Yourself and the staff and leadership from NWHCM. Where the story ends is another question.
The word on the shirt “espere” is the Creole verb for “hope.” The implications/interpretations of the word in reference to the shirt seem limitless. As an organization we hope that Haiti can pull through this disaster. We hope for a Haiti in which people have access to clean water. We hope for a Haiti that reflects the natural beauty and fertile mountainsides that it was once known for. We hope for a Haiti in which people are treated fairly and with respect by citizens within the country and the global community. We hope for a Haiti that will continue to see growth in the body of believers, one in which the global body will show solidarity with, not as all-mighty, benevolent Americans or members of the first world, but as the body of Christ being the body of Christ (I think I stole that phrase from someone).
Essentially, we hope for Haiti the same things that we hope for our own lives and those around us. We can no longer ignore the people living from the margins, living in the parts of the world that are only discussed during times of war and natural disaster. The reality is that these people not only live the moments that we periodically see on CNN but they also live in the expanse of years between the disasters that make it on the news, and sometimes those normal days are harder than the ones that garner international attention and aid.
It is a big message for a t-shirt right? Nevertheless it is a message that we cannot afford to forget, not for Haiti or for any other group of people as well.
-Curtis Rogers
(Curtis is currently on staff with NWHCM and serves on the ground in northwest Haiti)
For more information on how you can help those in Haiti, please click here.
Funny things about natural disasters…
The funny thing about natural disasters is their ability to bring light to dark situations. Unless you have been in a cave, you have witnessed in some form or fashion the catastrophe that hit the island of Haiti last week. Thousands upon thousands of people are left dead due to a 7.0 earthquake and numerous aftershocks. Buildings collapsed, homes where shook to the ground, the earth split, mountains crumbled; burying men, women, and children. The country of Haiti and it’s citizens will never be the same…I HOPE.
You see, two days before the earthquake people in Haiti were already dying. Haiti is the poorest country in the western hemisphere, with a government that is barely stable, and a population that has lived in despair for so long they have forgotten the word espère, which means hope in Creole. Two days before the earthquake, Haitians lived with little to no safe drinking water, no food, or housing. Two days before the earthquake Haitians hesitated to name their children and rarely celebrated a birthday until the age of five because, well, many children do not make it to that age…That was Haiti two days before the quake…and it will be Haiti two years after the earthquake unless…
Unless we embrace the light. This earthquake, much like the hurricane that brought awareness to the destitution that littered New Orleans, has awakened the world to suffering of many in Haiti. What happens after the wreckage clears will then, and only then, define Haiti’s next path. Without a reckoning emerging from the wreckage Haiti will fall back into the darkness. So we, Christians, we humans, must respond. We can no longer turn a deaf ear and blind eye to the atrocities that happen less than six hours away. And we cannot wait for another earthquake, tsunami, or whatever disaster to bring light to the darkness. The last time I read the Good Book, I believe it said that that was our job. Join us in bringing espère back to Haiti.
-C Harp
For more information on how you can help those in Haiti, please click here.
James 1:17 “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the father of lights, with whom can be no variation, nor turning shadow”
Since it was New Years Eve night and there were only 5 of us delivering in the clubs total, we all decided to visit both clubs. It was an extra special night for us to be able to go to both clubs and see all the girls at both clubs! So we backed our cars with presents, burritos with all the fixins, homemade brownies, and headed out.
Club 1
The girls went crazy over the Mexican food that we brought to the club this past Thursday night. We saw J the manager and said Merry Christmas to him. We haven’t seen him around very much in the past few months. We saw some other dancers that were not working last week when we brought the gifts so we all got to give out some more gifts to the girls and gave more stalkings out to some other male staff that were there.
Just a few updates in this club: S has a mother who in the past few months has been experiencing uncontrollable seizures lately, and catching up with her this week, she said her mom is still having the seizures and the doctors still do not know why. She asked if we could still keep praying for her mom’s health
M the talkative bartender we always share about, is looking for a crib. Her sister just had a baby and they are in great need for a crib so if any of you have a crib or know of anyone with one, please contact us asap.
Club 2
It was fairly busy in the club on this New Years Eve night. All the girls lined up as usual. Also at this club were a few girls who were not there last week when we brought all of the Christmas gifts! So we took a count and brought in more presents out of the car inside. C almost had a heart attack when we gave her a gift for herself and her 2 year old daughter. She said “You know, you ladies are the ONLY people who gave me a gift at ALL this year.” She said it meant even more that we thought of her daughter and got her daughter something because she couldn’t afford much this year. Can you believe that friends? It absolutely breaks my heart to think that these ladies have no one to share Christmas with.
Later Jessica and I went to the middle club and had a great conversation with another newer girl “J”. She told us the same thing that no one got her anything for Christmas and that we were the only people who got her anything. She is an adopted child with her birth family in PA and her adopted parents on the other side of the country. She knows no one in Louisville except her ex husband which is why she moved her (to reconcile their marriage). But He has been unfaithful to her on numerous accounts so she is just “existing ” in Louisville right now. She just sleeps and dances. Pray that our friendship grows with her an we can all hang out with her outside the club,
I had the opportunity to pray with a very broken dancer in one of the VIP rooms right before we left. It was an incredible experience to pray in a room that satan usually rip these women down, not build them up. You could just feel her desperation for God and as we prayed together. I know she felt the Holy Spirit last night. She dug her fingers into my arms and just teared up. With the stench of Alcohol on her breath, she very emotionally spilled her whole story out to me. She’s an ex drug addict. She’s been dancing since she was 18. She’s nearly 40 now. She has 3 kids. 12,8, and 4. She is in a very dysfunctional relationship. Her boyfriend’s ex-wife and children are living with them and she said she is just falling apart. Please cover these women in prayer that Satan will not attack them or control them or destroy them like he has been.
It was wonderful to just catch up with a lot of the usual ladies we see every week and be able to start the New Year together with our hearts in the right spot. It’s not about us, It’s all about Him! Everything we do is for Him and there is nothing better than seeing the work of the spirits hand in these women’s hearts and what he has done in our hearts over the past year. It has drastically changed my life and showed me even more of how my life should look and that I “have” way too much! Thank u for your prayers and for everyone who takes the time to read this. This is a serious battle we are entrusted with! I am so excited to see what God is going to do it 2010 with Scarlet Hope and all who are involved!
Club 2:
Reporting Jessica L.,
Team: Rachelle, Sarah, Valerie
This week we visited the clubs on Wednesday night, Christmas Eve Eve.
We had some wonderful ladies provide a homemade, delicious Christmas dinner!
Thank you ladies for all your help and support in this ministry! We also packed up our cars with Christmas presents galore for the men and ladies at the clubs plus for their kids This year we were able to provide blankets, baked goods, a bracelet, and a Bible for the ladies.
For the men, we had socks, after shave, Axe deodorant, sunflower seeds, baked goods, and a Bible. For the kids we were blessed for several different items from books, coloring books, crayons, stuffed animals, and so forth. This was a fun and exciting night to be Santa’s elves to these men and ladies. Thanks again to all who helped provide Christmas for this group, it is very much appreciated. After we arrived and got the food organized, Sarah and I walked over to one of the clubs to invite the girls to come over for some food and the bartender was on the phone. We walked back over later to talk to the bartender for a little while. We told her we had all the fixin’s and asked if she wanted a plate. She had already ordered dinner but we asked if she wanted a to go box to take home, she decided that she would rather eat with us and save her order to take home. So we gathered her some food and delivered the presents to the girls. They were all so appreciative of the gifts. After we were done visiting with those girls we went back to help Rachelle and Valerie with the handing out more presents to all the other girls. As we handed the gifts out to the girls, one of them B looked at us and said can I open it now? She was so excited. Later, B walked up to us and asked if we would help her put on her bracelet. We were able to provide the girls with a Psalm 23 bracelet which has a insert explaining the colors and how they apply to the verse. It was so cool to see she was excited to put on the bracelet. I pray the bracelet will bring up more conversations with these girls in the future. Again thank you all for your support in this ministry and providing Christmas to these people, they all were so appreciative and it was wonderful to see so many happy faces. As we walked out, one of the girls I’d never seen before walked up to all of us and gave us all hugs. It’s great to see the response that we did
tonight.
To read more about Scarlet Hope, please see click here.
Scarlet Hope is doing some amazing things in our community and we thought it would be cool to give you a glimpse into what their ministry looks like on a weekly basis. We think you’ll enjoy!
-Lee
Scarlet Hope – Journal Entry
Those of us who are strong and able in the faith need to step in and lend a hand to those who falter, and not just do what is most convenient for us. Strength is for service, not status. Each one of us needs to look after the good of the people around us, asking ourselves, “How can I help?” That’s exactly what Jesus did. He didn’t make it easy for himself by avoiding people’s troubles, but waded right in and helped out. “I took on the troubles of the troubled,” is the way Scripture puts it. Even if it was written in Scripture long ago, you can be sure it’s written for us.
Romans 15 1-6 (The Message)
Club 1
Reporting: Rachelle S.
Team: Valerie S and Brittani C.
Guys filled Club 1 Thursday night. There weren’t a ton of girls working, but even though their were men in the club, the girls mostly complained that they weren’t making any money because the guys weren’t spending any money.
We had delicious, warming home feeling potato soup with rolls, cookies and brownies for dessert. When there are new girls in the club we always get that vibe of “who in the world are you..” but once the regular girls start to eat they quickly file in line and are very excited that we have come.
I can’t imagine what it would be like to be a first time dancer and in such a dark atmosphere at the end of your rope and then a bunch of ladies come in to “serve dinner”. I hope and pray that it gives them a glimpse of Light that shows them they are worth more than what this world tells them they are.
As I sat down at one of the tables in the club to have a bowl of soup with one of the dancers, FA a new dancer I had never met came and sat right by us. She is 23 and has a little girl that is 5. I began to ask FA questions. Did she have any kids, how long had she been doing this, on and on….her answers were all very short and to the point, but then something just went off and she started sharing a lot of different aspects of her life. I listened and she talked and talked, when she got done talking she sighed a huge sigh and said “wow, that felt so good to get off my chest”.
FA has been in the industry for about 6 months and got into a car accident not to long ago and totaled her car. She is trying to save up money while taking car of her daughter to get another car. She talked of how she has contemplated prostituting herself out for more money because when she goes home at night and looks in her cupboards to eat she has only oatmeal and a cans of tomato sauce. She said that’s what her and her daughter have been eating. She told me that the club penalizes you when you leave early and she said several times she has to go take care of her daughter and they have fined her over $150.00. This week she has worked every day and only made $50.00 total. This is the life these women become sucked into. They tell you you can pay off your fines if you stay there and work extra etc. etc. We talked about this idea of her prostituting herself out and she said with her own lips, I can not, do not want to do that. And I made sure she knew that there would be no way she would ever have to get to that point and how it is not worth anything in this life to do that… God will provide a way out.
Towards the end of our conversation she told me that her daughter talks about how much she is excited for Christmas because all of the kids she knows gets presents, so she is so sad that she can’t provide a Christmas for her daughter. She said she went down to sign up for the Angel tree the other day and they told her she was too late. After listening, and praying while listening to her, the Holy Spirit prompted me to tell her we will find a way to help her for the holidays. Praise the Lord, we have a family that is willing to sponsor a family for the holidays and God is going to provide for that need.
Before she had to go back up on stage to dance she asked me the question…..I get so excited about “why do you all do this?” I got to share Jesus with her. I told her because we loved her and wanted her to know that there is a God that created her and that loves her more than she will ever know. Jesus! She looked me straight in the eye for the first time at that point and said “I don’t know what to say….that is the coolest thing I’ve ever heard…”
I wish I could say she turned around and walked out of that club that second, but God planted a seed that night and he will water and grow that seed, I know.
It’s so awesome to see how God works in these women’s lives and in the life of this ministry! We are never without, because he provides the way.
Club 2:
Reporting Kamille B.
Team: Hannah D., Natalie G., Mandy L.
Club 2 had an eerie feeling about it Thursday night. We kept trying to bring the dancers cookies and food, but they all were very busy and seemed to want their privacy. We would give them plates of food smile and go to the other side.
They ate their plates fast with some sincere thankfulness. The bartender V looked terrible. She talked to Hannah briefly and told her about some troubles with her kids. There weren’t a lot of girls working this night and the abundance of customers kept the girls very busy and unable to talk.
I did get to talk with, R. She said the food was delicious and the warm soup hit the spot on this cold night. She lives with her brother and his family, but feels she needs to support herself. She has worked there for years on and off…this was the first time I had met R.
J the DJ has become increasingly more talkative when we are around. J has been coming to service at NCC off and on and he has been helping serve by cooking every now and then. The first two songs J played once we got there were dedicated to us. One was “son of a preacher man…” he came over and told us he did that for us. We weren’t to sure what to say, but thank you.
I watched for H the dancer, but she has moved to be one of the daytime bartenders and we won’t be seeing her very much anymore. She needs some special prayer regarding her family, relationship stress. She is a single mother who is financially struggling and her car was impounded. Please pray for H.
The girls have come to trust us little by little and they know we are true to our word by just showing up every week and fulfilling our commitment of showing them love every week.
Trusting and Loving Him,
Rachelle & The Scarlet Hope Team
Turn The Lights Off.
First some statistics:
30 million-the amount of people enslaved in the world
2.8 million-the number of children a year trafficked into the sex trade
9-the average age of a sex worker
3 million-the number of sex slaves in India alone
80%-how many of the 30 million slaves are female
70%-how many of the 30 million slaves are in the sex industry
50%-how many of the 30 million slaves are children
In the simplest terms, Resc\You wants to turn the lights out. In some way, through empowering men and women, educating them, and rebuilding communities by turning off the lights in red light districts across the world. We’re starting in India.
Resc\you met in India, well actually New York City, in December of 2008. We bonded on a trip to India, traveling and meeting the wonderful people that inhabited the towns we visited. One common thread among us was that part of us was left in that country.
Resc\You was started because I want to help Bittu, a boy I met while visiting the shelter in Khidderpore. He has a smile that I will never forget and laughter that’s better than any song on the planet. We drew pictures together, he stole my camera and a big piece of my heart.
What bothered me about Bittu is that as I was leaving the shelter, so was he. I was returning to my flat across town and he was returning to a brothel. He played in the street littered with johns and decorated with girls awaiting them.
Resc\You began for the sex worker who offered me her child through the taxi window. I do not have children, but it’s a dream of mine. The opportunity for a great life is more likely with me in her eyes, than in her own. Hope has not been closed out from my life. The want to provide and care for a child is ingrained in a lot of women and you can see in her eyes that she wanted that too. To know that her baby girl was cared for, loved and safe was more important than keeping that child. Saying no to her was so painful; how long would it be before this girl was being forced to have sex?
Resc\You exists because I remember every face I looked into as the taxi rolled down the broken road through the red light district. Their skin reflecting the red glow of the lights in the stalls. Girls as young as 7 or 8, awaiting the men they would have to entertain. Women leaning against the walls, tired already.
Women should not have to be valued solely for their sexuality. The kids of the red light districts should not have to live in fear. Slavery affects everyone, you and me as well. It affects us because we know about it, we see it and we have the ability to do something about it.
Resc\You had to happen because we see a need and are willing to fill it. We have the talents, we have the ability; to whom much is given, much is expected. We do not take the burden we’ve been given lightly.
We’re all friends who met in India and going back to help them because we love them so much. We remember their laughs, smiles and the freedom they show when they dance. We want them to be able to feel that way everyday.
We want you to know the people we met in the districts as well, and you will as Resc\You progresses. You will know the facts that we know and together we will radically change the statistics. Actually, not just the statistics..the people behind those statistics.
-Amy Turner
Please click here to find out more about the partnership between Resc\You and Spendyourself
Proceeds from the Resc\You shirt will go directly toward funding a scholarship fund for the children of sex workers.
“Trafficking is essentially modern day slavery, and currently there are 27 million people in slavery.”
“The average age of entry for prostitution for girls and boys ranges from 11-14″
“Within the first 48 hours of being on the street, 1 in 3 children are lured into prostitution”
The facts and statistics are endless. We have the choice to respond or grow numb to the figures.
The vision behind this effort began when five friends met while working with Faceless International in the slums of Kolkata, India. They initially traveled to become more aware of the underbelly of the human trafficking world, but never expected to be changed in such a radical way and feel the conviction to respond.
During this trip they were exposed to more than facts and saw the human side of sex trafficking. Rather than reading the statistics from the comfort of their homes, they personally engaged the mothers and children in bondage by the sex trade. They met children who had spent their entire lives in brothels and whose future of becoming a sex worker was all but decided for them. They met mothers who tried to give their children away with the hope that it would give their baby some kind of future.
It spurned a conviction that would simply not rest until action took place.
Recognizing that education has the ability to enable change, the goal is to provide people who are survivors of trafficking an education, so they can move forth into their own communities and change the world.
In addition to this, funding advanced education will enable the children an opportunity to get away from the environment of the brothel. We want these children to know that they are loved.
We are partnering with Resc\You & Faceless International with the hopes of giving these same children the opportunity to create, dream, and change the communities in which they live.
When you purchase this shirt, you are opening doors to conversation on trafficking. You are helping educate yourself and others through discussion. You are helping a child in the Red Light District of Kolkata, India to go to school.
Photography courtesy of J*Grace.
To read more about Resc\You please see the following blog entries:
