I thank God for people who know where they are called and who are bold enough to stay rooted where God has planted them. It is because of faithful people like this that God is able to use them to speak life and vision into those around them and also awaken callings in others. No doubt this is true in my own life and it is because of the team behind Pearl Alliance that I have identified with the call God has placed on my life.
It was 10 months ago that God rocked my world and changed my life forever. I came across the Pearl Alliance web page and made the most heartbreaking discovery: every 30 seconds a child is enslaved. Staring at the screen in front of me, my heart so broken, tears running down my cheeks, I was appalled that this was happening in my world and I had no idea. The Spirit of God spoke to me and confirmed that I was called to fight for His children and serve this ministry. A passion in me ignited and I immediately took action and emailed Austin to find out how I could get involved. To show God that I was truly committed I became a monthly partner and invested in a laptop so that I would be able to research and further educate myself.
Now months later as I search my email archives for the very first letter I wrote that day God so clearly spoke to me, I am reminded again of His faithfulness. It has been quite the journey since first emailing Austin. I didn’t have a clue about where to start, but Austin encouraged me to seek God and always told me, “Prayer will give your passion purpose.” He was absolutely right! As I prayed God poured out His creative inspiration and showed me how to reach my community.
Since my involvement with Pearl Alliance I have hosted 5 fundraiser’s, created a 30 second timer with Human Trafficking facts and Pearl Alliance information, shared with a group of university students about my involvement, told all my friends and family about the cause and issue, donated my birthday to expose the injustice and asked my friends to donate to Pearl Alliance, hosted a yard sale and movie night, seized countless opportunities to share my heart with people everywhere, and I am still as fired up as ever to fight on behalf of those whose voice has been silenced.
I am completely overwhelmed with thanksgiving as I look back on these past 10 months. God’s grace has carried me to a level of influence that I never imagined possible. Recently I had the privilege of meeting some of the Pearl Alliance team and founder. The hands and heart behind this organization are beautiful compassionate servants and they each inspire me in every way. I can’t help but smile when I think about how it all began and how far God has brought me.
I have received a few emails from people who are inspired by what I am doing and who are passionate and want to take action too. This brings me such joy because I know how they feel. It was not more than 10 months ago that I sent my first email inquiring about my own call of action. And so I always email back echoing the words of a great person that once told me, “Prayer will give your passion purpose.”
Pearl Alliance Partners be encouraged this day and know that you are a part of a ministry that is changing the world, making a difference locally, and awakening the call of God in hearts and lives around the world. My story is proof that God can truly use any heart that is willing and obedient.
I am reminded of the words of Mordecai in the book of Esther as he stirred up the call of God in her life by reminding her that she had been placed in the palace for that specific moment. Know that you too hold the ability to inspire and awaken the calling in someone else’s life. If you haven’t acted yet, don’t hesitate- you have been called to be a world changer for such a time as this.
Sincerely... Esther
Friday, November 20, 2009
Monday, November 2, 2009
Do we want to go & cry? or pray, send & rescue?
When I think of my trip to Mumbai, India, I am even now haunted by the image of a far too young mother begging us to take her eight-year-old daughter. The mother was trapped in a brothel after being trafficked from her village in her early teens. She gave birth to her daughter at fourteen. Enslaved for nearly a decade, she’d abandoned all hope for her rescue and yet she cherished one for her daughter.
“Please, please take her! Take her before they take her!”The mother’s heart within me broke. I have four sons and recently became a grandmother. I write today because I want to know the legacy we leave will be truly grand. I want a world where children are not trafficked. I am passionate because I’ve not only heard—I’ve seen—and now, friends for life, I am honored to share this passion with you.
How can we not reach out and rescue rather than simply cry over this issue? All want to go, but who will give? There are God-empowered, strategically placed people in these dark places who need our support if these children are to be rescued.
We are His hands and feet. Let no more children be bought, sold, consumed or demanded; may all living in hopeless shadows be rescued.
I pray this breaks your heart wide and gives you the courage to reach out and rescue by giving generously.
Thank you,
Lisa Bevere
“Please, please take her! Take her before they take her!”The mother’s heart within me broke. I have four sons and recently became a grandmother. I write today because I want to know the legacy we leave will be truly grand. I want a world where children are not trafficked. I am passionate because I’ve not only heard—I’ve seen—and now, friends for life, I am honored to share this passion with you.
How can we not reach out and rescue rather than simply cry over this issue? All want to go, but who will give? There are God-empowered, strategically placed people in these dark places who need our support if these children are to be rescued.
We are His hands and feet. Let no more children be bought, sold, consumed or demanded; may all living in hopeless shadows be rescued.
I pray this breaks your heart wide and gives you the courage to reach out and rescue by giving generously.
Thank you,
Lisa Bevere
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Sonia Update
This month, Lisa Bevere appeared on the television show, Life Today. The particular episode featuring Lisa was completely devoted to the problem of human trafficking. Hidden camera clips were shown of Lisa in the brothels of Mumbai during last July. While in the brothels, Lisa was able to meet an eight year old girl named Sonia. Sonia is the daughter of a prostitute who has been living in the same room for years. This little child would hide under her mom’s bed, while her mom was forced to service many clients each day. Due to limited space, Life Today was not able to rescue Sonia during the time that the footage was taken for the show.
Last week, we received a call informing us Sonia had been rescued from this horrible lifestyle! Currently, Sonia is safe in a children’s orphanage. Praise the Lord!! Please continue to pray for Sonia’s mom, Sema, and that she gets rescued. Over 90% of the children of the prostitutes in Mumbai end up being forced into sex slavery themselves. Thank you for doing your part to reject this statistic!
Click here to watch the video of Sonia on Life Today.
Last week, we received a call informing us Sonia had been rescued from this horrible lifestyle! Currently, Sonia is safe in a children’s orphanage. Praise the Lord!! Please continue to pray for Sonia’s mom, Sema, and that she gets rescued. Over 90% of the children of the prostitutes in Mumbai end up being forced into sex slavery themselves. Thank you for doing your part to reject this statistic!
Click here to watch the video of Sonia on Life Today.
Rescue in Cambodia
A new girl has been welcomed into the She Rescue Home. The child is only six years old. After combating human trafficking for over a year now, it is still surreal to hear that girls are being trafficked at this young age. Please pray for her healing process and that the impartation of God’s love would come alive in her little heart.
The two eldest girls are training for their beauty and hair salon. These girls will soon be able to provide a steady income for themselves. This is amazing! On top of that, all the older girls are getting plugged in and serving at the local church.
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Lisa's Anti-Trafficking Address to America
SCTNow Stiletto Run & Anti-Trafficking Walk
September 27, 2009
New York City, NY
I’ve heard some talk of promising economic indicators… wouldn’t that be awesome?
Let’s pause a moment…is our economy the best indicator of the nation’s health? Yes, it reflects our ability to buy & sell, consume & demand, possess & release. But, is our nation merely a collection of consumers? Or is our nation something more?
I’m a mother of four sons and Thursday an amazing and astounding title was added to my life…Grandmother. Asher, my first grandson, was born and I’m here today because I want to know the nation he is inheriting will once again be truly grand.
The truth is at my age it is becoming more & more difficult for me to read and see things up close.Yet even so, my vision for things in the distance has become more acute.
I stand before you a grandmother, mother & daughter of this nation to declare I see a danger on our horizon.
More than stocks & bonds, the children of this nation are our greatest wealth! Their present and future safety…our only hope of lasting legacy.
I beg you to be brave and now access both their current and pending threat level.
For there is possibly no greater health indicator of a nation than how it treats its women and children. And I know of what I speak.
I have had the opportunity to walk the streets of the red light districts in Thailand & Cambodia. I watched first hand as businessmen from our great nation walked hand in hand with underage girls as though they were daughters when actually they were on their way back to hotels rooms to sexual exploit them.
Recently I was undercover in the interior of the worst of the worst brothels in the slums of Mumbai. I was stunned as I listened to story after story of women who’d been trafficked at 12, 13 & 14 years of age.
Their only mistake was daring to hope for something more. With a promise in their hearts they were led off, lied to and sold often by the very ones who should have protected them.
I still hear the heartbreaking pleas of Sema as she begged for her eight-year-old daughter to be taken out of the brothel before she fell into the same fate that had overtaken her at age13.
And now I stand before you…to warn you that India, Thailand & Cambodia are not as far away as you may have imagined.
If no man is an island…then no nation is insulated.
The oppression and injustice we tolerate for others will over take us all if we remain silent.
I am passionate because I’ve not only heard…I’ve seen so I speak my passion.
In the name of all that makes us humans created in the image of God how can any of us remain silent when the voices of so many children have been silenced?
How can we not cry out rather than simply cry over this issue and our nation’s role?
It is a gross injustice that strips a child of their innocence and enslaves them to the lust and debauchery of another.
How many times must we hear…all that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing…before we will actually not only believe…but act?
We foolishly imagined the problem was isolated and remote…child trafficking was something happening over there…a long way from our safe American world.
But here’s the tragedy…often the perpetrators of what happens over there live, work and shelter within our gates…they traveled overseas to distant shores to act out what they dared not do…here on American soil.
But they dare now…
Don’t imagine you and your children are safe, or insulated.
None of us are if we allow this dark force to grow unchecked against the very children entrusted to our nation’s care.
I pray we have not forgotten the injustices and violations of humanity that we tolerate for others will one day rise and threaten us.
Our nation’s greatness, her power to influence and exercise worldwide authority was not given to showcase our strength but to shelter the captive and hopeless and restore theirs.
You’ve gathered to send a message.
Let each step you take strengthen your resolve. May this be the beginning of an outcry and the hope of rescue, the first sign of light to those trapped in darkness. In this nation may justice visit both victim and violator.
Let no more children be bought, sold, consumed or demanded, may all that were possessions be released.
May our children & grandchildren look back at our moment, our message and our resolve and be proud that we looked ahead, rose to the challenge and brought strategic solution!
Thank you!
September 27, 2009
New York City, NY
I’ve heard some talk of promising economic indicators… wouldn’t that be awesome?
Let’s pause a moment…is our economy the best indicator of the nation’s health? Yes, it reflects our ability to buy & sell, consume & demand, possess & release. But, is our nation merely a collection of consumers? Or is our nation something more?
I’m a mother of four sons and Thursday an amazing and astounding title was added to my life…Grandmother. Asher, my first grandson, was born and I’m here today because I want to know the nation he is inheriting will once again be truly grand.
The truth is at my age it is becoming more & more difficult for me to read and see things up close.Yet even so, my vision for things in the distance has become more acute.
I stand before you a grandmother, mother & daughter of this nation to declare I see a danger on our horizon.
More than stocks & bonds, the children of this nation are our greatest wealth! Their present and future safety…our only hope of lasting legacy.
I beg you to be brave and now access both their current and pending threat level.
For there is possibly no greater health indicator of a nation than how it treats its women and children. And I know of what I speak.
I have had the opportunity to walk the streets of the red light districts in Thailand & Cambodia. I watched first hand as businessmen from our great nation walked hand in hand with underage girls as though they were daughters when actually they were on their way back to hotels rooms to sexual exploit them.
Recently I was undercover in the interior of the worst of the worst brothels in the slums of Mumbai. I was stunned as I listened to story after story of women who’d been trafficked at 12, 13 & 14 years of age.
Their only mistake was daring to hope for something more. With a promise in their hearts they were led off, lied to and sold often by the very ones who should have protected them.
I still hear the heartbreaking pleas of Sema as she begged for her eight-year-old daughter to be taken out of the brothel before she fell into the same fate that had overtaken her at age13.
And now I stand before you…to warn you that India, Thailand & Cambodia are not as far away as you may have imagined.
If no man is an island…then no nation is insulated.
The oppression and injustice we tolerate for others will over take us all if we remain silent.
I am passionate because I’ve not only heard…I’ve seen so I speak my passion.
In the name of all that makes us humans created in the image of God how can any of us remain silent when the voices of so many children have been silenced?
How can we not cry out rather than simply cry over this issue and our nation’s role?
It is a gross injustice that strips a child of their innocence and enslaves them to the lust and debauchery of another.
How many times must we hear…all that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing…before we will actually not only believe…but act?
We foolishly imagined the problem was isolated and remote…child trafficking was something happening over there…a long way from our safe American world.
But here’s the tragedy…often the perpetrators of what happens over there live, work and shelter within our gates…they traveled overseas to distant shores to act out what they dared not do…here on American soil.
But they dare now…
Don’t imagine you and your children are safe, or insulated.
None of us are if we allow this dark force to grow unchecked against the very children entrusted to our nation’s care.
I pray we have not forgotten the injustices and violations of humanity that we tolerate for others will one day rise and threaten us.
Our nation’s greatness, her power to influence and exercise worldwide authority was not given to showcase our strength but to shelter the captive and hopeless and restore theirs.
You’ve gathered to send a message.
Let each step you take strengthen your resolve. May this be the beginning of an outcry and the hope of rescue, the first sign of light to those trapped in darkness. In this nation may justice visit both victim and violator.
Let no more children be bought, sold, consumed or demanded, may all that were possessions be released.
May our children & grandchildren look back at our moment, our message and our resolve and be proud that we looked ahead, rose to the challenge and brought strategic solution!
Thank you!
Monday, August 31, 2009
7 Team Members + $400 dollars raised...and counting!
There is only one more month until the earth-wide Walk to Stop Child Trafficking!
It has been a blast going door to door raising awareness to stop human trafficking. On one particular day, in less than two hours, seven of my team members and I were able to visit more than 40 houses, break up a potential dog fight, and raise more than $400 dollars for the Walk. Not only that, it literally opened doors to share how God has moved our hearts to compassion.
We don’t have the power to give spiritual freedom to others. This was only possible through the loving sacrifice of Jesus. However, we have been given the opportunity to show a beautiful analogy to this freedom. By participating in the SCTNow Walks, we are able to give physical freedom to others. This is one of the greatest acts of love we can demonstrate. All love comes from above, but it should not stop there...If you have not signed up for a walk near you, I encourage you to do so right now!
It has been a blast going door to door raising awareness to stop human trafficking. On one particular day, in less than two hours, seven of my team members and I were able to visit more than 40 houses, break up a potential dog fight, and raise more than $400 dollars for the Walk. Not only that, it literally opened doors to share how God has moved our hearts to compassion.
We don’t have the power to give spiritual freedom to others. This was only possible through the loving sacrifice of Jesus. However, we have been given the opportunity to show a beautiful analogy to this freedom. By participating in the SCTNow Walks, we are able to give physical freedom to others. This is one of the greatest acts of love we can demonstrate. All love comes from above, but it should not stop there...If you have not signed up for a walk near you, I encourage you to do so right now!
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