We started having meetings for Casa Mis Sueños in October (read about Casa Mis Sueños in last post). It was all so exciting to be apart of, dreaming together, writing down lists of donations that we needed, starting a Facebook page, etc... But sitting patiently in the back corner of our hearts, was this little frustration - Will this home ever really become a reality? The hoped for date had been set for this past July... then this September... then this December... The legal documents that we need have been in "process" for a year now. The blueprints for the home are written up, but the numbers remain glaring us in the face. The house parents we are praying for still do not have names. It is so hard when there is something that you want to fully run after, but it seems like you have weights around your feet that only allow you to go a slow, dragging pace.
So it happened that in one of those meetings, while we were discussing budgets and what one girl would cost per month, that I brought up my friend Jeff Brodsky. I told the girls that I have a friend back home in Colorado, who has an organization where he does actual rescues of girls out of brothels and has helped establish safe houses all over the world. I knew the wealth of wisdom that he has and I knew it would be extremely beneficial for our team to have him as a resource. So with the encouragement of my team, I emailed him with the basic intention of seeing if he could send us any insight he might have on how to successfully run a safe house.
His response - "I have a better idea. How would like a visit from me where we can sit down with the team and discuss everything in person? This way I can answer any questions, see the potential facilities and they can ask me any questions regarding the right way to run a successful Safe House. If the Safe House is not run properly, the statistics are pretty bad. Over 80% of the girls will leave the facility and go back into the sex trade. When run properly, the success rate is usually in the 90% to 100% success range. A huge difference. Plus, I would get to see your sweet, smiling face!"
To put it lightly, I was completely blown away! Within the next week he had booked his flight to arrive within 3 weeks. This completely took me off guard. I was expecting a polite response with some valuable insight to help our team. But a visit to Ecuador?! Someone would do that for us?
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| Jeff and Me on the equator line! |
As I began to prepare for Jeff's visit, I could sense that the Holy Spirit was going to use this trip in a way that would go far beyond our little team meetings. I felt like him coming to Ecuador would be the needed push to get this dream rolling. We have so many amazing open doors here and all the necessary pieces. It's like having all the wood set out, gasoline poured, the match ready, etc... We just needed that catalyst to spark the fire. Before he arrived, I worked out a detailed itinerary for every day of Jeff's visit. However, what God had in mind went far beyond what any of us had planned.
In order to even paint a partially accurate picture of what happened, I have to share a little bit about Dr. Jeff Brodsky. His organization, Joy International, is devoted to the rescue of child sex slaves all over the world, which he has been directly involved in for the past 7 years. In all of our meetings, Jeff started out by sharing his story of being barefoot. As of today, he has gone completely without shoes for 866 days, for the sake of the girls that he rescues. This in itself is just a small picture of how radically Jeff loves these girls. They are not his daughters, but as he shares, they are God's daughters and he will do whatever it takes to rescue them. Most of what he and his team does is extremely dangerous, but he readily shares with everyone that he is willing to die for these girls; they are worth it!
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| One of our meetings |
It is phenomenal what happens when Jeff shares why he does what he does, when he shares his heart for these girls, when he shares his stories, etc... It is as if that same love and passion in his heart is transferred through the atmosphere and ignites something wild within your heart. It is so much more than just an inspirational message that gets people fired up for the moment, but then remains as just something you heard someone talk about once. There are so many organizations that do exactly that, stir people up about the issues but fail to get them doing something about those issues. Wherever Jeff spoke here in Ecuador, on the other hand, there was a completely different response. People didn't walk away thinking about doing something. People leapt off of their seats and asked where to sign their names, in a sense.
And I fully believe it is because what Jeff carries is a passion for the tragedy married with a heart brimming with hope. He is moved to tears every time he talks about the tragedy of a girl who could be as young as 4 years old, forced to service 10-15 men a day; yet his words are always crowned with hope for these girls' futures. He shares stories of girls who have been rescued out of brothels and have gone on to become successful owners of coffee shops, lawyers fighting human trafficking, beautiful brides, passionate lovers of Jesus, etc... It is God's heart to FULLY restore these girls to a place where they have a hope for a future.
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| Jeff sharing about his work and Mela translating |
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| Looking over the blueprints for Casa Mis Sueños |
This message, this drumbeat, this movement became ignited in not only our team's heart, but in the hearts of countless people in all the meetings we had while Jeff was here. It was and still is so exciting to see people catch the vision and see the doors fling open everywhere we go. We saw everything from doors opening up with people in the government to business men wanting to get involved to people offering their services in all different areas - film, photography, writing up legal documents, etc... We have gone from a slow, dragging pace to full out sprint. Within a matter of 5 days, this dream went from being something that would hopefully happen one day, into something that is happening and happening right now! And the incredible part about it all is that it is so apparently God. None of this could possibly be happening within our own accord. But praise the Lord that He would want to partner with us and back all of our dreams!
We all fully believe that the Lord has started something that cannot be stopped. Our hearts are burning with a desire to see Casa Mis Sueños launch into something more than just a safe home, to see it become a movement among the people of Ecuador. This is not just our dream; this is God's dream! For me, it has been so exciting being part of something that is so much bigger than I am, having a role in something as explosive as what is happening right now. It makes me want to dream bigger. It makes me want to trust God for more. I wake up in the morning with excitement, anticipation, and purpose. What will happen next? What is the next chapter in this unfolding story?
We are so thankful for Jeff and his time investing into our vision. His life is a testimony of God's unrelenting pursuit of His lost children. The urgency has been thrust into our hearts. The time is now!
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