Reaching the City… Through Awareness of Trafficking in Hollywood

O Lord, you hear the desire of the afflicted; you will strengthen their heart; you will incline your ear to do justice to the fatherless and the oppressed, so that man who is of the earth may strike terror no more. Psalm 10:17-18 

A couple weekends ago we had the privilege of partnering with an organization CAST  to promote a march in downtown Los Angeles against trafficking.  Joseph is part of the leadership of FIAT (Faith Initiative Against Trafficking) The Faith Initiative to Abolish Trafficking (FIAT) is a gathering of churches who have been called to fight human trafficking in Los Angeles.  They host workshops quarterly to bring awareness  to churches and train advocates to be a part of  stopping trafficking within Los Angeles.  This past month FIAT supported and promoted the LA Freedom Walk!  It was such an amazing time to hear from 2 survivors of trafficking (one who was sold into the sex industry in Los Angeles by her mother and another who came to Los Angeles from India on a student visa and was tricked into labor trafficking here).  Such hard, sad stories to hear but also encouraging to hear their testimonies of being rescued and the Lord’s protection and care over them.  We then marched in downtown LA on the streets that          trafficking is common on. Handing out help cards and carrying signs and praying for those affected by this industry.

Los Angeles has one of the highest rates of human trafficking of any city in the US. but it is exciting to be a part the solution of Churches across LA coming together to do something about it!

 Reaching the City… Through helping orphans find forever families! 

With more than 30 million orphans in Ind*a, according to one estimate, only about 2,500 were adopted last year. (Washington Post 2015)

The Lord has brought the cry of the orphans to our ears.  After 5 1/2 years in our personal adoption journey the Lord did a lot in our hearts and our story of Aleeya’s adoption was full of His power every step of the way.  After being in Ind*a it tore us to see the amount of orphans everywhere—with no family to call their own.  The region we adopted from is known in the Ind*a adoption world to avoid.  It is known to be incredibly difficult to adopt from and the orphanage is horrid.  There are many orphanages that have loving caretakers around the world—but this one is not like those.  When we walked into it the first time we felt such heaviness.  There is such a darkness that I have rarely experienced before and you could feel it in the air.  We hated going there to deal with finalizing our adoption.  Through our experience the Lord has opened up wonderful ministry opportunities with Michelle in helping families adopt from this area. Through giving advice, contact info of connections we made there, encouragement and praying fervently 4-5 families within the past couple months have contacted her for help.  It has been so encouraging to play a small part in bringing these children into forever families and our hearts will forever be tied to this region of India.  Please pray for the orphans there—pray that the Lord would protect his precious ones from the abuse that happens there and would bring forever families to them.

Family Update!   

We had a wonderful Christmas Celebrating!  It is so fun to see    everything through Aleeya’s eyes—so many firsts for her!  So many “Wows” and laughter as she admired the lights everywhere,Christmas music, snow up the mountain from us, Christmas traditions and learning to ride her new bike!  She is loving her preschool and learning to speak in amazing ways!  The boys are in the midst of basketball season at the high school and Luke recently got his drivers license!!  Watch out world!  Jessica  recently auditioned for the Peter Pan musical and is excited to be a part of the production as a mermaid and fairy.  Life is full and busy but full of so many blessings as we try to treasure every day we have…. The kids are growing up so fast…