Horror can't be the end of your reaction

"Horror can't be the end of your reaction, it has to be the beginning of it."- from the documentary I am because we are.

I was watching this documentary this evening (as you get to know me... you will find out that I love documentaries. Actually, some people I know call it a minor obsession) and one of the men interviewed said the quote above. And it was thought provoking and meaningful to me so I thought I would share.

This is part of what motivates me and this is, I think, God's heart for people. That we don't let our reaction to awful things end with horror and without action. That we see the plight of other human beings and let that horror move us to action. That we don't become so self-absorbed that we feel our life and making sure we are okay is the only goal that matters. I feel like this trip to Ghana is like that. When I was reading about the trip to Ghana I was deeply moved by these children. By their suffering and by the hope that George and his staff are providing for trafficked children. And I didn't want their suffering and the sadness I felt to be the end of my reaction.

And none of us have to let the horror of children being sold into slavery to work on the lake or to work as a servant to the families of their masters be the end of our reaction. We all have the power and resources to make it the beginning of our reaction. Not all of us can go to Africa to help for a couple of weeks and I don't even think we are all supposed to be doing that necessarily. But there are SO many ways to help.

Pray for us! Pray for me, JD, Joshua, and Tia as we prepare our hearts and minds to go to Kete-Krachi. Pray for the children working on the Lake for 14 hours a day with very little food and dangerous jobs to do. Pray that the masters of these children will have their hearts prepared and changed and that the effort to release children from slavery will be from God changing the hearts of these men. Pray for the fundraising efforts, for our personal finances as we prepare to travel and for our efforts in raising money to build a new school building at the Village of Life. Pray for our health. I am having surgery on my knee next week and I know that in general we just need to be strong and healthy to prepare ourselves.

Donate! Donate to the school fund. NO donation is too small. There is no such thing. All of the money we raise will go directly to helping these children and/or funding our trips to Ghana. You can donate monthly now too! Hold events, have your children collect change in a jar, design a shirt and spread the word about what we are doing.

Collect! Collect malaria nets and school supplies, and curriculum (elementary age appropriate) and books and small goodies for the children. They will love anything we can take and/or send prior to us leaving.

But above all... don't let the horror of hearing about these children being sold into the fishing industry or sex industry be the end of your reaction. Do something to help.

~Debra