injustice

pawn shops, empty refrigerators & the long hill up

Posted on Feb 7, 2012 in equality, incarnational, injustice | 10 comments

pawn shops, empty refrigerators & the long hill up

* this post is part of the february 2012 synchroblog on economic inequality.  i originally wrote it in 2008 but right now i am out of town with no internet, so i thought i’d share it again with a few small tweaks.  it might not fit exactly with the theme but i hope it points to what i think will bridge the gap more than any other strategy–relationship.  other bloggers are writing on this topic today, too.  when i get back i’ll include the link list or you can get it at the synchroblog site. 

* * * * *

when our refrigerator is empty, i go to the costco and buy what we need.  when my gas tank is empty, i drive down the street, swipe my card and fill up my gas tank.  sure, times are tight and we pinch pennies now almost as much as we did when we first were married.  but our reality is this:  because of education & circumstance & all kinds of things, we will most likely never live in poverty in the US.

today’s synchroblog is focused on economic inequality & it’s implications. poverty has always been a very real issue, but with continued economic shifts, it’s a lot more real for many people.   poverty. when you think of poverty, what do you think of? my first thought used to only be africa, asia, people who live on the streets or in the projects of our major cities.  i mainly associated poverty with the poorest of the poor.  while that is so troubling & so true, i thought i’d share about what is most in my face in the moment:  domestic poverty in the suburbs.  single mommies & families living in average apartments and condos and houses in foreclosure.  friends on disability & medicaid & food stamps who scrape by month after month with empty refrigerators & trips to pawn shops to try to make ends meet. it’s called relative poverty, but the bottom line is:  they just aren’t making ends meet & no relief’s in sight.

statistic after statistic will confirm that millions and millions of people around the world are dying every day from the lack of food, water, shelter, and adequate health care.  these deaths are preventable.  there’s enough resource in the world to meet their needs, but the resources are not adequately distributed. this is why i am so thankful for the thousands of men & women who have dedicated their lives to fighting for better systems & structures & care for the poor around the world.  as christ-followers, we cannot escape the many scriptures that point us to caring for the poor.  i love that there seems to be a bit of a re-vival within “the church” right now to become more missional, to quit being so self-focused and start caring for others around the world and in our own backyard with resources & help. at the same time, we have a long, long way to go.  resources are wasted on the dumbest of things while our neighbors are grasping for a glimpse of relief.

in the world i live in–when it comes to poverty in the ‘burbs–it’s not necessarily a matter of life and death.  most of my friends won’t die from living below the poverty level.  i am thankful for that, but at the same time it doesn’t mean that i can just carry on and not be concerned with their situation & trust “the government” to take care of them.  the government won’t take care of them.  sure, they try, but there’s no doubt that the government leaves many a family with an empty refrigerator & dignity stripped by the end of the month.

so what’s the solution? oh, i think it’s so complicated & clearly there are no easy answers, but i think we need to be very careful that we don’t buy into the belief that “if (they) just worked hard enough they could get ahead.” this is what i believed for many years, thinking poverty was just a bootstrap issue.  and while i do believe it can be true–that hard work can shift circumstances– i don’t think it’s a universal truth.  there are forces that are sometimes never going to change:  health issues, mental issues, generational stuff, etc., that ensure that there’s probably not going to be any lasting relief.  i have also seen the crazy cycle of people working 3 jobs to make ends meet but never being able to get ahead because of mounting health care bills & defaulted student loans & all kinds of things that mean that getting out from under appears impossible.

at the same time, i do believe that for many, the brutal hill up toward self-sufficiency is possible, if there’s proper support, care, and long haul love, a beckoning toward something more.  but that won’t happen overnight. it will take the mobilization of people who are willing to invest in relationship with someone on the journey & then be able to stay in the long haul through the ups and the downs of life change.  to access the needed resources.  to pray and cheerlead and encourage and never, ever give up on what is possible.

what it boils down to is relationship. i am idealistic enough to think that if somehow, some way, every person who lived below the poverty line had brothers & sisters in Christ to journey together with  for the long haul that over the course of time  life could be different.   hope would be more present.  the refrigerator wouldn’t be as empty.   i think it takes more finesse than we are prepared to do. it’s easy to dump clothes & food here and there, but long haul relationship among people with very different socioeconomics is tricky.  when i look at the biblical principles of community that is what i see.  a radical sharing of resource.  a crazy mix of diversity so that those who have share with those who need.  an incarnation of the life of Christ that is full of all kinds of weird sacrifices that are utterly contrary to the ways of the world.

oh i know it can all feel quite overwhelming and sometimes the overwhelmedness can make us feel guilty & paralyzed.   there are no easy answers or solutions, but sometimes when i’m stumped i default toward the path of least resistance & give up.  part of tackling poverty and bridging the gap of economic inequality is to fight against our tendency to throw in the towel and actually pick up one instead, no matter how small & inconsequential it may feel. to ask God to show us:  what are you asking me to consider, ponder, do about this issue in a very tangible way?

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ps: thanks for all the great responses to my last post–plant new trees.  i will definitely write more about it when i get back. meanwhile, rachel held evans asks some great practical questions in a follow up post called let’s plant some seeds together…

link list, other bloggers writing about economic inequality this month:


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plant new trees.

Posted on Feb 3, 2012 in church stuff, crazy making, equality, ex good christian women, injustice, leadership | 48 comments

plant new trees.

“then God said, “let us make human beings in our image, to be like us.” – genesis 1:26, NLT

this past week i saw a flurry of facebook posts about john piper’s latest words about  masculine christianity.  i am pretty out of the blog-reading circuit because there are only so many hours in the day and mine are jam packed with people & kids & more kids & more people.  at the same time, i love that challenging conversations are happening and social media is a powerful tool to raise awareness.

i did not listen to john piper’s presentation or link to the blog post.   i don’t have the stomach or time for it, but i got the cliff notes version from rachel’s blog.  i like her idea of helping people consider other views of God that aren’t specifically masculine.  i have no trouble with God being masculine.  the trouble i have is assuming God is primarily masculine because Jesus was a guy and chose 12 male disciples and then building entire systems upon that thought, utterly dismissing a whole other half of God’s image and essence.  along with that half, i am certain we’re missing a whole lot of other things about God that we have been afraid to explore because the systems & churches we have been part of have kept God so contained.

john piper makes caricatured roles for men and women, over-simplifying the image of God placed in each of us.  this denies not only women of their fullness, but men as well.

whether we want to admit it or not, piper’s theology is deeply embedded into most of standard evangelical christianity.  it just is. men do certain things and women do other certain things.  if each sex would just step into “God’s intention for them” (“appropriate” social roles), everything will work just fine and everyone will be “free.”

when God created humans, God made us in in the fullness of God’s image.  not half, not part.  yes, we are unique and different, and that’s why we need each other to more accurately reflect the fullness of God’s image.  the body of Christ is a reflection of God. if that’s the case, then why is half missing, devalued, and thought of as less somehow?

change in “the church” is coming.  a holy stirring is happening and many people are starting to call it for what it is–oppression, sexism, and a fear-based theology that perpetuates injustice.   however, it has become so innate that merely trying to shake it out of our system isn’t going to cut it.  we’re not a few awesome blog posts away from changing these deeply grooved systems of injustice.

when considering change, there are two natural reactions to it that we think of first:

1.  prune off what’s not working.  if we can prune some of these injustices out of “the church”, we’ll be okay.  this is the idea of changing systems by making some adjustments here and there that will shift things.  raise awareness, start to think differently about it, help leaders become more sensitive to issues of equality, influence change from within.

2. raze the ground completely.  knock it all down.  it’s flawed, it doesn’t work, it harms people.  the whole thing is so jacked up that we just need to walk away from it entirely.

i feel strongly that alone, #1  just won’t work. i’m not saying that some systems can’t be changed from within but i think it’s a pretty brutal road and will require leaders who are willing to shrink their churches & ministries, pay some serious emotional, spiritual, and financial costs, and lose all kinds of things they are used to gaining.  honestly, that’s not super likely on a wide scale.  human nature & self protection will strongly work against such courage.  pruning also dismisses the magnitude of the problem.  we’re talking about deeply grooved systems of injustice that go back to the beginning.  the root system is strong;  a little tweaking isn’t going to bring full equality for anyone. 

i also believe that blowing the whole thing up isn’t really an option.  it works for some people.  they believe in certain scriptural interpretations & hold dearly to their tenets. i may disagree, but i don’t think that means there aren’t valuable things that happen for people through their churches and so scrapping the whole thing isn’t really fair or respectful.

i think there’s a much better option:

plant new trees. 

trees that have the roots of equality from the very beginning.

trees that gain nourishment from a free-er gospel and soil that is enriched with freedom and hope instead of fear and absolute certainty.

trees that have men and women and rich and poor and educated and uneducated and black and white and gay and straight all tangled up together from the beginning.

trees that are tended to gently and naturally instead of pumped with unnatural growth agents & pesticides that try to advance the progression of development to “catch up faster” to other churches that will always have the advantage of time and power on their side.

trees that get their strength from the beatitudes not the latest and greatest how-to-grow books and conferences.

trees that are well-watered by people who are tired of talk and are ready for action.

trees that over time will flourish and bring shade and fruit and all kinds of other goodness for generations to come in the communities & cultures where they are planted.

a diverse ecosystem of trees that more accurately reflect the fullness of God’s image. 

these trees can be all kinds of shapes and sizes–individual relationships, groups, churches, ministries, organizations–little pockets of love & freedom cropping up all over that influence people and model a better way, a free-er way, an equal way, a more “oh, that’s what Jesus looks like” way.

yeah, pruning won’t cut it.  razing isn’t an option.  let’s get planting. i have a feeling some of you are really good gardeners.

* * * * *

here are a few other links i wanted to highlight:

many of you have probably read it, but if you haven’t check out rachel held evans’ post this week: they were right (and wrong) about the slippery slope.  i slipped off the slope a long time ago and sometimes tell those that wonder, “yeah, i completely slipped off the slope and somehow found the most solid ground i’ve ever stood on.” 

our walking wounded online class starts monday february 6th.  registrations are possible until then, so if you or someone you know want to be part,  you can sign up at that link.  it’s going to be good! i also am not sure when we’re planning on running it again so now’s the right time if you’re on the fence.

i wrote a little post for provoketive magazine last month that i forgot to share called stories that matter.

lastly, i posted this on facebook & it made some pretty good rounds, but if you missed it, here’s the trailer from my awesome friend pam hogeweide’s new book, just released at the end of january–unladylike: resisting the injustice of inequality in the church:


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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the catch-up list

Posted on Jan 7, 2012 in church stuff, down we go, dreams, healing, incarnational, injustice, women in ministry | 1 comment

the catch-up list

wednesday my four youngest kids went back to school after a great winter break.  yesterday i dropped my oldest son off at the airport and sent him back to college on the east coast.  now it’s catch up time!  i have all kinds of posts swirling around in my head and  january is going to be wrap-up-what-i-started month.  here are a few things i wanted to share before i dive back into real life next week:

  • one word – i decided to participate in this for 2012.  in the past i’ve had five and end up never remembering any of them!  here’s a post i wrote for the refuge blog that has some ideas if you haven’t already thought of one yet.  my 2012 word is:  focus.  oh yeah, that’s the right word.
  • honoring doubt – my monthly contribution to sheloves magazine is on one of my favorite topics from down we go: honoring doubt. i hope we can keep creating safe spaces to honor doubt.
  • convergence – i couldn’t go last year because of a family trip but am planning on being there this year, march 2-4 in portland. this year’s theme is:  staying power–presence & possibility as leaders.  if you haven’t been before, it’s a really wonderful gathering of strong & passionate women.
  • synchroblog – we are starting off 2012 with a new teammate  & a survey to help gather ideas for the upcoming year.  if you are a blogger and want to be challenged to write on a variety of topics at the same time as other bloggers, all are welcome.
  • with communities - my awesome friend john martinez created a log-in-so-there’s-greater-safety-and-connection site for incarnational community cultivators who could use some support, input, encouragement, and connection with other people who believe that prepositions matter and are trying crazy stuff, too. check it out here.
  • walking wounded: hope for those hurt by the church – my friend phyllis mathis & i are hosting a 4 week online group for those of you out there who are painfully disillusioned by a faith or church experience.  our october 2011 gathering in denver was great for those who could pull it off, but this is a chance for others to participate, too.  because of some schedule conflicts, the date got moved to february 6th 2012.  go to live it to the full to register & for all the details.  if you or someone you know could use some healing, hope, laughter, and intention on getting unstuck, we’d love to have you join us.  this little video is sort of serious (i promise we’ll laugh and have fun, too) but gives an idea of what we are doing.  thanks for passing it on to friends who want to save some money on therapy and get some traction on healing in this new year.

i hope your year is getting off to a good start. i am looking forward to what’s ahead! peace, kathy

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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rising up from below

Posted on Nov 1, 2011 in church stuff, dreams, equality, incarnational, injustice | 32 comments

rising up from below

* this post is part of the november synchroblog, different bloggers writing on the same subject.  richard rohr says “the role of the prophets is to call us out of numbness.”  right now there’s a strong sense of change brewing in the church, the world; people are rising up and calling individuals, communities, nations, and everything in between out of numbness and toward justice, mercy, equality, and love.  bloggers this month are writing on where we are being stirred and challenged by prophetic voices.  check out the links at the end of this post.


* * * * *

“wake up, wake up, o zion!

clothe yourself with strength.

put on your beautiful clothes, o holy city of jerusalem..

rise from the dust…

sit in a place of honor.

remove the chains of slavery from your neck, o captive daughter of zion.”

isaiah 52:1-2

this scripture came to mind two weekends ago during our walking wounded gathering as i listened to two amazing women briefly sharing their painful church story of being silenced and unvalued in the church because they are female.  honestly, in those moments, my heart physically hurts.  i see their beauty, their power, their wisdom and wonder how in the $*!^$&^#%$ the church, the place that’s supposed to be Christ’s bride and a reflection of his image, could silence half its members so overtly (and somehow get away with it!).

the reality is that many other voices have been silenced by the church, far beyond only women.  and because of this lack of voices, we have all suffered.  we have missed the voices of the poor, the oppressed, the brown, the gay, the divorced, the orphaned, the young, the uneducated, the theologically incorrect, the tromped on, the forgotten.  we have given our microphones and our pulpits and our programs over to the strong and the powerful and created a system where those on the margins are ignored and dismissed.

but something’s breaking out right now that can’t be squelched.  we see it in the town squares that are filled with average people who are protesting wall street & starting to say “we’re tired of the powerful and greedy controlling our world, something’s got to change.”  we see it in the mass exodus young people are making out of the church because it refuses to focus on issues they care about related to justice & mercy & equality.  we see it in the long line of former-church-people who have deconstructed their faith & are finding something more real because they could no longer tolerate the deep inconsistencies between faith & practice. we see it in the groundswell of advocacy & support for equality and dignity for all regardless of sexual orientation.

in all kinds of places we are seeing it–a movement from below.  a groundswell from the bottom.  an uprising where little pockets of people are saying “we’re not going to do this anymore…..we’re tired of people’s dignity being stripped…it’s time for change.” 

on the whole, the tops of systems aren’t changing.  the hierarchy remains.  the powerful and strong keep making rules & laws & policies & money.  many are hunkering down, hoping they can weather this storm and eventually the unruly sheep will get back in line and start towing the line once again.

but it’s not going to happen.  the sheep are getting tired of being jacked around by oppressive shepherds who don’t care about their well-being.  who put their own self-interest above the common good.  who allow others to be mistreated.  who put chains around others necks instead of setting people free.

the sheep are rising up.

yeah, we’re rising up.   not to rise up and away from problems and pain, but rather to have courage and strength to enter into it.  all over the place, God is calling people to freedom, to living out the gospel instead of talking about it, to practice instead of theory.   i call it a “holy stirring” and i think we will see it get stronger & wider & deeper over the upcoming years.

so many people i know are refusing to be part of oppressive systems anymore.  they are finding their way outside of the traditional confines of religion & meeting God in unlikely places.  they are renewing their passions and serving in all kinds of wild and beautiful ways that is viewed by the establishment as subversive even though it’s the closest thing to the gospel i’ve ever seen.  artists are creating.  silenced voices are speaking.  young people are voting with their feet.  chains are breaking.  dignity is being slowly & painfully being restored in little pockets of love & freedom that are often unseen & unnoticed by the masses.

but it’s happening.

the prophets are emerging from below, from underneath, from unlikely places.

God is calling people out of numbness and complacency.  and just like our hands feel when we warm them up after they freeze in the snow, it’s going to hurt.  like really hurt.  unfreezing our hearts, hands, feet, mouths, and brains is going to hurt as we thaw out and find our true identity created in the image of God.  parts of us are going to come alive that were once left for dead.  we’re going to have to use muscles that have atrophied.  we’re going to feel things we haven’t felt before.  we’re going to be more vulnerable and unprotected.  we’re going to doubt our voices.  we’re going to hear the critics tell us that we’re stupid & disgruntled & should quit complaining.  we’re going to doubt ourselves and wonder if maybe “going back to egypt” will make it feel better.

some will go back to their “proper place” and feel safe again.

but far more others are going to keep waking up, rising up, and breaking free from the chains that once kept us captive.  we are going to keep being set free and help others be set free, too.   we are going to care about the things that Jesus cares about like justice & mercy & compassion & peace & hope & restoration.  we are going to band together with others from below & form little armies of change that will shift laws & topple kingdoms & break down all kinds of walls that keep people stuck. 

there’s a rising up from below, calling us out of numbness.  calling us to freedom. calling us to justice.  calling us to mercy.  calling us to love.

God, keep thawing us out. we know it’s time. 

* * * * *

ps:  i have a post up today at shelovesmagazine as part of a monthly column called sheloves God. this one is called leaving the ninety-nine for the one & is adapted from the chapter in down we go called extending love, mercy and compassion. sheloves is a prophetic voice calling us out of numbness in all kinds of ways.

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check out other bloggers writing about the prophets this month (i’ll add more links as they come in tonight):

 

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white privilege, male privilege, straight privilege, economic privilege

Posted on Jul 18, 2011 in equality, healing, injustice | 24 comments

white privilege, male privilege, straight privilege, economic privilege

i will never know what it’s like to be a person of color.  i can only listen and learn from my friends & family who are.

i will never know what it’s like to be gay.  i can only listen and learn from my friends & family who are.

i will likely never know what it’s like to be poor and live in section 8 housing.  i can only listen and learn from my friends & family who are.

but i do know what it’s like to be a woman leader in a man’s world.  i know what it feels like to be excluded. i know what it feels like see doors open & checks written & support given to men-with-the-connections while i struggle and scrape.  i know what it’s like to be on the underside of power and how helpless and dignity-stripping it can feel.

and those who are men can never know what it’s like.  they can only listen and learn from their friends & family who are women.

white privilege, male privilege, straight privilege, economic privilege are real.

i’ve heard it dismissed sometimes, heard white people talk about “the minorities get all the jobs and get to go to the top of the line now”.  heard men talk about “i don’t know what women are talking about, we ask them to be part but they always say no.“  heard straight people talk about “gay people have more rights now than i do” and economically stable people talk about “if those poor people would just work harder & smarter they wouldn’t have so many problems.”

it’s so easy to talk when we don’t know what it feels like to be another person, to walk in another person’s shoes.

we should never deny the reality and power of white privilege, male privilege, straight privilege, and economic privilege.  the power each of these carry is real and must be acknowledged.

when we hold the privilege we must do our part to listen to those who don’t.

this is no easy task, but we will need brave men & women who are willing to lead these conversations–to provide listening posts to hear from those on the underside of the privilege.  to learn what it feels like.  to learn what might help shift things.  to learn a better way.

we do not need to do feel guilty for being white, male, or straight or having money in the bank; that’s definitely not the idea here but is the easiest place for us to default.  we each are who we are, were born how we were born.  but i do believe strongly that we need to understand the power that comes from it instead of pretend it doesn’t exist or shoo it away as someone else’s problem.  re-thinking power is important.

in the kingdom of God there should be no white privilege, male privilege, straight privilege, economic privilege.  Christ breaks down all of those barriers. but the kingdom of God won’t just drop out of the sky.  we will have to work hard, sacrifice our time, ego, hearts, and pride to create it.  we will have to let go of assumptions that “it’s not that big of a deal” when we’re the ones with the privilege.

at the same time, when we are the ones who don’t have the privilege we will have to be brave enough to sit at the table with those who do & listen to their hearts & stories, too.  we will have to create containers for understanding & love & hope & possibility of a better way--together.

God, show us how to listen well to each other–those with privilege to those without, those without privilege to those with it.  help us boldly act to break down the barriers that divide, oppress, and strip dignity. help us each play our part in practicing equality–not just in theory but in tangible, active ways that restore, reconcile & renew us individually & corporately.

this post has been rattling around in my head for a little while & i finally got it out.  i’d love to hear some of your thoughts….

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the beauty of an advocate

Posted on Jun 24, 2011 in incarnational, injustice | 14 comments

the beauty of an advocate

a lot of you know that my husband, jose, went to law school about 6 years ago to become a pro-bono lawyer on behalf of women.  it’s a really fun story that started when he began volunteering at a domestic violence shelter helping women move out of scary situations.  we are grateful that he has a full-time job that gives us benefits as a pilot at united airlines, which frees him up to be able to do this.  the clinic he works at, the justice and mercy legal aid clinic (JAMLAC),  is one of the sweetest, most amazing ministries i know of.  it is part of milehigh ministries & offices at joshua station, which provides transformational housing for families here in denver (they rock).  JAMLAC’s founding director, steve thompson, is truly an awesome person and is dedicated to advocating for the poor & oppressed in all kinds of beautiful ways.  their staff is lovely–a wild mix of people-working-for-barely-anything and dedicated volunteers.

the clinic serves all kinds of clients, but primarily women who are domestic violence victims.  almost every woman who is trying to rebuild a new life has some form of violence in her past–sexual, physical, or emotional.  this team stands on their behalf for free or barely anything, representing them in court, guiding them through the legal process, and helping them get custody of their kids, obtain their papers, and begin to move toward self-sufficiency and stability.  without good legal help, the possibilities for many of these women is slim to none.

here’s a little excerpt from JAMLAC’s latest letter-to-their-supporters:

“close your eyes and hold out your hands.”

tina diaz, immigration director at the justice and mercy legal aid clinic (JAMLAC), places the card the size of a driver’s license in rosa’s* hands and tells her to open her eyes.  as she does, she sees a piece of identification with her name and photograph on it.

rosa begins to weep–with joy.  we rejoice with her. tina does her “happy dance.”  rosa hugs all of us, thanks God, and exclaims “he will never touch me again!”

several months earlier, rosa lay on the kitchen floor in her home, unconscious and bleeding from the head, because her husband had hit her over the head with a blunt object.  the next morning, a neighbor noted her injury and insisted she go to the hospital, where she was stitched up.

rosa marshaled the courage to finally press harges and to follow through in cooperating with authorities.  because she lacked money and connections, she sought help here at JAMLAC.  we helped her obtain custody of her children and, eventually, permission to work in the unite states.  a government issued identification with her name and photograph–a simple plastic card–became the path to empowerment and self-sufficiency.

like many of our clients, rosa first walked through the door of JAMLAC beaten, broken and impoverished.  she had no control over her own life, and no idea how to change her situation.

here are some of the typical threats our clients report their abusers make:

“if you call the police, i’ll make sure you never see the kids again.”

“if you go to the hospital, i won’t file the necessary paperwork with the immigration authorities for you.”

“if you call the police, you will be arrested and deported.”

unfortunately, low-income women caught in this cycle of abuse and control generally do not have the knowledge or resources to break free.  at JAMLAC we provide help and hope to women like rosa, who are in abusive situations and poverty.

today, rosa is a beautiful and confident woman.  she is employed and creating a productive life for herself and her children.  we thank God for the opportunity we have to advocate for women and children as they move from being victims to being survivors–from being beaten to thriving.

*the client’s real name has been changed to protect her identity

as i re-read this letter, it gives me chills. i have had the privilege of meeting some of JAMLAC clients over the past few years and their stories of transformation are amazing.   in the work of the refuge i have seen what can happen when women get the care and support they need to break free from the cycle of abuse. it is glorious.

amazing things can happen when the poor & oppressed have a loving advocate.

JAMLAC is always understaffed, underfunded, and overworked.  the needs far outweigh the resources, and they do brilliant work on a shoestring.  they have developed beautiful partnerships with community agencies here in denver to work together on behalf of women.  if any of you are interested in supporting their work, they can always use the love.

at the same time, in every single city around the world there are advocates who are working on behalf of women.  they are running shelters, transitional housing programs, legal aid clinics, and empowerment programs for women.  faith-based or not, they are advocating for  God’s children & always need love & support.  there are so many ways we can encourage this kind of work on behalf of women–with resources, time, and heart.  i would love to see more and more of these agencies & ministries around the world be flooded with help!

i just wanted to share that today.  thank you JAMLAC for being beautiful advocates for women & children. you remind me of what’s important–restoring dignity where it’s been lost.

 

 

 

 

 

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