I don’t even know where to begin, but I guess I can start by saying God is sovereign. Today I had planned a coffee date with a woman named Mary. I met Mary at a worship event “randomly.” Come to find out Mary works full time at a ministry called Hope Ranch; this ministry is dedicated to woman who are being sex trafficking. I shared my vision with Mary and we planned a coffee date. Well, I invited Leah to join and Mary invited the founder of Hope Ranch, Diana, to join and our coffee date turned into a meeting at the current location for Hope Ranch.
Leah and I shared our hearts with Diana and Mary. They shared with us that they have been praying for committed woman to help with the ministry. I will try to not make this too wordy, so basically Leah and I have been invited to intern at Hope Ranch doing ministry in sex trafficking. This will include speech engagements to raise awareness and working with girls who have been rescued out of the life and so much more. Being involved in this “internship” is going to take a lot of time and a fair amount of money, but it will prepare us and train us in ways (that we will not learn otherwise) if we want to be in the sex trafficking ministry long term.
We have already been so blessed to go to The Justice Conference last weekend. Our church New Hope Eugene and our school paid $80 each for Leah and I to attend this. This Saturday Leah and I will be attending our first Task Force Training with local FBI agent. We are required to go to as many task force training as possible and it cost $70 for unlimited trainings. There are only 2 FBI agents in all of the US that specialize and exclusively deal, with human trafficking and one of the two lives her in Eugene! What a God thing!
Prayer Requests: Please pray for me and Leah as we pray for God to direct us. Our hearts are to do the internship, which would be a short term commitment lasting through the summer, but we care more about seeking God’s will. Also, pray for us as we pour out our resources (finances, time, and emotions) that we are filled again. Please pray a hedge of protection over our lives as we enter into a spiritual warfare zone of a dark evil.
I am so excited to see God work out the details! Every moment I have spent here in Eugene has been so divine I know God is about to do great things!
Be Blessed,
Samantha
Monday, March 4, 2013
Sunday, February 10, 2013
Dream Big - Start Small
Last Saturday, God really tapped me on the shoulder and told me not to get ahead of myself with His plan. His plan means His timing. I've been so ready to hit the ground running, and though I know it's not realistic it's just the hope and passion exploding inside me.
This season is a "starter season". God specifically told me you can DREAM BIG, but it's ok to start small. So the 4 main things that this time will be used for in building up our ministry for Human Trafficking is:
-meeting with people (we have met a ton of people who already work in rescuing girls from trafficking and in raising awareness)
-praying and learning
-building the logistics of the ministry
-serving (wherever we can)
February 22&23, our school (NHCC) and home church (New Hope Eugene), are paying for Leah and I to attend a weekend seminar called "Justice Conference". This is a huge deal and will have amazing speakers on multiple justice issues, including Human Trafficking, and will offer us great resources for starting a ministry.
After the conference our Student Life Director has requested we give a spiel at out student body Summons on what we learned and the ministry we are starting. From there we will be inviting other students to join with us on campus in working for this cause, and then growing out into the city of Eugene.
I can't even begin to tell you how excited I am! Thank you for all your prayers! I hope you enjoy receiving updates.
This season is a "starter season". God specifically told me you can DREAM BIG, but it's ok to start small. So the 4 main things that this time will be used for in building up our ministry for Human Trafficking is:
-meeting with people (we have met a ton of people who already work in rescuing girls from trafficking and in raising awareness)
-praying and learning
-building the logistics of the ministry
-serving (wherever we can)
February 22&23, our school (NHCC) and home church (New Hope Eugene), are paying for Leah and I to attend a weekend seminar called "Justice Conference". This is a huge deal and will have amazing speakers on multiple justice issues, including Human Trafficking, and will offer us great resources for starting a ministry.
After the conference our Student Life Director has requested we give a spiel at out student body Summons on what we learned and the ministry we are starting. From there we will be inviting other students to join with us on campus in working for this cause, and then growing out into the city of Eugene.
I can't even begin to tell you how excited I am! Thank you for all your prayers! I hope you enjoy receiving updates.
A Vision of Ministry
Something happened on JANURAY 20, 2013 that I thought would be very good to share.
Tonight was open house at New Hope Eugene (the church I have chosen to attend). This church is an Open Bible church that has been planted by the college. It is literally brand new, and the open house was primarily to share the vision of Pastor Wayne Cordeiro for the church body. Wayne Cordeiro founded NHI (New Hope International). Pastor Wayne was speaking about intergenerational ministries and the importance of cultivating the gifts of the young people and college students who are learning to do ministry by having the “veterans” share their responsibilities. The church has a vision to be a lab church where New Hope Christian College students can put their schooling into action… whether that is Creative Arts, Pastoral studies, Counseling, etc. I had a very strong vision (I actually started crying from being overwhelmed) of Leah and I starting a ministry in the church to reach out to the Eugene Area and rescue girls from trafficking, prayerfully, resulting in the girls finding healing through a personal relationship with Christ. I see this sprouting out from New Hope Eugene church and eventually involving other churches and students from local college campuses. The vision clicked some sort of puzzle piece in place for me. This reveals to me that me being in Eugene is a part of God’s plan for my life. He could have sent me anywhere for school but I’m in Eugene, which happens to offer an endless supply of girls for the taking because of all the college campuses. I’m majoring in Counseling and fighting for this cause is where I saw myself long term anyway. I didn’t expect that to happen here in the states but have always planned for ministering overseas, but that’s ok with me because I know God’s plan is always better than mine.
Here is what I have brainstormed… what this might look like:
•Intergenerational: a group of all ages
•partnering with a safe house
•advocating: church announcements, campus vigils
•front line: strip clubs
•statistics: Last year roughly 27 million people were trafficked worldwide, according to the US State Department. Over 200,000 of those are US citizens trafficked in the United States. Springfield (Eugene’s border city) has the most strip clubs per capita.
•Local organizations: Hope Ranch Ministries, OATH (Oregonians against Trafficking Humans), Freedom’s Breath (Lane County)
I wanted to share this vision with you because I would love for you to pray specifically for its development in my life. One step at a time God has revealed his plans for me, and I truly believe this is another step. I am so thankful that I have made a great friend (Leah) who shares this passion with me! Together, we plan to begin laying out ideas and putting together logistics, with the blessing of Pastor Aaron Sutherland of New Hope Eugene, who we excitedly already informed of the vision!
I love you very much and am excited to keep you updated!!!!
Tonight was open house at New Hope Eugene (the church I have chosen to attend). This church is an Open Bible church that has been planted by the college. It is literally brand new, and the open house was primarily to share the vision of Pastor Wayne Cordeiro for the church body. Wayne Cordeiro founded NHI (New Hope International). Pastor Wayne was speaking about intergenerational ministries and the importance of cultivating the gifts of the young people and college students who are learning to do ministry by having the “veterans” share their responsibilities. The church has a vision to be a lab church where New Hope Christian College students can put their schooling into action… whether that is Creative Arts, Pastoral studies, Counseling, etc. I had a very strong vision (I actually started crying from being overwhelmed) of Leah and I starting a ministry in the church to reach out to the Eugene Area and rescue girls from trafficking, prayerfully, resulting in the girls finding healing through a personal relationship with Christ. I see this sprouting out from New Hope Eugene church and eventually involving other churches and students from local college campuses. The vision clicked some sort of puzzle piece in place for me. This reveals to me that me being in Eugene is a part of God’s plan for my life. He could have sent me anywhere for school but I’m in Eugene, which happens to offer an endless supply of girls for the taking because of all the college campuses. I’m majoring in Counseling and fighting for this cause is where I saw myself long term anyway. I didn’t expect that to happen here in the states but have always planned for ministering overseas, but that’s ok with me because I know God’s plan is always better than mine.
Here is what I have brainstormed… what this might look like:
•Intergenerational: a group of all ages
•partnering with a safe house
•advocating: church announcements, campus vigils
•front line: strip clubs
•statistics: Last year roughly 27 million people were trafficked worldwide, according to the US State Department. Over 200,000 of those are US citizens trafficked in the United States. Springfield (Eugene’s border city) has the most strip clubs per capita.
•Local organizations: Hope Ranch Ministries, OATH (Oregonians against Trafficking Humans), Freedom’s Breath (Lane County)
I wanted to share this vision with you because I would love for you to pray specifically for its development in my life. One step at a time God has revealed his plans for me, and I truly believe this is another step. I am so thankful that I have made a great friend (Leah) who shares this passion with me! Together, we plan to begin laying out ideas and putting together logistics, with the blessing of Pastor Aaron Sutherland of New Hope Eugene, who we excitedly already informed of the vision!
I love you very much and am excited to keep you updated!!!!
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