Post "make it right" Prayer Highlight 10/10-14/11 Washington State Advocacy

 

Washington Engage Founders

Post "make it right" Prayer Highlight 10/10-14/11 Washington State Advocacy

This week as follow-up from our "make it right" Event, our prayer focus is on advocacy in the State of Washington. One organization that endeavors to bring together many of the State anti-human trafficking groups, city officials, and State Government is Washington Engage. We want to learn about this organization and cover it in prayer as they press on with the work of ending human trafficking in our State.

History
From 2009-2010 Rose Gundersen (left on picture above) worked in the Washington State Attorney General’s office as a policy extern on human trafficking. In that role, Rose helped to create the research basis for Rob McKenna’s Presidential Initiative on Human Trafficking launched in 2011. During this time, Rose connected with Deana Berg (middle on picture above).

In 2009, Deana and Rose began working together to build relationships with existing grassroots anti-trafficking initiatives in the region. Thanks to the collaboration of key stakeholders and anti-trafficking leaders, they cultivated a constituency base of over 20,000 voters to bring a unified voice to Washington legislators.

In 2010, in collaboration with Seattle Against Slavery and several other grassroots groups, Deana organized the Inaugural Washington Anti-Trafficking Engagement Day in Olympia that featured leaders of the anti-trafficking movement and opportunities for voters to talk with their legislators. The following year, the number of attendees grew to hear speakers including Bradley Myles of Polaris Project, Rob McKenna, our State Attorney General, and other leaders who addressed a standing-room-only crowd.

In preparation for the 2011 event, Washington Engage in collaboration with International Justice Mission held a legislative training day and trained advocates who then filled more than 40 legislative appointments on the Engagement Day.

As Deana continued her partnership-building work with city officials, law enforcement officers, prosecutors, service providers, and new community advocates and Rose continued her work with legislators and searching out new and relevant research, they added a third member to their team, Dr. Mar Smith.

Mar came to trafficking prevention work from an academic background. After researching and teaching on justice issues at the college and graduate levels, Mar wanted to become more actively engaged with important ethics and labor issues such as trafficking. She founded Interact Consulting, LLC and joined Washington Engage as a consultant to build a business-facing effort to trafficking. The goal of the effort is to help businesses prevent sex and labor trafficking within their own spheres of influence.

Washington Engage (WAE) seeks to eradicate sex and labor trafficking in Washington State by providing tools and knowledge that empower government, business, and grassroots leaders to take action. The foundation to their mission is to eradicate human trafficking through Community Partnership to form a unified voice to leverage with stakeholders, Business Initiative to make trafficking unprofitable and Law and Policy Study to inform laws, policies, and partnerships. Their vision is that Washington State leads the fight to end human trafficking.

WAE partners with Students of Bellarmine Preparatory School, East Side Women of Purpose, Family Renewal Shelter, Frontline For Justice, Hidden Creek Community Church, Olympia WA, Hope for Seattle, Intercommunity Peace and Justice Center, International Justice Mission, Jubilee, Justice and Mercy Foundation, LOOKBOTHWAYS, Lutheran Public Policy Office of Washington, New Horizons Ministries, Not for Sale Campaign, REST (Real Escape from the Sex Trade), Seattle Against Slavery, Seattle Prayer Against Slavery Movement, Shared Hope International, Soroptimist International Northwest Region, Student Against Slavery at UW, The Freedom Initiative,The Genesis Project, Unbound Conference, University Presbyterian Church Human Trafficking Task Force, University of Washington Center for Human Rights, University of Washington Women’s Center, Washington Coalition Office of Crime Victim Advocates, Western Washington Coalition Against Human Trafficking, Women’s Funding Alliance, Women of Vision South Puget Sound Chapter, Zonta of Everett, Zonta of Olympia, Zonta of South Puget Sound

Prayer:

Dear Heavenly Father,

We come to you in the Name of Jesus worshipping and praising You. Lord, we trust that all things work together for the good to those who love You and are called according to Your purpose. We praise You that You are seated on the Throne in the Heavens and ask that You would be seated on the throne in each of our hearts as we surrender our way and our understanding to Your Way.

Lord, we thank you for Washington Engage and the founders, Rose, Deana, and Mar. Bless them as they pioneer this work in Washington State to eradicate human trafficking. We ask that You would open every door for this organization and bless them with favor, abundant finances and faithful supporters. Give them wisdom as they establish their procedures and protocols, as they make contacts and as they decide about direction and focus. Show them the Way that You would have them go to bring honor and glory to Your Name as they work to set prisoners free from slavery.

We ask that Community Action Teams would spring up in all cities across the State and that communities would begin to say "NO" to slave labor in their communities. We pray for unity within each Community Action Team, between communities and throughout the State. Let each team unite and link together to be a voice to Olympia that citizens will no longer stand by and allow human trafficking in Washington. 

We pray that You would work on the hearts of people in Washington to welcome the victims of slavery into their churches, businesses, and neighborhoods. We pray for recovery centers to be established where these victims can receive after care so that they can heal and be made whole. Let churches and non-profit groups respond to fill in the gap where the Government stops providing these services.

Along with Your heart, our hearts are broken for the children and women who suffer from the crime of human trafficking. Let us not give up in this fight to stop human trafficking. Let us join with Washington Engage to make a difference!

In Jesus' Matchless Name we pray. Amen!