Post Conference Prayer Day 8

Find Your Voice. . .Break the Chain

World Vision's Microenterprise Development Program

A Local Organization

National Headquarters Federal Way, WA

Information:
When families are provided with a means whereby they can support themselves, they are less likely to sell their children for child labor or sex trafficking. This microenterprise program of World Vision is seen as a preventative program in the fight against human trafficking.The enterprising poor seek to provide a better life for their children by growing their own businesses and improving their incomes. In 47 countries, World Vision provides access to loans and business coaching, typically in communities where World Vision also is addressing essential needs, such as access to clean water, primary health care, nutritious food, basic education, and vocational training. With over a half-million active borrowers and a loan portfolio of more than a quarter-billion dollars, World Vision’s microenterprise development program helps build a critical engine of commerce and job creation.

Our South Puget Sound Chapter of Women of Vision, a program of World Vision, is particularily interested in microenterprise in Cambodia as we are raising $10,000 to support one of World Vision's area development projects microfinance Vision Funds there.  Cambodia is one of the 47 countries engaging in World Vision's microfinancing.  It has 78,092 active borrowers from Vision Fund through World Vision for a total outstanding portfolio of $17,052,891 (12/31/08).   In its 2008 fiscal year, World Vision disbursed more than $480 million in loans to more than 600,000 hardworking entrepreneurs.  As World Vision gives out loans, lives are dramatically changed. Witness the transformation yourself as you read Making Dreams a Reality about a woman in Cambodia.  Giving to these women can make a difference in the fight against human trafficking as these entrepreneurs regain their pride, dignity and independence and a life with a future.

Prayer Focus
Ask God to continue to provide funding for this microenterprise program so that families can become independent and not fall prey to putting their children on the human trafficking market to provide finances for their families.  Pray that God would continue to prosper these entrepreneural women as they set up their businesses, repay their loans and share their expereinces with the Vision Fund group.  Thank  God for sending local workers to continue this program.  Ask God to show people in these 47 countries that they do not have to rely upon illegal or immoral means to provide for their families.  Praise God for the incredible changes that these few dollars have brought to families.  Pray that anyone who is involved with this program who does not know Jesus as their Savior will be saved.  Thank God that this program helps bring light to the darkness as it helps to stop human trafficking in these areas.    

Post Conference Prayer Day 7

Find Your Voice. . .Break the Chain

     World Vision: Exploited Children Program
A Local Organization
National Headquarters Federal Way, WA

Information: 
They're the world's most vulnerable children. Each year, millions of girls and boys are exploited — they are raped, forced into early marriage, enslaved in the global sex trade, or used for bonded labor.  Their days are filled with dread and their nights with pain. They're alone. There are no adults in their lives who offer them protection.  These are the children who benefit from the Exploited Children ministry of World Vision.  You can help one child after another escape a life of horror.

Through this program, the donors help exploited children find hope and new life. World Vision-funded recovery centers offer resources like safe shelter, food, health care, and trauma recovery assistance for girls and boys who have faced abuse. They also advocate for the protection of these children at both the local and international level. And by partnering with law enforcement efforts worldwide, World Vision supports the prevention and punishment of child exploitation.

Prayer Focus:
Pray that many will want to sponsor these exploited children that World Vision rescues and provides for with love.  Pray that new recovery centers will be built in the areas of the world where child trafficking is rampant.  Pray for these victims who have faced such terrible abuse that they would be healed and know that there is a loving God Who restores, renews and regenerates.  Pray that the demand for these chlidren will stop and that those who are demanding children and exploiting them in any way will be saved and stop these behaviors and these demands.  Pray that healed and recovered victims will be empowered to reach out to others who are enslaved and that those who have been helped will reach out and help others and show them the way to recovery.  Pray that God will be glorified in the lives of all the workers and give them wisdom and insight into the needs of these exploited little ones.  Thank God for the amazing work that He has already done through World Vision advocacy and for the work that he will do in the future to bring light to the darkness and hope to the hopeless. 

Action Step:  Is God calling you to become a Child Crisis Partner ?  For as little as $20 a month you we can make a difference!

Post Conference Prayer Day 6

Find Your Voice. . .Break the Chain

Prayer for the Peace Rehibilation Center

Information:
Since its beginning in 1994, the Peace Rehabilitation Center (PRC) has cared for underprivileged women in Nepal. Its main focus is preventing trafficking and protecting at-risk girls and women. Implementing a comprehensive approach to the cycle of trafficking, PRC offers many solutions, from border patrols that prevent girls from being brought into India to aftercare and rehabilitation for trafficked women.

PRC offers the following programs:
Non-formal education (NFE) classes: Areas where skill development and income generation programs are running. These classes help educate the girls and women in high risk areas on reproductive health, HIV/AIDS and STDs, nutrition, and children. Currently, there are two classes running in Butwal where 40 women and girls are taking part of the program.

Rehabilitation center: The Kathmandu rehabilitation home offers short term or long term care in a safe and loving Christian environment. At risk or trafficked victims are provided with health care services, counseling, and formal or non-formal education. This enables the girls to recover and prepare to be reintegrated into society with skills that empower them for their future. Currently there are 15 girls living in the home, however, this number will never be fixed.

Child care program: Often when trafficked women are rescued, they come with children. These children are considered at risk without care from PRC. Since its foundation, PRC has looked after the children in the same shelter where those HIV positive patients and returnees are living, as there needs to be a separate home where the neediest can live.

Border monitoring program: Currently, PRC has two border monitoring booths. One is in the southern part of Nepal, which is in partnership with SERVE-Nepal and the other is in Mahendranagar, on the southwestern border. These two sites have proved vital in the rescuing of girls before they are trafficked into India. PRC would like to open border patrol stations along all the major border cities of Nepal.

Pokhara Orphans Home: There is a great need for loving homes for the many orphaned children of Nepal. Recognizing this need, PRC opened a home specifically for orphans ten years ago. It is located in the Pokhara countryside and currently has 15 children. All are in school and doing quite well.

Skill development and income generation program: PRC has established many programs throughout Nepal to provide empowering skills to at risk women. After receiving a skill, PRC provides seed money to the woman to start her own business, and ongoing assistance in cooperation with local churches.

Candle making program: Launched in Kawasoti, Nawalparasi District, more than 20 women are now engaged in making candles. PRC first formed a committee of women from the local churches and then bought a candle making machine and provided raw materials to get started. The committee selects women trainees from the surrounding communities who are potentially at risk of being trafficked. They then organize trainings for these women. Income generated is used to create similar programs in the community.

Pig/goat/cow keeping: To date, PRC has provided a total of 50 goats to financially empower women in at risk areas. The program is currently running in the Chitwan and Nawalparasi Districts. This process begins when PRC forms a group of beneficiaries and provides a goat to one woman. In return, she has to share the first-born baby goat to the neighbor that the group recommended. The first goat remains in her possession. Each year this process multiplies as the goat continues to give birth. Due to this programs’ success, PRC would like to provide cows, pigs, buffalos to more at risk females.

Sewing and knitting: Established in the Nawalparasi District, PRC provides sewing machines and trainers to teach women and girls the skill of sewing and knitting. This provides them with the ability to provide financially and be self sustained in their community

Spices production: In working with local church women in the Butwal area, PRC has provided machines and raw materials to produce spices for sale. This provides yet another income generating source for at risk women.

Driving classes: In a male dominated field, PRC launched a driving training program for females. Recently, five girls from Chitwan District completed the course. PRC pays driving trainers for up to three months or until the women become completely trained. PRC believes that the girls who receive the drivers’ training will be able to get driving jobs easily.

Prayer Focus:
Pray for this center and all of the programs as well as the workers and those who have been rescued. Pray that each one will see their need for Jesus if they are not saved and that they will be open to salvation.  Pray that God will prosper this ministry financially and that they will have favor with the local government and city officials.  Pray for restoration and healing of the victims.  Pray that God will be glorified in all that is done through this ministry and that human trafficking will stop in this area as a result of this outreach.

post Conference Prayer Day 5

Find Your Voice. . .Break the Chain

Shared Hope International (SHI)
Local Organization
Headquarters Vancouver, WA

Prayer Focus: Women’s Investment Network (WIN) and Villages of Hope 

Domestic: Women served in the Women’s Investment Network Program of SHI are women who have had difficult life experiences such as domestic abuse, childhood abuse from the commercial sex industry, drug addiction and/or time in a correctional facility. These experiences have left the women with low self-esteem and lack of employable skills.
     This nine-month WIN training program, provides opportunity for these women to learn job skills so they can enter/reenter the work force and support themselves and their families. In addition to job skills, the women learn how to work in a professional environment and develop personal life skills so they can begin to build confidence and self-esteem.
     The program is based in Vancouver, Washington where SHI has its corporate headquarters. Women in the program commit 20-25 hours a week to train on-site and are provided a stipend to offset expenses. The WIN training program is divided into three phases. With each phase, the intern’s skills are assessed and goals set so the intern receives a well-rounded experience.
Pray that the women coming into the WIN Program will stick it out and be successful in their recovery. Pray that all there will see their need for Jesus and call out to Him. Pray that God would continue to bless this program financially and that it would continue to receivegovernmental favor.

International:
     The WIN International program focuses on developing small businesses around the world, either independently or with international partners that provide training and permanent work for the women in Homes of Hope and beyond. Because poverty is a major cause of women being trafficked into sexual slavery, providing victims with skills and a means of creating their own economic sustainability helps remove the risk of re-victimization.
     Today, SHI has active WIN International programs in South Africa, India, and Fiji. Operating businesses include commercial bakeries, hospitality center, florist, toilet paper factories, administrative/IT centers and more.


Fiji
     At their Home of Hope, Fiji, SHI has established a home ownership program that they hope to employ at all of their Homes of Hope. This program allows women and mothers to purchase a one-bedroom “bure” or cottage. All women have participated in the restorative program for at least one year before being presented this option. Much like buying a first home, they will be required to make monthly home equity payments—interest free—that will be put into a bank account specifically for each woman's use upon her eventual departure from the Home of Hope.
     Beautiful, scenic Fiji is a well-known tourist destination, but its young women have sadly become a part of its international appeal. Sex tourists' demand for younger children is increasing, along with the threat to vulnerable children such as those born to trafficked mothers.
     In 2003, SHI partnered with a local couple to purchase 40 acres for a new Village of Hope facility that would care for trafficked women and their children. The facility has the capacity to care for over 200 women and their children. To offer opportunity to these women and children, the Village of Hope is fully equipped with a preschool, grade school, and a bakery where women can gain business training and skills through the WIN program
Pray that Village of Hope Fiji would be a thriving outreach in this community and that many women and children would be rescued and restored and that human trafficking would be prevented as these women receive business training and job skills through the WIN Program.



India
     Impoverished youth are often trafficked and lured into the brothels of Bombay, India. SHI began its work in Bombay by spreading awareness about the horrible conditions of life in the brothels to those at-risk. They also built a Village of Hope to which victims could flee and live.
     The Village of Hope in India is a 72-acre, village style development, located two hours north of Bombay. It has capacity to house more than 140 woman and children at a time. The complex houses vocational facilities, and offers a variety of options for economic development through the WIN program such as leather making, jewelry design and tailoring.
     Some of the rescued women, like Ganga, are now intervening in the brothel district, leading SHI's efforts to help rescue other young women and children. Through them, SHI has launched a Mobile HIV/Aids Clinic, and a Mobile Food Van, staffed by an outreach team of Teen Challenge graduates.
     The Mobile Food Van serves nourishing meals to more than 2,000 people annually in and near the brothels of Bombay. For many victimized and homeless children, the Mobile Food Van program is a first contact with Shared Hope partners in Bombay, and this relationship has often led many of these children to our Home of Hope.
     At the Village of Hope, India, women and children rescued from trafficking not only find a home, but also a future. Each year, these women create leather products and precious stone jewelry, and sell their work to help contribute to their community and toward their own future. In 2006, we discovered a successful clothing designer and tailor, who is devoting herself to teaching these women how to sew and market their uniquely designed clothing.
Pray that Village of Hope India will be protected from the enemy and that the government will continue to give favor to this complex and those operating it. Pray for more Teen Challenge graduates and other workers to come to love and encourage the women and children that living in the complex. Pray that they all see their need for Jesus and come to know Him as their Lord and Savior. Pray that those who have suffered from being victimized by human trafficking be restored. Thank God for this haven of safety that stands as a light in the darkness.


South Africa
     The Village of Hope, South Africa continuously receives new girls rescued off the streets. Gangs, drugs, violence and poverty plague South Africa, particularly Cape Town where SHI has a Home of Hope. Many youth are victimized by rape, forced drug-addiction and abuse. Gangs often use young girls as drug couriers and prostitutes. Young boys are often pimped out to sex tourists traveling to Cape Town for that very purpose.
     At Village of Hope, these victims are brought into a community where they spend an initial 14 months or more weaning their bodies off of drugs and undergoing intensive rehabilitation. After this initial phase, women are given the dignified titles of “Junior Staff,” and are entrusted with responsibilities such as office support, serving as house mothers, teachers and bakery workers.
     The Village runs out of an old farmhouse purchased and remodeled by SHI to house up to 25 individuals. The Village also has an education center and commercial bakery. Some students continue on with competitive education. Others, after gaining work skills at the bakery through the WIN program, join the workforce in Cape Town. Others become a powerful voice, speaking out in public schools against trafficking and gang abuse.
Pray that Village of Hope South Africa will stand firm in serving this community of young girls rescued off of the streets. Pray that God will restore them and renew them physically, emotionally and spiritually. Pray that the 25 in recovery now will be totally set free from addictions. Pray for the workers and the victims that they will accept Jesus as their Savior. Pray a blessing on this Home of Hope and that it would continue to be used to bring hope to this area.

Post Conference Prayer Day 4

Find Your Voice. . .Break the Chain

Prayer for Seattle Against Slavery

Information:
Seattle Against Slavery (SAS) is a grassroots coalition working to make a slave-free world, one city at a time. Uniting community-based abolition activists, local and national non-government organizations, government agencies, and other coalitions, SAS seeks to raise human trafficking awareness and mobilize the public to better advocate for victims, enhance survivor care, promote legislation to combat human trafficking, and help service providers build capacity. Their ultimate goal is to restore the dignity and value of all human beings by ending these demeaning and dehumanizing practices.

Whether the work is local or global, supporting survivor care or promoting new or stronger anti-trafficking laws, SAS seeks to connect individuals and organizations within the Greater Seattle area to create a vocal and effective community of abolitionists. SAS members have met with the U.S. Department of Justice’s Western Washington District's Criminal Enterprises Division, the Washington State Attorney General’s Office, King County Prosecuting Attorney's Office, Seattle Police Department, City of Seattle’s Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Prevention unit, and Washington Advisory Committee on Trafficking (WashACT). They collaborate with many NGOs with local, national, or international reach, including New Horizons Ministries, Not for Sale, and International Justice Mission. SAS also works closely with the Washington Anti-Trafficking Response Network (WARN) and the Washington Advisory Committee on Trafficking. Today and have hundreds of members, partnering with nearly all the organizations in the Puget Sound area that are actively fighting slavery and human trafficking.

Prayer Focus:
 Ask the Lord to bless and prosper this organization and its coalition partners.  Ask for God's Hand of protection to be on all of the workers and that they would be encouraged daily as they press in against darkness.  Give the leaders wisdom as they make decisions.  May all people connected with SAS in any capacity see their need for Jesus and call out to Him.  May He be honored and glorified through this work.

Post Conference Prayer Day 3

Find Your Voice. . .Break The Chain

Prayer for World Vision Advocacy
A Local Organization
National Headquarters Federal Way, WA 

Information:
What is trafficking in persons? Human trafficking — especially the trafficking of children — is essentially a modern-day slave trade. Trafficking in persons is the use of fraud, force, or coercion to exploit a person for profit. That person can be exploited in his or her own home, within his or her community, or in a country half way around the world. It does not necessarily involve movement. Human trafficking and human smuggling are not the same. Trafficking takes on many guises and occurs within countries and across borders. Examples include: Children abducted to fight as child soldiers; One person sold to another to serve as a slave or bonded laborer; Impoverished girls from rural areas sold or stolen away to serve as sex slaves in brothels. Trafficking in persons knows no boundaries. It occurs in every country in the world, including the United States.

How Prevalent is this problem? Estimates vary but there are anywhere from 12 million to 27 million people enslaved in the world today. But we do know that there are more slaves in the world today than during all three centuries of the Trans-Atlantic slave trade combined. Fifty percent of all trafficking victims are women and children. Every year, 1.2 million children are trafficked for child labor. Another 1 million children are annually trafficked into the global sex trade.

What are the causes?
    Poverty and unemployment
    Drug and alcohol abuse
    Corruption Expansion of organized crime Low status of girls in many countries
    Illiteracy and lack of education
    Inadequate or non-enforced laws Lack of political will to end the practice

 How do we respond?

World Vision’s response strategy encompasses what is known as
     The Four Ps:  Prevention, Protection, Prosecution, Policy:
To end human trafficking, all “Four Ps” must work in concert so that the prevention of trafficking, protection of victims, and the prosecution of traffickers is tied together by effective policy. World Vision is working to ensure that the United States’ policies directly contribute to the elimination of human trafficking at home and around the world.

What can the United States do now?

The United States can use its influence and resources to continue to battle trafficking around the world. A bill introduced by Reps. Chris Smith, R-N.J., and Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., the Child Protection Compact Act (HR 2737) will create a strategic partnership with countries that have shown the political will to combat trafficking, but lack the knowledge and resources to enforce the law. This bill works to build the capacity of countries to protect victims and prosecute traffickers.

Prayer Focus:
Pray about considering these actions steps  

1. Advocate with World Vision today. Voice your support for the Child Protection Compact Act. Read World Vision’s new report, "Ten things you need to know about human trafficking."

2. Download talking points about child trafficking and the Child Protection Compact Act

3. Take a look at the State Department's 2009 Trafficking in Persons Report
        
4. Pray for children around the world who are being harmed by child labor practices. Pray for people trying to help these children and for a transformation of those who are forcing children into these roles.

5. Call or e-mail your representative to voice your support for the Child Protection Compact Act (HR 2737).

6. See what goods are believed to be produced with exploitive child labor and stop purchasing them. 

7. Become a Child Crisis Partner. For $20 a month, you can help one child after another escape a life of horror.

Post Conference Prayer Day 2

Find Your Voice. . .Break the Chain

Prayer for the Victims of Human Trafficking

International Justice Mission

Africa
Please pray for IJM Kenya as they await a judgment in Laura’s case. Pray that the final witnesses appear to testify in court, and that the judge delivers a just verdict. Two of Laura’s perpetrators have already been convicted for their crimes; pray that the final accused perpetrator is convicted and receives a just sentence. Continue to pray that IJM Rwanda’s aftercare staff can develop partnerships with counseling and placement organizations. Pray that we find much-needed placement homes and counseling services for victims of sexual abuse, and that these relationships serve our clients well. Continue to pray for IJM Rwanda’s project development team as they work hard to evaluate and meet needs in Rwanda. Pray that the project and goals developed serve the poor and vulnerable in Rwanda. Please pray for Veronica, a victim of property grabbing, who was repeatedly harassed by her relative Bruno. Bruno was recently arrested and is serving jail time again. Pray that Veronica will feel safe and secure on her land. Also, pray for a change in Bruno’s heart and for restoration in his relationships with his family members.

Latin America
Please pray that God would give IJM Guatemala direction through the many changes taking place in the office. Please pray for the transition process of the new Field Office Director, Tom Rawlings, who will assume full duties this month. Please also pray for Pablo Villeda, Regional Director for Latin America and former Field Office Director of IJM Guatemala, who is moving to the U.S. with his family for his new position at IJM headquarters. Please also pray for IJM Guatemala’s new attorney and newly-appointed Director of Aftercare as they learn their new roles and responsibilities. Please pray that the Lord would give IJM Bolivia’s investigations team wisdom as they coordinate and execute arrests and other investigative activities. Please pray specifically for the arrest of two suspects who have been difficult to locate. Please pray that the Lord would bring the right person to fill IJM Bolivia’s open staff position

South Asia
Pray for wisdom and persistence for the legal staff in South Asia as we continue to work on petitions filed by an individual who seeks to undermine IJM and other organizations involved in anti-sex-trafficking work. There are currently a number of his petitions before the court in which IJM has either been named as a party or as closely associated to those who have been named. Pray that the judges hearing these petitions will clearly see through this deception, and that the petitions will each be disposed of in a timely mannePray for the counseling sessions beginning at a government aftercare home for minor girls. Pray that the girls will open up and dialogue honestly about their pasts to begin the process of healing. Pray for our staff as they seek partnerships with a well-established organization that can provide structured training and job opportunities for girls rescued from sex trafficking through our casework. Praise God for the healthy birth of a baby girl to one of our staff in South Asia! Pray for the legal team as they examine the cases brought before them. Pray for wisdom as they decide how to move forward with government relationships and with possible future cases. Pray that God would give IJM favor with government officials so that they move forward to sign our requested Memorandum of Understanding which we need to work on forced labor cases with the government. Pray for comfort for the family of a rescued victim of forced labor who recently died as a result of complications from heart surgery. Pray for his family as they mourn his death. Praise God for a truly exceptional education agency that will offer a customized curriculum for trafficking survivors rescued through our casework. Please pray that these girls will develop the motivation to succeed in their studies. Praise God for the government officials who requested IJM’s assistance in conducting an investigation, which resulted in the rescue and release of 25 victims of slavery from a brick kiln. Pray for the well-being of all IJM South Asia staff who travel on a continual basis. Please pray that God would put a special interest in the hearts and minds of the judges and prosecutors in the Philippines to study and know the nation’s anti-trafficking law. Pray that they will see trafficked victims in the same way as God sees them. Pray they will be gracious toward the needs and conditions of these victims, and that they would be able to communicate with them with sensitivity. Please pray for wisdom and maturity for IJM Manila clients who have returned to their families and are now facing a new chapter in their lives. Pray that they will soon plan and dream for a better future. Pray that IJM Cambodia aftercare staff will find a Vietnamese translator who will assist with our work following police interventions and during court proceedings.