Back to the DR

An update! Can you believe it? I'm returning to the Dominican Republic for a short time next week, to work with the organization Priceless International, which I have been on the board of for about 1 year.

This is going to be an interesting trip. Priceless International is the result of God's conviction in the life of our director, Glenn Harden, about the massive amount of prostitution in the Dominican Republic. Our goal is to minister to the lives of those who are forced - by poverty or otherwise - to perform sexual acts for money. We want to create a place women and children can go that is safe, that will show them the love of Christ, and that will enable them to move on to a better life. It's not been easy; how can anyone swallow the idea of 7-year-old girls and boys forced to solicit aging tourists with sex....just to survive? But it does not matter what my emotional reaction is to such a reality. The important thing is that I do something about it, because knowledge of evil must be a catalyst to change things for good. I have lived a privileged life; I want the same grace, safety, love, and peace for others. God desires justice in an unjust world, and he is asking me to be part of delivering that justice. What a wonderful opportunity!

This trip will primarily focus on rescuing children off the streets of Santo Domingo, the capitol of the Dominican Republic. I will be there from September 5th - 14th, and Grant will be joining me on September 9th. While there, we will find children willing to leave the streets (shouldn't be hard), as a nurse I will give them what medical attention I can, and we will place them in a safehouse when we can find one. If you want to be involved, we are in need of children's clothes and toothbrushes, children's vitamins, and medical supplies. At the end of the trip, we will be privileged to return to Jarabacoa, where I used to live, and introduce Grant to many of my long-lost friends that live there :) God has blessed us greatly, and I pray that we can be as great a blessing to these lost lambs!

Love you all, and I will certainly update the blog with more when I come home, and possibly during the trip.