Shine: week 5 & 6

During week 5 of Shine our speaker shared that respecting women is key to reaching, impacting, and transforming the world for the Kingdom of God. We also learned about sexual identities from another speaker. In week 6 we learned about supply and demand in human trafficking. We had a speaker who shared about doing anti-trafficking work with the heart of God, how true worship is to walk with the vulnerable, the father heart and mother heart of God, how to walk with people who are going through grief, dynamics of immigration and urban dynamics, starting an anti-trafficking program, and the stages of change/cycle that survivors of human trafficking walk through in coming out of prostitution. On Friday night we went out to the streets again to worship and intercede. Though we always feel the battle and intensity of what is going on in the spiritual realm, we feel breakthrough and see God moving as we cry out to Him to come. Please keep Fortaleza in your prayers. It is one of the most violent cities, and those who work out on the streets need prayer for protection.

My time in Brazil has come to a close. I still have much processing to do over all the material and experiences I have had these last 6 weeks. I am so thankful for the time I had in Brazil and for the amazing community and family of YWAMers I was able to do life with. It was one of the most blessed times of my life. God taught me about what it means to be His friend and partner with Him in intercession, works of justice, and loving people. He is continuing to stir my heart for justice. This was a season of re-cultivating intimacy with Christ, and a time of refocus on what is ahead. I am stepping into anti-trafficking work not out of obligation of service, but because I am compelled by the love of Christ and want to walk with Him as a friend. He walks with the vulnerable and invites me to come. I feel a need to do anti-trafficking work because I want to see a heart transformed so that Jesus may receive the reward of His suffering. This work is about discipleship, and I long to see broken hearts being restored into the wholeness that God originally intended. My job is not to stop the sex industry, my job is to be obedient. God is the one who moves and changes things. I am a vessel for Him to fill with His love; to be poured out for His renown. I believe in the redemption God has for every man, transvestite, and woman. God is relentless to love and pursue those who are lost and I am privileged to share the love He has given me with others.