Sunday Style & Fighting Human Trafficking!




Click here for a whole page of Anthro's best denim shirts.
(Mine is the Holding Horses brand and sold out.)
Click here for a very similar headband - I own this one too. It's my favorite Pocahontas-type headband I own! ;)
Here is a similar version of my pink jeans (so cute and on major sale).
I've linked my gold sandals in previous posts!

Today, my team and I joined together to fight for justice.

Being on a team is an extraordinary thing. It shows us that we can't go through life alone - we need other people to lean on. 
We need other minds, perspectives, and personalities 
to get things done in this world.
No matter how introverted you may be, the desire for community is woven into our DNA.
Always has been, always will be.

My team and I haven't yet come up with a name for ourselves,
but we are very close to deciding!
However, today, we came up with a mission and vision statement.
(To be shared later).
I'll tell you what we do in my own words:
We fight against modern day slavery through raising awareness, planning events,
educating others, and building relationships with 
other organizations, churches, and local law enforcement.

We represent our church, 3D Church, and are birthed through
an anti-human trafficking organization called the A21 Campaign.
The A21 Campaign's mission is to "abolish injustice in the 21st century."
Go here to find out what you can do about modern day slavery in your city!

Every person's effort matters - no matter how small.

We are generally known as an "A-Team" (Abolition Team/A21 Team).
(You could even start an A-Team in your city, just like us here in Denver!)
I believe we are the first A-Team here the Denver area, which is really exciting. 

Hopefully we will be able to encourage other churches to start A-Teams.
Because caring for the oppressed, orphans, and widows is what we are called to do.
Because God compels us to genuinely love others.
He doesn't push us to act out of fake love because it's what we are "supposed to do".

Did you know that there are currently 27 million slaves in the world?

Only 1-2% of the 27 million slaves are ever rescued.

And the average age of a human trafficking victim is 12 years old.

(www.A21.org)

These statistics are important because they show us that there is an urgent need for help and there is oppression that needs to be stopped.
But I also don't want to minimize people to a statistic.
I will never tell people about an urgent need and end my plea with statistics.
Statistics alone will hardly move you, anyway.

People thrive on stories.

Let me show you a personal story. 
There is a girl named Nicole who was a sex slave and was brought to sweet, sweet freedom.
Listen to Nicole's Story here.
Victims of human trafficking are real people who need help. They are currently facing the very darkest side of humanity.

If hearing about this makes you sick, sad, angry, or all of the above - first of all, it should.
Second of all, if you feel strongly about this issue, 
it may be passion inside of you that's compelling you 
to change the world by joining our fight against slavery.

From one of the greatest abolitionists of all time:
"You may choose to look the other way, but you can never say again that you did not know."
- William Wilberforce

I first heard about human trafficking when I attended the Passion Conference in 2011. This conference is a huge Christian conference hosted by many well-known Christian leaders.
Louie & Shelley Giglio, Andy Stanley, Chris Tomlin, Christy Nockels, David Crowder, Francis Chan, Christine Caine, Beth Moore, David Platt, & John Piper are only some of the "greats" of our time who were there. They have worship which is nothing like I've ever experienced, speaking sessions on various topics, and breakout sessions on more specific topics. 
The Passion Conference also has "community groups" where you connect with other college aged kids and talk about the speakers and just... connect. It's awesome. 
I'm still Facebook friends with some of my community group members.

I remember Christine Caine telling me (as in me and 20,000 other people) that there were 27 million slaves in the world.
And I thought "I thought we defeated slavery?"
Not exactly. The U.S. only made it illegal - we haven't yet abolished it.

And ever since then, the Lord has compelled me to do something.
And for a while, I felt like I was at a loss. I thought that in order to really make a difference, I would have to be someone who actually knocked down the doors of shady buildings
and pulled trafficking victims from the grip of the traffickers.
Ha. No way. 
BUT, I was so passionate at that time (and had no outlet for my passion) that I dreamed of being on the front lines. 

I think a lot of people are in that place now.
Since 2011, I feel like our generation has become so fired up about the now trendy issue of human trafficking, but there aren't many ways to get hands-on involved besides raising awareness like every non-profit will tell you. 
I know I said this earlier, but I got tired of hearing "Every little effort helps."
I think this is because I am meant to actually lead an anti-human trafficking team.
I wanted to lead, and now my sister-in-law are leaders of our A-Team.
That is God's unique plan for me.
It's not that "every little effort" isn't true.
I just wanted to do way, way more than spread awareness verbally and via social media. 
And hey, if you feel the way I do, maybe you're meant to lead a group as well.
Pray about it. Talk to others about it. And then look into starting an A-Team!

My dream is to have an A21 Campaign in Denver.
We'll see what God has in store!

Our first event that our A-Team is hosting is called 
The Walk for Freedom 2015
and it's meant for those participating in the walk
to be voices for the voiceless.
We will walk in a single file line in the city in complete silence
wearing our black A21 shirts and will pass out flyers as an act of raising more awareness.
The Walk for Freedom happened for the first time last fall
and this year, we get to host one in Denver.
If you live in or near the Denver area, please consider joining our walk AND TELL YOUR FRIENDS TO JOIN! Anyone is welcome.
(We have to get it officially approved, first, but that will hopefully happen soon!)

During our meeting today, we talked about logistics for our Walk for Freedom. 
We are all SO excited and it's amazing to see us as a team working together
and it's amazing to see our event come together piece by piece.

There's so much joy in being a part of something that's bigger than yourself.

I hope you have a great Sunday! Thanks for reading. <3

xoxo 
Chelsea
















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