World | The Journey Project

Archive for the ‘World’ Category

10 Nov

Posted by
emily

Category
- Missions
- World
Operation Christmas Child

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Its that time of year we’ve all been waiting for! Its SHOEBOX time!!!

What am I talking about? Shoeboxes?

Operation Christmas Child Shoeboxes! Operation Christmas Child is a ministry of Samaritan’s Purse that uses a simple shoebox filled with toys, gifts, clothes, school supplies, and candy to reach out to the lives of children all over the world.

Simply fill an empty shoebox with age-appropriate gifts and drop it off at a local church or other drop-off location. The boxes go around the world and are given as Christmas gifts to children who otherwise wouldn’t have any gifts. It is often the first gift that child has ever received.

One of the kids I nannied for a few years ago had received a shoebox in the children’s home she had lived in Latvia. She told me that the hair things were the best part! Of course, she was a typical pre-teen girl!

The boxes go to real kids, with real lives, pains, joys, and need. This girl I nannied for was adopted and helped me pack some boxes in 2008, she was, of course, really excited to help me!

Last year Samaritan’s Purse started allowing you to track where your boxes went if you donate the $7 for shipping online. Some of the boxes I packed went to Nepal, Panama, Cameroon, and southeast Asia!

Shoeboxes are given to local churches and ministries and distributed through them. The churches are able to use them as a wonderful evangelism tool to reach out the kids and their families.

OCC has a great how-to-pack a box video.

Happy Packing!
08 Nov

Posted by
emily

Category
Buy her Bag, not her Body (Nomi Network)

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I just found a really neat organization that is working to provide economic alternatives to women trapped in sexual slavery and prostitution.

Its called the Nomi Network. They have created a line of bags which women who are in risk of sexual exploitation as well as women who have been exploited sexually. It gives the women a fair wage and a creative way to make money, rather than selling themselves.

Sexual exploitation and prostitution are usually an end result of a lack of other viable options to make money. Women in certain areas around the world have few options to make money and support their families, so they sell themselves. Or, a girl’s parents have no ways to make money, so they sell their girls into prostitution.

We can make all sorts of plans and projects to reduce the number of pimps, make laws against prostitution, and rescue girls out of prostitution, but without other ways to make a living, girls will still be sold for sex, and women will still prostitute themselves on the street. Laws and rescue projects are amazing, valuable, and much needed. But we also need alternative ways for women to make money, other than selling their bodies.

So, lets buy their bags, not their bodies.

The Nomi Network is founded on Christian values, but is not a specifically Christian organization. Kudos to Christians thinking outside of the box and bringing the kingdom of God into the fashion world and underworld of prostitution!

Nomi trains women to make the bags and other products, like jewelry. They are specifically trained by people with experience in the fashion industry and are taught quality control, and other production basics.

This is so awesome, I just had to quote directly:

Nomi Network recently implemented Project Beauty, a self-esteem building initiative that restores identity, self-image and confidence through photography. Nomi Network pampers the women with a make-over and a new wardrobe for the day, and sets up a photo-shoot where they are captured as beautiful, dignified human beings, rather than objects

Thats what Love is all about! Isn’t it? Showing people that they are created in the image of God, and are worth something!