Monday, November 10, 2008

Now.

Today, I was unexpectedly overcome.

You know, I think about "my girls" a lot.
The sweet sweet little girls from the village I lived in this summer.
I remember their faces, their names, their eyes.
They loved me and accepted me more powerfully than I have ever known, and that love and acceptance has been one of the greatest sources of healing for the deeply wounded places of my heart. More than they will ever know.
In many ways, those sweet girls rescued me and during my time in Thailand, and the call the Holy Spirit placed on my heart to repay the favour has been loud and clear.

There is a distinction to be made between when something is on your mind, and when it is on your heart.
My girls are always on my mind.
But today, they were on my heart. Heavily.
Maybe it's because of all the talk of trafficking that I have been around recently.
Promoting the Call + Response screening in New York City.
Recently coming on board to develop Nomi.
Contacting anyone and everyone to see if we can network Prang and Servant works to Nomi Network to get them the help they so desperately need.

This past week has been an intense time of diving in and scraping around to the very bottom of what I desire to see, what I burn for, and what I am capable of.
And it truly is more than I ever thought I would actually see come to fruition.
From the instant I met Alissa and she told me about the drawing board parameters of Nomi, I knew it was a purposed connection. It is no mistake when another person who a week ago was a complete stranger is repeating back to me exact phrases that the Holy Spirit gave to me months ago.

I thought I was moving to New York to study these things, get to know this world, and set out on my own with guns blazing against the powers of the empire that be to start this battle against human trafficking.
The plan was to attend FIT for the next four years and gradually ease into something, that I was praying would take shape and form, impatiently knowing that "these things take time".

There I was, having prepared myself to not be able to bring this direction and immediate message of hope to these women.
There I had been... screaming and crying at my Warrior God, my Saving Lord, because I didnt want to wait. I couldnt stand the thought of these girls... my precious girls... growing up... facing one more day without hope.
One more day without another option of a way out.
One more day bringing them one step closer and closer to the bars.
One more day making them more and more susceptable to being trafficked into the horrors of the sex trade.
I had literally cried aloud for justice and called to him through tears to save them, and I began to formulate my plan of action, as the sense of urgency in my heart grew.
The best thing I could do was give myself a timeline, as I was convinced it would be longer than what I desire.
I grudgingly resided myself to wait and wait and wait...
I braced myself with patience and began to wade through deep frusteration with timing that did not mesh with the dire sense of urgency in my soul.

Oh, how little I knew! Oh how small my vision!
My Jesus had other plans. He was already doing it here! He has been harvesting it for a year!
And He was bringing me to the "it" that I didn't even know existed!
Because it is what I have prayed for. EXACTLY what I have prayed for!

This is so much faster than I ever thought it would be, and now that the initial whirlwind has started to settle, the magnitude and weights of the reality of this situation has slowly started to hit me.

He has suprised me! He has overwhelmed me!
He has pushed through and rushed past my own expectations and limitations of what He is capable of doing and He is on His way to save them NOW!
He is urgently, expectantly on the move!
And their freedom is so close that even I can feel it!

Today, I was unexpectedly overcome with a foretaste of freedom for those captives nearest and dearest to my heart, and the realization that He has placed me here, not for the purpose of preparation...
But for action.

He brought me so he could send me.

Now.



Hold on, please, my sweethearts.
I am coming.
Just a little bit longer and I will be there.
Your rescue is on it's way.

Hold on, please, my precious ones.
He is coming!
Just a little while longer and He will be there!
Your Rescue is on It's way!

3 comments:

Phill Grooms said...

I love how you got there and have been absolutely FLOODED with things to get involved in. I can't believe how much opportunity there is in NYC. I was sitting and comparing it to Europe today randomly. That is one huge difference. God is so obviously around NYC...in the blatent open.

Anonymous said...

love it. remind me to connect you with a friend that used to work for Wrecked, lived in Thailand for awhile, and has a heart like yours. you'd be great for each other. she also lived in NY for awhile.

Stephen M. Bauer said...

This very, very, very moving.