moving morgan: the journey begins.

yesterday was my first day as a NightLight intern. we met at the church to do some training and preparation for the coming season.

i started preparing my little brain for this summer a few weeks ago with scripture and books we were required to read. first was When Heaven Invades Earth by Bill Johnson. If you are interested in learning about the power of the Holy Spirit, this book will challenge any belief or idea or the supernatural power of the Holy Spirit. On the "heavy scale" i would give it a 7 out of 10.

i read Girls Like Us by Rachel Lloyd. a book about sexually exploited girls and women in New York. Rachel was a sexually exploited girl while she lived in GB and Germany. her story is powerful and not for the easily queazy. such a story brings these situations to heart... and in your face... about the reality of what is occurring on our streets and in our backyards.

i wanted to start using this blog as a journal of my journey this summer. along with the other events that take place this summer, i want to offer this space as a place for people to learn and become educated about this travesty and injustice.

with that, expect nothing. the God we serve is a big, crazy God, therefore we are expecting Big, Crazy things. our God is bigger than these injustices, and we expect to see things bigger than the industry.

so here we go...

before i begin, i wanted to clear the air. the women/girls/children i will be ministering to are sexually exploited, that may mean they are in prostitution, have been trafficked to atlanta, could be trafficked out of atlanta, have been forced, coerced, manipulated and brainwashed into this industry.

many people ask why these women don't "just leave" and these women are just "prostitutes," so they chose this life, and "should we really feel bad for them if they chose it?" they are "working girls," or "hos." but they are also someone's child, sister, niece, mother, cousin, neighbor....

this always infuriates me, then i have to remember that i too once felt the same way. i didn't understand the fact that over half these girls are there out of desperation, and the other half have been forced by some excuse for a man who "loves" them.

these women never had a choice and probably will never get out of the life. they cannot "just leave" something that they never "just chose" to get involved with. i want people to understand the pain and torture these women face. the manipulation. the actual chains that are holding them to the street. and the life.

girls at risk are looking for love, and get trapped. girls at risk are lost, and are taken. girls at risk are searching for something, and they find a man. then their bodies are used at the beck and call of a man who they thing "love them."

we want to show them a man who actually loves them. who knows what they are doing, who sees inside their hearts, and recognizes injustice and still wants them.

he knows their real names.

Jesus is the answer to this injustice. and that is our job to share and show Jesus with these beautiful women.