I recently attended a Global Forum where great leaders from all over the world came to speak on what is being done to stop human trafficking. Jeremy Affeldt, pitcher for the Giants, shared how God spoke to him on the mound during the recent World Series. During the 8th inning, he teared up as God told him, “I’m going to expand your platform.” Jeremy knew that meant he was going to increase awareness about child slavery and do what he could to stop this injustice.
Other speakers were a senior producer at CNN, a member of the Canadian Parliament, a federal prosecutor with the U.S. Department of Justice, filmmakers, businessmen, authors and a rapper. Each person doing their part to see an end to modern day slavery in our time whether it’s funding programs, passing laws, telling the untold stories or literally going into brothels to rescue tortured children. It was a beautiful thing to see the Body come together, using their unique gifts to bring Heaven’s justice to earth.
Among all of these courageous heroes, I was most impacted by a young spunky 8 year old girl I met named Vivienne. She skipped around the venue in her pink ballerina type skirt, giving hugs to everyone she met, while keeping an eye on her cutely decorated lemon-aid stand. In May, Vivienne saw a picture taken by a humanitarian photographer of two boys her age in Nepal. They were carrying giant rocks strapped to their heads, while holding hands to comfort one another, as they work 12 hours a day. In Vivienne’s words, “It hurt my heart so I decided to MAKE A STAND. A lemon-aid stand… and a stand against child slavery.” She has been at her stand, rain or shine, for 160 days, raising money to free children through Not For Sale (an organization that has focused on the root issues of human trafficking, helping countless survivors all over the world).
Vivienne has raised over $60,000 and will be bottling up her special lemon-aid soon with all proceeds being donated to help children worldwide. She’s going to be featured in an upcoming Disney series that inspires other kids to do great things. And in a few weeks, Vivienne will be setting up her lemon-aid stand in the middle of Times Square!
If you’re like me, you may be thinking, it’s a good day if I can get to my meeting on time, spend time with the kids and get the laundry done. I don’t have time to change the world! But in the midst of busy, every day life, I also tend to be the type of person that wants to “be the change” I want to see. So what do we do with that tension? To quote little Miss Vivienne again she says, “Have compassion, be the change, smile and be happy. Gandhi was one person. Mother Theresa was one person. Why can’t you be that one person?” It’s so simple.
Be encouraged that your smile, your small act of kindness, your integrity is an undeniable, life-giving fragrance to all those who come in contact with you. Jesus is clothed in it like a garment. I also want to encourage you that if you have a dream in your heart, whether it may seem small or too huge to wrap your head around, God gives you 100% permission to go after it! Don’t listen to the voice that says you’re not qualified or you’ve messed up too many times to do anything. Let Jesus whisper His loving words of truth over you right now as you look into His eyes of approval. The more you rest in what HE’s accomplished for you, your deepest dreams become the natural overflow of your life.
“When the Lord brought back the captivity of Zion, we were like those who dream. Then our mouths were filled with laughter, our tongue with singing. They they said among the nations, “The Lord has done great things for them. The Lord has done great things for us.”
Psalm 126:1-3
Karena
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