Voiceless Wednesdays--Domestic Violence

This week's focal point for Voice for the Voiceless is domestic violence. This is one issue that crosses all cultural, religious, socio-economic, racial, and ethnic boundaries so we can all relate to the issue. The statistics are alarming and it is likely a woman you know, it struggling with violence in her own home, where she eats and sleeps and cares for her children.

Definition:
Domestic violence occurs between spouses or intimate partners, when one partner in the relationship tries to control the other person. The perpetrator uses fear and intimidation and often physical or sexual violence.
The Statistics:
*One out of three women worldwide has been beaten, coerced into sex, or otherwise abused in her lifetime.
*4 million women a year are assaulted by their partners. In 1 of 4 cases, women will also experience sexual abuse.
*60% of battered women are abused while they are pregnant.
*70-90% of women in Pakistan experience domestic violence.
*Every 9 seconds in the United States, a woman is assaulted and beaten.
*1.1 million women in Australia have experienced violence by a previous partner.
How this impacts me personally:
At Bible study last night, we were chewing on the fact that 1 in 3 women worldwide has suffered abuse, either physically or sexually. That would mean that of the eight women attending our study last evening, 2 of them would have fallen into the category of abused. I found myself looking around the table at each of my dear sisters in the Lord, aching over the idea of any one of them being over-powered and forced into submission through violence. One woman bravely shared the story of her father's violence against her mother and how her mother had allowed him to abuse her to protect her children. It was hard to think of her having to grow up in a home where violence was a regular part of life. I am so removed from this issue....or am I?
After study, I had a few errands to run, including stopping by a friend's house to pick up something. As I was walking out to my car, I could hear shouting voices coming from across the street. It was angry and humiliating and cut through the icy night like a knife. Cruel and ugly and biting. I shivered as I stood on the sidewalk, wondering what to do. Should I go back into my friends' house and ask them to go with me to confront the source of those angry words? Should I call the police? Should I just pray? The angry words stopped and I sighed in relief as I got into my car and pulled away. I offered up a prayer of protection for that home as I drove past.
But, I couldn't sleep last night. I was annoyed with my feelings of relief. I knew I wasn't so much relieved by the fact that the angry words had ended, but by the fact that I no longer felt any confliction over what to do. It was selfish to want to walk away and forget about whatever problems might be erupting in that home. I got up to pray again, this time for forgiveness for my cowardice and indifference, and to pray more earnestly for that home and all that dwell within.
In the light of day and the light of truth, I see that God was opening my eyes to things I have chosen not to see. Things I have willingly remained blinded to...Open the eyes of my heart, Lord. I want to see You and those You love. Thank You for the peace of my own home and that I have not inherited a legacy of violence in any form. I pray for my sisters in Christ who may have inherited just that. Heal them, renew them, revive their hearts. Help them to trust in You and Your redemptive power. In Jesus' Name, Amen.

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Voiceless Wednesdays--The AIDS Epidemic

UPDATE: I forgot to include the link for Voice for the Voiceless when I first posted this. To learn more about this project or for information on ordering your own copy of this powerful devotional, please visit http://www.uofnkap.org/F07/F07featuredmin.php

AIDS
Definition: Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome is a serious, fatal disease of the immune system contracted through blood transfusions, sexual contact or contaminated needles. There is no known cure for it.

This week, I want you to read these statistics carefully. Don't allow your eyes to skip over them. Read them and think about each fact carefully. It is important to grasp the vastness of this epidemic and understand the impact it is having on our world, on God's creation.

Statistics:
*AIDS has killed more than 25 million people since 1981--more than four Jewish holocausts or 22 Rwandan genocides.
*In 2005, every minute there were 10 newly infected people worldwide.
*Africa has 12 million AIDS orphans.
*43% of those infected with HIV (the virus that causes AIDS) are women.
*There are 40.3 million people living with HIV/AIDS worldwide, 1/3 are between the ages of 15-24.

How This Touches My Life:
My father died of AIDS in 1993. I was just barely twenty. He had not been a part of my life for almost 10 years. His family called us to tell us he had cancer...just cancer, no mention of anything else. My seventeen year old brother and I flew to Florida to see him once more. I'll never forget walking into his house and seeing him lying on that bed. I knew immediately that he had AIDS. His shrunken frame and lesioned skin told the story. His family avoided talking about it...just kept saying he had cancer. I kept screaming in my head, "Cancer caused my AIDS!"
They couldn't face the consequences of his life of sin. They couldn't see the truth. But, I saw. I knew.
He spoke of having us return in the spring to visit again. He held our hands and stroked our faces. His gaunt face and sunken eyes told a story of regret. He knew, too. He and we had paid a terrible price for his selfishness. His choices had ripped our family apart and he was now standing on the brink of eternity grasping with his weak, pale hands for anything of comfort.
I sobbed, "I love you, Daddy" as we left the house the next day, knowing I would never see him again, never know him at all, knowing he would never know me.
He died two days later.
His death certificate read, "Cause of Death: Complications due to Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome."

His death was a death of choice. He chose to leave us. He chose to live a life of self.
Not everyone who dies of AIDS has a choice...so many are infected out of violence, ignorance, heredity. We can choose to pray. To pray for God's mercy and to pray for His intervention in this epidemic.

Lord, Thank You for reminding us all of the suffering happening throughout Your world. Have mercy on the victims of AIDS, whatever the reason they have contracted it. Send missionaries to share the Gospel in communities where there is no understanding of Christ or Your plan for families. Show mercy to countries without the resources to purchase HIV drugs. Purify our hearts, Lord.
And, thank You for my Dad. I know You chose Him to be my earthly Dad, though I do not yet see clearly why things have worked out as they have. I trust You and in Your plan to prosper me and care for me. You are an awesome God and I thank You for carrying me through difficult times. Comfort the families of those suffering and living with HIV/AIDS.
In Jesus' Name, Amen.

Voiceless Wednesdays--Child Prostitution

For the next 30 or so weeks, I'll be giving some brief facts and highlighting an issue of suffering or social injustice against women in the world on Wednesdays. I will warn you that the information may be challenging and disturbing. Please feel free to skip these posts. If you do read them, plan to be changed. Plan to be pulled from your own sense of security and planted right in the midst of another person's nightmare.

I am following the outline of A Voice for the Voiceless: 30 Days of Prayer for the Voiceless. To order your own copy of this fantastic book, complete with beautiful photographs from around the world, visit: http://www.uofnkap.org/F07/F07featuredmin.php Scroll down for ordering information.

Child Prostitution
Because of the oppression of the weak and the groaning of the needy, God will now arise. Psalm 12:5
Definition: the sexual exploitation of a child for remuneration in cash or kind, usually but not always organized by an intermediary (parent, family member, procurer, or teacher).
Facts:
*10 million children worldwide are engaged in some facet of the sex industry. Each year, at least one million children, mostly girls, become prostitutes
*In Thailand, 10-12 year old girls service men in the sex industry. They typically have sex with men 10-15 times per day and sometimes as many as 20-30.
*In South Africa, there are 40,000 child prostitutes.
*Children are more susceptible to HIV and other STDs.

How this impacts me personally...
If I had been born in any of many other parts of the world, with the birthmark I have, one of three fates would have most decidedly been mine:
*I would have been literally tossed into the street with garbage or for animals to feed on.
*Immediately after birth, I would have been taken to another room and killed.
*I would have been sold to individuals who breed young girls for the sex trade, removing their ovaries at a particular age, keeping their appearance more youthful and preventing pregnancy.

Father, I'm overwhelmed. I don't even know where to begin to pray, except to first thank You for Your grace which has placed me on soil of safety. For allowing me to be born into the family I was. For sparing me a life of injustice. I pray for the souls of all the young girls caught in child prostitution. Rise to their defense, Lord. Make Yourself known to them. Send laborers, missionaries with hearts for the abused, to share the gospel of hope, the gospel of Jesus Christ with them. Shine Your light into their hearts and revive the Holy Spirit in their communities.
Forgive me for being blind and ignorant of my world-wide sisters. Thank You for showing me suffering and showing me the need to cultivate a heart of compassion. Stir my heart, Lord. In Jesus' Name, Amen.