Some of you wondered if we were moving.

We’re not.

Some of you wondered if we bought a new car.

We did not.

Some of you wondered if I got a new body piercing.

Nope.

And my brother wondered on my Facebook Status: Frank has joined the Airforce to fight for Freedom, and with Jeff Goldblum will pilot a space craft to a mother ship and share a cigar with his co-pilot before launching a nuke. This wouldnt be his first time.

Sadly, no.  It’s a shame, too.  I bet Jeff Goldblum would’ve been a lot of fun to fly with.

And of course people wondered if we bought a new appliance.

I mean, I know having kids slows down your life, but if my big announcement was concerning a brand new refrigerator, then I’d say my life had come to a screeching halt.

So no.  No new appliances.

And no babies.  C’mon, guys.  We wanted twins, but Irish Triplets?? We’re not completely insane.  Just a little insane.

This announcement was weeks in the making.  It took a lot of hard work, discipline and focus.

::Drum roll::

I lost my first 10 pounds.

Which would be completely unimpressive and insignificant if it wasn’t tied to something else.  Something that is so much more than calories, carbs, fat, fiber and protein.

Hundreds of thousands of people live in slavery.  Drug cartels are realizing that they can make far more money trading lives than trading drugs. Don’t think it happens only to people we don’t know.  I posted here about a girl I went to high school who knew first hand accounts of people kidnapped and forced into slavery.

Some people might still be wondering what weight loss has to do with ending human trafficking.  And I ask, what does running a marathon or a half marathon or a 5K have to do with anything?  It’s about moving with purpose.

Ten pounds means $100 to fight human trafficking.  Ten pounds represents 20% of my goal to lose 50 pounds. Ten pounds is 35,000 calories.

But the stats that I can’t get out of my head?

And I am plagued by the idea of people who sell their own children into the sex trade for a color TV, car or other consumer item. Who does that?  What kind of world do we live in?

So, before I go on and on about why Human Trafficking is such an important issue in my life, I wanted to introduce you all to someone who has made ending human trafficking her life.

As I’ve been sharing that Human Trafficking has been placed on my heart, God has been sending people to me via friends and family.  One such person was Katharine and she will be receiving support from me via my weight loss fund.  Here’s a little bit about Katharine in her own words:

My eyes and ears where first turned to trafficking or call it like it is: slavery, with the issues of Child Soldiers. I began campaigning and working towards ending the use of child soldiers in Africa and more specifically Uganda. The more I dug into the issues with child soldiers the more I began to see just how wide and deep slavery goes.

 

My heart started to break because I too have been abused on all three levels, verbally, physically, and sexually. It’s been painful for me to heal from wounds that go back to early childhood and the whole time I knew the love of our Father.

 

As it sank in the horror that the children, women, and men live in I realized what they need is not just physical freedom but spiritual freedom as well. The healing power and freedom that only comes from knowing Jesus. To add to it, I was an inner city art teacher. So many of my students would tell me when they grew up they wanted to be a prostitue, have 2 children by 8th grade, and would tell me about their older boyfriends (I taught K-6). I took these girls in and did what I could, sent messages home to their parents and had meetings with them.

 

Soon after I left my job and chose to follow Christ’s call on my life. A life devoted to missions and to go meet these men, women, and children where they are, go them in the brothels, in the streets, in parts of towns where the majority are refugees. Help bring them to safe places where they can heal and learn, and even learn the language and how to survive in their new home (if they are from another country).

 

The best way to help end trafficking is to help end it in the life of one person at a time. God values each life and so do I. Building relationships with these people will help uncover trafficking rings to bring to authorities, it will help prevent their children from being taken just by teaching them what to look for, remind them that trafficking is found in every social class, and teaching them new self worth in Christ.

 

Katharine is one of many human trafficking missionaries who have been brought to my attention and my hope is to use my blog as a place to introduce you to each of them and to raise awareness of their particular mission fields.

It is not lost on me that Katharine and my mutual friend, Eve, had her miracle baby today.  Eve’s son is going to be loved and adored and protected by Eve and her husband, Paul.  They will be wonderful parents.  But just as we are all ecstatic for Eve and Paul, there are people out there who don’t treat other humans like the miracles they are.  As a matter of fact, there are people who treat their fellow man worse than they would treat an animal.

As long as that goes on in this world, how can we rest?

So there you have it.  My big announcement.  Ten pounds down, 40 to go. How are you moving with a purpose?  I want to hear about it in the comments!