LOVE146

1. Trafficking in persons in modern-day slavery, involving victims who are forced, defrauded or coerced into labor or sexual exploitation.

2. It is estimated that 2 children are Sold every minute.

3. The United Nations Children's Fund now believes that the number of children trafficked annually is around 1.2 million as of 2006.

4. The U.N. and other experts estimate the total market value of illicit human trafficking at roughly $32 Billion.

This makes trafficking in persons the 2nd most lucrative crime in the world.

5. It is estimated that at least 27 Million People are currently enslaved around the world. 

This is more than double the number of Africans enslaved during the Trans-Atlantic slave trade.

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This honestly hit me really hard today and I've been praying about it since. I think that most people in the United States are oblivious to this crime that is taking place because we live in a land where we're so comfortable.

We don't deal with these sorts of things on a daily basis.

But as humans, we need to be aware of this.

And as Christians, this should be on the top of our list to bring before our Sovereign God who knows and sees all.

God has the tendency to bring things up to us when He desires that we intercede.

I'm not saying all this so you'll log onto their website and donate,

but if you're feeling led to, have at it!

They need the money!

But they also need prayer.

God is so much more powerful than money.

If it comes to your mind, don't just get sad about the issue and brush it off.

Take the time to bring it before God.

He is faithful to hear us when we call out to Him.

If you're a Christian, His Spirit is inside of you and hopefully stirring up a compassion in your heart for these children.

If you're not a Christian,

Jesus Christ loves you more than you'll ever know, and He has the power to not only save the lives of these children, but your life as well.

You might not think your life is in danger of anything and therefore does not need to be saved, but I can assure you it does. 

Christ died for us because we are all sinners.

And 3 days later, He defeated death by raising Himself from the dead

so that we may conquer death one day and spend eternity with Him in Heaven!

The bible is very clear about what will happen to those on the day of their judgement

who do not know Him.

You can live your life to the best of your ability and come off as a 'good person'

but I can also tell you that your definition of 'good'

is extremely different than His.

You may even have questions as to how the Lord of all the earth would allow something like this trafficking to happen.

Answer:

I don't know.

But I do know that God is good.

God is just.

He is working all things together for good for those who love Him.

And He Loves Us.

If you don't have a relationship with Jesus Christ,

and somehow you got to my blog and are reading it,

and you either want to know more about Him

or you want to know Him,

feel free to ask me!

I'd be more than happy to tell you about what He has done in my life,

and what He can do in yours.

To the rest of you who have been saved,

remember this blog the next time you pray.

Bring this before God knowing that He has the ability 

to bring this slavery to an end.

"See that no one repays anyone evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to everyone. Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you."

1 Thessalonians 5:15-18

Love146 has initiated two core program areas 

to combat the issue of child sex slavery and exploitation:

Aftercare and Prevention

To learn more about this,

visit the website:

www.love146.org/

This is what bible college does to you.

...?

I love her!

Back to School!

So It's off with the winter of Albuquerque and back to the summer of Murrieta. The tempture is the exact same as when we left it. On our first days back on campus, our good friend Anthony invited us up to his place for some Mario Kart and a BBQ! His wife's mother and father were in town for a bit making sure their daughter was happily situated. So we joined their company and were merry! I'm sure this wont be the last of our on-campus BBQ's at Anthony's. I couldn't think of a better way to kick off the school year. ...i guess i could, but it didn't happen. Next semester!

The Engagement

January 15th, 2009 started off as a normal day. Little did Tamara know that at the end of it, she would go to bed engaged to a man named Joshua. This is the story of how the engagement took place and the beginning of something that had technically already begun, began.

So my birthday is on January 16th and I kind of expected Tamara to do something special for me. At least I hoped she did! And she did not disappoint. I had one of my friends in on it (who will remain unnamed for safety purposes (Stepha...) ) who basically let me in on everything that was going on. I didn't necessarily need to know everything, but I found it all out anyway. What can you do right?

Anyway, I found out that Tamara was planning on taking me Go-Karting at this awesome indoor place and after that, she was going to drop me back off at home to shower up and get ready for the rest of the night!

So I got all dressed up and went to "pick up" Tamara from Stepha's place where she was "getting ready." What was actually going on that night was quite beautiful! Tamara had spent the previous night getting Stepha's house looking like... uh... something amazing!

I went to the house earlier that morning and planted a video camera inside of a couch and my guitar inside Stepha's room.

So as I approached the door, I knew that we would be dining in tonight so I figured I should act surprised! When Tamara opened the door, I really didn't have to act very much at all!
She bought a new dress just for that night (which looked great on her btw) and greeted me at the door with excitement. I went into the house and it looked incredible. I was there earlier that day, but I didn't look nearly as good as when I'd seen it before. The candles we lit, the table was set, balloons were filled, Frank Sinatra played softly in the back. I was amazed.

So we sat down to eat, which she had ordered from the Olive Garden and midway through our meal I told Tamara that I had both written and finished a song. This is a very big deal because I start to write a lot of songs but never finish them. I also don't let people hear the songs until I'm done with them. So as I told her this she was really excited and asked if she's actually get to hear this one! I assured her she would hear the song I had written soon. She continued on and said she didn't know when that would be because there wasn't a guitar at Stepha's. I pretty much just agreed and continued to eat.
So as the eveining progressed and we finished our food I thanked Tamara and told her I knew this was all for me and stuff, but I had a surprise for her! So she stayed at the table and I went to Stepah's room to grab my guitar. As I walked out, she'd recognized my guitar case and asked me what was going on! I just told her that this was the surprise! She asked me how long my guitar had been there and I just told her that I had Stepha bring it over (decietful I know, but I think I redeemed myself!).
I set my guitar down on the couch and asked her if she wanted to clean up the table. As she was cleaning I was able to pull out the camera and start recording without her noticing. After she was all set, she asked if we could sit on the couch because it was more cumforable. On the inside I was a little sad because I wasn't sure If the camera was going to be able to see this, and It didn't, but it's all good! I'm engaged! Sorry to ruin the ending...
She was sitting on the couch and I grabbed a chair so I could sit and face her. I was incredibly nerveous so I took a while to get strarted. I kind of forgot how the chord progression went for a bit even though I'd written it the night before. That's was panic does to you! Give me a break! As I figured it out I started to play it and grew so much more nerveous as the song progressed! My voice cracked pretty bad and I had to try really hard to keep going instead of putting my head between my knees and hiding in the closet. But I continued and I knew the last line of the song was approaching so I'm sure I was pale at this point. The very last line of the song was "Will you merry me?"
Well during the coarse of my break from school, I talked it up so much that I wasn't going to be able to afford a ring because I didn't have a job so I had no money, blah blah blah... Not quite that blatant. But she was convinced that I wasn't going to ask her during this break. After I had finished the song, I could tell she was stoked about it but wasn't really sure if I had just asked to merry her.
I had the ring strapped to my arm with a hair tie so you couldn't see the impression through my pant pocket. They were dress pants and were thinner than your typical pair of trousers.
So I set down my guitar down leaning against the couch and stood up from my seat. I then procedeed to say "Tamara..." and knelt down on one knee. "Will you merry me?"
She cheerfully accepted and said "Yes."
So thus goes the story of our engagement.

And before you say I was a jerk for figuring out everything that Tamara was going to do for me that night, I proposed to her. It was for a good cause alright!?

I'm going to change her name soon.