CNN: Afghan Girls Forced to Marry

 

thecnnfreedomproject.blogs.cnn.com

CNN: Girl Brides Abducted as Fabled HIV Cure

 

thecnnfreedomproject.blogs.cnn.com

Protect Children

protectchildren.ca

A Time to Purge

Of all the seasons mentioned in the book of Ecclesiastes, "a time to purge" is not stated exactly that way but it is the season I am currently going through.  As I wade through my mountain of stuff (and you can ask the people who helped me move - it is literally a MOUNTAIN!), deciding what to keep and what to give away/sell/throw away, it is definitely a time to purge.  I am living in a much smaller space and what better time to take inventory, as it were.

It has also made me look back to times in my life where I had much less, like my first year of university where every penny had to go to tuition and books, so there was not much spending money.  Or when I was in Panama with YWAM and I lived out of a suitcase and backpack - how did I do that (and how did I sleep on an inflatable pool bed for 2 months)?

As important as this time of purging is for me (because it really is important), it's also emotional as I take some trips down memory lane; as I consider my excess in the light of so much poverty in the world; as I choose to live a little lighter (literally and figuratively).  And even when all the boxes are gone and everything has its place, I will still have a lot of stuff (maybe a hill instead of a mountain) but I hope to make it my aim to live more simply.

"For everything there is a season,

and a time for every matter under heaven:

a time to be born, and a time to die;

a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;

a time to kill, and a time to heal;

a time to break down, and a time to build up'

a time to weep, and a time to laugh;

a time to mourn, and a time to dance;

a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together;

a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;

a time to seek, and a time to lose;

a time to keep, and a time to cast away;

a time to tear, and a time to sew;

a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;

a time to love, and a time to hate;

a time for war, and a time for peace."

~Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

Note by Note

Check out this article from the Winnipeg Free Press:

www.winnipegfreepress.com/world/in-one-egyptian-orchestra-blind-women-memorize-note-by-note-152198435.html

CNN: iReport

 

thecnnfreedomproject.blogs.cnn.com

CNN: Dying to Work Abroad

 

thecnnfreedomproject.blogs.cnn.com

Let Us Be Women Who Love

Let us be women who Love.
Let us be women willing to lay down our sword words, our sharp looks, our ignorant silence and towering stance and fill the earth now with extravagant Love.
Let us be women who Love.
Let us be women who make room.
Let us be women who open our arms and invite others into an honest, spacious, glorious embrace.

Let us be women who carry each other.
Let us be women who give from what we have.
Let us be women who leap to do the difficult things, the unexpected things and the necessary things.
Let us be women who live for Peace.
Let us be women who breathe Hope.
Let us be women who create beauty.
Let us be women who Love.

Let us be a sanctuary where God may dwell.
Let us be a garden for tender souls.
Let us be a table where others may feast on the goodness of God.
Let us be a womb for Life to grow.
Let us be women who Love.

Let us rise to the questions of our time.
Let us speak to the injustices in our world.
Let us move the mountains of fear and intimidation.
Let us shout down the walls that separate and divide.
Let us fill the earth with the fragrance of Love.
Let us be women who Love.

Let us listen for those who have been silenced.
Let us honour those who have been devalued.
Let us say, Enough! with abuse, abandonment, diminishing and hiding.
Let us not rest until every person is free and equal.
Let us be women who Love.

Let us be women who are savvy, smart and wise.
Let us be women who shine with the light of God in us.
Let us be women who take courage and sing the song in our hearts.
Let us be women who say, Yes to the beautiful, unique purpose seeded in our souls.
Let us be women who call out the song in another’s heart.
Let us be women who teach our children to do the same.
Let us be women who Love.

Let us be women who Love, in spite of fear.
Let us be women who Love, in spite of our stories.
Let us be women who Love loudly, beautifully, Divinely.
Let us be women who Love.

~ Idelette McVicker

shelovesmagazine.com/2012/let-us-be-women-who-love

Mother Teresa's Message

People are often unreasonable, illogical and self-centered –

Forgive them anyway.

If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives –

Be kind anyway.

If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true enemies –

Succeed anyway.

If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you –

Be honest and frank anyway.

What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight –

Build anyway.

If you find serenity and happiness, they may be jealous –

Be happy anyway.

The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow –

Do good anyway.

Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough –

Give the world the best you’ve got anyway.

You see, in the final analysis, it is between you and God –

It was never between you and them anyway.

~Mother Teresa

Manitobans Willing to Pay More for Fair Trade Products

Check out the following:

winnipeg.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20120503/wpg_fair_trade_120503/20120503/?hub=WinnipegHome

mcic.ca/news/entry/poll-results-show-two-thirds-of-manitobans-are-willing-to-pay-more-for-fair

The 30 Story

30.partnersworld.org

CNN: Backpage.com Defiant Over Sex Trade Ads - Part 3

 

cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/bestoftv/2012/05/05/ac-kristof-backpage-sex-trade.cnn.html

CNN: Backpage.com Defiant Over Sex Trade Ads - Part 2

 

cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/bestoftv/2012/05/05/ac-pkg-feyericks-online-pimps.cnn.html

CNN: Backpage.com Defiant Over Sex Trade Ads - Part 1

 

thecnnfreedomproject.blogs.cnn.com

Stockholm Syndrome in the Pimp-Victim Relationship

Check out the following article on Nicholas Kristof's blog:

kristof.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/05/03/stockholm-syndrome-in-the-pimp-victim-relationship

Free ~ Dara Maclean

Hurting heart and broken wings

Cannot stop Your love from always finding me

No more days wasting away

I finally realize the gift inside of me

My strength alone will never be enough

But Your arms keep lifting me up

You tell me I've been made free

You give me everything I need to walk in my dreams

You whisper words that free my soul

You're the reason I have hope

You're everything I need and more

You made me

You made me free

I was caged in, then You opened

Every door that held me bound and You gave me the key

No more pressure I can just breathe

The girl I tried so hard to be, has always been me

My strength alone will never be enough

But Your arms keep lifting me up

Now I'm free to love, free to live,

Free to take my life and give it all to You

You made me

You made me free