Call + Response Bako

This is my sister Tina.

I stole (!) this from Facebook and even though this admittedly isn't the best picture of Tina, I think it accurately shows her life right now.

Information, flashlight, fire starter, and coffee. Yep.

She too, has a growing passion for the fight against human trafficking. She is on staff with InterVarsity in Bakersfield California. She put together an event to watch Call + Response. (A rockumentary, how cool is that?) It will be this Thursday night 6PM and it's FREE, in the Multi-Purpose Room inside the Student Union at CSU Bakersfield.

If you aren't local to Bakersfield or the surrounding area, please pray for the event. For Tina and she organizes. As well as for the students to have open hearts and open minds and for a fire to be started in them.

Oasis India: India on my Heart

Making a difference

The story is told of a man who saw thousands of starfish littered on the beach. A little boy was picking up the starfish one by one and throwing them into the ocean. He asked the boy, "What are you doing?" The boy replied, "I'm throwing starfish back into the water. If I leave them here, they'll dry up and die" The man said, "But look how many there are. What you're doing can't possibly make a difference." As the boy picked up another starfish and threw it into the ocean, he said, "Well, it makes a difference to this one!"

Although statistics related to human trafficking are overwhelming, at Oasis, we strive to make a difference to individual lives we come in contact with, believing that every life is precious and priceless and that no one should be bought and sold.

Raina was twice divorced before she was 20 years old and was desperate to leave her hometown. Her neighbour, taking advantage of the situation, promised Raina a job in Mumbai but instead, sold her to the owner of a dance bar in one of Mumbai's large red light areas. She was forced to work there and serve customers. She soon became pregnant and was forced to have an abortion. Years later, Raina met an Oasis social worker and visited the Aruna drop-in centre where she was counseled and offered options of rehabilitation. She went to live at Oasis India’s home for rescued women and is now enrolled in a literacy programme and learning to put her past behind her.

Many women like Raina are helped through various initiatives offered by Oasis India. Believing that education and the right training opportunities are the keys to a brighter future, we strive to change abuse and despair and replace them with opportunity, hope and dignity, allowing people to reach their God-given potential.

For more information on the work of Oasis India, log on to http://www.oasisindia.org/ or sign up to receive news and updates at www.oasisindia.org/signup

Photo from OasisIndia.org

Thank you Divya from Oasis India for sharing your heart for women in India with us!

Visit Dignity Regained's India on my Heart page for more info.