by Mary Elizabeth Goodell For as long as I can remember, my favorite Bible story has always been Esther. It may have something to do with the way the whole story feels like a fairytale. A young, beautiful, orphan meets a king, becomes a princess, saves a nation. As far as role models go, Esther is tough to beat. As I got older, I would study her story again and again and some of the complexities became more real to me. How terrifying it would be to be taken to the kings palace alone, without family. The insecurity of being surrounded by concubines. The risk she took going in to see the king without an invitation. Esther wasn't a Disney princess, she was a Katniss. She was kind and brave and compassionate and fearless and convicted. She embraced her situation and used it to speak up for the people she loved. The verse that stands out the most from that book is Esther 4:14"For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?” I'm very present-oriented. I understand the value of the past and the importance of planning for the future; but the way I'm wired always has me concerned with the present. So the phrase "for such a time as this" carries a lot of weight for me. My sophomore year of college, I had a friend tell me about their sexual assault. They were confused, hurt, and didn't know how to talk about it or what to do next. I was shocked. I knew sexual abuse happened, but not like that, not to people I knew. When they told our friends, they weren't met with the same reaction. My friends asked "well were you dating?" "Had it happened before?" "well you know, boys will just be boys sometimes. They're so dumb." Cue the record scratch. Boys will be boys? Over the course of that year, I had not one, not two, but six more women (and two men) tell me about their experiences of sexual abuse, harassment, and assault. The next year, I would learn of even more stories and each time, I saw the same theme play out. Women within the church didn't know how to deal with sexual abuse, because they were so weighted by guilt, shame, and "It's my fault it happened in the first place". And the excuse for the perpetrator was often that same half-hearted refrain "Well, boys will be boys". I couldn't make sense of it. Was that what people really thought? That we just couldn't avoid sexual assault? That men are just built this way and can't be stopped? It kept me up at night. I was gripped by this pain that my friends felt. Sexual abuse continued to creep closer to me as more and more friends disclosed their experiences. Eventually, I was also on the receiving end of sexual harrassment and felt myself become so frustrated that more people didn't care. How could the the church not be doing more? Things really changed for me as I was sitting in a business class during my junior year and finally found a way to apply this call I felt to fight sexual exploitation. My professor explained how when women are trafficked into prositution, they can be arrested and stuck with a criminal charge. This makes it incredibly difficult to find a job or find stability. After a few months, many women return to the sex industry because all other economic opportunities are closed to them. "Someone has to do something." I remember thinking. I felt like the floor was slipping out from under my feet and gripped my desk tighter. "This is so easy, we just find ways to give them job coaching and economic opportunities. Why doesn't someone do it?" I looked around my classroom at my peers. Somebody should do something. I was in a room full of Christian business leaders to be. Surely, if anyone could act, it would be someone here. "For such a time as this." Then I felt that proverbial lightbulb ping. Me. Maybe it was me. Maybe I was supposed to do something. Over the next several years I threw myself into the issue. Educating myself, talking to experts, praying, volunteering, listening, anything I could do to understand the complexity of the issue and how I could participate in the solution. By God's grace, since I started learning, I have been able to meet incredible people doing amazing things to combat trafficking around the world. I have been able to meet and work with friends from A21, Walk Her Home, Samaritan's Purse, IJM, Not For Sale, Wellspring Living Academy, the Salvation Army, New Name, and many more. What I have learned is that there is power in knowing. There is power in praying for and actively seeking to serve this population. These women bring so much to the table. They are creative and brave and innovative and strong. I have learned so much from them and pray that I will continue to have opportunities to know their stories. As I've gotten bolder about sharing my passion, I've seen God do big things. Like Esther, we are called to speak on behalf of the silenced. To advocate for the oppressed. The secret is to be totally unashamed about talking about your heart. About being bold in sharing your passion. That's how people know, that's how the mission goes further. We were not meant to tackle these things alone, and so I invite people in- as many as I can. That's how a nation is saved. Currently, I am serving with New Name as their Wicker Park Route Leader where I get to serve with some of the kindest and dearest friends you can imagine. I have also been able to join a team that hosts events to raise awareness and to advocate for groups doing outreach and aftercare for women who have been trafficked. I'm not an expert or a princess, I just followed where the Lord was leading and said "yes" to opportunities to go into the throne room to speak up. If you want to better understand the issue of human trafficking, join us this Thursday night on May 25th at the Branch to learn more and get involved. Learn more here
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorMay 22nd's post is from Mary Elizabeth Goodell. She lives in Ukrainian Village on the west side of Chicago and works for Hope Works Community Development. She is committed to working with and for the disenfranchised, particularly women who have experienced sexual exploitation and gender based violence.
BloggersWe'll post from a variety of voices of 20-somethings in the Windy City who are navigating life, work and relationships post-college. Archives
May 2017
Categories
All
|