Things I used to believe: poverty.
For most of my life, whenever I saw a person who was homeless, I would cross the street, avoiding eye contact. I would never give money because I had been told that many of them were feigning homelessness and that any money I would give them would be immediately spent on booze or drugs. Others […]
To all the (christian) single ladies
When I finally got a boyfriend and then engaged after being single for eight years I had messages pour in all over the place. Married friends who I had not talked to in years congratulated me, single women let me know they were encouraged by my story, and even a few people I didn’t know […]
Most trafficked women in the US come from Foster Care. We can change that.
When we first met Jada*, she wouldn’t talk to us, much less acknowledge our presence. She firmly crossed her arms in front of her chest, her eyes glued to the wall behind us. She intimidated me, and I knew what she was thinking. Who were we to help her? We had never been bought and […]
The Great American Eclipse and its power to unite.
On Monday, August 21st people across the United States of America donned their eclipse glasses to watch something that hadn’t happened to this scope since 1918. Highways clogged with totality chasers, social media filled with pictures of it, and for the first time in a while, news stations reported on something that didn’t cause […]
How should the church respond to racism?
This past weekend in Charlottesville alt-right and white nationalists groups gathered together to protest the removal of a Confederate statue, in response counter-protesters gathered. There were chants by the alt-right like “Jews will not replace us,” and “blood and soil” and counter-chants of “No Nazis, no KKK, no fascist USA.” Allegations of mace being sprayed from […]
I just quit my dream job. Here’s why.
Yesterday was my last official day at a job that I had desired for years, a job that took passions of mine: writing and missions, and fused them together. But to explain how I arrived here, having just quit my dream job, I have to give a little back story. Buckle up because it’s a […]
If This Nation is Ever to Unite, We Must Acknowledge One Another’s Pain.
I have an older sister, she’s great and we are really good friends, but it wasn’t always that way. We’re less than a year than a part, so growing up we fought A LOT, and we weren’t above physical altercations. One time, when we were both teenagers, we were driving to our dad’s house on […]
A Typhoon Destroyed Her Family’s Farm, Now She Has Few Other Options
I felt like I had been punched in the stomach. Cigarette smoke clogged the air, and the dim lights barely concealed the filth of the bar. Some pop song pounded in the background, making it hard to have a clear thought. I’ve been to the bars on walking street before, several times in fact. You […]
I Sat Next to A Man Who Purchases Sex. This is What I Learned.
“Do you know where to go next?” I was staring at an arrival board in Tokyo when she approached me. Fresh off a twelve hour flight with greasy hair and fuzzy teeth I stared at the transfer board. It looked like the next flight to Manila was departing from terminal two. And I knew before […]
When Hope is Dead.
Have you ever desired something in life? I am not talking about cookie dough cravings — I am talking about that deep guttural longing and hope, that thing you pray about before you go to bed and when you wake up. I’m talking about that thing you know God has promised you, that thing you […]