Thursday, December 1, 2016

Dressember Day 1

Today is the first day of December, which means it’s also Day 1 of Dressember!

What is Dressember? It’s an awareness campaign that seeks to end modern day slavery. The creators of such a project originally intended women to wear a dress every day in the month of December as a conversation starter and a way to stand out. It’s quickly grown into a full-blown ministry that raises money to create and commission teams of individuals to find and rescue potential victims from the sex trafficking trade.

As a male, I thought originally that I had no part in such a ministry beyond giving to one of my female friends’ support funds. However, this year I encountered some Facebook posts that let me know that nationwide, there were indeed a few men that decided to wear bowties every day for the month of December as their act of standing against such an evil act. There even arose a hashtag, #RealMenDontBuyGirls that I think is pretty cool.

I first heard about this ministry a year ago. After being accepted to my university, I was added to a Facebook group with a lot of the other incoming freshmen. I met one young lady online (whom I am friends with in person now!) who posted an awful lot about wearing a dress every day - not for a month, but for a YEAR - and advocating for an end to the trafficking industry. She raised an incredible amount of support, and continues to do so.

Up until this morning, I had given little thought to the idea of joining the campaign. After all, I was a guy, and it still seemed to me to be a little silly to join such a thing. However, as I showered this morning, I prayerfully considered what my role in this whole thing should be. God revealed to me that instead of viewing this as an opportunity to join a cause and jump on a bandwagon, it was an opportunity to learn some more and grow some compassion for those who have faced such circumstances. Rather than this being a publicity stunt, I want to educate myself - and others - about what these women face in slavery.

Despite only having one bow tie here on campus, I’m excited to join. Throughout today, I’ve been growing more excited to see what God shows me throughout this whole process. The song, “For Those Who Can’t Speak,” by Tenth Avenue North has been stuck in my head since this morning. And I think I want to explore God’s word about what it means to truly be an advocate for someone.

Please feel free to join me in my journey to learn more about how we can end modern day slavery. You can donate to my individual fund online at the link below. The cool thing is, my individual fund gets pooled in with my university’s “team,” and together we are seeking to raise enough money ($6200) to create and commission an entire team that will be sent out into the world to try and end trafficking in their area. To say that Taylor University has sent a team like that would be, well, incredible.

Thank you for joining me in this cause, and just for your support in general. I’m so thankful for my readers’ constant and consistent encouragement and support as I seek to #LiveItLikeJesus.

Donate:
https://support.dressemberfoundation.org/fundraiser/858553



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