be brave

the other day i was pinterest-ing (for those of you who don't know, 'pinterest-ing' is the art of searching aimlessly on pinterest.com for extended periods of time) and i came across this quote:

"you have to be brave with your life so that others can be brave with theirs"

wow. that hit me. isn't this so true? sometimes the greatest risks we take have absolutely nothing to do with us at all, and everything to do with the person, or people that it will affect.

a couple of days ago was Human Trafficking Awareness Day. on this day, we took the opportunity to launch a new initiative that Angel House has started, and that's the Angel House Freedom Home. we are essentially raising money ($40k) to build a home for 50 women and young girls who are currently trapped in forced prostitution. definition: sex slavery. with the help of many people across the US, we will complete this project and these women and girls will be rescued from the horrific and unthinkable act of this slavery happening right now, today, in the 21st century.

FACT: MORE THAN 200,000 WOMEN AND YOUNG GIRLS ARE TRAFFICKED IN INDIA EACH YEAR.

it's time to open our eyes to what's really going on. i wish human trafficking was a thing of the past. i wish, actually, that it had never existed. but it has, and it does. i have met with women personally who have lived in this slavery for years of their life. i have seen the children that have hidden under the beds while their mothers were abused.

is it comfortable to talk about this? no. is it comfortable to read about this? you tell me, you're doing it right now. but my guess is no. would we rather think about something else on this sunny Sunday afternoon? probably. but if we, you and me, turn our eyes away, each minute, hour and day that passes is another minute, hour and day that this will go on.

sometimes talking about things such as this isn't popular. that's why its brave.

because if you can do something brave with your life, someone else (a woman, a child, a teenager, and even those not born yet) will be able to do something brave with theirs.

for more information, visit our website at AngelHouse.me

what can you do now, today, or this year in 2012 to allow someone else to be brave with their life?