What is your purpose?

What is your purpose?

How many of us wonder what our purpose on this Earth is?  How many of us just wander around without purpose, just doing life without focus, going through the motions without a clear destiny?

Last week at Sisterhood, things started to come together for me.  I had been wandering around my life, not really focused, not living with purpose.  I was hoping that things would change but I didn't have a clear plan or path to where I was going.  It was like getting in your car and you know where you want to be but your GPS isn't working and your driving without a map, without a guidance system.  That is pretty much a waste of time and gas, to go somewhere without purpose and a plan!  Why would we live our lives like that?  Life is more than working to pay bills, getting through the school year just to start a new one, getting from one event to another.  We should have dreams, goals, plans, and purpose to guide us through life and to give life meaning.

The theme of Sisterhood Mornings this semester is called, Rhythms of Grace.  We are talking about doing life with a rhythm and setting the pace with the things that matter the most, the things that help us to fulfill our purpose.  Linda Riddle was the speaker last week and she talked about opportunity and purpose.  Different opportunities come our way, doors open, things happen and we have to decide whether to take on those opportunities or to pass on them.  If we don't know what our purpose in life is, how can we know what opportunities to take?  

What are you most passionate about?  What are the things that bring you joy?  What are the things that make your heart soar?  What brings fulfillment and contentment into your life?  

Read this passage from Proverbs 31:16:

"She considers a new field before she buys or accepts it, (expanding prudently and not courting neglect or her present duties by assuming other duties); with her savings of time and strength, she plants fruitful vines in her vineyard."

The Proverbs 31 woman uses wisdom in her planning and opportunities.  She takes the time to consider new opportunities before she agrees to them.  She has to make sure her current responsibilities aren't going to be neglected by taking on this new thing.  She has margin in her life and only takes on things that will be fruitful and further the fulfillment of her purpose.

My purpose in life is found in Proverbs 31 verses 8-9:

"Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves; ensure justice for those being crushed.  Yes, speak up for the poor and helpless and see that they get justice." New Living Translation

My purpose is directly related to women and how women are objectified in society, treated as less than human and less than/not equal to men, and how those things affect how women perceive themselves.  

My focus is to help women to attain a healthy mind, body, and soul with emphasis on the body.  The most important things to me are healthy eating, positive body image, and combating objectification of women/children.  I believe that in changing societies view of women and shining a light on how objectification degrades females, that will help to break the cycles of abuse in domestic situations, human trafficking, and the sex trade.  If a woman, through taking care of herself produces a positive body image, she will be less likely to fall into the traps and snares set out to destroy her.

My goal is to bring God glory by being a godly woman that loves her body, the body that God gave me, to love the LORD with all my heart and with all my soul, and to champion women's strengths and successes.  God created women to partner with men, not to be tread upon and used for men's pleasure.  Together, men and women are meant to compliment each other's strengths in building family and community.  

With a clear purpose and goal, I can now set a plan in motion to fulfill my purpose!  Focusing on God and His plan for my life will help me to choose the opportunities that arise carefully and with godly wisdom.  

"Good planning and  hard work lead to prosperity, but hasty shortcuts lead to poverty"  Proverbs 21:5

April 5th Trafficking Awareness Event

On April 5th, I was a part of a human trafficking awareness event at the Manadarin United Methodist Church in Jacksonville, Fl.  The event was organized by Nancy Rushton, the President of the Mandarin United Methodist women.  Nancy has been doing so many things to educate the Methodist Women about trafficking and modern-day slavery!

Here is the table that I set up for this event.  I baked brownies and I created a new cookie recipe, Oatmeal Chocolate Chip cookies.  I planned on making my signature cookie, Delightful Oatmeal Cookie, but I ran out of AP flour and I forgot to buy raisins!  I ended up using whole wheat flour instead and they came out really good!!  I also had samples of the Fair Trade ingredients that I use, set up on the table.  Of course all of my ingredients are organic!
There were a lot of other tables set up by various organizations that are operating in Northeast Florida.

 My friend Robin Rossmanith had a table set up for her website, Shop To Stop Slavery.  Her website is an awesome resource for consumers to find products that are ethically produced and slave-free.  You can find things from sports equipment to jewelry on her site.  It is really helpful for holiday shopping ideas!

 Reading For Awareness is a book club that Nancy has started as a way to engage the members of the community and raise awareness about slavery.

 These are a few of the books that were there.  Gary Haugen from International Justice Mission and David Batstone from Not For Sale wrote several of the books in this selection.

City Rescue Mission is located in Jacksonville and they focus on helping the homeless get off of the streets and get their lives in order.  The homeless are the most vulnerable for being trafficked into slave labor and sex-trafficking.

 Jacksonville has a Refugee Services Program through DCF, the Division of Children and Families.  This service helps victims of trafficking receive the help they need to stay in the country, if they are foreigners and they help survivors locate services to help them become contributing members of society, from medical care, to housing, and jobs.

 World Relief Jacksonville works with DCF and other government agencies to provide refugees and survivors of trafficking with various services.  World Relief in a world-wide agency that does some amazing things to help those oppressed by others.

I didn't get a picture of the Made By Survivors table :-( but Sarah Symons, Executive Director and Founder set up a table as well.  Made By Survivors provides women in India and elsewhere around the world the opportunity to be gainfully employed and learn a trade in order to provide for their families.  This gives these women a chance to get out of the cycle of poverty and out of a life in brothels and red light districts.

 Last but certainly not least is Transitions Global.  Seth Johnson, their Jacksonville Advocacy Director, set up this table.  Transitions provides aftercare to girls rescued from trafficking in Cambodia.  They also provide support and a template for other organizations that establish aftercare facilities in other countries.  They do amazing work and have a very high success rate for rehabilitating these children from the pain and suffering they endured in the sex slave trade.

I didn't get a picture of the guest speaker, Crystal Freed.  She is a lawyer here in Jacksonville and a integral part of the Northeast Florida Human Trafficking Task Force, NFHTTF.  She is an effective communicator about the plight of sex-trafficking victims.  She participates in speaking engagements around the city of Jacksonville and she works tirelessly to inform and educate others about being vigilant and observant to what is going on around them.  Crystal encourages the community to work together to protect children from predators and to spread the word about trafficking. Here is a news story about Crystal and the NFHTTF

I feel honored to have been invited to share in this event.  The people that are a part of this community of abolitionists here in Jacksonville are awesome and inspiring.  There are other organizations that were not represented there but they are all doing some amazing work!

Remember, together we can make a difference!

Why am I an activist?

This a repost of a blog that I wrote for another blog site.  I wrote this a few months ago and I have added to it...

As a black American, I grew up learning about an institution that is part of my heritage...slavery.  My ancestors, which I'm doing research on, were slaves.  American slaves toiled on plantations in America, working as servants and farm laborers.  I've read countless novels, history books, and watched many, many movies about the plight of the American slave and the Transatlantic slave trade.  In America, slavery was abolished and every one lived happily ever after, right?  Well, not quite, the effects of that time period are still felt today in the culture of America in the still present cultural and racial division between blacks and whites.  This has been part of my life growing up here, especially being a product of a mixed-race family.  Up until 2 years ago, I had assumed that slavery was something from the past, not something going on today and if it was going on today, it certainly wasn't happening anywhere that had anything to do with me!  I have found out that slavery most definitely does exist today AND it is going on right here in America, but not just in America, in Florida...in my neck of the woods.
Florida is the #2 or #3 destination State for human trafficking!  When I read that, I was floored!  I learned about agricultural slavery because of my research into organic food due to my soy allergy and I learned about agricultural slavery going on right here in my state.  The Coalition of Immokalee Workers has a lot of information about slavery on Florida farms.  Migrant workers are trafficked into Florida and forced to pick tomatoes and other produce.  They are not paid enough to live on, they are often in debt bondage, they are kept in substandard living conditions, the women and girls are often raped and sexually abused, and there are travelling brothels, with sex trafficked girls, that travel around the state to the farm workers.  The workers are subjected to massive amounts of the pesticides that are used on conventional produce and even though organic  farm workers are not subjected to the dangerous pesticides, there are no labor laws to protect them and they are not paid properly or have unions to help them.  The Organic Consumers Association works to raise awareness for the need to protect farm workers, here in America, and Whole Foods Market is also joining the fight for fair labor laws for organic farm workers around the world.

People in America are being tricked, coerced, and/or forced to work as strippers, prostitutes, housekeepers, janitors, nannies, in construction, in nail salons and massage parlors, in pornography, among other "jobs".  Children are a big part of slavery, 50% of slaves are under the age of 18.  All over the world, men, women, and children are living as slaves.  They are beaten and whipped, paid very little or not at all, they are raped and sexually abused, they are living in awful conditions, and receive little to no medical care.  What good is the American dream if it is brought to us on the backs of slaves?  Everywhere I look since I've become aware of this, I see the blood, tears, and pain of children abused, women beaten, and men broken by the needs of a society that has to have things cheap and convenient.  It is estimated that 14,500 to 18,000 men, women, and children are trafficked into the United States every year.  90% of the women and children are used in the sex industry and the average age of entry into the sex industry is 14.  There are 300,000 American children in the United States that are at risk for being trafficked into sexual slavery.  These numbers have been changing since I became aware of what is going on.  Authorities don't know the extent of trafficking victims because it is such a hidden crime and so many people don't know anything about it.  A lot of victims don't even know that they are trafficking victims and they don't know their rights.  In some cases, police will arrest the victims or deport them and their trafficker is never brought to justice.  In the case of foreign victims, their trafficker/pimp will take their documentation papers, visas, and passports so they cannot go the authorities and their papers will expire.  They are told lies by their "masters" and believe that no one will help them if they try to leave.

One misconception here in America is about prostitution.  It is not a victimless crime and the pimp is a trafficker and making money off of sexually abusing children.  The "johns" that utilize prostitutes are really pedophiles and abusers of women because a lot of girls are not there by choice or they have been beaten and raped so many times that it has become the only thing that they know.  I watched a documentary a few weeks ago called Very Young Girls and it was really an eye-opener for me about what American children go through when they are victimized by a pimp.  The girls in the documentary were as young as 12 when a pimp forced them to sell their bodies for money.  Gems is the foundation that made the documentary and has been providing services to sex trafficking victims in New York City.

 There is a great website called End Slavery Now that has combined all of the organizations and individuals that are working to abolish slavery worldwide.  They have tons of resources, movies, books, and pictures that tell the story of the modern-day slave.  The Polaris Project has more information about the extent of trafficking and slavery worldwide.  We can each play a part to end trafficking and slavery.  We can take a look at some of the wonderful abolitionist foundations out there in the world to see what they are doing to fight this.  We can tell everyone we know about what is going on.  We can keep our eyes open to the signs of slavery and refer them to authorities.  We can donate money, join a non-profit or start your own group.  Write a blog, get on twitter, talk about it on Facebook.  Social Networking is a great tool for raising awareness.  We have a job to do.  Jesus asks us to take care of those who can't take care of themselves, the poor, the downtrodden, the abused, the castaways, the helpless...the list goes on.   Now that you know, you should do something about it.

Much love,

Libby Mahoney
January is Human Trafficking Awareness Month and January 11th is Human Trafficking Awareness Day.

I ran my first race!!

Here is a picture of me right before the race. I don't like taking pictures but I feel I need to have proof that I was actually there.


The race was to raise money for organizations around Jacksonville that offer counseling and options for pregnant women.




I am part of The Malinka Project and we have been training since June and we intend on running in one race a month to help raise money and awareness for causes in the City of Jacksonville. Our next race will be the Race For The Cure in October.  In November we will be running in the Be Her Freedom Run, which is a 5 mile race to benefit the A21 Campaign, an organization that fights human trafficking in Greece and Eastern Europe.
Running is my new passion!  I'm so excited about getting fit and healthy!!

Psalm 88 - A prayer for help in despondency

Today is August 21st.  The A21 Campaign asks those who want to help fight against the sex slave trade to fast on the the 21st of every month.  Fast21.org is a group, from my church, that gets the message out about fasting. Along with fasting, prayer and reading the bible are important as well.  My fast today consists of drinking only liquids and smoothies and spending time praying and reading my bible.  My church has a daily devotional and Psalm 88 was the reading from a few days ago.  I didn't read it until today and it really goes along well with what we are fasting and praying for.

This is from biblegateway.com:

Psalm 88

 ¹ O LORD, God of my salvation,

         I have cried out day and night before You.
 ² Let my prayer come before You;
         Incline Your ear to my cry. 
         
 ³ For my soul is full of troubles,
         And my life draws near to the grave.
 ⁴ I am counted with those who go down to the pit;
         I am like a man who has no strength,
 ⁵ Adrift among the dead,
         Like the slain who lie in the grave, 
         Whom You remember no more, 
         And who are cut off from Your hand. 
         
 ⁶ You have laid me in the lowest pit,
         In darkness, in the depths.
 ⁷ Your wrath lies heavy upon me,
         And You have afflicted me with all Your waves.  Selah  
 ⁸ You have put away my acquaintances far from me;
         You have made me an abomination to them; 
         I am shut up, and I cannot get out;
 ⁹ My eye wastes away because of affliction.
         
         LORD, I have called daily upon You; 
         I have stretched out my hands to You.
 ¹⁰ Will You work wonders for the dead?
         Shall the dead arise and praise You?  Selah  
 ¹¹ Shall Your lovingkindness be declared in the grave?
         Or Your faithfulness in the place of destruction?
 ¹² Shall Your wonders be known in the dark?
         And Your righteousness in the land of forgetfulness? 
         
 ¹³ But to You I have cried out, O LORD,
         And in the morning my prayer comes before You.
 ¹⁴ LORD, why do You cast off my soul?
         Why do You hide Your face from me?
 ¹⁵ I have been afflicted and ready to die from my youth;
         I suffer Your terrors; 
         I am distraught.
 ¹⁶ Your fierce wrath has gone over me;
         Your terrors have cut me off.
 ¹⁷ They came around me all day long like water;
         They engulfed me altogether.
 ¹⁸ Loved one and friend You have put far from me,
         And my acquaintances into darkness.



As I read this psalm, the most obvious things about the psalm are the sad tone and the way it ends.  Usually psalms that begin sad or despondent are resolved on a happier ending.  The Psalmist is crying out to God to rescue him from the depths of his despair and the Lord is not coming to help.  As evidenced in the bible, the Lord hears the cries of those in need, so I thought, why isn't help coming?  Maybe, God has sent out a cry to His followers to help but no one is listening or paying attention to God's calling and therefore, there isn't anyone to help the Psalmist out of trouble.  This made me think of a story that Christine Caine shared with us during one of her messages at Shine 2010.  A girl that was rescued from the slave trade had been on a tragic journey.  She was put into a shipping container with about 30 girls, some of the girls died in the container.  They were then placed in dinghies to sail illegally into another country and some of the girls drowned.  I think out of the 30 girls, only 6 survived, which they were then beaten and raped repeatedly and forced to service tons of men.  Once this particular girl was rescued, Christine told her of the work that her and countless others were doing to help people just like her and the girl's response was "why didn't you come sooner?"

While reading this psalm, I was imagining that these are the cries that God hears from the women and children that are sex slaves right now.  This is the focus of my fast, that we respond to God's call for warriors who are willing to stand and fight against the brutality, the depravity, and senseless violence against human beings.  God needs us.  We are His hands and His feet in this world.  We are His heart and His body.  We are His soul and His face.
"All nations surrounded me,
But in the name of the LORD I will destroy them.
They surrounded me,
Yes, they surrounded me; 
But in the name of the LORD I will destroy them.
They surrounded me like bees;
They were quenched like a fire of thorns; 
For in the name of the LORD I will destroy them.
You pushed me violently, that I might fall,
But the LORD helped me.
The LORD is my strength and song,
And He has become my salvation."  Psalm 118:10-14