Down to the wire/almost

Twelve days till launch day.  Daughters of Deliverance will become public.

Amazon has already posted it , but no one can buy, or even review it until December 1, 2016. I have a small stash of books in preparation for the launch party on that night. Invitations have been issued, cookies and cider ordered, and door prizes arranged.

A special list of readers have a one-time-read- only-file  in the hopes that they will write a glowing– or even not so glowing– review for Amazon. Evidently Amazon’s algorithms will determine if my book has drawn in enough reviews to give it a boost.

The promo cards arrived from the printer which I’ll use to invite people to the launch party.  You probably won’t be in the vicinity that night to attend , but I shared the card above so you may know how to buy the book for yourself.*

I learned recently that  129,864,880 books have been published in all of modern history according to Google algorithms.  That makes  Daughters of Deliverance the 129,864,881st book to see the light of day. Which may make my contribution to the world’s wealth of literature infinitely small and unimportant, but the value  of Katharine Bushnell’s life and work among mistreated  women has impacted countless lives.

*The book’s description reads:  1886 Kate begins work with women in Hell’s Half Acre, then on to the white-slavery dens in Wisconsin’s brutal lumber camps.  Trusting God, she sends her report to the governor.  Will he listen to the plight of these young women?  Or brand her a liar?

Honor Killings

In his New York Times  column recently Nicholas Kristoff tells about Saba, a young woman who was shot in the head by her father.  Why?  Because she had disobeyed him by falling in love and  marrying without her father’s permission.  It is estimated that over 1000 honor killings take place in Pakistan every year, but very few perpetrators are brought to justice. Courageously, Saba attempted to have her father arrested, but . . . .

You’ll meet Saba herself in A Girl in the River,  nominated for the Oscars’ short documentary award.  Kistoff says whether or not it wins the nomination, it is worth viewing.  This travesty against young women must stop. (I confess I didn’t watch the Oscars)

Pakistan is far away and probably doesn’t seem like an issue in this country.  But I just read Hiding in the Light by Rifqa Bary who faced the threat of death because she dared to . . .  become a Christian.  She was able to keep her faith secret for several years, but when her father found out, he threatened to send her to Sri Lanka to marry an old Muslim man, and the local mosque stood by him . In fact, they are still threatening to sue the American family who protected sixteen-year-old Rifqa when she ran away from home.

Whether it’s honor killing, trafficking, limiting education to boys first or  killing new born girls—the treatment of women and girls in many countries calls us to compassion and action.  I’ve spent over five years writing a biographical fiction about Katharine Bushnell, MD, a Christian activist who investigated and exposed the sex trade in the US and India at the end of the nineteenth century. Lighthouse Publishing tells me the book will be released by December 1, 2016.

 

woman and men created equal

As I finish editing Boundless, the story of Dr. Katharine Bushnell, I’m overwhelmed at the persistence and bravery of this nineteenth century woman. She spent her life exposing sexual slavery and calling on legislators to pass laws to raise the age of consent and outlaw White Slavery (trafficking then.) She was passionate to serve God and to teach about the value He placed on all humanity. The Bible compelled her, at great personal cost, to fight against those who devalued women in her day. And little has changed – I was heart-sick to read about little girls SOLD BY THEIR PARENTS for as little as $10US dollars. Read on. . .

Asia—2014– In Nepal and India, extreme poverty results in malnutrition, disease, illiteracy, and often deep spiritual depravity.
Little value is placed on women and girls in these countries where they are sold into sex slavery by members of their own families for as little as $10 USD, depending on their age and beauty.

They refer to themselves as “the walking dead” for they are without hope. Girls as young as 7 have been sold into slavery. These women and girls are confined in a room called “the cage” where they are beaten, starved, and raped until their will is broken. Then they are forced to service customers to repay their debt–a debt that incurs more in interest than they are paid for their services. those brothels, conditions are filthy and sickness is rampant. Girls who succumb to infection are turned out on the streets to die. (Just like infected girls were turned out of the brothels in the British military cantonments in India in the 1890’s)

Vision Beyond Borders launched its Vision for Women to answer the growing crisis. The safe house they helped fund just 6 months ago is full, and more women are ready to come out of the industry.
Adapted from Mission Network News by Joan Kramer

At least today exposing trafficking does not depend on a lone woman here and there to fight against the evil. The Bible teaches that men and women were created equal in God’s sight, and equal to work side by side: “God created people in his own image; God patterned them after himself; male and female created he them. So God blessed them and told them, ‘Multiply and fill the earth and subdue it. Be masters over the fish and birds and all the animals’ . . . Then God looked over all he had made, and he saw that it was excellent in every way”. Genesis 1: 27-29, 31.

Appeal postponed

Fifth appeal postponed for Asia Bibi
Pakistan (MNN) — Imprisoned in 2010 and sentenced to death for blasphemy, Pakistani Christian Asia Bibi has had her appeal postponed for the fifth time. No new date has been set for her to appeal her death sentence. Blasphemy is a serious crime in Pakistan, and anyone accused receives harsh treatment from the courts. Asia is the mother of five. Her husband and children have gone into hiding. Asia is held in solitary confinement many miles from her family. Several Pakistani leaders who have attempted to help mitigate her case have been killed, so it’s possible the judge is afraid to reverse her death penalty—hence the postponement.

This young women in her late twenties faces a different enslavement from trafficking. But she is locked into a life of hopelessness– a life of fear and loneliness. Her crime? She defended Jesus Christ, her Lord, when a group of villagers working in a fruit orchard refused her water because she was a Christian.

One can only imagine the word battle that followed as she defended her right to drink from the village well. A likely scenario– the irate women went home to their husbands angrily denouncing Asia’s religion, accusing her of blasphemy against Mohammed. The news spread, a crowd gathered and raced to the police station. Once the accusation was carried to the police, there was no turning back. Asia was found guilty of blasphemy, sentenced to hang and has languished in a dirty, bug-infested, prison, cooking her own meager meals to avoid being poisoned by guards or other inmates for almost four years. Its reported that her family– husband and five children– are moving from house to house, even to other cities, to seek safety.

Jesus came to free captives unjustly held–captives bound by every kind of evil. His mission statement in Luke 4 was based on the words of Isaiah the prophet. “The Spirit pf the Sovereign Lord is upon me, because the Lord has appointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to comfort the brokenhearted and to announce that captives will be released and prisoners will be freed. Isaiah 61:l,2.

Many are working behind the scenes to free Asia. Those of us who can’t lobby, work through the halls of justice and power, can at least pray for her health, and peace of mind that God has not forgotten her.

Trafficking at the world Cup

Brazil (MNN) — The FIFA World Cup is among the world’s most widely-viewed sporting events, with the last event filling stadiums in South Africa with some 3.18 million fans.
With less than 90 days to go until the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, tickets are in high demand. But so are Brazilian women and children.
Trafficking is already on the rise in Brazil; government reports indicate a 1,500% increase last year. The 2014 World Cup and 2016 Olympic Games are expected to bring another spike.

In the nineteenth century, when Kate Bushnell was asked to expose trafficking in the British military in India, her efforts had to be kept secret. She shocked a defiant parliament which refused to believe her findings. Today society is not not only keenly aware of the growing
epidemic (like at the World-Cup) but many organizations, public and private, are working to eliminate the scourge. Yet the plague continues without abatement. No wonder Kate’s mentor advised her to stop wearing herself out visiting “dens” and fighting authorities, and find ways to change men’s attitudes toward women as objects.