She Has a New Dress

There are so many ways to describe her– a new color, a more mature look, a realistic presentation, a true story. I like the new dress because the story has not changed, but its outward appearance has.

Daughters of Deliverance has a new cover which introduces you to Katharine Bushnell and Ella Gilchrist. You’ll want to meet these two young Christian doctors of the 19th century who left to work in China right out of medical school. And one of them came home to Denver to die.

Book Two, The Queen’s Daughters, of this true story takes place in the British military barracks in India, Parliament in London,– and across the sea to the port city of San Francisco where our heroine exposes imprisoned girls trafficked from China.

Books available through Heritage Beacon and Amazon.

She is Safe

Today I’m writing about an organization which rescues girls and women from trafficking and helps them find a way of life God designed for them. This organization rescues girls caught in trafficking; provides a safe home and training for them after they are rescued. They also train mothers with job skills so that they are not tempted to sell their daughters as a source of income.

The short video attached to this message is a heart-breaking insight into what is happening to thousands of girls in India today. If you want to learn more about She Is Safe you’ll find their contact information at the end of the video.

Click here to watch the video: She Is Safe in India

I wrote historical fiction about Katharine Bushnell , a woman pioneer in the 19th century, who exposed what is today called trafficking. You can find Daughters of Deliverance and The Queen’s Daughters on Amazon.

Passionate to save girls like this

I confess, this endorsement comes from a friend– an intellectual, well-read  woman with a  Ph.D.  behind her name. So when she wrote this review, I felt that I should  share it with you.

If you haven’t read Daughters of Deliverance or The Queen’s Daughters yet, you might want to do so after reading her reaction.  Getting to know the  Victorian heroine, Katharine Bushnell, who passionately tried to help girls  like the one on the cover, will warm your heart. You’ll be challenged to pray more faithfully for women and girls still caught in trafficking  today.  My friend writes:

It is wonderful to see her story come to life, and you’ve done a marvelous job. What I like best is how accessible it is, and how she battles the very real emotions and challenges we all face. You retain her powerful intellectual and spiritual gifts, but place it inside a very human woman! I love that. Thank you again for the honor of sharing in your journey, and I’m thrilled you’ll devote the early hours of prayer this coming year to seeking, prayerfully, God’s guidance on the next focus of your life.

And that means she’s challenging me  to find God’s purpose after my 90th birthday  in February for the next season of my life

An idea for the men on your list? What?

This morning after church one of the young mothers stopped me in the hall to tell me, “My husband is reading your book and he really likes it”  We  discussed  the cover which she said was  “girly,” but the subject matter –“white slavery” (today’s trafficking)– is of interest to both male and female.

Before Daughters of Deliverance launched last December, I sent the PDF to my son  who is teaching overseas. (Sons are very direct and honest so I was a bit leery of what he might say.) He  remarked he really liked the book, but he thought that I was a bit hard on men, that there weren’t good men in the story.  I reminded him of Kate’s wise father, the contractor for the Evanston lighthouse, still standing today; or Senator Fitch who rallied the Wisconsin legislature  to pass a law against the den keepers;  or even David, the young medical student who wanted to ask her parents for permission to court her. My son  admitted there were some good men in the story, but that they were overshadowed by men like Blonger who ruled the streets of Chicago’s Hell’s Half Acre.  I still hear him say, “Mom, I didn’t think such things went on in the nineteenth century.”

I suspect few men will read Daughters of Deliverance,  or its sequel, The Queen’s Daughters,” launched this past September, because they think it’s about   girls.  And the main character is a woman, Katharine Bushnell, the historic heroine of the story. She was a famous activist against sex slavery and a  woman of prayer and obedience to God’s call on her life (sordid as it may seem at times.)

Two men have written endorsements for these books. Larry Andrews is the president of Partners International which, among other ministries, repatriates girls kidnapped into sex slavery.  Dr. Dan Rickett serves as executive vice president for She Is Safe.

Christmas is almost here.   Perhaps you could give one of the men in your life — husband, brother, son–a copy of Destined for Loyalty or The Queen’s Daughters.  Tell them they are based on the true story of a  woman in the nineteenth century who obeyed God and went through danger and hardship to rescue girls out of evil situations that are still going on today.
And, Oh yes, the books are available as Kindle ebooks in India and England!

 

 

 

Miracle Blog

After many hours of trying combinations of new passwords with my old and my new email addresses, I finally got back into my own blog. Is there a symbol for tears of joy?

For a simple writer who knows little about technology, the last twenty four hours have been tense. I even lost sleep trying to figure out which combination of email addresses and blogs would work.  Finally this morning I accidentally — but really providentially– used the right two. And here I am (is there a symbol for flying high?)

Now I still have to figure out how to change my old email address to my new one — before May 31st when the old one dies.  There is nothing simple folks (oh pardon the Donald. Is there a symbol for thumbs down?

But before you give up on this inane post — watch for stories from my upcoming book Boundless , a novel based on the life of Dr. Katharine Bushnell.  She was quite a woman, investigating, reporting and rescuing girls caught in trafficking — in the 19th century.  Nice girls didn’t talk about such things then.

 

 

 

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.

A ready market in the Magreb of Africa for young girls.

Professor Lawrance of the Rochester Institute of Technology said that if he were to visit any number of West African countries “I would have no difficulty, within a matter of hours, in finding a place to procure children.”

While the imagery of a slave market conveyed by the Boko Haram leader, Abubakar Shekau, may have been aimed partly at attracting attention, Professor Lawrance said, “it is not a stretch of the truth to imagine where you could buy children, sitting and waiting to be sold.”

Child trafficking is considered such an insidious problem that the United Nations Human Rights Council has assigned special rapporteurs to investigate it for nearly 25 years. The last rapporteur, Dr. Najat Maalla M’jid, a Moroccan pediatrician who specializes in the protection of vulnerable children, said in a report to the council in March that they were more at risk than ever to sexual slavery. “Millions of girls and boys worldwide are victims of sexual exploitation, even though this issue in recent years has gained increased visibility,” she said.In report she issued in December, Dr. Maalla M’jid said that in recent years, the increase of child trafficking has been greater for girls.

Rights advocates say many cases go undetected. Susan Bissell, the chief of child protection at Unicef, said Wednesday in a phone interview that there were 1.2 million known cases a year of child trafficking globally, “and that’s a gross underestimate, because of situations in this context; it’s totally clandestine.”

Rights groups have conducted numerous studies documenting the trafficking of girls and women in Africa, which is often done through deceptive means. In a 2010 report, for example, Human Rights Watch found networks in Ivory Coast and Nigeria that systematically trafficked in Nigerian women who had thought they were being recruited as apprentice hairdressers or tailors or the person who took them would hurt them.”

Ms. Bissell said part of the enforcement problem lay in many victims’ lack of official identities — 230 million children do not have birth certificates, which makes them virtually impossible to trace.
Adapted from New York Times May 8,2014

This evil seems to have no end. Can you imagine what would happen if these perpetrators had grown up in a loving home with parents who modeled honesty and respect for each other? Parents who made sure children were educated–or at least taught basic values like love, kindness, integrity, a work ethic,– and that God, who loves them, created both boys and girls as equally valuable and full of potential?

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.

Is there a solution?

One hundred ten years ago Dr.Kate Bushnell([see more under “about the books”} finally figured out that trafficking, a word unknown until a few decades ago,would never end until the hearts of men and women changed. And little has changed– young trafficked girls are like a chocolate bar at the checkout counter. Chocoholics can’t resist the temptation until they’ve changed their lifestyle and diet. Sexual addicts will always find a place to find available girls, until their moral and ethical values change.It’s like the drug traffic. America would be free of drugs if there were no buyers!

Read about a brave young girl in Guatemala who managed to stop a trafficker– in another way.

Guatemala (MNN) — An estimated 90% of sexual abuse cases go unreported in Guatemala. If a case is brought to court, the likelihood that the abuser will not be punished is also 90%. That’s what makes a recent trial so special for a girl in the Oasis program. Courtney, a 14-year-old girl had to testify against the man who prostituted her for several years.

“She really had a tough time in court but stood up to it extremely well,” says Corbey Dukes of the Oasis program, who acted as the girl’s legal representative.

“The defense attorney really tried to wear her down; she had over an hour of testimony. But at the end of it, he just threw his hands up and said, ‘No more questions’ and sat down. And he was the guy who was defeated.”

According to the U.S. State Department’s 2013 Trafficking In Persons (TIP) Report, Guatemalan women and children are “exploited in sex trafficking within the country, as well as in Mexico, the United States, and Belize.

“Foreign child sex tourists–predominantly from Canada, the United States, and Western Europe–as well as Guatemalan men exploit children in prostitution.”

Courtney was prostituted for approximately 60-cents per visit, says Dukes. And she wasn’t the only one, he adds. “She has two cousins here; one is two years younger than her and one is five or six years younger than her,” says Dukes. “They were all exploited in the same way.”

All three of the young women are involved in the Oasis program and taking strides toward a better future. The Oasis is a Christian safe haven for girls who have been forced into child labor, experienced physical and sexual abuse (often all three), and have either been abandoned or have fled for their safety and lives.

Adapted from Mission Network News

Growing awareness and support against trafficking

In 1891 famous British abolitionist, Josephine Butler, co-opted two Americans– Dr. Katharine Bushnell and Mrs. Elizabeth Andrew– to secretly enter British cantonments in India to find proof that the military were illegally enticing and “examining” Indian girls in Locke Hospitals for the pleasure of British soldiers. Two women standing up to the entire British Raj!
(Watch for more information about Kate’s fictionalized story under “My Books.”)
Times have changed– many are banding together against this plague. But sadly the numbers of slaves continues to grow. Hopefully our government will recognize the seriousness of modern-day trafficking and take action recommended below:

On June 25, 2013 members of the President’s Advisory Council on Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships, including National Association of Evangeliclas President Leith Anderson, wrote a letter to Secretary of State John Kerry and Senate and House leadership encouraging support for legislation that would upgrade the State Department Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons.

The letter closed saying “We respectfully urge you to take any action in your authority to elevate the State Department Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons to a State Department Bureau.”

Twenty-four current leaders of the President’s Advisory Council on Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships signed the letter representing a broad spectrum of faith-based initiatives.