1-11-11 NATIONAL HUMAN TRAFFICKING AWARENESS DAY: Fort Myers, FL Tuesday, January 11, 2011 we are inviting you to pray with us for Human Trafficking Awareness Day, as the body of Christ is vital to the true abolition of slavery. This is the human rights issue of the day and as church, we need you to be at the forefront of the anti-slavery movement. Please join us for prayer from 8:00 am until 9:00 am at Barry University or where you are. Unity and being in one accord is key.
You can make a difference, not only with your prayers, but also by making others aware. We, at Beauty From Ashes™ Ministries, are at your service to assist you in preparing to address this national and global crisis. CLICK HERE for 8.5x10" flyer promoting the awareness month and the local prayer gathering on 1-11-11. To read a research paper on the topic written by BFA Founder and CEO, also a human trafficking over-comer and FGCU Graduate Student, CLICK HERE. For more information on the National Slavery & Human Trafficking Awareness Month, CLICK HERE
STRIP CLUB OUTREACH: Saturday, January 8th 7pm - midnight, Fort Myers, FL. The BFA OutREACH team will be delivering a home cooked meal of baked ziti, salad, and pies to the employees of our 'adopted' strip club. Below is from one of our outREACH team members, Shelly Lantz:
"I am getting prepared for the beginning of the New Year and our First Strip Club Outreach for 2011 will take place next weekend.
I am so blessed to be able to go back to where God rescued me from and be a witness of my Lord’s saving grace and mercy to these precious girls that mean so much to him. I sit in awe as I see His Holy Spirit work in this place it leaves my jaw on the ground.
Please pray for our Team! Julie, Annie, Jenny, Shelly and all the others that are working behind the scenes to make this possible.
Last year when Julie Shematz from Beauty from Ashes™ Ministries approached me about going back into the strip clubs to love and share the gospel of Christ with these women, I was already involved in Prison ministry and said “um, I don’t think so.” I never dreamed I would set foot back into a strip club again after all the garbage that life put me through in the past. I believed that stripping well would give me the money and resources I needed to live a better life. BIG LIE!!! It started innocently and ended in the biggest nightmare ever. I was bound in the adult entertainment business for over 25 years in a life of addiction, prisons, institutions, drug rehabs one after another, 15 arrests and two prison sentences even one overseas. Well I guess that says enough about where this harmless beginning could end for a person in this lifestyle. So now you can see why going back in terrified me.
But God said “NO, Shelly it’s not where you think you should be, it is where you feel less effective that I can work through you the most and be seen through your life to touch these women.” A place of surrendering our own desires and allowing God to lead us were we feel we are the least effective is exactly where He can use us. It's not my testimony that touches these girls’ lives because I rarely even go there to speak about me. It’s all about Jesus and who He is and what he can do. I am there to listen, learn, grow and be stretched. God shows me the depth of my sinfulness and what He did for me each time I step foot back in that club. I then go in utter amazement in gratitude for Him rescuing me and say “Oh my Father, you can rescue whoever you please” and I look at those woman as his precious daughters and see with eyes that would view eternity rather than here and now.
So this is why I do what God has called me to do and the team does as well. We do it for Him and Him alone. Thanks for allowing me to share and this is why we need your prayers. Love you all and many blessings as we enter into New Year 2011."
theCALL2XXX: Join us weekly, locally and globally for prayer to abolish slavery and for the organizations reaching, rescuing, restoring and advocating for the victims. Fridays 8-9am EST. For more information and prayer guide: CLICK HERE To meet with team locally, contact
BFA PRAYER: May all who we influence receive the free gift and reason for the season, Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.
PRAYER REQUESTS: We care for you and have a team that prays over your every need. Please send them to prayer@beautyfromashes.org
DONATIONS: Your partnership is vital for us to continue providing awareness, advocacy and reach, rescue and restoration services to victims of commercialized sexual exploitation. Please consider becoming a partner by giving a year end tax deductible gift today. For $25 or more we will send you our Child of God CD. For secure online donations, CLICK HERE or mail your check, cash or money order to Beauty From Ashes™, 13300 S. Cleveland Ave., Ste. 56-632, Fort Myers, FL 33907.
For the LATEST NEWS REGARDING DOMESTIC SEX TRAFFICKING, visit our home page: http://www.beautyfromashes.org
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Building Momentum in 2011,
Julie Shematz
CEO & Founder
Beauty From Ashes™ Ministries
Where Victims Become Over-Comers
