1-11-11 Nat'l Human Trafficking Awareness Day Corporate Prayer & Strip Club OutREACH

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 

Jenni Blye at 574-855-7215 or worshipperwithsong@yahoo.com.

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

BFA E-NEWSLETTER SIGN UP:  CLICK HERE

Building Momentum in 2011,

Julie Shematz

CEO & Founder

Beauty From Ashes™ Ministries  

Where Victims Become Over-Comers

January: National Slavery & Human Trafficking Awareness Month

Happy New Year!  Here it is 1-1-11 and President Obama declared the month of January as the National Slavery and Human Trafficking Awareness Month. Will you help raise awareness about this social injustice?  

Today it is estimated that are 27 million slaves in the world. That is more than ever in history and even though the United States abolished slavery in 1860, there are approximately 100,000 to 300,000 children forced into prostitution yearly in the United States alone! Those numbers are likely to be low due to a lack of consistency in identification.  90% of human trafficking is sex trafficking, 80% of human trafficking victims are females and 50% are children.  Here in the "Land of the Free", the average age of a prostitute is between 12 and 14.  According to the Trafficking Victim's Protection Act (TVPA) of 2000, it is considered a "severe form of human trafficking" when a minor engages in sexual relations in exchange for anything; money, drugs, food, shelter, transportation, etc.  Force, fraud or coercion are not required to prove. The adolescent's age makes the act a federal crime.  The United States of America has a national crisis regarding human trafficking and the most common victim is not international, they are our own citizens; our youth.  

Since 2005, Beauty From Ashes (BFA) has been a grass roots organization reaching, rescuing and restoring victim's of commercialized sexual exploitation and sex trafficking; adults and minors.  Dedicated to advocating for the rights of victims and engaging the community through education we are grateful that January has been set aside as a month for raising awareness.  Awareness leads to Prevention, intervention and Restoration.  

Tuesday, 1-11-11, is the National Human Trafficking Awareness Day and we are inviting you to pray with us. The body of Christ is vital to the true abolishment of slavery.  Isaiah 61:1 declares that we have been anointed to set the captives free and by joining with us, this a powerful way that you too can become a slavery abolitionist.  You can stand in the gap for the release of the prisoners from all forms of bondages; physical, spiritual, emotional, and mental.  From 9-10 am EST you can join us and others nation wide to pray in one accord for the victims, survivors, over-comers and agencies advocating, reaching, rescuing, and restoring them.  Locally, here in Southwest Florida, we will be meeting together to intercede for freedom at Barry University, Room 500-1.  Please contact Jenni Blye, jblye@beautyfromashes.org, or call 239-939-9218 to register. 

Here are 7 things that you can do to become a slavery abolitionist:

GET INFORMED - Read the attached PDF, "Child Sex Trafficking: Definition, Scope, Recruitment and Control, Developmental Impact, Challenges, Intervention, Treatment and Advocacy" by BFA founder, human trafficking over-comer, and Florida Gulf Coast University graduate student, Julie Shematz.  Watch the BFA home page for the latest in domestic human trafficking news.

SIGN UP for the BFA E-Newsletter and stay informed about legislation, trainings, outREACHes, and community engagement.  To sign up, 

CLICK HERE

SPEAK UP - Share the information by talking about it in person to your friends and family and through social media.  Contact your local press and ask them to do a feature on the topic this month. 

SCHEDULE AN EVENT in your church, school, business, club or group.  For more information on BFA human trafficking presentations, CLICK HERE. 

VOLUNTEER with agencies like BFA that are on the front lines making a difference.

GIVE OR RAISE FUNDS to support grass root, domestic, anti-trafficking, and victim service provider agencies.

PRAY & FAST that the captives be set free.  For Prayer Guide, 

CLICK HERE

If we can be of any assistance to help you address this enormous, complex, and multilayered, social human rights issue, please contact us.  We hope that you will join us and others this month in raising awareness about human trafficking.  Together we are better and we can make a difference!  

For more information on human trafficking, visit our website www.BeautyFromAshes.org

Passionate for FREEdom™,

Julie Shematz

CEO & Founder 

Beauty From Ashes Ministries

Thank You for 2010 & Happy New Year!

JANUARY GIFT ASSEMBLY DATE CHANGED from January 1st to January 8th due to holiday.  Beauty From Ashes™ (BFA) typically meets to assemble gift bags and care packages on the first Saturday of the month, however, we will be meeting on the 2nd Saturday, the 8th, from 9am - 1pm for the month of January due to the New Year's holiday.  The meeting is at Barry University and if you're interested in participating and/or contributing gift items, please contact Jenni Blye at jblye@beautyfromashes.org or call 239-939-9218.  Meetings will resume the 1st Saturday of the month in February.  

STRIP CLUB OUTREACH:  Saturday, January 8th from 7-midnight, the BFA outREACH team will again be serving a home cooked meal and distributing outREACH gifts inside the locker room of a local "adopted" strip club.  In 2010 we were able to do this outreach monthly and accomplished our goal of establishing relationships that would be extended beyond the club settings.  We currently have numerous ladies attending church and coming to our weekly Breaking Free Support & Life Skills Group.  

BREAKING FREE LIFE SKILLS & SUPPORT GROUP for former and current sex workers will resume meeting on Wednesdays from 1-3 pm at Barry University on January 5th.  Free lunch and complimentary child care provided.  Registration required.  Contact Julie Shematz at julie@beautyfromashes.org or call 239-939-9218 to register.  

YEAR END REVIEW:  2010 has been a year that ended up being exceedingly, abundantly, above and beyond what we ever dreamed or imagined and we want to thank YOU, our partners for this!  Some of the highlights and milestones were the monthly concentrated  outREACHES that included serving yummy meals to employees of a local 'adopted' strip club.  Partnering with RealOrange, we had our outREACH efforts extended to having a booth inside the East Coast's largest porn expo in Miami and we launched our publicly acclaimed, trend setting, new website.  Barry University became the home of BFA and we were awarded our first grant, a capacity building grant from the Department of Health and Human Services (DHS).  We extended our partnerships with safe homes and programs locally and nationally, developed more community partnerships than ever before and gave Human Trafficking awareness presentations in venues that included universities,  public and social service agencies, businesses, social clubs, and churches.  Additionally, we were able to provide continued education credits (CEUs) for a 70 minute, multi-media presentation for healthcare workers.  BFA was announced as the official liaison for domestic sex trafficking with the Lee County Health Department and I miraculously completed my second semester as a full time graduate student studying mental health counseling with a 4.0 GPA!  We distributed hundreds of outREACH gifts and care packages locally and across the nation, that included bibles, inspirational CDs, DVDs, books, and lavish makeup and body care items.  We provided and facilitated intervention and recovery services to more domestic and international survivors than ever before and worked with task forces, coalitions, psychiatrists, psychologists, licensed counselors, service agencies and local and national law enforcement entities to provide and advocate for victim's rights to a comprehensive, continuum of care.  Most importantly, numerous names were added to the Lamb's book of life, countless individuals were inspired that they are loved, valued, more than over-comers, and captives were set free to be all that God destined and planned for them to be!  

I had the privilege of staying at one of the safehomes this week and cannot think of a better way to end the year.  As I watched the women, teens, and staff open their Christmas gifts from BFA, the expressions of joy and excitement on their faces touched my heart deeply.  Hearing the survivor's stories, seeing the progress they have accomplished, recognizing eyes that were once dark with hopelessness were now filled with hope reminded me that THEY ARE WHY WE ARE DOING WHAT WE ARE DOING.  My heart filled with gratefulness to God and for those that have embraced the mission of BFA:  To reach, rescue and restore victims of commercialized sexual exploitation (CSE) and sex trafficking.  THANK YOU!  Together we have seen 2010 be the best year ever for BFA and we are making a difference.  Lives are being transformed from ashes to beauty.  Two words describe 2010: "Building Momentum" and we have great expectations for 2011.

2011 PLANS:  For starters, I have accepted the invitation to be on the planning committee of the National Preventing Abuse Conference and to be a keynote speaker for Women at Risk International's 5 day cruise/"FriendRaiser".  Since 2005 we have been presenting national training conferences locally and across the nation sharing our unique model's of outREACH and in 2011 we be launching our new curriculum that will include training modules for domestic human trafficking awareness,  outREACH, mentoring/aftercare, community engagement, program development, and a force multiplier model, thanks to the federal grant  we received.  Teaming with another lead social service and human trafficking agency, we are already writing for another capacity building grant  and are coordinating with more organizations to reach, rescue and restore CSE and sex trafficking victims.  BFA will also be expanding and saturating our outREACHes into the 7 county region of  Southern region of Florida and will begin doing our first international outREACHes in 2011.  We absolutely know that the BEST is yet to come!  Read more BFA Milestones, CLICK HERE 

On behalf of myself, the executive board, staff, and volunteers at Beauty From Ashes™ Ministries, THANK YOU for your partnership with us in 2010.  Together we are better and we have made a difference!  Please consider giving an end of the year, tax deductible contribution to assist us in continuing momentum as we go into the year 2011.  To give, CLICK HERE 

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 

Jenni Blye at 574-855-7215 or worshipperwithsong@yahoo.com.

PRAYER REQUESTS:  We care for you and have a team that prays over your every need.  Please send them to prayer@beautyfromashes.org

For the LATEST NEWS REGARDING DOMESTIC SEX TRAFFICKING, visit our home page:  http://www.beautyfromashes.org

BFA E-NEWSLETTER SIGN UP:  CLICK HERE

Know that we love you, pray for you and are very grateful for your support and encouragement.  God bless you and yours and have a Happy New Year!  

In His love and service,

Julie Shematz 

CEO & Founder

Beauty From Ashes™ Ministries  

Where Victims Become Over-Comers

Beauty From Ashes Christmas Party & More

BEAUTY FROM ASHES CHRISTMAS PARTY:  On Saturday, December 18th, Beauty From Ashes hosted it's first annual Christmas party at the Woodlands in Fort Myers, FL.  For more information and pictures, CLICK HERE

BEAUTY FROM ASHES CHILD OF GOD CD:  Use your Christmas buying power to fight human slavery.  What better gift than the Beauty From Ashes (BFA)  private label CD, Child of God, produced by Music for the Soul?  We've reduced the price and 100% of the proceeds will go to provide specialized programs for victims of commercialized sexual exploitation & trafficking.   The 10 song CD: Child of God, Not Too Far From Here, Time For a Breakdown, Every Single Tear, Somebody's Daughter, Keep Breathing, In the Image of God, Binder of the Broken, No One Can Love Me Like You Do & Twenty Three is available for minimum donation of $20 + $5 shipping.  For more information and to order:  CLICK HERE  

CAR NEEDED FOR SURVIVOR:  Thanks to our generous partners, we have raised $785 for the human sex trafficking survivor, single mother, that we told you about 7 weeks ago.  However, we sill need another $715 to purchase the $1500 car for her to use as transportation.  Will you please consider giving a tax deductible donation today so that we can provide to her a car for Christmas?  Any amount will be appreciated and it all adds up!  If you have a well running vehicle that you would like to donate, please contact Julie Shematz.  

BREAKING FREE LIFE SKILLS & SUPPORT GROUP:   Wednesdays from 1-3 at Barry University BFA hosts a life skills and support group for victims and survivors of commercialized sexual exploitation and sex trafficking.  We will not be meeting this week or next due to the holidays.   Meetings will resume on January 5th.  Lunch and child care provided.  Registration required, c

all 239.939.9218 or email Julie Shematz for registration.  If you are a mature, stable, Christian woman and interested in being a mentor, fulfilling Titus 2:3-4, and the Great Commission, please contact Julie.  Application and background check required. 

DECEMBER STRIP CLUB OUTREACH REPORT: For more information and pictures, 

CLICK HERE.

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 

Jenni Blye at 574-855-7215 or worshipperwithsong@yahoo.com.

PRAYER REQUESTS:  We care for you and have a team that prays over your every need.  Please send them to prayer@beautyfromashes.org

For the LATEST NEWS REGARDING DOMESTIC SEX TRAFFICKING, visit our home page:  http://www.beautyfromashes.org

BFA E-NEWSLETTER SIGN UP:  CLICK HERE

Thanks for your support and Merry Christmas! 

Julie Shematz

CEO and Founder

Beauty From Ashes™ Ministries  

Where Victims Become Over-Comers

ACTION ALERT, Strip Club OutREACH Report, Christmas Gifts & More

DOMESTIC MINOR SEX TRAFFICKING DETERRENCE & VICTMS SUPPORT ACT ACTION ALERT:  On December 9, the U.S. Senate unanimously approved S.2925, the Domestic Minor Sex Trafficking Deterrence and Victims Support Act.  Now it needs to pass in the House of Representatives and we need your help to do this.  With only days left in the Congressional session, the House must now adopt the Senate bill and pass it by Friday, December 17!

This bill will aid victims of modern sexual slavery and give law enforcement the tools to investigate and prosecute sex traffickers who exploit underage girls and force them into the sex trade.  The Domestic Minor Sex Trafficking Deterrence and Victims Support Act would authorize block grants to 6 locations deemed to have significant sex trafficking activity, require a workable plan to provide comprehensive, wrap-around services to sex trafficking victims--including the establishment of a shelter facility--and require demonstrated participation by all levels of law enforcement, prosecutors, and social service providers.

Please contact your Congress member as soon as possible and let them know that they need to stand up for all the children who are being exploited for sex.

Tell them not to leave Washington without passing the Domestic Minor Sex Trafficking Deterrence and Victims Support Act (S. 2925), Call 202-224-3121 or email your member.  READ MORE

DECEMBER STRIP CLUB OUTREACH REPORT:  On Saturday, December 10th, the Beauty From Ashes (BFA) FREEdom™ OutREACH team delivered and served home cooked roasted chicken, red potatoes & carrots with tossed vegetable salad, potato rolls and baklava inside the locker room of our local "adopted" strip club to approximately 35 employees.  The team also distributed elegant Christmas gifts that included the BFA Child of God CD, leather New Testaments, custom jewelry, elaborate ornaments, candy canes, & make up.  To view photos, CLICK HERE.   Below is from a team member that this was her first experience ever being inside of a strip club:  

"As I walked into the club I immediately felt safe. God went before us, just as we prayed. I walked into a room where girls with immodest “clothing” sat doing makeup and hair. My heart broke as I saw how beautiful they were. I was humbled. As we served food and gave gifts my heart began to explode with the joy of the Lord. By the grace of God I got to pray with girls for physical healing and for 9-5 jobs. This meek Christian girl went into a strip club and boldly asked God to be with dancers. I am grateful I got to go and I can't wait to go back again. This is the kind of place Jesus would be." - Jenni Blye

This outREACH will conclude our outREACHES, a total of 13 for the year of 2010, and we want to thank everyone that has supported and enabled us to do these monthly, locally, and to set up our own booth at the Miami porn expo this year.  Because of your faithfulness to this vision, we have distributed 1000's of  Bibles, CD's, DVD's, and beauty supplies with the message of love, hope, and truth to countless victims of commercialized sexual exploitation and trafficking.  Additionally, hundreds of care packages have been distributed locally and nationally to survivors, individually and in shelters and residential programs, with the Truth that has and will continue to set the captives free to be all that God destined and planned them to be.  THANK YOU!  

BEAUTY FROM ASHES CHILD OF GOD CD:  Use your Christmas buying power to fight human slavery.  What better gift than the Beauty From Ashes (BFA)  private label CD, Child of God, produced by Music for the Soul?  We've reduced the price and 100% of the proceeds will go to provide specialized programs for victims of commercialized sexual exploitation & trafficking.   The 10 song CD: Child of God, Not Too Far From Here, Time For a Breakdown, Every Single Tear, Somebody's Daughter, Keep Breathing, In the Image of God, Binder of the Broken, No One Can Love Me Like You Do & Twenty Three is available for minimum donation of $20 + $5 shipping.  For more information and to order:  CLICK HERE  

BFA EDUCATION/AWARENESS PRESENTATIONS:  

One of BFA's  goals is to equip others to reach, rescue and restore victims of commercialized sexual exploitation and trafficking with the message there is help and a way out. Since 2005, we have been providing 'victim/survivor-centered' training locally and across the United States.  In the past 3 months we have given 12 presentations, in venues that include businesses, universities, churches, clubs, and government agencies.  Additionally, our presentation, Human Trafficking 101: How to Recognize & Respond for healthcare workers has been approved to provide CEU's.  

For more information and to schedule an event in 2011, CLICK HERE

BREAKING FREE LIFE SKILLS & SUPPORT GROUP:  Every Wednesday from 1pm-3pm, at Barry University, BFA is currently presenting Beth Moore's Breaking Free:  The Journey, The Stories bible study.  If you are currently working in the sex for sale industry or a survivor desiring to acquire life skills and learn about who you were designed to be,  please call 239.939.9218 or email Julie Shematz for registration.  Registration required.  Free lunch provided.  Additionally, if you are a mature, stable, Christian woman and interested in being a mentor, fulfilling Titus 2:3-4, and the Great Commission, please contact Julie.  Application and background check required. 

CAR NEEDED FOR SURVIVOR:  Thanks to our generous partners, we have raised $785 for the human sex trafficking survivor, single mother, that we told you about 6 weeks ago.  However, we sill need another $715 to purchase the $1500 car for her to use as transportation.  Will you please consider giving a tax deductible donation today so that we can provide to her a car for Christmas?  Any amount will be appreciated and it all adds up!  If you have a well running vehicle that you would like to donate, please contact Julie Shematz.  

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 

Jenni Blye at 574-855-7215 or worshipperwithsong@yahoo.com.

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, 5100 S. Cleveland Ave., Ste, 318-148, Fort Myers, FL 33907.

For the LATEST NEWS REGARDING DOMESTIC SEX TRAFFICKING, visit our home page:  http://www.beautyfromashes.org

BFA E-NEWSLETTER SIGN UP:  CLICK HERE

Again thank you for a year that has been exceedingly, abundantly more than we ever dreamed or asked for.  Together we are better and we are making a difference!  

In The Reason for the season,

Steve and Julie Shematz and the BFA FREEdom™ Team

Beauty From Ashes™ Ministries  

Where Victims Become Over-Comers