Lost Lambs – Found

Posted on December 14th, 2015 by She Is Safe

Dear Praying Friend,

Christmas especially turns our hearts to shepherds, lambs, and the amazing account of the Great Shepherd humbly entering our broken world to seek and save lost sheep.

Anjay was one of those lost lambs. She spent her days on the dangerous streets of a tourist island of Indonesia. When she was 13 years old, an older girl offered to guide Anjay to a particular street that promised her a life of wealth. The girl who “shepherded” Anjay had actually trafficked her into the red light district, where pimps used her for two years. But because we were supported, She Is Safe co-workers were there on the streets to lead her to a new path—to a safe home, to vocational training and to her beloved Shepherd.
These lost lambs are not hard to find. The traffickers know where they are, and so do we. The younger ones and those who are desperate are the quickest to respond to the kind of help we can bring. Intervening before girls are led away into misery is the best of all. And this can all happen because of you.

If you lost one of your lambs, you would stop at nothing to bring her to safety. You would dress her wounds, restore her from trauma and teach her to build a great life in the center of God’s embrace – no matter what the cost. What is it worth to prevent a girl from being sold? Or to restore her once she has been rescued? It only costs a few hundred dollars for each one, but we prevent, rescue and restore thousands each year.

Our December 2015 Challenge is big because the numbers of lost girls we can reach is big! Our year-end goal of $500,000 will fill the gap of what is needed to provide for caring staff, material needs, equipment, training and travel as we head into 2016 and work in high-trafficking communities.

Will you consider giving generously to this important Forgotten Girls Annual Fund before December 31st, 2015 to help us prevent, rescue and restore 16,000 girls and women from suffering abuse and slavery and equip them to build whole new lives?

Your gift will mean that lost girls like Anjay will be found, one by one, and have an opportunity to thrive in Christ.

Please don’t wait a moment to respond. Think of one little lamb who is being led toward abuse and slavery right now. Pray for her. Now help her. With your help, we will find and lift her! And your loving support can make all the difference in her safety and freedom.

In the Good Shepherd,

Michele M. Rickett
Founder & CEO

P.S. Right now, you can be the best help girls like Anjay can have. Please give generously, to help us reach, rescue and restore 16,000 girls and women in 2016. Your gift can help us meet that goal.

*She Is Safe uses representative names and photos to protect the dignity and security of those we serve.

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An Impending Food Crisis in Mali Hampers Recovery

Posted on April 3rd, 2014 by Russell Rockwell

The response to immediate humanitarian needs must be combined with a vision and commitment to implementing sustainable solutions. – M. Coulibaly, Oxfam Director in Mali

She Is Safe works to empower women and girls in sustainable ways. In places like Timbuktu, war, economic erosion and environmental degradation affect women and girls more than any other demographic, yet these same girls hold the potential to create powerful social and economic change.

Timbuktu has been a cultural center since the middle ages. It was known to traders as the “Jewel of the Desert.” Since 2012, however, Timbuktu and the rest of northern Mali have been beset with lack of rain, lean harvest, and a violent internal conflict with Islamic militants.

Through French intervention, the militants were pushed out of Mali in late 2013. However, the bloodshed was great and nearly every family was touched by death or displacement. In addition to the human toll, the conflict effectually destroyed all semblances of a modern infrastructure. Roads, buildings, and the power grid were all severely damaged.

Though organized militant forces have been disassembled, fringe groups continue to cause security issues outside of developed areas. This has kept Malian herders from accessing traditional water points due to the possibility of militant attacks.

Though the remnants of the conflict continue to erode the culture and economy in northern Mali, food security is a growing concern and experts believe that unless action is taken, Mali will experience a food crisis by the end of 2014. The lack of rain in the past two years has led to a reduced harvest of cereal grains, a key part of the Malian diet. As a result, the lean time between harvests is growing. An analysis by Solidarites International concluded that this lack of food in the time between harvests will lead to increased debt and migration in northern Mali, further stressing local communities.

The UN made an emergency appeal for food aid in 2013 which was only 55% funded. This disappointing level of funding was exacerbated by the lack of other aid groups in Mali, nearly all of which ceased operations at the beginning of the conflict. The need for immediate aid is apparent, however, sustainable living is necessary to prevent this cycle from continuing. Oxfam Director in Mali, Mohamed Coulibaly, claims, “The response to immediate humanitarian needs must be combined with a vision and commitment to implementing sustainable solutions.”

A key part of sustainable solutions is the empowerment of women and girls. Economic malaise always affects this demographic stronger than it does young men. However, empowered women and girls effect powerful social and economic change. According to the World Bank, closing the joblessness gap between women and men can increase a developing nation’s GDP by 1.2% each year.

Before the conflict, She is Safe was active in Mali, training women in sewing and literacy at the Timbuktu Women’s Center. Though the Women’s Center was destroyed by Islamists in 2012, She Is Safe stayed active in supporting the Christian community. The Women’s Center was rebuilt in 2013. While She Is Safe works to find the needed resources, the ministry has been forced to reduce the scope of the training and the number of women that can be served.

If you would like to help meet this critical need, you can visit She Is Safe’s Mali page, read, pray and donate: https://sheissafe.org/work/mali/

The aftershock of the conflict, the lack of infrastructure, and the growing food crisis mean the stakes are higher in Mali than ever before.

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