This past month Cheri Hartman, the Executive Director of Development, Matt Tramp, the Community Engagement Coordinator, and I, the Executive Director of Operations, traveled to central Texas to tour a residential home that has done what we have been called to do… provide healing to adolescent girls that have been sex trafficked. For the past three and a half years, Cheri and I have dreamed of touring this facility and it did not disappoint. The three staff that met with us were the Chief Mission Officer, the Chief Culture Officer, and the Chief Development Officer. Touring the different buildings gave us direction of how we would like our home to look which change da bit while seeing theirs. In addition to the tour, they shared what has worked fro them and what hasn’t worked in the sense of staffing plans, programming, security protocols, cottage setup, building plans, and using the gifts of individual volunteers and teams. They were most helpful and tried to answer all our questions, which were many!
Without going into detail about all that we learned, I will share my biggest takeaways. The first is that everything in Texas is bigger. The magnitude of their campus and the number of staff they have is evidence of that. As we walked and talked with the staff, we had to continue to remind ourselves that they did not start here. They grew as time and funds allowed. Everything that they had was donated – from the land to all the building supplies and even down to the bedding. We believe that God can make that happen for Esthers Rising as well! The spiritual attack we had was bigger in Texas as well. We are in a fight that Satan does not want us or God to win. He set up roadblocks to take us out even before we traveled to Texas and then it intensified while there. The three staff members joined us in the battle and we had a rich time of prayer together. Texas means friendship and at that moment I knew we had new and long-lasting friends in Texas!
I would extend that call to all of you. If you believe that the girls who are being held captive in sexual exploitation or sex trafficking need to be rescued, redeemed, and renewed by God through Esthers Rising, I would ask that you pray for all involved. This time in Texas made us realize just how important it is to pray intentionally for Him to be with us in all we do and put our hands to.
- Suzi Kremer, Co-Founder & Executive Director of Operations