A Note from a Palestinian’s Wife

Hi, my name is Dori. I’m 27. I’m American and I have family members dying in Gaza. Over 25 family members have died in less than two weeks time. I have not even had the chance to meet them. I should clarify they are not of my flesh and blood, you see, I am married to a Palestinian man. They are his relatives, his blood, but when you marry someone their family becomes your own. I can’t say I know their names, their ages, or even that I could recognize their faces. Yet, my lack of memories haunts my hurting heart. I don’t like war; I dream of hope, peace and love. But in days like these, when so many heart-breaking things are taking place in our world, I struggle to feel others are hoping with me. Days- when empathy and love are lacking and judgment and anger blinds.

I wish I could protect my husband from the lack of awareness and the hatred. I wish I could say these things weren’t alive and well in my home country, culture, or with in Christianity. But I see it. Forget politics. Are we to show lack of disdain for human life? Even in a community known to defend the unborn, is this community supporting the death of innocent people? What is our definition of justice? Where is our love? Should I have to listen to my husband re-tell me a stranger’s questions such as, “So you guys are the ones bombing Israel?”

I know one thing, though I struggle, I pray for peace and hope in our world. The unbiased kind, the kind that only comes from a loving God’s heart.

Hope & Ashes

The last of the girls I worked with in India graduated from the program today. She is going to be working with Freedom Firm’s jewelry making business, Ruhamah designs, in another city in India. My heart is so happy. I feel like a proud mama. I cried when I found out.

I’ve whole-heartedly missed her and the other girls. There is something about the silliness and life she brought when I was around her, the girl I named Hope* in my blog. It’s really what her name means. The name she chose for herself. She really taught me a lot…

There is redemption. There is hope.

Life is what you make it. Beauty can truly come from ashes.

(Hope* taking a break after helping with horse therapy)

Check out Ruhamah’s latest designs here: http://www.ruhamah.in/

FREEDOM WEEK!

Hi friends,
It’s been a while. I wanted to let all of you central valley dwellers know about something extremely exciting that is going on in Fresno this week! It’s called Freedom Week- something that I have been hoping and praying for the past year or so especially. It’s a week dedicated to the awareness and desired end of sex trafficking here in the central valley. Yes, it even happens here.  I am proud of Fresno and the organizations involved in this project to be unafraid of talking about this issue and acting on it. This is an excellent opportunity to become more educated on sex trafficking and forced prostitution. The events include awareness meetings, prayer, workshops, film screenings, and music and art advocacy. I was able to see one of the documentaries, “Nefarious,” this past October and am excited for its use here. It’s a harsh reality… but it is a reality with hope. I would like to challenge those of you who have had a desire to know and do more regarding this worldwide issue to attend at least one event. What an exciting thing to be able to be a part of here in our city!

 

Check out the schedule for the week here:

FREEDOM WEEK.

Buy a “I heart Baghdad” shirt and join the hope movement!

My sister, Dawn, is selling “I heart Baghdad” shirts… support her trip/move to Iraq and the hope movement! (her website: http://hopeiraq.com/)

$12 THIS WEEK ONLY!!!!!!!! ORDER YOURS TODAY!

“I ♥ Baghdad”
in Arabic
“with outrageous hope”
in English on back

Buy the shirts here:

http://www.etsy.com/listing/74711519/i-heart-baghdad-shirt

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Sakaal Times article

Sakaal Times Pune has an article where sex trafficking in India is discussed and Freedom Firm, the organization I volunteered with in India, is highlighted.

Read the article here: http://epaper.sakaaltimes.com/SakaalTimes/16Jul2011/Normal/page6.htm

The elephant in the room

So, I may or may not be writing a Children’s book. {insert laughter} Never, ever, would I have imagined myself writing any kind of book. But, here I am. What am I writing about? What’s my vision? Well, I am writing a story about sex trafficking to raise awareness among kids (and parents). I’m sure you are thinking… hmm, interesting topic for a children’s book… how will that work? Well, it will be metaphorical and symbolic above all and meant to provoke thought, hope, and action.

It all started with elephants. I noticed images of elephants seemed to be popping up everywhere and then I was reminded of the phrase “an elephant never forgets” via a song and my mind immediately went to the girls I spend time with in India and how they, and all of the children and women like them around the world cannot be forgotten. So, the main character in the story will undoubtedly be an elephant. Elephants are really interesting to me- they’re known to be very intelligent, but yet they are such unsuspecting funny looking creatures. It makes me think of kids and how so often they are overlooked and not given the credit they are due for their wisdom and creative minds.

Then I had more ideas here and there and reminders of some prophecies over my life that were given last year. Some of which at the time I really wasn’t sure about their accuracy or what they meant. One was from a friend of my sister’s who told me she saw an image of me writing something… and that something seemed to be children’s books. Even then I laughed it off. This prophecy as well as some others that (now) seem to be related to this book writing were recorded and I have been re-listening to them lately.

It has felt like such a shock wave. So unexpected. And now it seems each day I have ideas for this book… ideas about the story as well as the illustrations (my dream is to have a rescued girl illustrate it!). It feels like this has all come tumbling through thin air, but I know it must be part of the bigger picture of what God has for my life and my part in the end of the global sex trade.

I have to say- all of the encouragement and positive feedback I’ve had from my blog has given me a sense of hope and confidence that I can do this. Even announcing it on my blog points to my faith hanging on a tree’s limb. Sex trafficking and it’s surrounding issues have been such an elephant in the room of our world until recently. Thank you to all my readers and supporters who haven’t been afraid to see this HUGE elephant!

Here goes nothing! (or here goes something!)

Hope for Iraq

I’m a believer in Hope… whether that is hope in an end to forced prostitution, true freedom and change in France, or for a city torn apart.

Baghdad-

Many people have a negative reaction when they hear this word,

but it’s just another city.

It’s another city in need of tremendous love and Hope… and the beauty is that Hope is real. I know this more than ever after my experiences with rescued girls in India. Hope is real. So, if Hope is real why not believe in it? Why not bring it to Baghdad? My sister Dawn’s heart explodes with Hope to do just that. Below is a way in which you can help her make this happen.

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“The person with the most hope has the most influence.” 

– unknown

Hello glorious friends,

When I was a child I thought I was born to lead a revolution, now I am sure of it. 

It’s a HOPE revolution. 

There is HOPE in the Middle East. There is HOPE for Iraq.

And so I am gathering a momentum of people who will stand with me and with heaven and say,

“I LOVE BAGHDAD WITH OUTRAGEOUS HOPE.”

Right now I am selling t-shirts which say, 

“I ♥ BAGHDAD”  in Arabic on the front and “with outrageous hope” in English on the back. They are available in white and black.

     

This is part of the fundraising for my trip to Baghdad this autumn. 

I need your help to get the word out. Would you help publicize these shirts and the HOPE movement for Iraq by sharing the link below via email, facebook, twitter, blogs, personal websites, word of mouth, etc? Also, if you want to order 10 or more, you will get $1 off of each shirt. So, if you have a youth group, prayer group, class, church etc that wants to join the HOPE revolution, let me know. 

The regular price of each shirt is $20 (shipping is included within the US). 

ATTENTION: ORDER AN “I ♥ BAGHDAD” shirt by JUNE 1 and get 10% off by using THIS COUPON CODE: ISAIAH668

http://www.etsy.com/shop/gammarays?ref=pr_shop#

THANK YOU oh so very very very very much!

As one of the top U.S. Admirals in Baghdad said in response to my Outrageous Hope project,

“WOW! God really is doing something amazing in Iraq!”

AMEN. And it’s going to get infinitely MORE amazing.

– Dawn Richardson

A prayer for India

(Near where I transfered buses with the girls to go to Smyrna)

A few mornings ago, I woke realizing I dreamed of India.

A few days before left India, something really hit me- India is a land in need of healing. Certainly there are places all over the world in need of God, but India has something different about it. It’s obviously a land in need of spiritual healing, but what surprised me was that it is a land in need of physical healing as well.  I can’t even begin to tally the amount of people I saw with some sort of physical problem, specifically I noticed many people with problems with their feet and legs. Legs! The very thing that helps you move forward.

India is a land of pain and heartbreak. Before going to India I may have thought of this as being dramatic, but after not only my experience with the girls, but hearing and seeing so many truly sad stories I can see this reality. So many children who have lost parents, parents who have lost children, so much loss. I watched many Hindi films while I was in India and besides the music and dancing (“Bollywood”) one other thing seemed to tie them together as a common thread. They are dramatic. Really dramatic. The older ones especially. There are traumatic accidents and sudden deaths or other forms of heartbreak. After seeing so many films that have such elements I began to wonder why… Indians like drama? Is that it? While, I think that’s part of it, I believe there is more to it than that. Many Indians themselves have seen and experienced such horror and pain first hand; they relate.

There is known to be a lot of corruption in India. The government and some persons in general who are leaders are unfair and crooked. (The caste system also plays in to this, I believe.) The culture is accustomed to the corruption, but some are willing to fight it. The presence of Freedom Firm is an example of just that! And the dream can be realized.

India, a country of 1.2 billion people, is only 5.6 percent Christian. There are many religions represented in India– Hinduism, Buddhims, Jainism, Sikhism, and Islam to name some. It’s fascinating how much these religions have influenced it’s culture through out history. Of course a country in need of healing is going to try to find their hope in something. It’s so sad for one country to be so lost.

I may not have a “calling” to India, but as a Christ follower, this hopeful heart would like to see (and believes) India can stretch out it’s legs and move into a new future. My prayer is for India to do just that.

(at the highest (in elevation) Tea Factory in South India)