Rescued children from child trafficking

In September 2013 we were able to rescue 40 children from becoming trafficked in Benin. The children are all in school and we are working hard to help the parents with small business endeavors so they can feed their children. We are seeing beautiful results from these endeavors.

Five sewing machines were provided for our anti trafficking team. Three sew machines are being used by 3 people. Each person who is using the machines each pay 14.00 per month to use the machines. In about 14 months of paying monthly to use their machine, that money will be used to purchase the machine they are using, and it will become their own. Another new/ used machine will be purchased for another woman or man to start their sewing business. The 14.00 dollars that goes into the pot from those who are sewing is being used to loan to woman to start small businesses. Little micro loans are being made for 4.00 per woman to purchase food things that they can make things to sell in the market with. The woman are paying it back at the end of the month with an extra 20 cents added for interest. These ladies are all so poor, these amounts are working for them to start up small income businesses. They have around 50 women doing these small businesses from those loans. The other two machines are being kept with one of the team members of the Anti trafficking team. She is teaching the woman at her place how to make bags and purses. She just started doing this. She said she will let me know how this goes. She is trying to find higher income generating things for the women to sell. These are two testimonials from 2 parents of children on the feeding program we implemented with the children who we helped get into school. We are providing a hot lunch at school for the 40 rescued children. Here are two testimonials. I am the reason why the team came to our village . In previous years I could not buy a uniform for my child, or provide school supplies for him, so he was never able to go to school. This year every thing has changed, my child has a school uniform, school stuff and is able to eat food every day at school. I notice that my child never misses class and loves to go to school because, he knows he will get something to eat there. God bless the team I had a plan to send my child to Nigeria this last year, but when the team came asking for names of children who could not attend school, and who were going to be sent away, I quickly gave my child's name to the team. I am thanking the team for giving my child food at school every week. The food they are getting at school keeps them from coming home at 10 am to look for food at lunchtime. Most of the time they would not return to school because they had no food to eat. God has used the team to solve this problem.

Liberia and New Identities

With each trip, it is wonderful to see the progress of the children we are helping. They each have incredible hope for the future now that they have been rescued from so much abuse, neglect and over all apathy for their care. Seeing the little ones growing up and becoming preteen kids, it is hard to believe we have been involved with some of these children for more than 5 years now. Having a summer celebration with some of them, it was fun to see the girls who once were close to starvation, now looking and acting like any other preteen girl, wanting pretty hair, colored nails and cute clothes. Their appearance is not the only thing that has changed. They have also learned about a God who loves them incredibly and who desires a personal relationship with them. Through our child development program they are thriving and learning they are loved, valued, and are a one of a kind. No one on this whole earth is the same as them. They are learning that God has an incredible plan for their life. They have come alive as they have begun to understand who they are through Christ’s eyes. It is such a beautiful thing to be apart of. Our field staff with Orphan Relief and Rescue are doing such a wonderful job with all they are entrusted with in the care and rescuing of these precious children in Liberia.

Child Trafficking

“Rebecca, will you please start another safe home in our area?” pleaded the influential judge I was meeting with while in Benin, West Africa. “This last month I arrested a man at the Nigerian border who was trafficking 16 very little children into Nigeria.” “Tell me about this case,” I replied. The judge began to explain that parents in a certain village gave their little children to this man who said he would take them so they would not have an extra mouth to feed. In an area where survival is difficult, they willingly gave their children away without so much as a second thought. This man then took them to the Nigerian border to sell into slavery, only thinking of the profit he would be making. The judge then said, “Rebecca, these villagers are not bad people; this is just a consequence of poverty. I just could not believe how little the children were.” I then asked the tough question. “Tell me, Judge; where did you take those children when you rescued them?” He put his head down, and then answered me. “That’s the worst part of this whole thing, Rebecca. We had nowhere to put the children, so we took them back to the village. My fear is that they will soon be trafficked out again. The parents do not want their children.” During our meeting, the judge thanked me for what Orphan Relief and Rescue is already doing with the current safe home/orphanage we are having such huge success with, which is currently full with 60 children in Benin. He then asked me to not forget the many others who daily come into the system with no place to go.  As I left his office, I said a prayer for these precious little children. Then I breathed another prayer to God to please bring more safe homes into existence and give us a game plan on how we can help on a larger scale and to affect villages for long-term change in this area. In the meantime, we continue to be extremely thankful for the kids we have been able to rescue through your partnership. Through your sacrificial giving you have helped us accomplish the impossible. As the need grows more urgent, your help is needed more than ever. You can go to our organization's Website to help at www.orphanreliefandrescue.org

My book "Inspired to Action" is now published!!!

The big day has finally arrived! My book, "Inspired to Action" is finally ready for the public.
You can order your copy by going to Amazon.com or www.rebeccampratt.com (don't forget the m).

I have started blogging on my website at rebeccampratt.com, so you can also find me blogging there as well.

Sweet Redemption

Tonight was a very sobering evening as all the children in the Benin orphanage gathered around me to pray for my itchy skin to be healed (exzema rash on my arms). They sang some precious songs to God, then one by one said a beautiful prayer over me. The sobering part was looking out at all of them so passionate in their love for God and others and remembering where they came from just a short time ago.
Some were rescued from domestic slavery, abuse as well as others watched parents die horrific and sad deaths through murder or AIDS.

As they were praying the 3 who were directly standing in front of me where a sibling group who just last year watched their parents brutally murdered by a thief that broke into their home one evening. The youngest one, then two was found laying over her mothers bloody dead body crying. The pain and scaring they came with is unbelievable, and now they were extending out their hands to me praying the most precious prayers over my life. That just blew my mind and put a huge lump in my throat.

I then started looking around the room as my eyes were supposed to be closed. I could not help but breath in this moment in time when I could watch each passionate prayer of complete selflessness from ones whom I knew in normal circumstances would be cursing the world for the injustices done to them, and yet I was witnessing this beautiful picture of redemption.

Thank you God for redeeming them, restoring them and bringing them to life in you.

The sweetness of tonight is embedded in my mind for years to come.

Benin trip July 31-Aug 10 2011

I am leaving tomorrow for Benin West Africa. We are checking on the safe home/orphanage we were apart of starting 2 years ago.
We are checking up on them as well as scouting out what the next step is for us as Orphan Relief and Rescue in helping more children. We are focusing on the children who are being used as domestic servants in homes as an orphan. There are hundreds of thousands of children being used as domestic servants in this country. As an orphan in particular, that child has no value as a person. They are strictly a piece of property. We are working to change all that.

Stay posted

Champion For Children Award

Just returned from the Child Abuse summit in Portland where we received the "Champion for Children" award. Very honored by these amazing men and women who serve to protect so many in our local community and around the world. Very inspired to continue to work hard on behalf of so many kids that are senselessly used as domestic servants with all kinds of abuses. As well as to help children in abusive and neglectful orphanage homes with some terrible directors. That is the other side of what we do that is not so pleasant yet so important.