Have you ever been faced with an issue so big you don't even know where to begin? That's the place we were at. In the spring of 2017, we came together with a common issue at heart. It is an issue that has several names: human trafficking, sex trafficking, Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children, Domestic Minor Sex Trafficking- all of which describe a similar form of oppression. Contrary to popular belief, this is occurring in our own communities and isn't limited to the heart-wrenching stories we hear about overseas. Though it can appear multiple ways, the damage that is done is the same.
What started as awareness became a prayer that turned into what is now The Garden at Brookside. We strategically placed ourselves in an area of high susceptibility to these social issues and- more importantly- it is an area that is rooted in community and relationship. An area bursting with life and restoration that we are here to come alongside and learn from.
"To be in communion means to be with someone and to discover that we actually belong together. Communion means accepting people just as they are, with all their limits and inner pain, but also with their gifts and their beauty and their capacity to grow: to see the beauty inside of all the pain. To love someone is not first of all to do things for them, but to reveal to them their beauty and value, to say to them through our attitude: 'You are beautiful. You are important. I trust you. You can trust.' ” -Jean Vanier; From Brokenness to Community.