1 year ago today my husband and I sat in a movie theater watching The Abolitionist, (a documentary of human trafficking), not knowing how our lives would be so dramatically impacted.  I remember feeling extra grateful when we made it home that night to our comfortable, safe space and kissed our sweet angels goodnight.  I remember thinking of all of my blessings and wishing that I had some talent, some money, something more that I could give to those who were effected by the plague of human trafficking.  I never imagined that within 6 months my home would be rented out to another family and many of our comforts would be sold off.  I did not imagine that our family of 6 would be sharing one bedroom in the same country that I had refused to visit with my children due to fear for their safety.  I definitely did not imagine myself opening a shelter for children who were survivors of human trafficking.

Well, here we are.  We have now been living in the Philippines for over 4 months and we are half way through our first phase of making the shelter a reality.  We have filled out loads of paperwork, stood in lines for hours on end, had meetings on-line, over the phone and in person.  We have met founders, executive directors and employees of multiple shelters.  We met with the leaders of the Department of Social Welfare and International Justice Mission.  We have volunteered for various non-profit organizations, studied operations manuals, employee manuals and any other materials we can get our hands on.

This month we are wrapping up everything that has to be done here in Manila and planning our next leap of faith.  We are shooting to move to a new city where we will be opening the shelter.  (We have chosen not to name the city on the blog or other social media for the safety of our family.)  We visited there recently and received a clear answer to prayer that the shelter is needed there.  Although we have that answer, we are running on faith alone because we do not have the funds needed to move forward yet.

This project is no small undertaking and we surely cannot do it alone!    It is not easy to ask for money, even when I know that every penny donated will make a difference in the lives of children in need!  We have seen the blessings come from being involved and would love to see more people taking part.

I have created an Excel spreadsheet of our needs, similar to a wedding registry. Everything is estimated according to what we have priced through locals, others who run shelters or just online.  We can get exact costs for those who are willing to pledge to cover specific items.   We are a 501c3 Non-profit company so your donations are tax exempt.  You can donate through a company, individually or create a group and split the cost.  If you see an item that you plan to cover, let us know and we will take it off of the list.

Please donate using our website www.lighthousesanctuary.org

Thank you to those who are making the miracles happen by joining the cause!

Lighthouse