For the past two weeks we have been gathering a variety of items needed at Freedom Place from churches and individuals in the Houston area.  A comprehensive, Christ-centered care & recovery center for underage female victims of domestic child sex trafficking, Freedom Place is the first facility of its kind in the state of Texas.  As the donation drive for Freedom Place comes to a close, the results have been more than encouraging.  God has been, as always, faithful to provide in abundance.  I am currently a Community Health major at Texas A&M fulfilling my degree requirements of a 3 month internship before graduation.  My desire to intern at Mission Centers of Houston came from an interest in joining their recent anti-human trafficking initiatives.  I was and still am excited to not only work alongside Kate in these initiatives, but also with community members who are at risk for human trafficking.  The donation drive for Freedom Place is just one of the opportunities I have had to help organize and also gain experience in the area of anti-human trafficking.  My personal expectation for the number of items and amount of money to be raised by this drive has already been exceeded.  I enjoyed connecting with people as Kate and I dropped off and picked up the donation bins.  I could sense the excitement and enthusiasm to help as we talked with people about the donation drive.  We want to thank everyone who gave to Freedom Place through this drive.  A special thank you to the following churches and organizations that collected items and/or showed our video promoting the donation drive:

From personal experience, it can be frustrating to be faced with an issue like human trafficking and not know how to tangibly help.  As we serve a God of love and justice, there is a longing to aid victims of human trafficking, but the avenue to do that is not always clear.  I could see this in the people we met with and myself.  This drive allows us that clear avenue.  For every church, organization, and individual who participated in this donation drive for Freedom Place, either through giving or prayer, thank you again.

Lauren