I
attended the Passion conference this past January in Georgia, and the
EndItMovement was a really big topic while were there. Enditmovement is
basically an organization that helps raise awareness of modern day slavery
across the world, including sex trafficking. After reading some of the
statistics about sex trafficking in America, you can’t help but want to try and
raise awareness for the cause.
As I was waiting for the church service to begin this
morning, I quickly scrolled threw my news feed on Facebook, and I noticed my
dear friend Janice’s post about sex trafficking. I clicked on the link and it
took me to her blog about sharing facts about sex trafficking with strangers
through post it notes in public restrooms. I shared this idea with my friends
Jenna, Gabe and Jessica- who was my roommate at the Passion conference. We
stopped at Dollar Tree for post it’s and pens; and we decided we were going to
plaster the restrooms in our local Wal-Mart. The Wal-Mart has two sets of
bathrooms, one at either end of the store. We started with the men’s room in the
back of the store.
Jessica
poked her head in and made sure they were empty; we both ran in and began
sticking them above toilets and on the mirrors. I even stuck one above the
water fountains outside the restrooms.
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Jenna and I began putting them in the ladies room while
Jessica wrote out more notes. As we were putting them in the ladies room, one
of the employees asked about it, and I shared with her what we were trying to
raise awareness for, and she seemed uninterested. Unfortunately, Jessica
actually noticed her brush one of our notes off of the wall, and this kind of
made me feel a little discouraged. As we made our way to the restrooms in the
front, I decided that I was going to tell everyone, and I didn’t care who took
them down. Someone was going to get something out of our notes. I began
sticking them on shoes and clothes as we walked by.
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When we got to the rest rooms up front, Gabe went into the
men’s room with a hand full of post it notes, while Jenna, Jessica and I went into
the ladies room. When we walked, in a woman, I’m guessing in her 40s asked
what we were doing. We told her about the conference we attended in Georgia,
and about Janice’s blog, and about how we were trying to bring people’s
attention to sex trafficking. She thought it was great to see that were so adamant
about the subject 6 months after our conference. We held a conversation right
there in the bathroom with her as people were coming in and out, for probably
10 minutes.
Some of the statistics are just unbelievable, and it’s
really saddening to think it goes on here in our own country. This is was such
an amazing experience, and I really hope that we are able to share more about
modern day slavery and sex trafficking with strangers. It felt so good to know
that we could be potentially saving a life by sharing this information with
someone, and it was practically free to do it! I pray that someone wonders
about our notes enough to research and help with the cause! -Danielle
I kind of have mixed feelings about my experience. It made
me glad, sad, frustrated, and irritated all at the same time. I got a little
upset and angry when the employee pulled down one of the notes, because it’s so
important, and it shouldn't just be brushed off like it’s nothing! I’m grateful
that I got to help make a difference, even in our small town. Most people will
probably ignore the notes, but I know that someone is going to notice it, and
God will speak to them. Words can’t really explain all of the feelings I have
but that is as close as I can get. -Jessica
I feel like we made a difference, and it felt really good to
inform people. There were a few people that stopped to read the notes, and it
was exciting to see people reading them. It felt good to know that what we were
doing could help someone somewhere in the world. -Jenna
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