JCH September-October Update
Hello friends. I hope you had a wonderful summer and fall. I can’t believe that it is nearly Thanksgiving already! It's always good to share what is going on with Justice, Compassion, and Hope.
I don’t know if you know, but September was Suicide Prevention month in both the US and Brazil. Sadly, this year, some people who work with us needed a suicide intervention. We realized as a team that suicide is a pandemic and doesn’t just impact those who are victims of sex trafficking but also those who work with them. We took very important measures to support our group and to open conversations about the reality and importance of mental health.
Save our Boys
Sex trafficking doesn’t discriminate based on nationality, ethnicity, or gender. In the communities that we serve, we have been fighting several cases of young boys being groomed for the sex trade and even raped. The shame that comes to these boys is incredibly difficult to bear and makes it harder for us to help them. JCH wants to protect them and to bring healing to them. We are determined to provide a safe place for the conversation about male abuse so they will find healing and courage. We also intentionally create projects for the communities that allow us to bring in mentors, teachers, and spiritual models.
We want to bring opportunities, not just for income but for involvement, belonging, and health, such as basketball, volleyball, and jiu-jitsu. Please pray specifically for our boys in Brazil and also the rest of the world and for our men who suffered from such horrible abuse; that they can find a safe place to talk, find healing, and encourage each other to overcome with good what was meant for evil.
Pig Farm to Chicken Farm
Good news for all of you who supported our Pig Farm project! As you know, these projects exist to create self-sufficiency in the community. JCH supports the community members involved in a project with training and other support for a period of one year. After that we analyze the project to see if it was a success or not, and if it should continue. The pig farm project we started a year and a half ago was part of this process. It proved adaptable to the families and community. Our pilot family is selling the pigs and has achieved self-sufficiency. This has allowed JCH to also reinvest some of the revenue from the project into our next project: Chickens!
We were able to buy 20 chicks for a local family to raise as we trained them and another family both in poultry farming. The purpose over the next year is to develop the families as entrepreneurs to sell the eggs, incubate chicks, and sell the chicks in order to become self-sustaining. We need about $4500 for this project for the incubator, additional fencing, vitamins, feed, and egg cartons. Donations will help us carry this project through the next year, including the training and education for the families. Each project we start includes a commitment from the family to pay it forward at the end of the project so another family can work towards self-sufficiency as well. We now have a proven, sustainable model that will continue to help additional families in the future, without additional funds, and protect their kids from grooming and vulnerability. If you want to help us spin up other projects and multiply our efforts with this sustainable and successful effort, please click here.
October Kids Day celebration
A beautiful thing about other countries besides the people are the traditions. In Brazil we celebrate Childrens’ Day, which is a day to give thanks for the existence of all the children. I believe when Jesus said to let the children come to him, that is what this holiday is about. We celebrate their innocence and the unconditional love they give. JCH works on such an important mission to prevent sex trafficking. Every year we host a community event which attracts children from ours and neighboring communities for games, treats, sports, arts and crafts, and we celebrate with them the fact that they are God’s creation.
This year we hosted 150 kids with no reliance on American funds. The event was entirely sponsored by local Brazilian businesses and partners. After just 5 years, we are starting to see the fruits of our intense training of the Brazilian people. They are starting to see that they must take care of their own. This is news we must celebrate!
Food Baskets
During the horrible Covid experience, a lot of Brazilians experienced extreme financial hardship, especially in the rural and vulnerable communities we serve. With this came an increased vulnerability to grooming and the view that the sex trade was the “only” way to fend off starvation. Unfortunately, we still have a lot of families in the same situation. One tool that JCH has used to reduce risk for these families is food baskets. We currently have 223 families in our communities facing this terrible need.
At the end of 2023, we had to pause the food basket project. Now, one year later, we need to begin this type of intervention again. We need your help to do that. We want to start with the 10 most vulnerable families. It costs around $150 to provide a basic needs food basket that will protect a family of 6 for one month. Please join us in sponsoring a family, or 10, by clicking here or visiting our website.
2024 was a very crazy year, and we still have over a month to go. We do have some specific needs, but we also have had some amazing victories. We believe that God is in control of this mission. He knows our hearts and he knows that we are willing to work to help those that struggle to help themselves. We are very grateful for all the support that you have given us. We invite you to continue on this journey with us. 2025 is going to be a fantastic year. Let’s change the world one community at a time.
