This morning I woke up and put on a simple brown dress. And every morning for at least the whole month of April, I will wake up and put on the same dress (yes, I will wash it, and no, I won’t wear it to bed or to exercise).
“What?” you ask, “why on earth would you do that?!” Very good question.
Well, there is a short answer and a long answer. I’ll give you both.
Short answer: To raise awareness for myself and others of the horrors of human/sex trafficking, both abroad and right here in the USA.
Long answer: There are three things I have come to realize of late. One, I have led a very blessed, even charmed, life. Really. Raised in a fantastic home with Christ-following parents who loved me. I have been protected and sheltered from much of the ugliness of this world that we live in, constantly surrounded by others who love Jesus. Not that I didn’t know the ugliness existed, but I never had to touch it, or at least not for very long. When confronted with homelessness, street children, orphans, wickedness and depravity, I helped for a moment, and then retreated back to my “safe zone.” I have always had a bed, a home, people who love me, education, more clothes than are really necessary, and all of my needs and so very many of my wants satisfied. Above all, I have always been safe.
Two, there are hundreds upon thousands of women and young, young girls who are not safe. Who have been sold, used and abused. Who are forced to prostitute their bodies for the sake of money. Who have no bed to call their own, who have been torn from their families, who are, in a very real sense, lost and helpless. I also guess that many of them probably long for their dignity back, for the shame to disappear and their innocence to be restored. For a simple dress to cover them, to feel beautiful and wanted for who they are instead of what they offer.
Three, that my eyes, for so long shuttered against this atrocity, are beginning to open. That my heart is beginning to bleed for these girls. That I have so, so much to learn about these lovely daughters of our King and the pain they experience because of sin and the depravity of man. And that in my learning, I can also help. That by donning this dress every day, I can pray for them, learn about what is being done to fight against sex trafficking, talk to others about it, and get involved in helping rescue these women.
I first learned about the One Dress Campaign from Amy Seiffert, a fellow staff member and fabulous blogger who is wearing her dress for 6 months!!! She is almost done with month 5, and I am committed to go the last part of this journey with her. Amy is donating all the money she would normally spend on clothes and accessories to The Daughter Project, a group in Toledo, Ohio who are building a safe house for women rescued out of sex slavery right there in Ohio, opening in early July.
In the coming weeks I will be posting updates and stories on the campaign and ways that I am learning and changing. I invite you to enter in this journey with me as a fellow learner, whether or not you wear the same clothes for a month. 🙂
A Mosaic 