Monday, June 18, 2012

Reflections from Valued Restoration Ministries' Interns




Ministry of Presence (by M.C)

At Restoration Ministries we serve a population that others sometimes neglect.  Throughout their lives, the precious young girls we minister to are neglected and abused. It takes time and commitment to break through their hardened exteriors, but most importantly it takes the love of Christ.  We strive to display to each girl the love of her  Heavenly Father who sees special promise in her, who deeply desires to resurrect the parts of her spirit beaten down by abuse, and who will never leave her or forsake her. We do this by slowly, carefully building trusting and honest relationships.  We give each girl a safe place in which to open up her heart. Our goal is to develop long-term friendships with the girls we serve in order to bring them to wholeness in Jesus Christ.   

We often say we are a ministry of presence. This year the Lord has revealed to me the power of continuing to show up and give time and gentle attention to those who feel broken, alienated, and forgotten.  One afternoon I was coloring quietly with a young lady that I have been seeing for months when she looked up at me and said, “I know now that God is real and that he loves me because you always show up. I never have to doubt that you will be here. You just love me, without judging me, and you don’t even have to”.  Her comment almost brought me to tears as I realized that slowly the Lord had begun to reveal himself to her through one person’s simple act of just showing up.

So we continue to show up each week, and the Lord is present with us and moving in our midst!  This year so far we have had the opportunity to speak purpose and destiny into our girls’ lives on numerous occasions through holding parties, making art together, and sharing thoughts in group discussions.  One week we discussed self-esteem and the girls beamed from ear to ear as they talked about how God sees them as beloved daughters, victorious, righteous, and precious in His sight. It was beautiful to see the Lord dispelling the lies that are ingrained so deeply in the girls and filling those empty spaces with His truth.

As we continue to be faithful with what He has entrusted to us, the Lord stays close at our side. . Each day we see the cracks in our girls’ self-protective shells widen a little bit, and we are reminded over and over that “where the spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.” – M.C.

A Legal Intern's Reflections on Rewarding, yet Heartbreaking work


Reflections from a Restoration Ministries' Intern (by B.I.):

Interning at Restoration Ministries in Washington, D.C. has already proven to be a great learning experience. I go every Friday to the Psychiatric Hospital of Washington and every Monday to the juvenile detention center called the Youth Services Center to meet with around twenty girls ranging in age from 11 to 17, some of whom have been sex trafficked, to participate in what the founder of Restoration Ministries, Candace Wheeler, calls “a ministry of presence.” During my second week at Restoration, I was called upon, due to a change in staffing, by God and Candace to lead the teams at the psych hospital and juvenile detention center in our weekly discussions. As a mom of three boys, I found it a little daunting to deal with a room full of girls, but have grown to love it and to really love the girls. They need so much of it. Restoration has also been blessed with a great team of women this summer, and I feel honored to work with and know each of them. A true team spirit prevails here.

During our time at both facilities, we read through a discussion sheet focused on a particular topic for that week and follow that up with an art activity that compliments the discussion. The discussions always deal with spirituality, health and wellness, prostitution and trafficking, or job skills but always with a Christian focus and scripture.  This week, my last of four weeks of leading discussions, I was blessed with a team of musicians to play worship songs, and I taught the girls sign language for signing the words of part of one of the songs. It was a big hit and led to a prayer circle time at both facilities that led to the girls’ speaking out their own prayers to God, something they also write on paper so we can tape it to our “wailing wall” and continue to pray over back at the organization. It was powerful and moving, and God was clearly present. Some girls began to cry and to seek one-on-one attention and prayer from the team, which each of the members was glad to do, the true rewards of the work.

The goal of every discussion time is to get the girls to open up and begin talking with the ultimate goal of building relationships with them. It’s through that process that they are more ready to reveal the truth about the things they have experienced, including sex trafficking. Once it’s clear that there is a possibility of a girl having been trafficked for sex, Restoration Ministries begins another level of working with her, sometimes for years. The work is both rewarding and heartbreaking and the success stories, due to the complexities of sex trafficking and the layers of trauma, are incremental, and few and far between. However, Candace has never wavered in her commitment to the challenge and calling God has put on her life. She has walked for over eight years through the trials that come with this work to maintain that commitment with an integrity and determination that God is beginning to reward in great ways. It has been a wonderful time to be interning here to see what God does when we are faithful.

Candace’s goal for any law student interning at Restoration Ministries is to provide the intern the opportunity to get to experience the reality of girls who have been trafficked, in hopes it will create a greater sensitivity towards the victim for the intern’s future practice in law. In addition, a legal intern is able to get a firsthand understanding of domestic rather than international trafficking, something that often gets overlooked. I have been richly rewarded in both of these ways.

My other responsibilities as a legal intern have been to create legal agreements for new volunteers, interns, and independent contractors; to attend D.C. and Northern Virginia Task Force meetings; to meet with the local judge who handles all of the prostitution cases dealing with juveniles; to meet with the U.S. Attorney who heads the D.C. Trafficking Task Force, and to attend several forums on trafficking, one at the state-of-the-art FBI Northern Virginia Resident Agency in Manassas, Virginia. I will soon be doing a nighttime ride along with local police officers who focus on prostitution and possibly will be able to sit in a few prostitution court cases.

Add to all of that how much I love the city with its unbelievable number of people; my hour commute to and from Bethesda, Maryland on a sometimes un-air-conditioned and always jam-packed crowded Metro train; the long, high escalators leading out of the dimly lit train tunnels to my lovely summer home and host in Bethesda; the restaurants on every corner with every possible delicious cuisine; and the amazing sights in D.C. including my favorite recent discovery, the National Gallery of Art’s Sculpture Garden. This is where tourists and interns alike sit in the midst of a circle of neatly pruned trees by a reflecting pool, shoes on the ground behind them, cooling their feet in the pool’s waters, feet steaming from the blocks and blocks of required D.C. walking. Arcs of water stream across the pool, starting low and rising to a crescendo, all meeting in the middle. Breathtaking! Yesterday, a duck dive-bombed into the pool to get crackers from some kids sitting near me. I have never seen a duck from quite that angle, legs dangling as he soared above trying to pick the perfect landing spot. I feel like that duck. First year of law school is like legs dangling, looking for a place to land. I feel I’ve found it for this summer. Thanks so much to those who have made it possible, Candace, Regent, and donors. Six more weeks and lots more to come…. – B.I. 

To Learn and To Serve


Reflections from a Restoration Ministries' Intern (by C.W.):

 I had no idea what to expect coming into my job at Restoration Ministries (RM). The one thing I was for sure about is that it is exactly where the Lord wanted me.

The first day of my internship I walked in expecting a morning prayer meeting (as my boss had mentioned to me in an email). I love conversing with the King so I figured it would be an awesome start to the day and I really thought it was just going to be a start to the day. Well, after meeting my boss and touring the office I found out that it was not just a morning prayer meeting but that Thursdays are prayer DAY. We spent time in prayer/worship from 9am until around 3:30 in the afternoon. Awesome! I admit, I was a little intimidated coming into a prayer meeting for an organization I knew very little about. But, the fact that this ministry operates out of reliance on our creator was such an encouraging first impression!

Through time in prayer, I really got to see how much my boss, Candace, really trusts God for. She asks for small and specific things as well as big things beyond our control. As my co-workers prayed, I listened and started learning about the ministry and what they actually do. I was filled with questions that spilled out as soon as we had a break from prayer. It was such an interesting way to get a feel for the organization.

I learned that a big part of what RM does is to go into the Youth Detention Center and Psych Institute weekly and provide a prostitution/intervention and prevention program. The girls age from 11-17 and have been brought to these facilities for things such prostitution, running away from home, self-harm, or suicidal tendencies. Each weekly meeting has a different topic of focus that could range from sex trafficking to future careers. RM gives each girl an intake form to try and gauge her history of sexual exploitation. If RM feels that the girl has been a victim of sex trafficking, further measures are taken to gain more information and provide services/resources for the girl’s healing.

RM also seeks to establish long-term relationships with the girls so that when they are released from their current facility, they have a place to turn for further help. This is just a summary of the work that RM does and has been doing over the past 8 years, there is still even more that goes on.

Before starting this internship there were two things that I felt the Holy Spirit wanted me to expect: to learn and to serve. It has been less than three weeks and I have already seen those things play out. I have been learning so much by spending time with Candace and other team members. Candace has had to sacrifice so much for this ministry that the Lord has obviously called her to. She has been so faithful to His prompting but it has not been easy. D.C. has been a hard place to plant this ministry and finding community to back her up has also been a trial; however, she stays faithful. It is so encouraging to see how much Candace really believes the Lord and trusts Him. I feel that a big reason I am here this summer is to serve her and lift her up as the Lord continues to use her. I am also so blessed by Beth who is a legal intern here at RM. She has children my own age but has honestly become such a good friend and sister to me already. She has an incredible story that Christ has and is using in her life. He shines brightly in it and that has so challenged me.

Though much of my work is very “interny” and mundane, that was expected and I am happy to do it. I am so blessed to be able to spend time with the girls at all. I feel a strong calling to be here and the Lord is definitely sustaining. Not everyday is joy-filled but I am praying that I can find gratitude in small things such as making copies or organizing files.

"His master replied, 'Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!'” Matthew 25:23  - C.W.


Through a Man's Eyes

Reflections from a past Intern (by M.L.)

As a man working at Restoration Ministries, I was changed in a way I will never forget.  As a third-year counseling student seeking a practicum site, I discovered this ministry to sexually exploited girls and decided to get involved. When I first walked into the center to meet with the director of the program, I immediately saw the Wailing Wall filled with prayer requests from the girls they were working with at the Youth Service Center (YSC) and The Psychiatric Institute of Washington (PIW), and it made an impact.  

I was generally aware of human trafficking but believed it was mainly happening in foreign countries. By reading articles from CNN and other online resources, I became more aware of prostitution and sex slavery in the United States. While growing up in Northern Virginia, I had heard of areas in D.C. where women were being prostituted.  However, learning the facts from third parties made the reality feel distant. I did not take it seriously since I did not have any direct involvement with the issue and it did not affect anyone I knew. All of that changed when I started working personally with girls at YSC and PIW through Restoration Ministries. The real damage of sex trafficking is undeniable when a girl is sitting in front of you, telling her story.

 To hear from these young girls how so many of them had survived being molested and raped by their own family members, before finally being sold into prostitution, was gut-wrenching.  Their heartbreaking stories of being abused sexually, emotionally, and mentally are ones that have stuck with me and caused me to re-evaluate how I view and relate to the women in my life.

One area I have dealt with is the messages and references made toward women in the music and movies I consume. Before working at Restoration Ministries, I saw a “pimp” as a man who was able to have a lot of women, and I saw the number of women a man had as a badge of merit. However, seeing up close the damage a pimp really causes changed the way I saw that type of man. This simple concept helped me re-evaluate the things I watch and listen to, which is something all Christians should do.  The Bible says in Romans 12:2 “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.” Working with these girls meant that I had a rare chance to see with new eyes how my actions might affect others, and gave me an opportunity to learn how to truly convey God’s love to them.  

After realizing the impact men had in the lives in these girls, and how deeply I as a man could influence the women around me, I knew that I would always be a work in progress. There will always be the need for me to renew my mind and set boundaries on what I watch, what I listen to, and how I act. I encourage every man to monitor what he allows to enter his mind.  The Bible clearly states in Proverbs 4:23 “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.”  There is nothing that we will indulge that will not surface in our actions and in our relationships. Let’s be careful what we let into our minds, so that we can know that what flows from our hearts will be Godly love.   – M.L.