Newsletters, Fall 2017
Hi Guys!
Below you will find copies of the newsletters for September - November 2017. We are deeeeeeep into the final move to Argentina, with half the team already there and the other half still in the States. So this is the best we can do as far as communication right now ;) The original newsletters have fun pictures and graphics, but that's apparently hard to copy and paste into the blog!
If you'd like to be on the email list to receive our monthly newsletter, there are pop ups all over the site to do that or you can just email us and ask to be put on the list.
Blessings
Jess
SEPTEMBER 2017
Greetings Abolitionists!
We are counting down the weeks until D-day! In about 5 weeks, we will be moving to Argentina. It seems like it was only a short time ago that God gave us a vision to help victims of human trafficking in Argentina. Back in 2012, we felt like this day would never come, and now we are almost there!
On October 14th, our friends and colleagues from A21 Argentina (as well as A21 teams all over the world) are doing their annual Walk for Freedom (you can find out more about this global event at the A21 website), and we are excited that we will be attending! Ben and Clayton were there last year for Argentina’s first ever Walk, and we’re glad we are able to support them again.
Jess and Ben just returned from a 12 day trip to Argentina. They met with people who are eager to help, visited churches and organizations, met government officials, and many other things. They looked at properties that are promising, and we will continue to move forward with prayer and godly counsel. We have not found a place we are willing to put money down on, but we are con dent that God has an amazing plan and it will be revealed in His timing. Our real estate agent is still looking in the areas just outside the city. We are currently planning to possibly rent a small house for 3 months while we attend language school, solidify relationships, and basically get settled. We will also be working with a few organizations that are currently doing education, outreach and counseling for human tra cking victims. Once we are able to purchase land, we will be able to build our center. We are aiming to be open and sensitive to the plan God has for the girls He wants us to minister to.
All of our partners in the country are eagerly anticipating our arrival. One of our contacts is currently looking for housing for 4 survivors, another is looking for somewhere to place girls rescued during police raids. The need is great, it is urgent, but none of this took God by surprise. He is going before us and preparing the hearts of those to whom we are meant to speak life. We are praying for God’s hand to be on the process of opening this center and that his timing would be evident to us.
Due to various unforeseeable circumstances that have come up this month, we will be postponing our moving sale until September 8-9. If you have any items to donate, please email Rachel at rachel.king@vostambien.org. Thank you again for your amazing support!
Blessings
OCTOBER 2017
Greetings Abolitionists!
October is finally here! God gave us the vision for this ministry 5 years ago, and we have spent that time praying, planning, and preparing. Now it’s time to hit the ground and prepare to build our after-care center. We already have organizations recommending girls to enter our program. It will be several months before we can accept clients, but we are certain that God’s timing is perfect.
Ben and Rachel will be moving to Argentina on October 9th. Their last Sunday at FMFC will be the 8th, so if you’d like to see them before they go, that would be the day! They will begin the process of setting up our contract with a group of Christian counselors and psychologists who counsel abused women, so that we can work under their non-profit status until we can set up our own. They will also be attending the A21 walk for Freedom. Jessica will be joining them for the weekend and will be attending some meetings with various partners and volunteers.
We are still working on purchasing land to build the aftercare center. There are some options in the works, but nothing de nite enough to announce yet. Our contractor in Argentina has our plans and is adjusting them for Argentine building codes. We are still planning to build the center to house 8 women initially. Our contacts in Argen- tina are fairly certain that we will be at capacity quickly. We will be looking for future staff members and planning our expansion as soon as possible. We are so thankful to the people that have offered to come volunteer when we are ready. We will definitely be getting in contact with you. It’s a huge task, but we know that God has called us for this purpose and he has the plans already.
The Coss family will be remaining in the United States to take care of some family things. They will be moving to Argentina in December. They are going to continue the work on the US side and make sure the transfer of funds to Argentina goes smoothly.
We are continuously grateful for the prayers you all have been sending our way. We can’t say everything is easy and stress-free, but God is definitely moving on our behalf, and you all are part of it. We love you.
Blessings
The VT Team
NOVEMBER 2017
Greetings Abolitionists!
We are writing this newsletter from the center of the beautiful city of Buenos Aires, Argentina! It’s been a long 5 years of planning and preparation, but half of our team is now in Buenos Aires, and the other half has tickets for next month. Be in prayer for both halves of the team, as we are each working hard in very different aspects of the ministry! If you haven’t joined our prayer team and would like to be a part of that, simply reply to this email and we will get you started in that.
We are so excited to nally be on the ground and have a chance to make a di erence for girls who are trapped in bondage here in Argentina. Here’s a look at some of the amazing things that God has been doing this month.
Ben, Rachel, and Jess were able to attend the 2nd annual Buenos Aires A21 Walk For Freedom (if you don’t know about A21 or the Walk for Freedom, check out a21.org). We had mentioned to the A21 leader that, conveniently, the Walk was starting right outside the Youth With A Mission (ywam.org) base where we have been staying. It turns out that A21 was having trouble getting registration tables for the Walk. We got her in touch with the YWAM base leader who not only loaned her tables, but also shared the information about the Walk to YWAM’s Facebook page. Contacts were made, and the Walk was a huge success- with twice the number of people as last year’s!
God has been preparing the hearts of the people in Buenos Aires for this fight against human trafficking. God has been preparing a staff for the center, and we are earnestly looking for the place He has set aside for VT. We have been contacted by counselors, social workers, occupational therapists, translators, and even lm makers who want to support our work with their gifts and talents. God is preparing to do something incredible in this city and we are so happy to be a part of it.
We have been working closely with several large organizations that are fighting human trafficking in Buenos Aires through legal action, awareness, education, prevention, rescue, and emergency care. Unfortunately, they did not know about each other... until now. We were able to set up a meeting of 3 big organizations we know in the ght against human trafficking. The main topic of the evening was education for the children: to teach them how to avoid becoming victims or even consumers of the human trafficking epidemic. One of the organizations had school contacts, one of them had a curriculum, and one of them had access to experienced teachers. They are now working together to develop the pilot program at schools in Argentina to teach Argentine children how to be safe! They are each incredible organizations and we are honored to join them.
All of these are incredible success stories for the Kingdom, and we are thrilled that we are helping God work in these areas, but our heart is still turned toward the girls that are on the streets right now. Our friends that are involved in street ministry and emergency care tell us regularly that they have girls that need long term housing and job skills training now. We are looking at property, but have still not found a place to start building. Please pray for these girls. Pray that we find a home for them soon.
Blessings
The VT Team
