Moju Project

God is calling us into an intimate relationship with Him. He wants us to know that in Him is the fullness of joy! He is life and everything we could ever want or need is found in His Son.

This passage from the book From Eternity to Here by Frank Viola is well worth the read!

“All of the churches and movements I was involved in had effectively preached to me an “It”. Evangelism is an “It”. The power of God is an “It”. Christian Theology is an “It”. Faith is an “It”…I made the striking discovery that I don’t need an “It”. I have never needed an “It”. Christian “Its”, no matter how good or true, eventually wear out, run dry, and become tiresome…I don’t need an “It”, I need a “Him“! And so do you. We do not need things. We need Jesus.

Everything in Scripture-every book, every story, every teaching, every theme, every letter, every verse, all of the arrows point to Him. “You search the scriptures because you think they give you eternal life. But the scriptures point you to me!” John 5:39 NLT

Jesus Christ is the embodiment of all divine things. My eyes were opened to see that Jesus IS salvation; the power of God; holiness. Jesus is the living incarnation of everything that is spiritual. God’s object from first to last is His Son. It is Christ-and Christ alone-that God the Father desires for His people.

I had grossly confused spiritual growth with acquiring spiritual things. So I went about pursuing spiritual knowledge, spiritual virtues, spiritual graces, gifts and power. I later discovered that spiritual growth is nothing more than knowing Him and allowing Him to grow in us.

Upon reflection, it seems that many Christians regard salvation, evangelism, peace, power, holiness, joy, service, ministry, and doctrine as simply divine “things”, all detached from the living person of Christ and made something in and of themselves. But God never gives us spiritual things. He never gives us virtues, gifts, graces, and truths to acquire. Instead, He only gives us His Son. He gives us Christ to be all things for us.”- From Eternity to Here by Frank Viola

Those words are not meant to be glossed over or taken lightly, but rather to really soak in and cause us to look at the relationship we have with Jesus.

Do we seek after the Christian “Its” or do we see Jesus as more than enough?

Do we seek after Giver of all things or do we just seek after the gifts?

So often we pray for peace, healing, wisdom, etc. We pray for what is in the character of God, when really what we need is more of Jesus! Jesus is the full manifestation of God’s character. He is peace. He is our Healer. He is our Teacher and Wise Counselor. He is everything.

I think sometimes we complicate things. It all comes down to being in an intimate relationship with our Father. Our growth and maturity comes from having more of Him in our lives.

We are Kingdom carriers! We are called to carry with us the fragrance of Christ.

People notice that fragrance…people can see the light that emanates from us…and the world is hungry for it! They are desperate for it…

When people look at us we do not want them to see “us”…but to see Jesus. We have nothing to offer the world but He has everything.

What the world needs is Jesus…and so do we!

Praying for more of Him and less of us…

The FBI has busted open a complex network of child prostitution organizations that have trafficked in children and sex trade across our nation resulting in 884 arrests…

We expect to see news stories about child prostitution overseas; it happens in far away, long-suffering places of no hope. That’s not to suggest that such an abomination is acceptable anywhere, but simply a commentary on our feeling of peace, security, and decency here in our homeland where we don’t expect to find such ghastly practices. But it is exactly here-in our suburban back yards where we wallow in American bliss-that a recent coast-to-coast blitz on the part of the FBI has busted open a complex network of child prostitution organizations that have trafficked in children and sex trade across our nation. What’s worse is that this is not the first sting of its kind; in fact this most recent operation- Operation Cross Country V-is as the name reveals-the fifth operation of its kind. The three day sting was successful in its objective, recovering 69 children and resulting in the arrest of 99 pimps. Overall, the campaign brought in 884 arrests spanning the U.S.A.

This federal sweep was in action over a three day period in 40 cities, with the most children being rescued in Seattle, WA, (16), where seven pimps were arrested according to FBI Special Agent Jason Pack. Also yielding significant rescues and arrests were Tacoma, WA and Sacramento, CA. Detroit saw the greatest number of pimps, (10).

Simultaneously, authorities in Tennessee have announced the arrest of 29 individuals all with connections to sex-trafficking gangs preying on underage Somali and African-America girls. The Somali ties of all 29 include the Somali Outlaws, the Somali Mafia and the Lady Outlaws, according to officials. Federal authorities in Tennessee report that minor girls were transported from Minneapolis, Minnesota, where there is significant Somali immigrant community, to Nashville, Tennessee, with many of the children being age 13 or younger. This trade is reported to have been active for 10 years or more.

Shawn Henry is the executive assistant director of the FBI’s Criminal, Cyber, Response and Service Branch and said in a written statement, “Child prostitution continues to be a significant problem in our country, as evidenced by the number of children rescued through the continued efforts of our crimes against children task forces,” and adding that, “There is no work more important than protecting America’s children and freeing them from the cycle of victimization. Through our strategic partnerships with state and local law enforcement agencies, we are able to make a difference.”

The operation was part of the Innocence Lost National Initiative, formed in June 2003 designed specifically to target the domestic sex trade and trafficking of children. It is a cooperative effort comprised of FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division, the Department of Justice’s Child Exploitation-Obscenity Section and the National Center for Missing and
Exploited Children.

1,250 children have been rescued through the work of Innocence Lost Task Forces, which number 39 across the country. In addition, the initiative has resulted in 438 indictments and 625 convictions, plus the interruption of operations for 153 criminal enterprises, of which 58 have been successfully dismantled, according to authorities.

Ernie Allen, president of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children has a brutal reminder for all Americans, saying in a written statement, “Once again, Operation Cross Country has awakened the nation to the fact that today American children are being marketed and sold for sex in American cities,” and added as a further reminder, “This is 21st century slavery. We are proud to be a part of this extraordinary partnership to rescue children, save lives and bring the pimps and operators to justice.”

It’s the offense against the children that grips us; provoking pain in our hearts-and bringing us to tears. We are reminded of the words of Jesus, who while holding a young child, told us in Luke 17:1-2, “1 One day Jesus said to his disciples, “There will always be temptations to sin, but what sorrow awaits the person who does the tempting! 2 It would be better to be thrown into the sea with a millstone hung around your neck than to cause one of these little
ones to fall into sin.”

As for the perpetrators of these abominable acts, we are bound by faith to pray for God’s will to be done, and His justice to be carried out for all of the souls that are lost in this story, and we can rest easier with the assurance found in Ezekial 11:21-“ 21 But as for those who long for vile images and detestable idols, I will repay them fully for their sins. I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken!”

Over the past eight months we have been learning about the secretive and dark world of sex trafficking around the world. The statistics of how many people are trafficked yearly are astounding. So many times we have stopped and asked “how did we not know that this was happening?”

Here are some gut-wrenching statistics to show you what we mean:

It is estimated that between 600,000 and 800,000 people each year are trafficked across international borders for a total of nearly $10 billion dollars– the third highest volume for a criminal enterprise. Of that $10 billion, $4 billion is estimated to be directly related to the brothel industry and sex trafficking – the primary target of most investigations into this practice.

The UN estimates that nearly 4,000,000 individuals are trafficked each year, with a disproportionate number of children and women in the sex trade.

UNICEF estimates that as many as 50% of all trafficking victims worldwide are children and that as many as two thirds of those children are at some point forced into the sex trade. Cambodia is known to have one of the highest rates of child sex trafficking in the world.

That is just the tip of the iceberg but is obvious to see that this injustice needs to be brought into the light and we must do something…

So after praying and asking God what can we do? We have started a partnership with an incredible faith-based organization; Daughters Cambodia.

We are now offering you select handmade products; purses, scarves and more, created from the girls at Daughters that will go towards supporting the efforts of this ministry and helping these beautiful girls….and wait until you see the attention to detail and quality of their work!

As an organization, Daughters recognizes the impact of sexual exploitation as an abuse of human rights with detrimental effects on psychological and physical wellbeing. Daughters seeks to help victims find ways out of this situation and into a situation of safety, freedom and dignity, to find wholeness, and to become all that God created them to be.

They operate a day-centre in an area of brothels in Cambodia, one in which sex workers come directly to the organization from the sex industry by choice. They come because they are already motivated to change their lives, and Daughters gives them choice and dignity in building a different future, that make their choices sustainable and respects their human rights. The activities and programs are designed to empower victims of sexual exploitation to set themselves free from enslavement through employment opportunities and a wide range of social and psychological services.

Since Daughters started in January 2007, more than100 girls each year have left the sex industry to start a new life, and are experiencing healing and freedom from trauma. It is a model, which is having so much success because the life-style changes are internal, voluntary and holistic. Most girls are aged from 13 up to mid 20s.

We are so excited to be able to work hand in hand with Daughters to help shed light on sex trafficking and to make a tangible difference in the lives of these girls.

To help these precious daughters you can select in our shop to “Support victims of sex trafficking” . Please click here to visit our shop!

If you have not heard of Project Peanut Butter (PPB), you need to check out their website and watch their amazing video at the end of this post! We cannot begin to describe our excitement towards working together with Project Peanut Butter to save the lives of orphans in Africa!

Project Peanut Butter works on the ground in certain parts of Africa to provide clinically malnourished children with a proven formula to effectively restore their health through a medical food commonly referred to as Ready to Use Therapeutic Foods (RUTF) or Chiponde to the locals.

Through our partnership with PPB we hope to raise awareness about the amazing work this organization is doing, to help further their mission (every shirt we sell through Moju Project will provide a child with 1 week’s worth of this life-saving formula), to continue to be a voice and an advocate for these children, and to provide you with the opportunity to save lives!

Here is what we love about these guys!

1. They are targeting the most vulnerable children and helping to reverse the heart-wrenching statistic that encompasses the fact that every year Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM) contributes to the death of more than 3.5 million. It is the largest killer of children under five years of age.

2. Their formula is made and distributed within local countr(ies) where it is being served and using as many local ingredients as possible- providing jobs for roughly 6,000 local farmers

3. Their program is home-based; meaning the mommas and the gogos (grandmothers) are able to treat their children at home. We think this is really empowering to the family and by keeping these children out of the hospital they do not run the risk of contracting any viruses/ etc. that is very common due to the lack of sanitation at most hospitals.

4. The recovery rate for children on this therapy is 95% compared to the 25-40% recovery rate of using traditional hospital therapies- that is more than double the amount of lives saved!

5. Children that are clinically diagnosed by the medical team at Project Peanut Butter receive therapies for as long as medically necessary and at NO COST.

a. RUTF was commended as the most effective method to treat severely malnourished children by the United Nations, The World Health Organization, and UNICEF.

b. “…a food that may just the be the most important advance ever to cure and prevent malnutrition”- Anderson Cooper, Oct. 2007

6. The formula for Chiponde is natural; consisting of peanuts, powdered milk, oil, sugar, vitamins and minerals. It can be stored without refrigeration for months without spoiling and requires no cooking.

The more we continue to learn about Project Peanut Butter and their hearts for the children, the more we absolutely love them! They are most definitely the “real deal”!

Today, Project Peanut Butter serves hundreds of thousands of malnourished children. Their goal is to save 2 million children by 2015. We want to be a part of seeing that goal achieved and surpassed!

Part of our vision at the Moju Project is to change the world by changing the way we shop! If we all join together and reach out to those who need it most- we are making a difference…even more than that- we are seeing God’s Kingdom come to earth and His will being done!

Please check out this extremely powerful video by Project Peanut Butter and join us in being a voice for the voiceless, bringing hope to those who need it most!

“Saving Futures. Saving Lives. The Story Of Project Peanut Butter.” Narrated By Allison Janney.

Ready to save a life through our Project Peanut Butter Partners? Please click here to visit our shop! Once you have found a shirt you love, you can select to “provide life saving formula to a malnourished child”. We are doing it for the ONE! Join us and together we can save lives!!!

Christians in India are being targeted for sex trafficking…

There are alarming reports of trafficking of young women on a large scale in Orissa, a region in India that has seen repeated acts of violence against Christians and other minorities at the hands of Hindu nationalists. The victims are mostly young Christian women. The violence against Christians in 2008 gave the opportunity for criminal groups to find easy prey among the refugees and the poor. If the state government does not take adequate measures, Orissa could become a realm for human traffickers”

Msgr. Raphael Cheenath, Catholic Archbishop of Cuttack-Bhubaneswar reports that his diocese is using the resources at its disposal to combat abduction and human trafficking, especially in an effort to protect young girls.

After surveying the diocesan territory, 24 girls were identified as being at risk because they live alone, are without family, or live in extreme poverty. They have been admitted to colleges, schools, and educational or religious facilities run by the Church.

The Catholic community witnessed how criminal gangs singled out Orissa following the wave of anti-Christian violence that endangered the lives of over 60,000 faithful. Many of them are still living in temporary shelters and tents, too frightened to return to their home because of continuing nationalist threats. In September 2009, when the refugee camps organized by the government were closed, more than 3,500 displaced persons found no other solution than to take shelter in tents and makeshift shelters. Sister Justine Senapai, head of the Diocesan Commission for Women, is working with a team of four volunteers and other local NGOs to combat the abduction of girls and women.

Even the civil authorities and local police have had to deal with the problem of trafficking of women and there was a recent case of 16 girls being rescued from trafficking gangs.

The All-India Christian Council, an organization that also provides legal assistance to survivors, has declared, “The traffickers have targeted Christian girls in the district of Khandamal. We recorded several cases of girls disappearing. We urgently need to join forces to stop this terrible case.”

One case illustrates many others: Jyothi (an alias) is a Christian girl who joined the exodus of fellow Christians in the wake of Hindu nationalist violence over Christmas in 2008. She was lured in by a smuggler with the promise of a job and a new life and was taken to Delhi. Once near the city, she realized that she had fallen into the hands of a criminal organization: she was repeatedly threatened, beaten and sexually abused for six days and then enslaved The head of the gang then sent her to work as a maid for a family of Delhi. There the girl again suffered physical and sexual violence. She was finally rescued by local police. She now bears obvious signs of violence on her body and is in a state of psychological exhaustion. She is now in the care of Catholic charitable workers in Orissa.

Source: FIDES

ARTICLE SOURCE: Spero Forum

Christian Man Buys a Town in Swaziland, Africa with the Dream of Restoring the Hope of a Nation…

We live in the tension between, heaven and earth. We feel this tension daily.

Our reality is supposed to be a Kingdom reality where God reigns in every area of our lives, where we live in the reality of His presence, where there is fruit, love, joy peace, patience…Your Kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven. My reality does not seem to be as it is in heaven?

I have been thinking a lot about the Kingdom of God. Jesus preached the Kingdom.

When Kingdom principles are implemented, then the poor, hungry, orphan, widow and stranger are taken care of. There is no extreme poverty or wealth, but all things are shared.

I have a long way to go with Kingdom living…sharing everything I have and am for the Kingdom, the bride.

As Christ followers our reality is not of this world, but we do have to live here. We are to live in this world but not be of this world.

How can we be in the world and not of it?

Is my reality a Kingdom reality when:

1) I have a closet and dresser filled with clothes and over 30 pairs of shoes… and my neighbor has nothing. Who is my neighbor? Read the Good Samaritan. (Luke 10).

2) My fridge and freezer are full along with my pantry, and if that were not enough I have an extra fridge and freezer, really. Almost 16,000 children die every day from hunger related causes. (Bread.org).

3) My mortgage payment could feed 1800 starving children every month.

4) I have an extra bedroom that stays empty over 300 days a year. There are over 2000 homeless people in my county, and around 163,000,000 orphans in the world. (Numberof.net).

5) I have clean water coming from my tap, but I pay for bottled water to be delivered every other week and 884 million people do not have access to clean water. 3.575 million people die from water related issues. (Water.org)

6) I spend $3.65 on a latte when 1.4 billion people live on $1.25 or less per day. (Globalissues.org).

7) What am I doing about modern day slavery? The UN estimates between 800,000-4,000,000 men women and children are being sold into slavery. 80% are women, girls and young boys who are being trafficked into commercial sexual exploitation. (Globalpost.com).

Something has to change, the tension is too great, the numbers too staggering. These are people like you and I. The heart of God is breaking for the church to rise up and do something.

You and I are called to be the Church; we are the Bride of Christ. When one part of the body suffers the rest suffers also.

Does the church need to rise up and change the way we view and spend money? Do we need to implement a Kingdom mindset and Kingdom principles in our lives?

My children recently watched Schindler’s list. At the very end of the movie Mr. Schindler starts to cry when he thinks how many more people he could have saved. If he would have sold his car 10 people or his gold pin 2 more people. He was equating each item to how many more people he could have saved. He was crying because he thought he could have done more. He saved 1100 people. How many more were affected by his generosity? Generations.

I think we can have that kind of impact today. Affecting generations. If everyone just did something. If we all were seeking first the Kingdom of God… This stuff, money, home etc. is not ours, it all belongs to the Lord. It is all for His glory, and for His purpose.

I know that I personally have a long way to go in living my convictions, but I hope I am moving in the right direction.

Written by guest author Joy Smith. Joy has a heart for the nations and is passionate about furthering God’s Kingdom; learning what it means to follow Jesus and live out a life of total abandonment for the Lord.

Thank you Joy for speaking His truth. I pray that for all of those who read this post they will be challenged and seek the Lord on how He intends for us to live out our lives while on this side of heaven.

Lately I have been doing A LOT of reading! I have read books about orphans, beggar children, adoption and the Kingdom of God, the manifestation of God’s supernatural and miraculous power, healthy doses of the Word, blogs about justice and injustice and people living out the Gospel of Christ in their daily lives. And all I can say is that it makes me hungry for more!

When it comes to the satisfaction that only God can give nothing can satisfy my appetite aside of Him alone!

So let me ask you…what do you hunger for?

Immediately when we think about this question we think of tangible food items like a juicy steak, Italian food, an ice cream sundae, and so forth. And God has certainly given us an abundance of food that temporarily satisfies us….but soon after we eat we find that we are hungry all over again and seeking to be fed.

But do you find yourself hungering for and after the things of God?

Hunger and thirst for righteousness…

O taste and see that the Lord is GOOD!

Every day God offers us fresh bread. He doesn’t want us to eat crumbs from the table but the Word tells us that He has prepared a banquet, a royal feast, for us to partake in!

But do we come to the Lord’s table hungry? Have we built up an appetite that can only be satisfied by the things that He can give?

The more I learn about the Lord’s heart for His children; you and I, the orphan, the widow, the beggar, the rich man, the sick and the needy…the more I find myself really hungering after Him! Hungering to see the lost saved and God’s Kingdom ever present on the earth! The more I hunger, the more I pray.

I pray for God to give me an insatiable hunger for the things of heaven. I don’t want to feel satisfied but to always be wanting more. I want more of His heart and I want to live in a place of such desperation for my Father to use me.

God is stirring up an army of this I have no doubt. He is shaking anything that can be shaken and preparing us for what’s to come. God is speaking; but are we listening? Are our hearts positioned low to hear and respond to His voice?

How hungry are we really? How desperate for the things of God do we find ourselves? Or are we comfortable and satisfied?

Think about this today. Where are you in your personal walk with the Lord?

God is always constant and always there. When we don’t “feel” Him. When we “feel” alone or dry- remember that. Dig deeper; drink more. Build up your appetite for the things of the Lord…and when you do-get ready- God is on the move- and He desires to strengthen and support those whose eyes are fixed on Him!

Often times what we write about on this blog are in direct correlation to what God is teaching/ showing us.

Today’s post is no different!

Lately I have been thinking about the callings that God places on our lives. Some of us feel called to go to the nations. Some of us feel called to minister to the homeless; to disciple children; to serve; to preach, to teach, to prophesy and so forth.

But do we use our giftings/ callings sometimes as a crutch that we lean on to not do things that we aren’t “called” to? I wonder?

Do we limit what God wants to do in and through us because we think- that is not our calling?

To demonstrate this let me share a personal example…over the past several years it has become increasingly clear to me that I feel a call to help/ love/save orphans and to advocate on behalf of them and their plight. I think about them all the time and pray that God would provide for their every need (a loving family, food, shelter, the opportunity to know Jesus personally, etc.) I have found myself on a path of learning about the heartbreaking reality of so many children around the world- they are starving; they are dying, they are desperate, they are lonely, they are scared, they are being raped and abused…ahhh…my heart just breaks for them!

I have no doubt in my mind that the Lord has opened my eyes and has given me a piece of His heart. And as much as it hurts sometimes…I want more of His heart!

And as this post will demonstrate…I have a long way to go…

Recently I was approached to build relationships with some middle school girls that are either pregnant or have recently had a baby. These girls are in need of stability in their lives and for God’s love to meet them right where they are at.

The sad part was my immediate thought was this: “Wow, that is really sad that there are preteen girls that are hurting…but that’s not really where I feel passionate…that’s not really what God has called me to”…YUCK!

It shouldn’t matter what we are individually called to…we are ALL called to LOVE! The first commandment is to love God and the second is to love our neighbors as ourselves.

Whether we are servers, prophets, teachers, evangelists, called to the sick, children, adults, elderly, etc. etc. we shouldn’t let that become a crutch…we shouldn’t use it as an excuse to NOT meet a need and LOVE.

I hope that you can identify with me in this…I pray that the next time a need arises that instead of asking yourself; am I called to this… you will look for the opportunity to LOVE!

They will know we are Christians by our love!

I am so glad that Jesus didn’t look at the beggar and say I don’t do homeless…He didn’t look at the blind and the sick and say I don’t do healings…He didn’t look at our selfishness and pride and say I don’t teach….

Our God showed His deep and passionate love for us at every opportunity He had! He had compassion on us! He showed us true grace and gave us an example that we should all live by.

Don’t get caught up in your gifts; in what you are “called” to do…remember that we are all called to love.

Zoe Carnate is the largest hand-edited Christian links directory with nearly 10,000 indie Christian links – churches, nonprofits, intentional communities, bloggers, etc.

Do you have faith in God?
What does that mean to you?
Do you trust God?
Is there a difference between faith and trust?
What does it really mean to have faith?

Before we jump in; let me preface my investigation by sharing a little bit with you.

I have felt a conviction that I have not been fully trusting God. I have felt like I have had tremendous faith in Him and His abilities, but have fallen short of fully, 100% trusting God.

Can anyone relate to that?

We know that He is all knowing; all-powerful; the beginning and the end. We know that every day of our lives have been written in His book and we know that He has specific purposes and plans for each of us and that is why we are here.

So why do I struggle with fully letting go? Fully trusting in the One who promises and has proven time and time again to be forever faithful?

Why do I doubt His abilities at times?

It has been this realization and struggle that has prompted my investigation.

I hope that as you read this, you will ask yourself these questions and in the end that we will have a clearer sense of having faith and trusting in God!

The biblical definition of faith is found in Hebrews 11: Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see (NIV). Another version states: Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see. (NLT)

The root word of faith comes from Hebrew and is “emunah”. The Hebrew root aman means firm, something that is supported or secure. Faith is usually perceived as knowing while the Hebrew emunah is a firm action. To have faith in God is not just knowing that God exists or knowing that He will act, but rather it is that the one with emunah (faith) will act with firmness toward God’s will.

So the real meaning of the word “faith”, emunah, is really about us supporting God!

Normally we say, “I have faith in God but according the Hebrew word, it is an action of the one who “supports God”.

Interesting…
Now let’s take a look at the word trust. The dictionary defines trust as follows:
1. Reliance on the integrity, strength, ability, surety, etc., of a person or thing; confidence.
2. Confident expectation of something; hope.
3. A person on whom or thing on which one relies: God is my trust.
4. To believe; to rely on.

When I then looked at the synonyms of trust; guess what was the first one?
You guessed it; FAITH. The synonym to trust is faith.

Trust implies instinctive unquestioning belief in and reliance upon something and faith is to act with firmness toward God’s will.
When we trust someone we don’t question him or her. When we have faith we need to fully trust in Christ and act with firmness towards His will.

If you, take a minute and really look at your life; do you find that more often than not, you rely on yourself and have a hopeful faith that God will intervene?
How different would our lives look if we fully trusted God! Would we worry? Would we try to take care of things in our own strength? Would we strive?
Or would we be so Kingdom minded that the worries that we currently struggle with would become very trivial and hardly worth thinking about?

I love the passage in Exodus where Moses says to the Lord: “If You are not going with us, do not move us from here.” Moses had such faith/trust in God that he said he would literally not move unless God was going with Him. He knew that it was only God who could carry him through.

I often find myself praying that prayer: God don’t let me move a step unless You are going with me and you have ordained it.

May we all find ourselves growing in our faith and trust in the Lord. May we rely wholly upon Him for everything.

I pray that as Christ’s followers that we would have the Hebrew faith and that we would all act in firmness together towards supporting God’s will!