Seeing Traveling in a Different Light

As I come away from a great weekend in Houston with my family, I can’t help but continue to feel so broken & torn to pieces over the sex trafficking industry. As we drive down I-10, I see car after car, girl after girl, woman after woman, man after man… All the unknowns flood my mind; the questions of “where are they from, do they know where they’re going, do they know who they are with, is it by choice, do they need help?” As we moved into the city, passing cheap motels, salons, massage parlors, foreign restaurants, etc. I find myself looking around at all these places & their parking lots, at the cars & wonder if the workers or people within are being trafficked. Are they victims? As we enjoy our trip & walk around the outlet malls and go about our own business, I see young girls & young women everywhere; foreigners & Americans; black, white, Hispanic, Asian, Chinese, German, all races… I wonder, are they trapped, are they victims, are they okay, are they here alone, are they being manipulated or deceived?

Everywhere I go, every person I see, I find myself looking deeper now. I find myself truly wanting to know who these people are & where they come from. God has completely transformed my way of thinking & my perspective on people. I’m learning a new way of caring about people & loving them. God’s continuing to place these burning desires & passions deep within me. It’s like I’m a whole new person. I cry at the thought of injustice. I burn with a broken heart for those deceived & trapped in a world they did not choose or want for themselves. I question & I ache asking why our government & law enforcement can’t, or won’t do more about it. We have the resources, but we choose to see it as less important. By this transformation & this concern, this is how I know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that this is what I’m called to.

Although, this is a fact that I’m having to learn, through my own faith, that ultimately, our Father is still in control. When I question Him & hurt because He hasn’t snapped His fingers & allowed me to pick up & go work with these women & children right now, on my time table, I know & I believe His timing is perfect. He is preparing me & the road that I am to travel when He’s ready to send me. Until then, I must be persistent & patient even when I feel like I’m helpless right now. He is faithful & He will bring me to the point of being a voice for the helpless.

Praise God, our world is becoming more aware of this issue. I truly believe He is rising up a generation that has a heart & desire to see the voiceless & hopeless restored.

Please continue to pray for me as I continue on this journey & seek the Father’s every step & plan for my life.

“For we are His workmanship created in Christ Jesus

For Good works, which God prepared

Beforehand, that we should walk in them.”

-Ephesians 2:10

Promises Can Be Kept

So have you ever allowed the smallest and most ridiculous lies control your thoughts, your emotions, and your life?? Gosh, I sure have. I allowed the enemy’s lies to control my life for so many years. You ask, “you still do even though you seem to have it all together?” Yep, I still struggle with believing those things. Praise God, I am able to seek and find promises that can and will always be kept. These promises are not just kept by a man, but by a Father who loves me.

Sure, I could be stereotyped as your typical female who has her insecurities and her struggles from her past that will somehow always surface in the most unwanted times. I struggle with my weight, my body type, not being pretty enough, being too shy, feeling hidden, second best, fearing being unwanted or never loved for me and who I really am, and the list could go on… I am constantly overwhelmed by the things of my past; of always wanting to be noticed, always finding my identity in the people I surround myself with, and of course the guys or boyfriends I was with. I was Julia Roberts in the movie Runaway Bride…whatever eggs the guy she was with liked, she would follow suit and like the same kind. Yes, something as simple and dumb as that, I did the same types of things to hide behind so no one could see the real, imperfect me…the Macie I didn’t like. But, through all this healing process and this new journey of growing with my Heavenly Father and finding my identity in Him, I came across the scripture, 2 Corinthians 12:9-10.

But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, My power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

This was my slap to the face! Not only will God be glorified by what I may see as my imperfections and by my little past, but to know that He has called me to Out of these Ashes despite all those things, is absolutely humbling. He has chosen me, little ol’ Macie to spread His word in a mighty way! He has called me to something much greater than myself, which He could only do through me. Maybe God’s purpose and His plan was to allow me to go through certain things and have these struggles so that I can relate to these women and children who are rescued from the sex trafficking industry. Ha yeah, I’ve definitely never been through something like they’ve endured, but because of what they have been through, they will have their insecurities and struggles themselves.

I pray in the name of Jesus over this ministry now, that the women and children I come into contact with, will be able to hear this promise and they will be able to say with complete confidence that their Heavenly Father will use them in a mighty way as well, despite the ugliness they’ve endured; that “for freedom, Christ has set them free; standing firm, and not submitting to the yoke of slavery again” as it says in Galatians 5:1. I pray that they will see that out of their ashes, their beauty will rise! Their God will be glorified! I pray these things with the confidence and assurance that they will one day come to know the love of Jesus Christ as I have. It’s a love and a promise that will never let them down!!

I thank God for the opportunities He is placing before me and for the heart and love of these women and Children! They will know Him and be used to further His Kingdom!! Glory to God!!

A Calling

“The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor, he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn; to grant to those who mourn in Zion-to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit; that they may be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he may be glorified.” –Isaiah 61:1-3

Hmmm….where to start!! Ever since I was a teenager, I’ve had a huge passion and heart for women and children who are enslaved to sex trafficking. Anytime someone would talk about it or I would hear something about it, just the topic would spark something inside me. I was very intrigued and interested to know more about the issue of sex trafficking. Then, my senior year of high school, my mom shared a book with me to read called, “Redeeming Love.” This book, if you haven’t read it, it’s a must read! It is based on the story of Hosea in the Bible; it’s just put into a little bit more modern day terms. For those of you who don’t know the story, Hosea was a prostitute. In order to not give the story away, I won’t say anymore. ;) This book was the first key for God to begin the tugging process on my heart and stir up the passion within me. Shortly after that, the movie “Taken” was released. First off, I absolutely loved the movie, but leaving it, I never thought there could be something that could be so heart wrenching for me. It was just a simple way for the Lord to speak to me and work in my heart again. Moving along, I graduated and moved onto college. In my freshman year of college, I took what we all must endure, English Composition. Boy, did I not know what was to come through this course and what my God had up His sleeve! As our term research project, we were able to choose our own topic....so of course you should all know what I chose… Ding, ding, ding! Something over sex trafficking. Because my heart is so passionate for the issue, I wanted to learn more and research more about it. The final topic was Sex trafficking and child exploitation in America. Through the research, I discovered some interesting, yet nauseating facts that completely blew my mind. Houston, TX is the number one city in the U.S. for sex trafficking and child prostitution. That’s right here in my backyard; it’s less than 2 hours away from my hometown. It is also, still to this day, the number one city in the US for sex trafficking. Also, to date, over 32 million people are enslaved around the world. Out of that number, 80% of the victims are forced into sex servitude and prostitution. In the U.S., it is estimated that 50 to 75,000 victims are trafficked into America for sex servitude, and that’s NOT factoring the 100,000-300,000 American children forced into prostitution right under our noses. Anyways, since that time, which has been about 3 years ago, I haven’t been able to let go of it or get it out of my mind. My passion and heart for those enslaved in sex trafficking has only grown since then. God has most definitely been persistent in pressing into my heart with it. I have felt like God has been calling me into some type of vocational ministry and missions for quite some time. If you know me and have known me for any length of time, you know that I have had my struggles, fears, and certainly my insecurities. Yes, many people struggle and have insecurities and fears, but I allowed them to completely take control of my life and it eventually became who I was. For several years of my life, these are the ways the enemy has crept in to come and steal, kill, and destroy. So…unfortunately, I ran from a calling that the Lord had placed on my life and my future. I used the excuses of not being good enough, not being worthy, not being strong, not having the right personality, not whatever…when in reality, I was exactly right. I’m none of those things without my Father, my King. It is because of Him, who lives in me, and the cross that I am made good, worthy, strong, joyful, etc. As many of you may know, I recently within the past 7 months have moved back home. Throughout those last several months, I have grown in ways that I never thought I would; most importantly, I have grown to accept who I am in Christ and accepted myself as me. Finally, after this long battle within myself, I’ve finally accepted the calling He has placed on my life and my heart. At the point of surrendering to this, I had no idea what God wanted for me; I just knew I had to surrender. In an intimate time with my Father, I laid it all down. I told Him I couldn’t fight anymore; here I am happy, yet completely miserable. I wanted only to do His will, and follow His path and plan for my life, no matter the cost. As soon as I finally made that commitment and allowed myself to surrender, God began placing desires and dreams within me like never before. That passion and heart for sex trafficked victims came alive! This dream and calling the Lord is placing in my future is one that is quite greater than I could have ever imagined. God is opening all the right doors and leading me into the direction of opening a non-profit organization for sex trafficked victims. This organization will contain everything from rescuing them, providing rehabilitation for them, providing bible classes, providing an opportunity for them to get an education if they don’t have one, classes for them to learn proper hygiene, to learn how to clean and keep house, how to grocery shop, even how to manage their money. As they complete the program, we will help them get back into society, help them find a job, and help them find housing once their feet are on the ground. We will also have the opportunity to help find these girls’ families and bring them back home if they were kidnapped. Then, if girls were sold into it by their own flesh and blood, or don’t have any family, we will be there to support and help them begin their own life and journey. Our ultimate goal and vision for this organization is 1-to bring these girls out of a life of sex trafficking and 2- to instill the truth and gospel of Jesus Christ into their lives; to be a light in the darkness. Since then, God has just constantly confirmed this vision by bringing circumstances and situations into my path. He also has provided a scripture, Isaiah 61:1-3; to which He provided the organization and blog’s name, “Out of these Ashes.” After sharing this vision with my family, my pastor, and my church family, God has opened many many doors and opportunities for me to open this and begin the indescribable journey with my Heavenly Father and the people He is preparing to work with me and our organization.

So the purpose of this blog, is to inform you of the amazing things God is doing in my life and to inform you of the start of an organization that the Lord is going to use in a mighty way. We just want to share our hearts and we are excited to see where God takes us along the way.

I would like to thank my precious friend, Emily Cammarata for designing this blog and for taking on the challenge of sharing this vision with me. Her and I will alternate blogs and share what the Lord would have us to. We will research and inform you of countries, cities, and nations that are involved in the sex trafficking industry. We will share with you events that are coming and those we attend. We hope you enjoy it and we ask that you would being to pray for this journey that’s to come!

In His love,

Macie Bergeron