REJOICE WITH US!

Terry works in combating human trafficking with a group of committed believers-- Bulgarian, American, Australian—and we call ourselves Daughters of Bulgaria. 

Just last month, after five years of praying, learning, networking, researching, and lots of sweat and tears, Daughters of Bulgaria officially opened the door to our long-term recovery program called The Rose Garden Project.  The Rose Garden Project (RGP) is designed to meet the specific recovery needs of sexually exploited/trafficked women.  These women may come from within Bulgaria, or they may be wanting to return home after working in Western Europe or elsewhere around the world.  RGP will not only be a residential program, but will also include a Day Program with curriculum designed to meet each participant’s specific recovery needs.  RGP will provide ongoing support with increasing levels of independence woven in for up to seven years.  RGP offers services not only to the women, but also care and programming for their children while the moms participate in the Day Program.  RGP provides a home-like environment where live-in volunteers share their lives with the participants as if they were their own family members. 

As our Daughters of Bulgaria team began praying five years ago about how to reach out to our Bulgarian “daughters” who were being sexually exploited, we began an outreach ministry.  That ministry has grown and changed over the past five years, but is still a vital part of what we do.  Connecting with the women face-to-face and building relationships and trust with them is key to our entire ministry.  Things have changed on the road where we have gone to meet the women over the past five years, the Ring Road. The police have cracked down and many of the women we have met there for so long are no longer there.  This is both good and bad!  We pray that perhaps they are no longer working on the streets, but we fear that they are just working elsewhere, perhaps even being trafficked outside of Bulgaria, where we cannot reach out to them each week.  We are trying other options in where we go for outreach, and a couple of them have even returned to the old road, but not all of them.  We miss seeing each of them!  We find outreach is ever-changing, and this can become a major stressor for us.  Pray that we will adapt to each situation and that God will show us exactly where He wants us to be and who He wants us to meet each week on the road.      

Our outreach ministry, and now most recently, the Rose Garden Project, are the results of our prayers asking God to show us how we could help build a bridge from brokenness to wholeness for our Daughters.  God continues to open doors and show our Daughters of Bulgaria team how we can be planks in that bridge; how we can make a difference in the lives of these precious women should they choose to cross that bridge into freedom.

Spring 2016 Matching Gift Campaign

Are you looking for a way to make a greater impact with your giving? Have you been considering becoming a supporter of our ministry through a financial gift? You can make both these happen now. Starting April 15th, International Ministries will offer donors a chance to have their gifts doubled! This is a great opportunity to have your gift make an even greater impact. It is also a great time to consider committing to support us on an ongoing basis.

 For those of you already supporting us on an ongoing basis--don’t fret because you, too, can take advantage of this opportunity! While your recurring gifts cannot be matched, any additional over-and-above gifts given during this time will be matched.

 Here are the points you need to know:

• This opportunity runs from April 15, 2016 to June 15, 2016 or until all the matching funds are used.

• If a gift is mailed, it cannot be postmarked prior to April 15, 2016

• Gifts will be matched at 100% with no minimum or maximum amount.

• Recurring gifts will not be matched, so these must be over-and-above gifts for those already signed up to give recurring gifts.

• If you are a new donor, you can give a one-time gift which will be matched and then decide to continue with a recurring gift.

• Gifts can be made by mailing a check to International Ministries, making a gift on-line by credit card, or making a gift by phone (1-800-222-3872, ext. 2323) with a credit card.

• For more information or to donate online visit http://www.internationalministries.org 

Please note that however a gift is given, it must be clearly noted that the gift is part of the matching gift opportunity for the support of Tom and Terry Myers.

Prayer requests: 

• Pray for our dear N as she prepares to move into the home and become the “house mom” for the women God will be sending us.  She’s understandably a little concerned about how all this will go!

• Pray for the girls who will eventually come to the new home. May it be a place of safety and security for them as they put their lives on the right track.

• Pray for the outreach team as they search for ways to maintain the relationships with the girls on the road while also following God's leading in how this ministry will grow and change.

• Pray for Tom as he continues to navigate all the necessary steps for the opening of the coffee shop.

• Pray for the children attending the literacy classes each week.

• The team at the literacy program has been working with one of the moms to help her pass the necessary tests to get her 8th grade diploma. This family, a single mom and three children, is currently homeless and has been living in a government shelter. The shelter promised that the family could live there for several months, and that they would help the mother find work, but two weeks ago the family was told they had to leave by the following day. With help from the church, another private shelter was found where she and the children are currently staying, but this is only a temporary place. Please pray for M to find a way to finish her education and pass her tests, find gainful employment, and an affordable place to live. Pray also for those in the church and the new shelter who are working hard to help M, despite governmental rules and regulations which seem to be working against her, keeping her from being able to settle into a real home and routine that the children so badly need.