Child Freedom Journal | Summer 2024

Summer 2024 | Volume 20 | Vibrant

JOURNAL

I S A F R I E N D LY T A K E O V E R

a note from the team If you listen carefully, you might just hear the echoes of your childhood ring out this summer. It’s a steady beat that shakes us out of our usual routine and wakes us up to reclaim the joys of life that have always been ours.

a note from the team

The world is alive with energy and brilliance. Crisp mornings, sun-soaked afternoons, and cool nights just made for catching fireflies. Chalk drawings cover the driveway, the sidewalk, and maybe even the streets. Bikes whizz by with handlebar tassels and shouts of “Look at me go” and “Did you see that?” streaming behind. Packs of children rule the neighborhood, bursting with imagination of space adventures, pirate treasure, princesses, and dinosaurs.

As children, we jumped headlong into summer, but now we’re the ones carrying the torch for making it magical. We’re focused on creating memories for the children in our lives, but along the way, we receive some magic, too. We reclaim forgotten pieces of ourselves born in the warmth, sunscreen, and exhilaration of childhood summers. It’s a gift given back to us - a natural lifecycle, often unexpected and brilliant when encountered.

This childhood memory-making is one of the many gifts you share with the rescued kids, yes, but your reach extends further than you might know.

Your support for the kids has a ripple effect on the community, inviting the caretakers at The Children’s Home to create and enjoy the delight of childhood experiences they never had.

Helping the kids live vibrant lives now that pave the way to incredible futures gives these women a chance to do the same. And they are so thankful to do it.

We hope this issue gives you a wholehearted picture of the vibrant lives being lived, all thanks to you.

Now, let’s dive headlong into summer once again.

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The big things are lovely, aren’t they? The vacations, gifts, and grand gestures... they’re full of good memories. But, when we look back on childhood, they more often than not come in as runner-up.

Instead, in first place, it’s “that time we built a pillow fort, and kept it up for a whole week,” “the way dad would carry me on his shoulders,” “how mom and I watered the flowers together every morning,” “spending a whole summer pretending to be movie producers,” and “dancing around in the rain we got caught in.”

Simple. Joyful. Vibrant.

So often, these seemingly simple joys stack up to become the biggest things of all. Brick by brick, they quietly form our life’s foundation until one day, the footing we need to stand is holding us up to discover who we are and what we want out of life.

The best part is, those simple joys of childhood live long into adulthood if only we let them.

With a little imagination, and a bit of gowith-the-flow, they’re there for the taking in every season of life.

This is what you give the rescued kids: the freedom to create, the the audacity to dream, and the confidence to follow their own path. In childhood and far beyond.

love life be happy

VIBRANT LIFE

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goofy

“I did it!”

creative

“watch this!”

confident

“look at me go!”

imaginitive

hobbies laughter friendship adventures

“did you see that?”

freedom changes everything 4 | CHILD FREEDOM JOURNAL | Summer 2024

AND SO DO YOU

When our team sat down with Esther to get her story on video, she spoke with clarity and passion. Even amid a hectic season of life, Esther and Ben recently invited me into their home to meet their newborn son and pray for me and with me. They were excited to hear updates about the work and figure out how they could do more. This kind of enthusiasm is what makes such a difference.

I have the privilege to work on this project full-time, and it constantly humbles me to partner with so many people who share Esther and Ben’s passion to become the difference. Y’all look beyond your own lives and choose to live for something bigger and better than the things you can touch. And in doing that, you help give the rescued kids vibrant childhoods and incredible futures.

D AV I D M I L L E R C O - F O U N D E R | O P E R AT I O N S

TRUST, AND CONNECTION , ,

She was passionate about helping those in need in her homeland and jumped right into making a difference through CFC. Since then, she’s become an incredible advocate for the rescued kids as a speaker at our 2023 Child Freedom Gala, where she shared her experiences seeing child labor and slavery while growing up in South Asia by sponsoring multiple kids and regularly introducing her community to the work we’re doing together.

WE BELIEVE IN EXCELLENCE,

Several years ago, a friend from church introduced me to Esther and Ben Wornom, and from the very first conversation, I knew we would be friends for a long time. We traded stories, mine of helping communities in South Asia and Esther’s of growing up near the same area.

We choose to be transparent. To adhere to set structures that keep us honest, focused, and driven. To welcome being held accountable by our board members, donors, and friends. To dedicate time, energy, and understanding to our decision-making process rather than chase after convenience. To highlight instead of hide how we spend every donation. To not fear difficult questions, but encourage and receive these new ideas and perspectives as the gifts they are. To give 100% of your contributions to the rescued kids, allowing it to make the most significant impact possible.

So we can end human trafficking forever.

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D O N O R S

B E N

A N D

E S T H E R

A R E

W O R N O M

“...I grew up in Mumbai, India. There, poverty and trafficking are something they think you are just born into, whereas as soon as I came to America, I realized a lot of the organizations that want to help are doing it because they value people made in God’s image, and they want to serve these kids.”

eedom childJ OfUrR N A L

Ben er and e n Esth coalitio ocate, and rais m o d e v e childfr volunteer, ad s. id k m Worno the rescued r funds fo

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A little girl works in the heat of the day no school no f riends no time to play.

In her heart of hearts she already knows her future is not full of ribbons and bows No comforting songs or warm, tight embraces she grows up to discover she's in all the wrong places Through grit and through struggle she f ights for survival til she f inds her way home and feels hope's arrival She cooks she cleans she wipes dirty faces tells bedtime stories and teaches new phrases Through comforting songs and warm, tight embraces she gifts her dreams to the children she raises Her hope is renewed her purpose discovered she rewrites her childhood through the eyes of a mother Her days are delight her traumas scabbed over vibrant life is a f riendly takeover POEM OF A HOUSE MOM

ChildFreedom.org ∙ P.O. Box 26625, Greenville, SC 29616 ∙ 833.703.7333 ∙ info@childf reedom.org