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Cultivating Anchored Community MARLIN MILLER
Publisher
KEVIN BILLE
General Manager
MATT YODER
Sales Advisor // Ohio
AARON STUTZMAN ELAM STOLTZFUS
Sales Advisor // Indiana Sales Advisor // Penn.
NIC STOLTZFUS
Editorial Director
JAN SCHLABACH
Customer Service
BETHANY TROYER ISAAC HERSHBERGER
Bookkeeping Production Manager
SETH YODER
Graphic Artist
LANDON TROYER
Photographer
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Elaine Tomski
Marcus A. Yoder
Nic Stoltzfus
W.H. "Chip" Gross
Merissa A. Alink
Jim Zumbo
Ferree Hardy
JULY AD SALES DEADLINE
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June 7, 2021
Plain Values is published monthly by Room to Bloom. Room to Bloom is a nonprofit, tax-exempt Section 501(c)(3) organization. Please contact us with any questions regarding Plain Values.
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THE FORMALITIES This publication and its contents are © 2021, Room to Bloom. Individual copyrighted items, trademarks, etc. contained within are the property of their respective copyright holders. No part of this publication may be reproduced or redistributed by any means without authorization from the publisher. Publisher is not responsible for advertisers’ offers, products, or services, and publication neither expresses or implies an endorsement.
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ISSUE 96
CONT PRAYERS FOR THE NATIONS: UGANDA
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This month, we turn our attention to the country of Uganda in Africa.
SLAVERY STILL EXISTS: THE SECRET NO ONE WANTS TO HEAR
THE STORY OF HEINZ GAUGEL
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Traffickers are experts at making friends with our children online... the internet is a frightening place for children and youth who can be too trusting.
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Marcus Yoder shares the history of the artist who painted the Behalt mural.
ONE MINUTE WITH MARLIN
Thoughts and ramblings from Marlin Miller, publisher of Plain Values. // page 9
FUNDS AND BENEFITS
Every month we provide a listing of opportunities to help out those in need. // page 50
ON THE COVER
Although access to the internet can have many benefits, it opens the door to many dangers.
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ENTS MILLER TECH
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MillerTech has expanded beyond selling lithium batteries; they are a distributor of renewable energy products.
CHANGES... A SPECIAL PLACE //
HOMEMADE WINDOW CLEANER // 31 This month, Merrisa teaches us how to make homemade window cleaner.
CRAWFISHING 101 40
As a kid, I was obsessed with only two vices in life: baseball and fishing.
// 45
As they say, some of the best things in life are free. The crawfish is a perfect example.
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PATTERNS OF THE HEART // 32 Sorrow and joy —together may they create a unique pattern in your heart this Father’s Day.
GOOD STUFF WITH KEVIN: COACHABLE // 49 Be open to feedback, look inward, and be interested in growth.
This section of Plain Values is devoted to showcasing local goods and services to our readers. Each reader will enjoy one of four editions, depending on where they live. Our hope is that the "Plain Pages” can be a resource in finding local businesses to assist you in your needs as well as in your wants. // after page 50
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One of my favorite preachers is Voddie Baucham. The Lord has gifted him to be a powerful communicator, and he is unafraid to tackle the hardest issues of our day with a solid Biblical worldview. In speaking about people’s hardness of heart, he quipped, “I’m not in the hard heart business. I’m just in communications, my Daddy handles sales.” Over the last three years, I have wrestled with the topic of human trafficking, asking Him for wisdom and guidance. It was not a yes/no question; it was when and how. That’s mostly true! For the first year, I turned into Jonah and ran. Slowly and graciously, the Lord changed my heart, and as I dove into research,
ONE MINUTE WITH MARLIN
He made it clear that this is an issue needing open discussion in our communities. Part of that research included sharing with people I trust, most of whom are bishops and preachers from different sects across the country. Not one of them told me I was crazy! One of the bishops told me, “Marlin, don’t you dare chicken out on this! If it makes a difference for one child, it’s worth it.” A retired judge told me point blank, this type of sin is different. “It devastates the victims and negatively changes their whole lives forever. I have not seen another sin as evil as this. The perpetrators of this behavior are trapped in a nightmare. They know what they are doing is wrong, but the darkness that drives their behavior will be unstoppable until it’s dragged into the light.” Every single day I am reminded of my own sinfulness. That same judge wisely says, “don’t ever condemn anyone because they sin differently than you do.” We are all capable of unspeakable things, every one of us. I pray this issue brings truth and light to at least one person trapped in this darkness. I can identify with Voddie. I, too, am only in communications; that same Daddy handles sales by changing hearts for His glory. As always, may you find joy in the simple things. //
Happy 31st birthday to our new friend, Craig!
MARLIN MILLER publisher of Plain Values // always looking for more friends
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Feature Story
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Business Spotlight
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Homestead + Roots
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Widow's Path
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Our Heritage
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W.H. "Chip" Gross
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All Things Outdoors
Slavery Still Exists THE SECRET NO ONE WANTS TO HEAR
words by: ELAINE TOMSKI
God's gift of loving intimacy is given to one
man and one woman within the marriage bond. Any sex act outside of that union is not God's plan and not in our best interest. However, human traffickers have a different plan; a destructive, abusive, deceptive one. Actual human beings are being bought and sold in a business generating 150-billion-dollars per year. The business is human trafficking, and two-thirds of its profits come from sexual exploitation. Men, women, and children are forced against their will and God's will to commit unthinkable acts for monetary gain. Such knowledge is too hard to hear. But putting our fingers in our ears will not stop evil. Understanding how sex trafficking works will serve to protect our families, communities, and enslaved victims. As with last month's article on labor trafficking, this month's topic is challenging to research, write, and offer. Still, our discomfort cannot compare with the horrors of sex trafficking. Please understand, everything I tell you will be hard to hear, but it will be helpful for the protection, rescue, and restoration of sex traffic victims. According to International Justice Mission (IJM), “Every day, innocent people are beaten, raped, and abused in slavery.” Across the globe,
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P H OTO S © INTE RNATIO NA L JU STIC E MIS S IO N
more people are trapped in slavery than
build a small home, become a teacher and
ever before in human history. Every one
complete this fight. I want one thing. What
of those forty million oppressed human
I have gone through to not happen to any
beings matters to God. Including Kashi, a
other child.
precious girl from Mumbai, India.
Listen. They need our help. The story Kashi tells is short, but her
Kashi In Her Own Words Will you listen to me? I was only five years old when I was enslaved by strangers. They forced me to do all the housework, beat me, and didn't let me sleep. Listen. My identity was of thorns, amongst them and choked by them. I was sold again. At the brothel, I was told, 'Don't scream, don't make friends, just work. Attend to twenty men a day.' These were the rules. I thought I would never get out of that place, but I did. IJM helped rescue me. Listen to me. Now my identity is amongst the flowers; there are no thorns here. I am a woman who has overcome. I stood to fight for myself in court. I dream to
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imprisonment and time of restoration were not. IJM finds people like Kashi, brings them to safety, and helps them work through the trauma until they are restored. The aftercare victims receive from IJM is an essential part of restoring their lives. Jenn Petersen, IJM Director of Church Mobilization for the U.S. Northeast Region, says, "I'm inspired as we hear from our survivors and see the healing God has brought. It's beautiful what God can do through a life restored. We rescue, work on restoration, and ultimately, we want to see reform so people are protected, as they should be." The first step in providing protection is to recognize the problem. Sex abuse and trafficking thrive in a culture of silence, so
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the more we know and talk about it, the better protected every vulnerable child will be. Thankfully, Kashi is not willing to be silent or held down by fear or shame. She says, "I will not be known as a girl who has gone through bad things. I will be known as a girl who has overcome bad things." Kashi's life has changed because of IJM. Serving across the globe, IJM has also witnessed tremendous change in Cambodia, which was the hot spot of sex trafficking for so long. Jenn says, "The number of victims has dropped drastically, and we've seen a turnaround in the country. God is working!" IJM was able to shift their casework from commercial sexual exploitation to forced labor slavery because of the dramatic reduction in the crime. "It's a beautiful thing when IJM can see crime reduced and lives protected because justice is now being served in an area, and our efforts are no longer needed. We give God all the glory!" IJM's efforts also helped lead to a ban on child marriage in the Dominican Republic earlier this year. Girls under the age of eighteen are no longer forced into marriage. Maggie Cutrell, IJM's Director of Media and Communications in North America, had the opportunity to meet survivors of sexual exploitation in the Dominican Republic. Their stories of abuse are so hard, and their journeys of restoration inspiring. Maggie says, "I got to look survivors in the eyes and hear their stories. It's just life-changing. Hearing survivors tell their stories of transformation brings my work in Washington, DC, to life." Jenn Petersen says, "We strive to give honor, respect, and dignity to the survivors. We want to do this the Jesus way of doing it." Nearly 60,000 people have found rescue since IJM began in 1997, but this is only the start. Jenn says, "Our goal by 2030 is to rescue millions, protect a half-billion, and make justice for people in poverty unstoppable." IJM needs our support and prayers. Here are some specific needs we can include in our prayers. Pray for the IJM Kenya team as they prepare to launch work in Mombasa to address child sex trafficking across the coast. We are praying that God will open doors to relationships in this new area so that we can help bring freedom to those caught in slavery as quickly as possible. Pray for a breakthrough in cases of online sexual exploitation of children in the Philippines. Please pray specifically for cases being investigated that IJM and partners will gather the information they need to bring swift rescue and aftercare. 15
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Sex Trafficking Close to Home
older teenage boy. Angel says, "One night, the guy wanted sex, and I said absolutely not!" The guy responded, "Then I'll find somebody who loves me." Angel says, "The fear
Jesus loves me, this I know. For the Bible tells me so.
of him leaving made me do things with him that were We sing and teach this song to our children because
against my own best thinking. So, I gave myself away."
we want them to know how precious they are. Every
The guy used Angel and moved on. She says, "From that
person needs to feel loved and secure, including Angel.
point forward, I had it in my head that I had to give
Angel grew up in a family of love. In Hartville, Ohio,
myself away for someone to love me."
her childhood home is where family and school friends
Feeling unloved and insecure, Angel did give herself
came to jump, splash, and laugh in their pool. Their
away, over and over again. She says, "I took all of their
backyard was a safe place for barbecues and birthday
lies and shoved them deep down inside of me and made
parties. Angel felt accepted and secure in her school
it my truth." Soon, Angel was drinking alcohol and taking
and community. But then, when Angel was thirteen, her
drugs to numb the pain in her heart. Angel says, “By the
family moved to Arizona due to her dad's job transfer.
time I was fifteen, I was snorting cocaine." What began
Rather than finding friends in her new school, Angel
as a girl needing love turned into twenty-three years lost
discovered bullies. They told her she was ugly, different;
in drug addiction. All the while, Angel hoped for rescue.
they made fun of her red hair. When Angel needed
Eventually, she returned to Ohio, hoping to find a new
friends, she received insults and began believing she
start in life and her knight in shining armor.
was unlovable.
Finally, that man came into Angel's life. "He said
Angel's family occasionally visited with another
he was going to take care of me, and I fell into a deep,
family from her dad's work, so at least she had one safe
dark, counterfeit love." Young women often think they
place to go. Or so she thought. That family included an
are in love with their traffickers, not even realizing they
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are in trouble. But, soon enough, Angel's man
God knows a fool when he sees a fool. Thank God
of hope pushed her further down into darkness
he takes care of fools. And I felt something. I didn't
by pounding bruises onto her body and into her
know it at the time, but now I know I felt the
mind. Eventually, he forced her into her first car,
presence of my Savior, Jesus Christ." While Angel
selling her to other men and more violence. Angel
was in prison, she began to find freedom from the
increased her drug and alcohol use to deaden
guilt and shame she and others had placed on her.
the pain of prostitution until she was so out of
Angel did not have many visitors during her
control, she cried out, "God kill me, or save me. I
extended stay in jail, but one day a voice called
don't want to live like this!"
her name over the loudspeaker to come to the
God heard Angel's desperate cry. She says, "On April 1st, I woke in Summit County jail thinking,
visitor's window for a clergy visit. She asked a fellow inmate, "What is that?" "Oh, somebody just wants to talk to you about Jesus." Angel flew up the stairs and met Becky. From RAHAB Ministries in Akron, Ohio, Becky Moreland
"Young women often think
looked through the glass directly into Angel's eyes
they are in love with their
to say, "Jesus loves you." Angel heard Becky loud
traffickers, not even realizing
on a new path. She prayed, "Lord, please change
and clear. Those precious words started Angel my hard heart back into flesh." Becky helped
they are in trouble."
Angel uncover the truth about herself and her worth. The road to restoration was long and 17
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