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MAY 2021
PLAIN VALUES
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PLAIN VALUES
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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
Merissa A. Alink
Jim Zumbo
Ferree Hardy
JUNE AD SALES DEADLINE
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May 5, 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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MAY 2021
CONT
PHOTO © JE R E MY S NE L L
ISSUE 95
FORGET-ME-NOT BASKETS // 25 Families who experience loss need our support and care.
SLAVERY STILL EXISTS: THE SECRET NO ONE WANTS TO TALK ABOUT
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According to International Justice Mission (IJM), “there are more children, women, and men trapped in slavery than ever before in human history."
PLAIN VALUES
WIDOWS HELPING WIDOWS // 37 The friendship of two widows can be the most wonderful friendship of all.
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
The mother of a child lost to labor trafficking wading through fishing waters in Ghana.
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ENTS
M AY 2 0 2 1
PRAYERS FOR THE NATIONS: SPAIN // 28
HyR BRIX®: HEALTHY FERTILIZER // 31
HOMEMADE REED DIFFUSERS // 35
This month, we turn our attention to the country of Spain in Europe.
Discover the origins of this Ohio-based high-quality fertilizer.
This month, Merrisa teaches us how to create a simple oil diffuser.
AN ANABAPTIST KINGDOM IN THIS WORLD // 41
BLUEGILLS: A FAVORITE FAMILY FISH // 45
GOOD STUFF WITH KEVIN: INTEGRITY // 49
Today, three cages still hang from the cathedral spire in the city of Münster.
Catching bluegills isn’t much of a challenge, though there are exceptions.
There is never a RIGHT time to do the WRONG thing.
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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I am a history nut, and the older I get, the worse I become. I didn’t start out this way, but the older I get, the more I understand how important history is to the way we perceive today. Forgive my oversimplification here, but the exact moment that we live in every second–the thing we call the present–is a thin line converting the future into the past. If we have a wrong interpretation of history, it will warp what we think about the present and the future! Many of our history books have been rewritten
ONE MINUTE WITH MARLIN
to remove any trace of God or His sovereignty over the affairs of mankind. For example, the Mayflower Compact, which was the Pilgrims’ first attempt at self government, included, “We whose names are underwritten...having undertaken, for the glory of God, and advancement of the Christian faith.” You will not find those words in today’s textbooks, I can assure you. Nearly a year ago, I went on a search for a trustworthy source for news. My research ended with a newspaper that I enjoy and trust more as time passes. The Epoch Times doesn’t shy away from telling the truth, even when they get hammered for it. If you have wondered, as I have, as to the truthfulness of the media, I would encourage you to give them a try. They are not perfect, but they are one of the best I have found at relaying facts without bias. As always, may you find joy in the simple things. // MARLIN MILLER publisher of Plain Values // always looking for more friends
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Feature Story
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Prayers for the Nations
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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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All Things Outdoors
THE SECRET NO ONE WANTS TO TALK ABOUT
words by: ELAINE TOMSKI
“The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free.” - LUKE 4:18 40,000,000. Forty million people are slaves, and we are not even aware. According to International Justice Mission (IJM), “there are more children, women, and men trapped in slavery than ever before in human history. People are beaten, raped, and starved for the profit of others around the world.” The reality of forty million people enslaved by human trafficking cuts to our hearts. Each number represents a human being, made in the image of God, not a commodity to be bought or sold. When an act is this horrible, we are tempted to turn our eyes away because the reality is too hard to see. Surely, such an evil cannot be happening in our communities, right? The truth is human trafficking happens everywhere vulnerable people live. This month and next, we will present the difficult subject of human trafficking to you because leaving forty million defenseless people MAY 2021
P H OTO S © JE RE MY S NE L L
in the dark is not what Christ-followers
as Foli went with Grandpa to market, the
can do. In the four years I have been
sweet man was struck by an automobile.
writing for Plain Values magazine, human
Now confined to his bed for recovery, how
trafficking is the most challenging subject
could Grandpa care for Foli? A relative
I’ve yet to research and write. Please know,
stepped up to say, “No problem, I will
I have written this with sensitivity, bathed
take Foli and see that he goes to school.”
in prayer, with the hope of informing you
Grandpa agreed, “Go, Foli. Things will be
about this difficult topic.
better for you there.”
What is human trafficking? According
The next morning, Foli’s relative did
to Jocelyn Hamsher of Toward the Goal
not take him to school. Instead, an uncle
Ministries, “Basically, it is someone stealing
took Foli to the lake, pushed him onto a
someone’s freedom for profit.” A person’s
fishing boat, and forced him to spend long
freedom is stolen through force, fraud,
hours diving into the water with other
or coercion for the purpose of labor or
young boys. Their job was to untangle
commercial sex acts. In this issue, we will
fishing nets caught on trees along the
examine labor trafficking. Expect the hard
bottom of the lake. Foli said, “The first
facts, true stories, and information we all
time I went to the lake, I wanted to escape,
need to help shield, protect, and rescue
but I didn’t know the way.”
vulnerable people from slavery.
Day after day before dawn, Foli’s uncle doused him with a bucket of water to
Foli and the Ghana Fishing Industry Little Foli loved to follow Grandpa into the fields, hand-packing the soil around newly planted seeds, and tending the plants until harvest. Foli wanted to be a farmer, just like Grandpa. One day,
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rouse him from the sleep he still needed. In the darkness, they traveled to the lake where he and other boys spent nineteenhour days of dangerous diving. Kept in line with threats of punishment and refusal of food, Foli was helpless to escape. Even as
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authorities in rescue boats came near, Foli and the other boys were instructed to hide underwater. One of the other trafficked boys was Foli’s best friend. “Fofo helped me,” said Foli. Then one day, Fofo was commanded to dive into deep water to free the net. Both boys knew the water was too deep. Foli waited and waited for Fofo’s ascent until only air bubbles rose to the surface. ‘The air bubbles stopped, and the water went still. Foli’s best friend was trapped in the net, lost to the lake. Day after day, as Foli plunged off the boat, muffled splashes filled his ears, and silent prayers went up. Foli was not with Grandpa, but he felt God nearby. God, don’t let the nets go into the deep places. When the net holds me under the water, give me breath. Keep me alive today. Not only was Foli in danger, but he was also missing out on childhood, school, and soccer. Foli was trapped, a slave, until the day he could take it no more. As a rescue boat sped their way, Foli’s uncle shouted, “Get into the water!” But Foli would hide no longer. He remained in plain sight. The police pulled alongside Foli and invited him onto the rescue boat. “Don’t be afraid,” they said. For the first time since Foli was enslaved and taken to the lake, someone cared enough to give him a life jacket. He no longer needed to fear. Foli was finally free. After two traumatic years on Lake Volta, Foli was returned to Grandpa’s loving arms, and his uncle received justice.
International Justice Mission in Action Foli’s story demonstrates how labor trafficking works. By definition, labor trafficking is the use of deception or violence to force another person to work for little or no pay. People who are already impoverished make easy targets for traffickers because they think no one will come to their defense. Poor people who have been enslaved cry out for justice; meanwhile, their abusers become wealthy. According to the International Labour Organization (ILO), human trafficking is a 150-billion-dollar business. Even more devastating is that many abusers have a personal connection to the person who is trafficked. Much like Foli’s uncle. Out of the forty million people who are
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trafficked, ten million are children. That means one out of
According to Jenn Petersen, Director of Church
every four victims of human trafficking is a child.
Mobilization for the U.S. Northeast Region, “IJM is a
After his rescue, IJM continued to help Foli by giving
global organization made up of social workers, leaders,
him the care he needed to heal. They helped him recover
pastors, and everyday Christians who have the heart to
from the trauma of slavery and grow in the strength he
see human trafficking end. IJM is an extension of the
needed to live freely again. Loving, respectful people
gospel. We are a community of spiritual formation doing
helped Foli find the courage to tell his story so his healing
the work of Jesus.”
will be complete and others can come to understand the
Founded in 1997 by Gary Haugen, the work
dangers of human trafficking. Aftercare is an essential
accomplished at IJM begins with prayer and moves
part of what IJM does, but they do even more. IJM’s
forward with integrity. Every IJM office around the
model is three-fold:
world stops twice a day to pray. They schedule thirty
Rescue and Restore Victims – We find enslaved
minutes of personal stillness every morning so that IJM
people, bring them to safety, and walk alongside them
team members across the globe can connect with God.
until they are restored.
Then each office joins for corporate prayer at another
Bring Criminals to Justice – We relentlessly pursue
time during the workday. Jenn says, “We stop at 11:00 a.m.
justice in court. We ensure that traffickers, rapists, and
to pray together every single day. So, we get to share the
other criminals go to jail so they cannot abuse, exploit or
ways we see God at work.”
enslave others.
An incredible answer to prayer came early this year
Strengthen Justice Systems – We provide training,
when IJM rescued four thousand labor slaves from
mentoring and support to police, judges and other
a brick operation in South Asia. This amazing rescue
community leaders to slow down and stop the cycle of
of men, women, and children happened even amid
violence.
worldwide Covid-19 restrictions. Much like the Hebrew
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slaves in Egypt, these people worked twelve-hour
pointing to the Kingdom of Heaven and the way
days in blistering heat under close supervision
God intended things to be.” Jenn explains the
and the threat of violence. Now they are free.
work IJM does through the Hebrew word shalom.
From its base in Washington, DC, IJM reaches
Shalom means “peace,” and it is commonly used as
worldwide with operations in Latin America,
a greeting (Jesus uses it as a common greeting, see
Southeast Asia, South Asia, Africa, and Eastern
Matthew 10:12). But it has a deeper connotation:
Europe. Across the globe, people work together to
peace between people, harmony and safety within
end slavery and violence for good.
a group of people. The interconnectedness of
When Jenn Petersen speaks at churches, she
shalom can be thought of like woven fabric. “You
says, “My role is to come alongside churches to
can throw thousands of pieces of thread on a
say Jesus invites us into partnership with him
table, but that doesn’t make it fabric. What makes it fabric is when all of those pieces are connected. The more interwoven they are, the stronger that fabric becomes. It is God’s heart that we would
"Earlier this year IJM
have that strong, beautiful fabric (shalom). But injustice comes in and breaks that fabric. We go
rescued four thousand
to those places where the fabric is broken and help repair it. Obviously, we don’t do it ourselves.
labor slaves from a brick
It is the work of the Holy Spirit within us.” As the church, we get to be part of Christ’s call to proclaim
operation in South Asia."
the Good News to the poor and bring them into shalom: harmony, wholeness, completeness. 17
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