This a blog designed for two purposes. The first is to collaborate with teachers who share a common passion to make a difference in the lives of their students. The second is to encourage people of every profession and walk of life to join in the effort to end human trafficking. I know at first glance the two don't seem very closely related, but in this post I'm going to map out my plan for merging them.
If you're a teacher, you know that there are some things that we just can't function without. This list seems to grow every year for me. It includes (but is definitely not limited to): a full cup of coffee first thing in the morning, my Smartboard (but really!), Sonic happy hour, Mardel gift cards, HOBBY LOBBY, and the holy grail of all teacher resources-- TeachersPayTeachers (http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/). I really don't think I could ever go back to teaching without it! Every unit I have taught since the day I stumbled upon this website has included multiple resources I've downloaded from talented, inspiring teachers all over the country. It is like having a team of thousands of creative teachers on a daily basis. I feel like I'm best friends with Deanna Jump and Cara Caroll because I spend so much time reading through their blogs and downloading their amazing math and literacy units. To say I'm in love with this website is a complete understatement. Until last week, though, I had only been involved on the buying side of things.
On Monday I got all 4 of my wisdom teeth take out. Not the way anyone would probably wish to spend their Spring Break, but it turned out to be a huge blessing. I was forced to actually rest for an entire week. I barely got off my couch for the first three days, and while I was sitting there I started creating products to start a TeachersPayTeachers store. The first thing I posted was nothing fancy at all. It took me about 30 minutes to put together, and I mainly put it on there to make it easy for a few people I knew to download. When I woke up the next morning, though, I noticed that over 100 people had downloaded it! I realized this might be a resource that I can use not only to improve my classroom but also to provide a platform to raise awareness about human trafficking.
It so happened that a week after I started putting products in my store, the CEO of Justic International Mission, Gary Haugen, spoke at a church down the street from us. One of my sweet coworkers who knows I'm passionate about seeing human trafficking ended, invited me to go. Dan and I went to hear him speak this morning. It was so good and challenging and heartbreaking and exciting all at the same time! He talked about the thousands of men, women, and children that IJM has seen set free from slavery. However, there are still an estimated 27 million people living in slavery worldwide. That statistic is heartbreaking! And honestly, it overwhelms me with a feeling of hopelessness most days. One of the difficult questions Gary asked was, "What is God's plan for displaying His goodness to people who are living in a place of such severe suffering?" The answer--It's us, you and me. We are His plan for revealing His goodness to them, and there is no backup plan.
It so happened that a week after I started putting products in my store, the CEO of Justic International Mission, Gary Haugen, spoke at a church down the street from us. One of my sweet coworkers who knows I'm passionate about seeing human trafficking ended, invited me to go. Dan and I went to hear him speak this morning. It was so good and challenging and heartbreaking and exciting all at the same time! He talked about the thousands of men, women, and children that IJM has seen set free from slavery. However, there are still an estimated 27 million people living in slavery worldwide. That statistic is heartbreaking! And honestly, it overwhelms me with a feeling of hopelessness most days. One of the difficult questions Gary asked was, "What is God's plan for displaying His goodness to people who are living in a place of such severe suffering?" The answer--It's us, you and me. We are His plan for revealing His goodness to them, and there is no backup plan.
There are so many days when I want to sell our house and move to India to devote my whole life to rescuing children from trafficking, and I pray all the time that God would open doors for that. For now, though, I know He has called Dan and me to be in Oklahoma City (which happens to be one of the cities with the highest prevalence of human trafficking in the nation- not a coincidence, I don't think). And I know that until I'm called to do something like that, my job as a teacher is filled with purpose. Not very many people get to openly share the gospel with 6-year-olds every day and then have them turn around and speak it back to you on days when you forget the reality of grace. I LOVE my job! And even on the occasional days when I don't like it as much as other days, I can't imagine doing anything else in this season of life.
So how do I merge these two passions? The answer is through this blog and TeachersPayTeachers, of course :). I will be posting information about classroom resources AND links to organizations who are fighting to end human trafficking on this blog. I am also going to start a new store on TPT, called First Grade & Freedom, in which half of the profits go toward classroom resources for my precious first graders and the other half go to International Justice Mission! I haven't opened it yet, because I'm working with some other teachers who have a lot of wisdom and the means to help me make sure it is successful. Right now all of my products are in my current store, 4 Little M's (named after Molly, Madelyn, Mason, and Maci) http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Four-Little-Ms. I only have 8 products right now, but I'm planning on creating a lot more soon. Even if you buy from 4 Little M's, half of the proceeds will go to IJM. If you know any teachers, please let them know! I would love to have some other teachers who are wanting to start a store come alongside and help me with this mission.
I'll be posting more soon!
Until then, have a wonderful day!
Missy
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