The Red Light District

She was not even 8 years old when they came for her. Mom left and dad was always out drowning his cares with drinks. She was helpless. They abused her and left. Then they came again, so she ran away. Out on the street she was held at knife point. They said, "sleep with me or I'll kill you." After one man had used her he told her she should end her life. He gave her a knife and sent her off. She almost killed herself, but someone saw and stopped her. One girl said, "you are already doing this for free, so let me show you how to make some money at it." With no place to stay, she tried to sell herself out on the street. Still, she was so young that many took advantage of her.

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The stench of urine and waste filled my nostrils and I knew we were getting close. My heart beat with anticipation. With tears and intensity we had prayed for a spirit of freedom for this night. Now all of our prayers had come to fruition and we were in the Red Light District. "Oh God, love through me tonight! Love through me tonight!" was my soul's desperate plea. At last the small white van pulled to the side of the road.

It was time. 

It is well known that this place is dangerous. To many our presence is not a welcome thing. The people know why we are there and that our goal is freedom for the girls. A fight even broke out at one point, but I felt no fear. My focus was on the girls. They were not what I expected...they seemed...normal. They were far from what you would think. We smiled and shook their hands. Some were friendly and smiled back. Others adverted their eyes when we looked at them. Some even followed us around and asked questions. Earlier the girls in the safe homes had passed out fliers for a party a few days later. There they'd have the opportunity to hear about Christ and about freedom. I prayed they would come. I wanted to tell them how much Jesus loved them! The language barrier weighed heavy on me, but I prayed that the love of Christ might know no bounds in us. I pray that our weakness was His strength in that dark place.

I was struck by the vastness of the Red Light District. We walked several streets, but only saw only a small portion. So many girls can stay in business because of the amount of traffic that comes through. It costs next to nothing to get a girl for a while, so lots of men do. I noticed men walking by with a smirks of satisfaction on their faces as they pulled their girl for the night close. The girls wore shame around them like a cloak. It broke my heart. Children roamed the streets, even so late at night. They have no choice. It's either the streets or getting shoved under the bed of the tiny little room they call home. Loud, pounding music blared from the rooms of some. Most of them had posters up of other women, as if the girls are merely the object and the attention is elsewhere. 

Tears filled my eyes as we pulled away. I saw it. I walked through it. I cannot forget it now. These girls will forever have a piece of my heart. I have seen those who are under oppression. I touched them and they touched me. I wish I could take you with me to see it. I wish I could adequately describe their faces, their eyes. You would cry. You would hurt for them. You wouldn't be able to pretend they don't exist anymore. You would have to do something to help.

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She was 11 years old when they rescued her. Trauma and abuse was all she had know for 4 years...4 years of her childhood. She had been through so much that she didn't speak to anyone for almost 2 years. To cope her mind completely shut off parts of her memory. Finally, she started interacting with the house mother and the other girls at the safe home. Then she started to remember. Coping was hard, but she finally started to develop and bloom. Now she stood telling us her story with tears. Betty, the translator had to take over mid-way through because she couldn't finnish. Still, the message was clear...

There is freedom.

Where the Spirit of the Lord is there is freedom.

Ethiopia 2011 | part one

Well friends, here are a few photos about my trip. I think I am finally ready to share more about what I saw. There is so much to share that I'm going to split it up in several posts. I experienced everything from an earthquake to walking through The Red Light District...

It never hits me that I'm going overseas until I'm actually on the plane. I love to journal while we are flying through the clouds. Things seem so peaceful and worries feel irrelevant. It was a long journey, but we finally reached Addis Abeba. 

After a good night's sleep and a shower, we started our trek to Angacha...

Of course there was a little silliness on the way. :)

The land was not what I expected. The land may look beautiful, but the soil is dry from lack of rain. I can't see how anything grows there when all the ground looks like rock. The people are not unlike the soil. Telltale signs of years of hardship were as evident as the dry land in the eyes of some. 

We had hardly been in in Ethiopia 2 days when we were all awoken in the middle of the night. I woke up to my roommate screaming my name and the room trembling. It seemed like a dream to me. An earthquake? In Ethiopia? In the panic we didn't even think to grab anything but shoes. For several hours we shivered in the cold, waiting for the aftershock. It never came, so we went back to our rooms. As you can imagine, sleep was not possible after that.

When light came we decided to explore a bit. Needless to say we drew a lot of attention. The children steal my heart every time. It makes me want to adopt one day.

Such contrast - a shack next to a hotel...well, by third world country standards that is.

With the earthquake behind us, we headed out to the medical clinic to help with their feeding program.

There were so many families in the program. I was so wonderful to see how successful this ministry is in the community. The parents are so proud that their children are doing well. If it wasn't for ICA hundreds of these children would have died. A few of them looked a little pudgy (not much though), which is very, very rare. I didn't see one over weight Ethiopian there. Everyone was extremely thin. 

Beautiful people.

These are the families waiting to get into the program. There over 30 families that came to the clinic just because the foreigners were visiting and were accepted into the program. Their babies were incredibly malnourished and would have died otherwise.

These babies may look like newborns, but they are not. Some of them were up to 6 months old or older.

After finishing up at the clinic we visited the new hospital grounds - they were breathtaking. They made sure to plant flowers at the clinic and the hospital grounds. It's such a simple thing, but to the community it represents hope. Many families have started planting flowers of their own as well. Because of ICA this place has been transformed. The people have future. The flowers are just a symbol of the hope they have that things will get better. That is indeed a beautiful thing. 

This is the crop of potatoes they harvested from the land. God has really blessed these grounds. I thought it was amazing that the money for these things came from a local church in Ethiopia, not from America.

I was able to use a Nikon for the day! It's strange how foreign my point-and-shoot feels after so short a time. I made a good choice in not bringing it though. My mind was much more focused on what I came there to do, instead of photos.

There is so much work yet to be done. ICA has made a huge difference in this community and we got to be a very small part of that. Still, I can hardly describe what it is like to walk among them and feel their need. The burden still weighs heavy on my heart.

More coming soon...

Back from Africa

Hello all! I just got back from Ethiopia last night! Man, it was quite a trip. I have been overseas many times, but I have never experienced anything like this past week. I have seen so much. I knew it would be hard to process all of what I saw, so I put together a few video blogs from the trip along with a few photos. I just brought my little point-and-shoot, but I was able to use several other nicer cameras as well. I hope to be posting more soon!

Until then, I hope you watch this video. I hope it gives you a small glimpse into what it was like. Oh, and sorry for the shaky camera...apparently I didn't know I was doing it!

Untitled from Jennifer Blair on Vimeo.

Ethiopia.

I should be editing right now, but I wanted to take a minute to share what's on my heart these days: 

Ethiopia

I leave in 2 weeks. I really can't believe that it's finally here. I've been preparing for this trip for what seems like forever. Now the time has come to pack my bags and go.

I am truly amazed how God has provided the funds for this trip. I have raised over $1000 just by selling headbands! I just want to say THANK YOU to each of you that helped me! I am blown away. All along the way, God has provided exactly what I needed! Just yesterday I got a check from someone who saw my headbands and sign about my trip in my husband's store. I don't even know them, but they gave me exactly the amount I needed for shots today. I didn't know where that money was going to come from! People I hardly know have helped me the most. I have been left speechless more times than I can count. God has used this to stretch my faith and I haven't even left yet!

For those of you who don't know, I am going to Ethiopia through an organization called International Crisis Aid. They have many projects all over the world, but in Ethiopia their main focus is rescuing girls from sex trafficking. My heart broke the first time I realized how rampant and wide-spread this horrible injustice is in Ethiopia and all over the world. The men will go into the Red Light District and invite the girls to come to a party that we will host. At the party we will have the opportunity to show the love of Christ to these girls and tell them that they can get out of this life. We'll also get to talk to the girls who have been rescued and are in safe homes. To say that I don't think I'm ready for their stories is a huge understatement. I don't even know how to prepare. There is a feeding clinic we will work in as well. In case you haven't heard, starvation is extremely widespread in this region. Drought and war have ruined their crops. How do you prepare yourself to see starving children? The reality is sinking in now. They won't be mere faces on a piece of paper that I can ignore. They will be real and right in front of my face. I will touch them. I will see their pain.

Having this knowledge before me everyday puts things in a different light. I know Africa will change me. It already has. I just came back from the grocery store with all kinds of scrumptious food. My fridge is full with milk, bagels, cream cheese, fresh fruit, veggies, leftovers and our freezer has even more food, including ice cream. I have so much.

I have much; I give little.

I could go on and on, but I'll end with asking for your prayers. I know that I am powerless without the Holy Spirit moving and working through me. I know prayer works. I have seen it time and time again. I am praying that God brings many people to Himself. He doesn't need us, but He chooses to use us. Prayer is a huge part of that. If you are interested, I am putting together a prayer list where people can sign up to pray for us for one day while we are gone. Email me if you would like to be on it. I can't tell you how much that would mean to me.


I thought this song was fitting for this post. It's about Africa.

NS Pottery

I have been absolutely amazed by those who have chosen to help me. To be honest, it hasn't been been a ton of people that I know in person that have helped me the most. It has been those who have heard my heart and know my passion for missions. For that I am so humbled.

One such person is the lovely lady Natalie of NS Pottery. She has a lovely pottery shop and she is giving me 20% of her online sales to help raise money for my trip to Ethiopia. I am so grateful and thankful! Please look at the beautiful things in her shop!

She makes beautiful rings, earrings and other pieces of jewelry.

How would you like to drink out of this beautiful mug in the morning?

Check out NS Potteryon etsy for more beautiful, hand crafted pottery.

I have an etsy shop!

That's right! I opened an etsy shop called jen christine designs! I'm really excited. For now I am using it to help raise money for my mission trip to Ethiopia. I can't believe the trip is only 2 months away! This week we are working on more paperwork and sending off our passports to get approved for visas. I just want to thank all of you who are helping me and spreading the word about my fundraiser. You guys are so sweet and I've been humbled. 

What do you guys think of the new headband design? As always, you are more than welcome to get one from the blog as well. Just click on the button below.

Pick one!

shabby chic checkers $25.00 something blue $25.00 donate more? $50.00

PS: Check out the new post on Compassion's Cry today!

Now Availible at Eagle Eye Outfitters!

Guess what?

You can now find my braided fabric headbands at Eagle Eye Outfitters! (For local readers)

Just look for this basket!

If you aren't local, you can always order online through PayPal!

Disclamer: You can donate as much as you'd like (which is why it says donate), but the headbands are a minimum of $20. I will not send a headband for under $20. Thanks!