Today’s post is a non-sponsored, guest post by the Mercy Project.

There’s an estimated 7,000 children who work in the Ghana fishing industry. Some of
these children are as young as 5 and 6 years old.  All of these children are slaves.

–Mercy Project

Today many in our country will take a day off from our jobs to celebrate the social and economic achievements of American workers.  No matter if we’re celebrating at home or at the beach, we’re entering into a tradition that has largely been shaped by Labor Unions – organizations that are dedicated to protecting workers’ interests and improving their wages, hours, and working conditions.  Today as we lounge around or hang out with friends and family, we’re not only celebrating hard work, we’re honoring fair, ethical working practices and the laws that prevent discrimination, abuse, and child labor in our country.  Without these laws in place (and enforced), the most vulnerable members of society suffer.  Who are the most vulnerable? Children.

Today as we’re celebrating the systems in our own country that strive to prevent injustices like child trafficking and child labor, we’re mindful of the many child slaves around the world who are unprotected and the organizations, like Mercy Project, who are working to free them.

As a mother, it’s difficult for me to imagine my children working 14 hours a day, 7 days a week.  I’m unable to wrap my brain around the thought of my children engaged in long, hard days of physical labor, eating one meal a day, and then falling asleep at night on a dirt floor filled with other slave children.  Yet this is the daily reality for kids who have been trafficked into the fishing industry in Ghana, Africa.  As with much of Africa, there is a great deal of poverty in Ghana. Unfortunately, this leaves many mothers in an unimaginable position: sell their children to someone who can take better care of them or watch them starve to death. Most of the mothers are told their children will be given food, housing, and an education. Instead, the kids are often taken to Lake Volta where they become child slaves and their mothers never see them again.  Thankfully, Mercy Project is working to break the cycles of trafficking around Lake Volta by providing alternate, more efficient, sustainable, fishing methods for villagers – ultimately eliminating the need for child slaves.  Because of the work Mercy Project is doing in Ghana, the first group of children will be freed this month from Lake Volta.

We invite you to watch this moving, 10 minute documentary about the issues surrounding child labor and trafficking in Ghana and most importantly the hope Mercy Project is bringing to children and entire communities in Africa.  Mercy Project is the only NGO working on Lake Volta addressing the injustice of child labor and child trafficking at its root – by strengthening the Ghanaian economy and eliminating the structures that cause the demand for trafficked children.

Whether these ideas of child labor, child trafficking, and modern-day slavery are new to you or you’re aware of these injustices, but need to hear some good news every once in awhile, we invite you to become a part of what Mercy Project is doing in Ghana.  When Mercy Project frees their first group of children this month, we can all celebrate together.

Learn more and get involved by – 

• Watching Mercy Project’s short documentary. http://youtu.be/b4Dwv5KbMYI

• Following Mercy Project on Facebook.  https://www.facebook.com/mercyproject

• Connecting with Mercy Project via Twitter.  https://twitter.com/mercyproject

• Spending some time on Mercy Project’s website. http://mercyproject.net/

• Sharing about Mercy Project’s work in Ghana with your friends.

 

Although child trafficking, child labor, and the unstable economies that result in these injustices are a tragedy, we’re grateful for what Mercy Project is doing to protect the vulnerable and for allowing us to be a part of this story.   While we’re commemorating labor laws and ethical work in our own country today, we invite you to follow along on this journey with Mercy Project to protect and free children in Ghana.

“When the lives and the rights of children are at stake, there must be no silent witnesses.”–Carol Bellamy

 

 

1. Today marks the beginning of Gamecock football season. TC is very excited. And I think deep down I’m excited, but right now I’m just pretending to be excited.

Do you see these kids? These kids- and this girl- were super excited about football season. They went to all the games no matter the weather and no matter the score. They had all the time in the world.

And now here we are. We’re tired, and Saturdays involve a lot less football than they used to. These people watch most of the games on TV while entertaining their kids. (They also can’t find time to take pictures together, so we recycle pictures on the blog. Sorry, friends.)

I’m getting excited about football season. I promise. I’m getting there. By the end of the season you’ll be so sick of hearing me talk about football. Go Gamecocks!

2. Maybe we’ll take Hudson to a game this year. Could be fun! It could also be a disaster.

3. I have signed Hudson up for a little after school karate class. We may also regret this decision, but I’m thinking it will be fun. And a lot of his little buddies will be in there with him. It’s for preschoolers and it’s offered at the school. And if Mr. Miyagi is teaching the class, Hudson will be waxing on and waxing off in no time. Perhaps a little discipline?

4. While I’ve enjoyed having a summer break from reality TV, I kind of need some mindless entertainment. I’m thinking I’ll be watching Dancing With The Stars All-Stars. This is probably the first Todd has heard of this, so I’m apologizing in advance.

5. A few weeks ago, our pastor preached on James 3 and taming the tongue. This scripture convicts me every single time I read it, but this time it was even more convicting. He spoke a little bit on taming the tongue and how that translates to social media. Wow. Just wow. It has helped to keep Twitter off my phone and remember a lot of what I read in Jessi’s eBook. I think I’ll write a post on this soon.

6. Todd and I have been playing Scrabble at night this week. Neither of us had ever played before, but I’m addicted to Words With Friends. This obsession started when I was hospitalized a few weeks before Hayes was born. I have spurts of playing a lot and then not playing at all. So we decided to break out the Scrabble board. So far, Todd has only won once, but he’s a tough opponent.

7. You know what drives me crazy about Pinterest? I have no desire to put cute little faces on my kids’ sandwiches, yet there are pins everywhere of cute little sandwiches with faces. I have enough pressure to feed them a nutritious lunch, but here are all these pins of cute little sandwich faces?

Also- I have no desire to craft all day with my kids. Hayes eats crayons and Hudson would rather I make the craft for him so it’s “perfect” than do it himself. I like to pin recipes, party ideas, some gorgeous, non-DIY decorating ideas, and baby shower inspiration. And, yeah I know, to each his own. But I’m staying away from the cute lunches and the abundance of kid crafts.

What’s going on with y’all this week? Any exciting board game nights in your house? Are you excited about football season? Are you pretending to be excited about football season?

 

A few weeks ago, I talked to you all about a very special eBook and the impact it had on me. The impact on me and on this little space of mine on the internet.

That eBook is called Be Quiet & Say Something and was written by the darling Jessi Connolly of Naptime Diaries. Jessi writes an incredibly heart felt blog where she shares her story every week. She also runs a print shop business out of her home, also called Naptime Diaries, where she beautifully works to get scripture in the home.

Jessi is a wife, a mother, a Believer, a business owner, and has such a beautiful gift with words.

Jessi wrote Be Quiet & Say Something to talk to women about how we have this incredible opportunity to share our stories and, in the process, share Jesus with people. We are often speaking very, very loudly and making a whole lot of noise about ourselves or we are just very, very quiet and missing huge opportunities to show Jesus to those who are listening.

In Be Quiet & Say Something, Jessi tells her story, and will encourage you through your own personal journey.

This eBook is so relatable and I would love for every single one of you to read it and see how it applies to your situation, your life, and your story.

Jessi was so generous to offer to give away 2 copies of Be Quiet & Say Something to Blue-Eyed Bride readers.

To enter, just leave a comment on this post. The winners will be announced this weekend.

*I also wanted to mention that Jessi is co-hosting the Influence Conference with Hayley Morgan from The Tiny Twig. I’m so excited to be able to attend this conference this fall, and I hope some of you will be able to attend, too!