This year’s Fall Festival is quickly approaching and if you’re still on the fence about whether to run or walk in the 5K on October 19, here’s some information about the ministry that we’re supporting through your participation. 

The Covering House provides refuge and restoration, using the least restrictive environment, for sexually exploited and trafficked children and teens, providing safety, dignity, and freedom utilizing top level staffing and oversight.

The issue of sex-trafficking in the United States is vast, yet the majority of individuals are unaware of its prevalence. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, sex-trafficking is defined as a “commercial sex act induced by force, fraud, or coercion, or in which the person induced to perform such an act has not attained 18 years of age.” Although slavery was abolished nearly 150 years ago, it is still alive and thriving today, and American children are now among the most vulnerable.

Our logo is inspired by The Underground Railroad log cabin quilt pattern, which served as a secret message of safety during those times. Quilts bearing the log cabin pattern were hung in windows to indicate a safe home for those seeking refuge.  By taking a stand against modern day slavery and commercial sex trafficking, while providing refuge for today’s young survivors, The Covering House is fighting for a world without slavery.

During the fall of 2014, The Covering House opened their long-term therapeutic home. The opening of this facility was significant for many reasons. This facility is for girls, between the ages of 13-17 years old, that have experienced sexual trafficking or exploitation in the U.S. This home is the first in the state of Missouri, third in the Midwest and 38th in the U.S. solely for girls under the age of 18 years old that have experienced this trauma.

The following is a testimony about one of the young women that The Covering House has helped:

                “Dedee, I haven’t stopped talking about you guys and the work you’re doing and how amazing SH is doing since I got back on Monday.  I just truly can’t get over the difference and transformation in SH... you all have empowered her to be the person she was meant to be.  When she arrived she was a hard, closed, dark, unhappy, broken girl and now she has this glow about her! It’s remarkable the progress that she’s made. I know she had to do the work but you guys gave her the tools to get there.  I literally sat there in awe watching her talk and listen as she would tell us about her songs and her poems and her artwork and her concerns coming home and what she knows she needs to work through and still work on...basically... I saw life in her... A sparkle that wasn’t there when she arrived in January!!!What you guys do is truly amazing and is very much needed! As an advocate seeing SH now is the best reward ever! I was one who fought to get her there and am so thankful I did!!!The Covering House is truly unique – it’s everything I had pictured in my mind and more.... it’s not a “facility” it’s truly a home... I kind of refer to it as a “bridge” from where they are –to helping them get to where they need to be to function in society and ultimately helping them get to where God wants them to be. You are showing and teaching the girls how to be “normal".  Every girl, not just girls that are trafficked, need to be empowered and feel empowered to be able to reach their full potential— and that’s what you’re doing!  I can’t thank you enough for all that you do... I wholeheartedly believe you have saved SH and I’m so excited to see what lies ahead in her future! I see big things for her with her gift of writing poems and songs and her artwork... She truly has found her calling. She did the work but you gave her the place, and the time, and the grace, and the love, to get there...If there’s anything I can ever do to help, please let me know... You definitely have a huge advocate and cheerleader for The Covering House in me! I’m hoping you’ll have another one of the girls I’m working with soon.  Thank you from the bottom of my heart!”

Addie Wood

Attorney at Law

If you’d like to support the work at The Covering House, sign-up for the Fall Festival 5K today and $10 of your registration cost will go directly to The Covering House!

THE MEANING OF “TRUST”

 Definition of trust:   

1) Reliance on the integrity, strength, ability, surety, etc., of    a person or thing;                

2) Confidence; confident expectation of something; hope.

Proverbs 3:5-6: “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths,” 

Psalms 118:8: “It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man.” 

Philippians 4:6-7: “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

As Christians we often use the word “trust” (“Trust and Obey”, “put your trust in Him”, etc.); but, what does it really mean to “trust”?  Who do you really trust?  Do you trust your parents and members of your family?  Sometimes yes – and sometimes “not so much”!!  Do you trust all your friends?  Probably not!  Why is it that we lose trust in people?  Primarily, because we have been “let down” or “betrayed” by those we “trusted.”  I remember as a child, holding on to promises that were never kept.  The point is, human beings are fallible; they forget, lie, exaggerate, or are insincere.  Once in a while, you and I may even be guilty.

 “Trusting in the Lord” however, is a whole different matter IF you’re a “believer!”  Do you believe:

He is “Sovereign” – Omnipotent: having “supreme power and authority?”

• He is “Omniscient” – All Knowing?
• He is “Omnipresent” – Present everywhere at the same time?
• He is “eternal and infinite” – He has always been and will always be?
• He is the Creator of everything and controls the universe?
• He is “Holy” – Pure, sinless, cannot lie, does not tolerate sin?

Now we’re talking about someone who deserves our “trust”!  Someone who will never “Let us down” or “betray” us!  You may be thinking, “Why would a God, who is all these things, even care about me – who is less than a speck in the universe?  That is a very good question, but we have His Word on it:

John 3:16: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life”. 

I don’t believe any of us would be willing to give our only child for someone we didn’t care about!

Jeremiah 29:11:  “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end”. 

Romans 8:28:  “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose”. 

Psalms 91:1-2: “He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.  I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust”. 

I am not saying that if we believe all these truths we’ll never have any problems in this life.  Jesus said in John 16:33: “These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.”

God has promised us “eternal life” (immortality) in heaven in His Presence!  Did you know there are 3,573 promises in the Bible?  Up to the present time, they have ALL been kept.  There are still promises to be fulfilled in the future (i.e., He will return to take us to the place He has prepared for us, promises to create a “New Heaven and a New Earth”)!  As believers, we have a “confident hope” and “trust” in the One who loves us and gave everything for our salvation!

We are living in very “perilous times” (mass shootings, rampant crime and violence, threats of war, uncertainty, division, hatred, rampant immorality, apostacy, etc.).  It is very easy to give in to worry, fear, doubt, despair).  Remember, everything around us is “temporary!”  It will all “pass away,” but God’s Word and promises will NEVER pass away!  Jesus told us:

John 14:1-3: “Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me.  In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also”. 

We also have the following promise:

1 Thessalonians 4:16-18:  “For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words”. 

If you haven’t put your complete trust in Jesus Christ ~ NOW is the time to do so!  He will keep ALL His promises!!

I don’t know about tomorrow; I just live from day to day.

I don’t borrow from its sunshine, for its skies may turn to gray.

I don’t worry o’er the future, for I know what Jesus said;

And today I’ll walk beside Him, for He knows what is ahead.

Every step is getting brighter, as the golden stairs I climb;

Every burden’s getting lighter, every cloud is silver lined.

There the sun is always shining, there no tear will dim the eye,

At the ending of the rainbow, where the mountains touch the sky.

Many things about tomorrow, I don’t seem to understand;

But I know who holds tomorrow, and I know who holds my hand.

God Bless,

Dan