“Praise the Lord, my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name. Praise the Lord, my soul, and forget not all his benefits—who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.” (Psalm 103:1-5)
Our theme this month at Catalyst Ministries is Gratitude, and it couldn’t be more fitting! We are counting our blessings and are filled with gratitude this November! God continues to lead and provide for the needs of the work we do to reach, rescue and restore survivors of human trafficking.
Over ten years ago, I dreamed of the opportunity to make a difference in this important work of helping those in desperate need and enslaved in a life they couldn’t get out of. When I learned that there are over 40 million victims of human trafficking in the world today, I could hardly believe it. More than that, I knew God was calling me to be involved in a direct way.
I’m so grateful that I said “yes'' to what God was leading me to, and am so grateful for the “yes” of others who work hard alongside of me to help open a door to freedom and a new life for these women who are finding a new life. What an exciting thing it is to serve a God, who satisfies our desires with good things, as Psalm 103 states!
Recently one of our residents expressed a desire for a dog at the Restorative Home we’ve opened. Hearing this, Teressa, a special volunteer in Texas, began to specifically pray for this desire to be fulfilled for Christy.* At the same time, our team decided that the timing was right for us to extend our services to include animal therapy, since this has been so helpful to many traumatized survivors. Teressa reached out to a breeder she knew and the result was that a new puppy was flown to our Illinois location this past week! We are all thrilled and so thankful for everyone’s part to make this dream come true! She is truly a gift and we are so thankful for this new addition! This puppy is just one more “benefit” that we’re not forgetting at Catalyst Ministries this month!
In this season, when we turn our hearts even more toward what we’re thankful for, we want to express our sincere gratitude to you. We are so grateful for your prayers, your volunteering, your generosity in giving to the valuable work of Catalyst Ministries. You are a blessing to us! Thank you for all you do! We are so honored to partner with you.
With Sincere Gratitude,
Julie
P.S. We want to make you aware of a few things coming up this month. Please join us!
Illinois:
November 16th—Catalyst Cafe (6:00-8:00 pm)
November 20th—Catalyst Farms Work Day (9:00 am-12:00 pm). Contact us at ILinfo@catalystministries.net for more information
November 30th—Giving Tuesday (Our Project Goal for Catalyst-Illinois is $35,000 to expand Catalyst Farms; Our Project Goal for Catalyst-Texas is $10,000 for survivor outreach)
Texas:
November 16th—Volunteer Information Night (6:30-7:30pm). RSVP at TXinfo@catalystministries.net
Please refer to our website for location information and our newly launched social media pages. Please sign up for our Holiday newsletter through the website as well by scrolling to the bottom of the home page and entering your email address.
*We use pseudonyms to protect the privacy of our residents at Catalyst Ministries
