A soft, safe place to land. We all have one.  The overstuffed chair in the corner.  The way-too-cozy bed that makes it nearly impossible to cheerfully greet a winter morning.  Strong arms.  A quiet car.  What would your day be like without it? 

 When my boys were sick last week with one of those “it’s-just-a-virus-es” and we were praying together at the end of the day, I was deeply moved to praise God for His mercy in providing a safe, soft landing place for their bodies and minds to rest and recover.  I knew where they were.  They were warm.  I knew they had been fed – at least crackers and Gatorade.  But then my mind flew to three gut-wrenching conversations I’d had that same week with various women about a hard reality for too many.  There are parents down the street from me asking questions like, “Have you seen her?” “Can you help me find her?”  Their daughters have disappeared into an unimaginably hard place. 

One of those conversations was with Josie Carignan, founder of Rescue Her ministries.  She and her husband Brad run the organization, which exists to raise awareness and funds to fight human trafficking, the term used for modern-day slavery.  A central plot line within our upcoming spring musical Les Misérables is the plight of a young woman who, out of sheer desperation, is forced into prostitution.  She is unable to care for her young daughter, who becomes trapped in a life of neglect and mistreatment.  The young girl longs for her “castle on a cloud,” where there is an abundance of love, peace and safety she has never known.   As soon as our directors settled on presenting this ambitious and emotional story, we began praying about ways we could be intentional in helping our cast members and their families understand, first, that the social issues at the heart of the story are not relegated to 19^th century France, but are tragic realities of our day.  And second, that believers in Christ are called to “speak up for the poor and helpless, and see that they get justice.” (Proverbs 31:9). 

Josie says, “I believe that most people want to help, just like I did, they just need to know how.”

You can learn more about human trafficking and the work Rescue Her is doing here.

Please join us in praying God will be glorified throughout the production process of Les Miserables as we seek to plumb the depths of its strong themes of mercy, justice and redemption, keeping our eyes on Christ and the perfect redemption and safety only He can provide.