Heroes In the Fight      Our Hero In The Fight this month is Captain Lisa Barnes of the Seattle’s Salvation Army.   What & Who is BRAVE?   Every person who fights for the freedom of others is brave, every person who courageously faces every day after being a victim is brave, and every person […]

Hero in the Fight: Feb Brave is a catalytic event for conversation and connection.  This is a one day event people come together to remind a very specific demographic that they are worth celebrating:  girls 12-18 who are Foster Care. These girls are vulnerable and susceptible to violence and coercion in illegal and sexually explicit […]

Missing children, many who are sexually exploited, victims of human trafficking, both minors and adults…it’s not the major story for Super Bowl and it shouldn’t be, but that was the focus of the amazing team of people I had the priveledge of leading in the weeks leading up to Super Bowl 50.  This is my […]

Check out this blog by Francine Rivers Super Bowl Follow-up

Check out this blog by Francine Rivers The Dark Side of the Super Bowl

November 16, 2015 This past summer I had an experience while volunteering that I would like to share.  I grew up in a Christian household in a middle class suburb of a large American city. To my surprise, the truth of my own traumatic story was revealed while serving in an anti-human trafficking ministry. I […]

September 23, 2015 As the school buses once again fill the streets with kids on their way to and from school I am reminded of the importance of making our kids aware of the schemes used by human traffickers to lure them. School should be a safe haven for kids, but today that isn’t always […]

July 22, 2015 We are experiencing some exciting times here at In Our Backyard! I want to tell you about our Freedom Stickers program. Last December I was at our state capitol working on some anti-human trafficking legislative matters. Oregon State Representative Gail Whitsett and her legislative aide, Kelsey Ferry saw the stickers we have been […]

April 16, 2015 I often talk about how each of us can take a stand against human trafficking in our daily lives. Recently, as my husband and I were on a much needed vacation, we had an opportunity which could happen to any of us. We decided to partake in some laughter as good medicine […]

December 9, 2014 If you will be celebrating Christmas or Hanukkah you know from past years that these wonderful celebrations can be exhausting and stressful.  Just the opposite of what they were meant to be.  But this isn’t about “how you cope with so much fun” it is about how these pressures can multiply emotions that […]