A few years ago, my husband and I traveled to rural India on a journey to explore adoption. The long trip involved planes, trains, and automobiles. With each successive change of transportation, we moved deeper into rural country, entering one of India’s most backward states, especially in terms of education and empowerment for girls. 

As we got closer, my anticipation and excitement gave way to feeling unprepared and uncertain. At the orphanage, we met and heard the story of the baby girl we were matched with. She was abandoned in the local train station we had just left. The social worker informed us that her mother was likely one of the thousands of teenage girls from the local tribal population being trafficked and that it’s not uncommon for babies to be abandoned in the same way.

Disappointed this journey did not end in adoption, we traveled home. However, I found my heart deeply impacted by the plight of the teenage mother–scared and broken, desperately trying to find a safer place for her baby in a crowded and chaotic train station. Or, more likely, she had been ordered to give up her child so her traffickers could continue to sell her body day after day, night after night.  

While my mind was aware of the statistics of trafficking in India, this experience awakened my heart. Arriving home, I couldn’t stop thinking about those teenage girls. I wanted to do something tangible. I didn’t want to just donate online, I wanted to help redeem their stories. 

As long as I can remember, I’ve been oriented towards standing in the gap for marginalized communities. As a physician, I’ve provided healthcare to the underserved population for several years. God has also gifted me a creative side with a passion for art and interior styling. God placed a dream in my heart to use these gifts to help empower at-risk women and survivors by creating an ethical brand. A brand where justice and hope intersect with creativity.  

The name of my brand, Rewoven Collective, was inspired while reading author Tim Keller’s book, Generous Justice. In it he talks about “reweaving shalom” into broken places by weaving ourselves into them. 

Shalom is the Hebrew word for peace. It also means whole, complete. As God repairs the broken strands in our lives, we can help others turn to God to do the same with theirs. As we partnered with non-profits in India who are involved in the rescue and economic empowerment of survivors and at-risk women, we began to see beautiful glimpses of shalom being rewoven into lives that seemed hopeless. 

While my calling of reweaving shalom through healthcare in marginalized populations is currently in the rearview mirror, I’m excited to see it reinvigorated through a new season. A season of raising awareness of sex slavery and sharing stories of lives rewoven with hope, freedom, and dignity. A season of joining others in empowering survivors and at- risk women while still using my creative gifts.

You too may be in a season of transition with a peek of something new on the horizon. An invitation to join with the only One who can weave shalom into our lives is waiting for your response.

See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland (Isaiah 43:19 NIV).

Maybe following the new thing that God has placed on your heart looks a lot different than what you’ve been doing. Perhaps it looks like leaving behind something very good, but you are compelled, because you know Who’s leading you on this new path.  A path where your human knowledge and expertise won’t suffice. You know the only thing that will get you there is trusting and leaning into Him. Abiding in Him allows God to reveal His heart to you and those He wants you to help. Also know that while you’re waiting to walk this path of faith into the unfolding of a new season, He continues to repair and reweave the strands of your story where shalom and beauty reflect from your heart.  

As I continue to seek more ways to join the fight against human trafficking and ignite stories of freedom, my heart’s cry is to never stop sharing about the only God who can rescue, free, and fill our hearts with true shalom.  May it be your heart’s cry, too.