October 2016 Newsletter

Hands & Feet in Action

The Ratcliffe family has been volunteering with Lighthouse for Life for over a year. Each family member has contributed their unique gifts and talents to join us in the fight against trafficking here in South Carolina. We are so thankful for this family!

“It was a CNN documentary. On a Sunday night, my wife Melanie and I stopped channel surfing on a special about saving girls from human trafficking. To our amazement, this was taking place right here in the good ole’ USA and happening ALL the time. After about an hour, I felt both sorrow for the girls being abused and an intense desire to do something about it. Since Batman doesn’t really exist to hunt down the organized pimps and free these girls, we have to get busy fighting this crime. When I got the change, I promised I would hit this hard. Now, I serve as the Lead Pastor of The Church at West Vista in the Midlands area. Our church has dedicated our people, time, and resources to partner with Lighthouse for Life.

Melanie and my oldest daughter, MaCayla, learned about Lighthouse for Life through a college friend, Jen Thompson. Jen personally met with them and shared her vision to fight human trafficking by creating awareness and eventually building a safe-house in the Midlands. We have been able to travel to locations all over the Midlands shining a bright light on this hidden, life-destroying epidemic in South Carolina. There is so much more yet to be done. Join us and many others with Lighthouse for Life in preventing and ending sex trafficking.

— Jody Ratcliffe

Karis Home Progress

Our vision for Karis Home is turning into a reality! Walls are erected, windows and doors framed in, shelves are built and the list goes on and on. Lighthouse for Life would like to thank Scott Collard and everyone from Celtic Works for their recent help with the renovations. Christina and Deanna even got in on the work and helped organize our storage building! Below you will see pictures from a special work day on October 14th.

There is much to be done in preparing to open Karis Home aside from the physical renovations. There are several steps in applying for a Group Home License in South Carolina. Please pray for wisdom as we seek to put together our policies, procedures, and orders of operation. We are so very appreciative of organizations like Wings of Shelter, Doors of Freedom, On Eagles Wings, Sea Haven, and others who have given us invaluable guidance in this process.

Financial Update

• Monthly Income: $20,961.05
• Monthly Expenses: $21,194.24
• Monthly Operating Budget: $25,000.00
• Regular Monthly Support: $10,139.33

* Monthly expenses include $6,012.34 from building renovations. Monthly support increased $537.85 from August.

Breakdown of Monthly Support

• * From 5 businesses: $4,050.00
• * From 7 churches: $2,863.33
• * From 84 individuals: $3,226.00

Next Event

Contact us or check out our events page for more information.

We have multiple awareness events coming up. Each one follows a similar format, so if you can’t make it to one, please check our website to see if you might be able to make it to another one. This is also a great opportunity for you to invite your neighbor and friends! In that way, YOU are helping to spread the word and take a stand against trafficking! Stay tuned to our website events page and social media to learn more about our Holiday Market in early December.

News

Lighthouse for Life News

Pictured below you will see one of Lighthouse for Life’s wonderful Board Members. Meet Detective Heidi Jackson. Heidi has served faithfully on the front lines in the fight against human trafficking in Richland County for years with the RCSD. Please join us in congratulating her on her recent promotion to Captain!

Columbia News

In the beginning of October, an undercover prostitution operation conducted by the Columbia Police Department resulted in the arrest of 10 men, including the Police Chief of Winnsboro Department of Public Safety. Operations such as these will begin to put more pressure on the demand side of trafficking and are critical to deflating trafficking in South Carolina.

You can read more about it here.

South Carolina News

On October 12, Lighthouse for Life was privileged to get to be a part of a forum in North Myrtle Beach. Attorney General Alan Wilson, Carrie Fisher-Sherard from the Department of Justice, representatives from Doors to Freedom and Sea Haven, as well as local law enforcement were present to inform the public about sex trafficking in South Carolina. United community and increased awareness is essential!

Read all about the forum and what these speakers had to say here.

New Partner Highlight