My name is Blythe Crow and I am nineteen years old. I go to Fort Lewis College in Durango Colorado. I am from Grand Junction Colorado where my Dad started a small church called Heart of Junction. For most of my life I just kind of went through the motions- wake up, go to school, go to basketball, do homework, go to sleep, do that five times then go to church. And for the longest time that was all that I needed in my life.
But one day I got wind about a future mission’s trip to Kenya. I love to travel, it is one of the many joys of my life. So I was excited to jump on board so to speak. I do not really know why I had this major desire to go to Kenya, but I did, and therefore I was going to do everything in my power to get to Kenya. At this point in my life I was a sophomore in high school, with no job, and life was becoming real for me. I started to look at life differently as serious situations began to take place.
Soon I was dealing with what I always considered to be “adult situations”. Decisions were being made that ultimately changed the course of my life as well. And I found that this shock to reality sent me into depression. I had all these questions about life- but afraid to ask them. So when Kenya finally came, I stepped onto the trash driven streets with a heavy and aching soul. And for the first time I felt it, the feeling that I have been fighting against, that I used every ounce of my strength to push back- until I helped tie a little girls shoe on the side of the path. I looked at how she was dressed, her shoes, her filthy clothes, her filth stained hands. And I felt it hit my bruised soul, hopelessness. Hopelessness that was sunk the ship. And as I walked out I looked up. I looked up. And I saw it. Two school girls laughing and smiling at us, and a mother holding her child. I asked to take a picture. And I looked in their eyes. And I saw it. Hope.
And that was the moment when my perspective flipped- when my world flipped. Now I work to bring this hope to others. My Dad and I started our ministry called She Has a Name. We rescue girls who had been exploited through poverty based prostitution. We give them a safe home, food, new clothes, and educate them through college. But more importantly we give them hope, redemption, and the understanding of God’s purpose for their lives. I want these girls to know that they are loved, that they have a purpose, and that there is hope. Hope is a strong and trustworthy anchor for the soul- keeps the ship from sinking.
The future for She Has a Name is pretty open right now. I envision small projects around the world such as in the states or East Asia. The main thing is that the people we rescue we want to rescue right. Meaning that we are helping them all the way through college- and hopefully after they graduate they will be making similar differences in other persons lives.
Follow Blythe Crow on her Facebook page, She Has a Name
