Highlights From Merry Mercy Christmas Event In Nashville

This past Friday night, over 400 Mercy supporters gathered together at the Loews Vanderbilt hotel in Nashville, TN for the Merry Mercy Christmas Benefit. There’s no better way for me to describe the event than to share with you what we posted on our website today. Special thanks to popular radio show host, New York Times Best Selling author, and my dear friend, Dave Ramsey and his wife Sharon, for chairing this amazing event. I also want to give a shout-out to Dove Award winning artist, Phil Keaggy, for putting together an awesome Beatles tribute band for the special entertainment. Click here to read more about all of the special happenings at the Merry Mercy Christmas event in Nashville…you will love it!

Natalie Grant Hits Our Mercy Multiplied Airwaves!

Hey guys, this is Eve and I’m honored to guest post on Nancy’s blog - my dear friend and now my radio co-host each Sunday morning at 9:00AM (CST) for our live radio show, Mercy Multiplied, on SuperTalk 99.7 WTN. I’m having such a blast doing this radio gig and so far it has been an extraordinary journey!

This past Sunday Nancy and I had the pleasure of having one of our longstanding supporters of Mercy Ministries and Dove Award winning Christian singer/songwriter, Natalie Grant as a guest host. Natalie shares our passion for helping victims of sex trafficking and is committed to fighting for their freedom. In 2005 she formed The Home Foundation to educate communities, build shelters and orphanages, and provide medical equipment to those ministering to victims of this horrific crime.

Natalie knows firsthand the impact that Mercy Ministries is making in our communities as we continue to bring hope and healing to these hurting girls. One of our most recent graduates, Pam, escaped sex trafficking and came to our Sacramento, CA home. She managed to escape her violent and tragic situation. Today she is free and full of a bright future. Pam is headed to a Christian college to complete a degree in Urban Missions. She is a beautiful example of coming from complete darkness into light and living a new life for Christ.

We appreciate having amazing support from amazing people like Natalie Grant as we work together to fight this crisis. We are outraged, and we think you should be too. Be sure to tune in THIS Sunday as we continue our discussion of the real life, ongoing tragedy of sex trafficking happening right here in the U.S. and our desire to expand to help even more young girls.

We would LOVE for you to join in our live discussion on the airwaves. Call us and get involved (615) 737-9986 between 9:00 AM and 10:00 AM CST. Middle Tennesseans can tune in to 99.7 FM but anyone can listen live at www.mercymultiplied.com. You can hear more of Natalie Grant on our podcast (click here).

I’m looking forward to watching all that God has in store through Mercy Multiplied. I have a feeling this is just the beginning... So, Nancy, strap on your seat belt because we’re headed for quite an amazing ride on the airwaves! Can’t wait!

Eight More Residents Celebrate Mercy Graduation!

Yesterday, we had a great time celebrating the transformed lives of eight more beautiful young women. We were joined not only by friends and family of the graduates, but by eight other recent graduates of Mercy who came back to celebrate the graduation of their friends. The wide range of issues that these graduates have overcome include sexual abuse, drug addictions, eating disorders, unplanned pregnancy, depression, and self-harm. I thought you would enjoy seeing a picture of me with these eight beautiful young women who are so excited about the fact that their past will no longer determine their future. We celebrate with them today, knowing that by faith God has great things in store for them. We have God's Word to back that up in Jeremiah 29:11 - "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."


Many of you that are familiar with Mercy know that our Nashville dog is named Jude. He is not only near and dear to my heart, but to the hearts of past graduates who gather around him to make him feel special when they visit (pictured below).


Hope you have a great weekend! We are excited about our special Merry Mercy Christmas event in Nashville tonight, and I will be reporting to you about that next week. Have a great weekend and don't forget to tune in this Sunday morning at 9:00 AM CST to SuperTalk 99.7 FM WTN to listen live to Mercy Multiplied! You can also listen online at www.mercymultiplied.com. Natalie Grant will be joining me as a special guest as we continue discussing the topic of sex trafficking in the United States.

We Need To Be Outraged About Sex Trafficking In America…

I want to share with you two reports that have been called to my attention this week. One report came from The Associated Press out of Myrtle Beach, SC about how college students are being forced to work in strip clubs instead of restaurants and are being paid a take home of $1 an hour or less. Check this out…

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. — Lured by unsupervised, third-party brokers with promises of steady jobs and a chance to sight see, some foreign college students on summer work programs in the U.S. get a far different taste of life in America.

An Associated Press investigation found students forced to work in strip clubs instead of restaurants. Others take home $1 an hour or even less. Some live in apartments so crowded that they sleep in shifts because there aren't enough beds. Others have to eat on floors.

They are among more than 100,000 college students who come to the U.S. each year on popular J-1 visas, which supply resorts with cheap seasonal labor as part of a program aimed at fostering cultural understanding.

READ MORE: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/40520265/ns/us_news-life/


Another story that we need to be outraged about is a situation that happened back in 1995. I am so angry and outraged about this one…

On May 11, 1995, a California jury convicted a 16-year-old girl for fatally shooting her pimp and trafficker, George Gilbert Howard. Sara Kruzan was locked in a hotel room with Howard, who was preparing to rape her, when she shot him, took his money, and fled.

Howard was 31 years old when he began abusing an 11-year-old Sara. For the next five years he repeatedly sexually, physically and verbally assaulted and controlled her. By the time she turned 13, he had finished grooming her for sale to other men.

After the murder­--and three years of brainwashing, violence, and commercial rape--Sara, a teenager, was sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. Today, at the age of 32, she is still sitting in a state prison in Chowchilla, Calif.

READ MORE: http://humangoods.net/?p=2733

I hope this outrages you! Mercy Ministries is at the forefront of bringing transformation and restoration to the lives of young women who have been trafficked. We have been taking these young women in for several years and the cries for help continue to increase. If you want to know more about what Mercy is doing, go to http://www.mercyministries.org/sextrafficking/. If you want to get more involved, CLICK HERE to donate.

Mercy Multiplied – Live On The Air Talking About Sex Trafficking In The U.S.!

In case you missed this weekend’s radio show, we talked about sex trafficking and how it’s happening right here in the U.S. My co-host, Eve, and I were joined by Stacia Freeman, the Director of The Home Foundation founded by Natalie Grant. We talked about how the U.S. is now recognized among the top 5 countries in the world for sex traffickers.

As you probably remember, the SuperBowl was played in Miami last year. According to the Coalition Against Human Trafficking, during the SuperBowl week tens of thousands of girls and young women were brought into Miami in anticipation of the high demand of men trying to hire girls for sex. Because of what happened at last year’s SuperBowl, the Coalition is warning these groups ahead of time that they plan to go undercover and infiltrate, raid, and make arrests where needed.

At Mercy Ministries, we are seeing more and more calls from girls come in requesting help. We know this is something we need to talk about. Obviously people are really concerned because as soon we started the program, the phone lines began to light up.

If you want to listen to yesterday’s show to hear what else we talked about, click here.

Be sure to tune in next Sunday morning at 9:00 AM CST on 99.7 FM WTN or listen live online at www.mercymultiplied.com as Natalie Grant joins the discussion on sex trafficking and how Mercy Ministries is going to expand and continue to help more victims of sex trafficking here in the U.S. You will not want to miss out! If you are unable to listen live, the podcast of the radio show is always available Monday morning at www.mercymultiplied.com.

Awesome Mercy Christmas Event in Charlotte, NC!!

I want to share with you some highlights from last night’s Christmas event in Charlotte, NC. Mercy supporters and special invited guests gathered together at the Ballantyne Hotel for an evening to remember. I had the privilege of casting the vision for a Mercy home in Charlotte, NC to some who have heard it before, and many others who were hearing it for the first time.


We were so blessed to have with us Barbara McKay (pictured left), who is one of Charlotte’s most popular media personalities and co-host of the noontime show Top O’the Day on CBS affiliate WBTV for the past 23 years.

Also as our special guest was the “voice” of NASCAR, Rob Albright (pictured right), who took on the challenge of getting people to bid for our donated live auction items. Both Barbara and Rob did a tremendous job and were deeply touched by the work that Mercy Ministries is doing.

We also had the privilege of hearing from longtime Mercy supporter, Jim Noble (pictured left), owner of Noble’s Restaurant, Roosters, and King’s Kitchen, who opened the evening in prayer.

Eddie and Susan Rollins (pictured right), longtime Mercy supporters and friends, also shared with everyone why they support Mercy and why they would encourage others to become partners with Mercy as well.


We were also joined by two Mercy graduates who are from North Carolina – Kristin and Suzanne (pictured left). Kristin shared how she came to Mercy with an unplanned pregnancy and made the courageous decision to place her baby for adoption. Kristin is now studying fashion in New York City and is living out her dream. Suzanne shared her story of freedom from past abuse, which led to numerous suicide attempts. Suzanne spoke about how her life was changed tremendously through her time at Mercy and how today she is actually working full time as the Director of Glenwood Tutoring as a mentor to inner-city children helping the children who are growing up in similar situations as she did.

It was so great to be in Charlotte with special friends and also to meet new friends. We are very excited about all that God has in store for us in the state of North Carolina, as a large percentage of the young girls who call us desperate for help come from the state of North Carolina.

Special thanks to our sponsors Freedom House Church and Life Fellowship Church, special emcees Barbara McKay and Rob Albright. We would also like to thank special musical guests Veronica Petrucci (pictured right), Christa Wells and Nicole Witt (pictured below) for providing a tremendous time of entertainment. Thanks also to the event committee members, event and table sponsors, as well as our many volunteers and staff who worked so diligently to put on such a great event! It was such a great evening, and definitely one to remember!

Guests enjoying the special evening!

Me pictured with special emcees, Rob Albright and Barbara McKay

Dave Ramsey And Mercy Team Up To Change Lives This Christmas

I am so grateful for the help of good friends who so faithfully support us here at Mercy. If you are a music fan, you will not want to miss out on a very special one-of-a kind piano being auctioned off by my dear friend and New York Times Best Selling author of The Total Money Makeover, Dave Ramsey, for our Merry Mercy Christmas Benefit this year! The Baby Grand piano is valued at $22,000, but the autographs of some of Nashville’s biggest stars like Kevin Mawae and Michael W. Smith make it priceless! The piano includes other awesome signatures from celebrities such as George Jones, Ricky Skaggs, Lorrie Morgan, Ben Utecht, Congressman Marsha Blackburn, Scott Hamilton as well as Dave Ramsey himself, just to name a few. During the auction period, the piano will continue to be signed by many more celebrities such as Natalie Grant, Julianne Hough, and many more…

The piano was donated by country legend T.G. Sheppard and his wife, singer/ songwriter, Kelly Lang, in conjunction with Samick Music Corporation. T.G. and Kelly are longtime friends of Dave Ramsey, who will be auctioning off the piano through his eBay site at www.daveramsey.com/piano. I cannot thank Dave and his wife Sharon enough for the many, many years they have supported and continue to support Mercy Ministries. I am so excited they have agreed to be the chairs of this year’s Merry Mercy Christmas Benefit being held at the Loews Vanderbilt Hotel on Friday, December 10th.

The piano is currently on display in the lobby of Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace Plaza in Brentwood, TN for anyone in the area who would like to stop by and see it in person. Bidding for the piano will start tonight at midnight and continue through midnight on Saturday, December 11th. All proceeds from the sale of the piano will go directly to Mercy Ministries, so be sure and place your bid for this amazing one-of-a-kind item!

To learn more about the piano and to make your bid, go to www.daveramsey.com/piano. For more information about the Merry Mercy Christmas Benefit, contact Heather Robinson at 615-831-6987 or hrobinson@mercyministries.com or go to www.merrymercychristmas.com/nashville.

Kevin Mawae and Dave Ramsey

Michael W. Smith signing the piano!

Michael W Smith and Dave Ramsey