Monday, April 28, 2014
Mon, 28 Apr 2014
Liberty University School of Law
Karlee Shelton wanted to attend law school for a simple reason—to share the gospel of Jesus Christ to victims of human trafficking.
A 2012 graduate of Liberty University School of Law, Shelton is now getting the opportunity she always dreamed of, working with a nonprofit organization to spread the gospel and minister to children who have been oppressed, some of them victims of sex trafficking.
In November of 2013, Shelton met Liberty Theological Seminary student Holly Liedstrand, who was herself working to start a nonprofit to minister to orphans in India and Nepal.
The two joined forces with the recently established Virginia-based ministry Illuminate Nations, now a six-member team.
Other members include web developer Kyle Hotchkiss, Liberty global studies majors Spencer Gravely and Jacob Baltierra and Shawna Jerch, who attends Christ for the Nations Institute in Dallas.
The ministry has partnered with multiple orphanages and children’s homes in India and Nepal, seeking to fulfill its mission of being a light to children in darkness.
Some of the children have been rescued from brothels and subsequently accepted salvation through faith in Christ. Illuminate Nations now seeks to construct safe homes for the girls.
Though the ministry is new and small, and currently only reaches India and Nepal, they hope to expand and continue to shine the light of Christ to more and more places.
Four team members traveled to Nepal this past March. Over the course of just 10 days, the members of IN established partnerships with two separate children’s homes and also partnered with a local businesswoman to begin building a safe home for woman and children taken out of trafficking.
The construction and implementation of this safe home must conform to the legal requirements of both Nepal and the United States. IN anticipates this project to take 3-4 years, but has already begun the process
Visit Illuminate Nations at illuminatenations.org for more information about the organization and its members. The organization is in the process of securing its 501(c)(3) status.