3Strands Global | Cause & Giveaway

I am so very excited to share with you a company that has quickly become one that is quite dear to my heart. Empowerment and love for women has be long on my heart from my own story, and as you may remember from my time in Latvia & Russia, only grew with the stories of the women we shared life with from the Hope Center. I am constantly looking for ways to cover the girls that society has tossed aside with the truth that they are adored, beautiful, and worthy children of God. Thanks to Rachel Held Evans, I am slowly weaving the phrase “Eshet Chayil!” into my vocabulary, praising the many women of valor I see daily who overcome the struggles before them. So when I came across 3Strands through my sweet friend Katie’s blog, It was something I knew I wanted to get involved with.

As January is Human Trafficking Awareness month, what better time to start the conversation than now on such an organization? As human beings, despite how seemingly removed we think we are from this issue, our common cause should be fight against sex trafficking around the world. We should not accept evils that we do not agree with, and that we have the power to change. We cannot close our eyes and pretend it doesn’t exist or affect us. This is an issue that needs to be shared all year long.

Sex trafficking is not just a third world problem – it is in our backyards. And organizations like 3Strands are starting the fight for freedom, love, and empowerment.

3Strands was created to support organizations already engaged in the fight against sex trafficking. They began by partnering with Agape International Missions (AIM) to open training centers in Cambodia for girls rescued from sex trafficking and restored through AIM’s program. Girls rescued from sex trafficking need well paying, sustainable jobs so they can reintegrate back into their community with honor and dignity. The Agape Training Center (ATC) is a small jewelry and apparel production center unlike any we know of in the world. Instead of the typical 12-hour shift in horrible working conditions, the girls attend the ATC 8 hours a day. During that time, they receive counseling and educational services as well as lunch and medical benefits. Their salaries are 3 – 4 times higher than what the typical garment factory pays. This is a community, built upon respect and compassion for one another and the feeling of a family environment is what surrounds you when you visit the center.

A Cord of Three Strands is Not Easily Broken.

When people gather, communicate and strategize together – there is strength. When individuals, groups, organizations and companies become intertwined into a community focused on a common cause – there is strength. We are a community and with the strength of working together, we can bring freedom, love and empowerment (3Strands) to girls trapped in sexual slavery that give them hope for a future. And that’s where the bracelets come into play. They are all handmade by the girls. In every piece of 3Strands jewelry, a seed from the Sandal wood tree – native of Cambodia – is included to represent the life of a Cambodian child rescued from sex trafficking.

The red seeds featured on all 3Strands bracelets can be discovered if one looks into the pods, which grow on Sandalwood trees, native to Cambodia. The colorless pods eventually dry up and fall to the ground and are forgotten, stepped over like trash as they blow away in the wind. To Don Brewster, the founder of AIM, these pods are representative of how the Cambodian culture sees a child coming out of a brothel – as trash. But inside these dried up pods are beautiful, glossy, scarlet seeds that in their natural beauty, created by God, represents the beauty in each of the girls who have been freed, loved and empowered with a hope for the future. As each 3Strands bracelet is made by hand, with love, the girls incorporate the red Sandlewood seed in the design reminding them of their beauty within as they proudly sign their name to each bracelet.

The aim of 3Strands has never been about selling a product, it’s about telling the story our product. The story of our products represent freedom from poverty and lack of education that in most cases lead to a child being sold. Our story is creating jobs and empowerment for those enslaved, through restoration, prevention and providing a sustainable income for the women. Sex trafficking is a worldwide issue impacting 27 million people that will need a response from an organized, passionate, and empowered group of individuals. That’s where you come in. We are asking that you help us build that community. Instead of selling bracelets, we are giving them away to the members of our community that will commit to sharing the story. Individuals in your community can become members by committing to a monthly donation that will invest in sustainable business models that provide jobs. The bracelets will become the story of freedom that our 3Strands community members share.