The Story Behind the Black Bow

   The night before the Stop Child Trafficking Walk I was laying out my outfit and deciding what to wear. It was suppose to be cold so I put a long sleeve white shirt under my black SCTNow leader's shirt, trying to look trendy but still stay warm. I was debating about wearing a hat but then decided on a pony tail. I was a high school cheerleading coach for 5 years and my cheerleaders and I always put big bows in our hair for the games. I guess it made us feel feminine and young, at least that's how it made me feel.
   I was picking out a white ribbon when I got to thinking about the victims of child trafficking, specifically the little girls. They do not get to wear ribbons in their hair, to feel pretty and cute, like my cheerleaders.
   It has almost been a year since that walk and we are gearing up for another SCTNow walk and this time, I am going to wear a black bow. I remember walking with my friend Wendy and sharing with her my idea, about having a symbol, like the pink ribbon for breast cancer awareness, only something for these voiceless girls of child trafficking. The idea of the black bow is to make a statement and say yes, child trafficking is happening right here, right now, in America and we need to do something about it. It is a dark, evil, hidden crime hence the color of the bow. But yet there is hope...when I was talking with Wendy I thought it would be great to have the bow outlined in silver because there is a silver lining. There is hope. These girls have had their innocence stolen from them, but it can be restored. They are still little girls, just like my cheerleaders, wanting to be rescued and restored.
   So here we are, a year later, and we now have a whole Restored Bow product line! It is being sold in stores like Yobel Market and Focus on the Family as well as in church bookstores and online. And it is happening! People are getting the opportunity to share about child trafficking with others and people are getting involved! Praise God! My hope is that one day, we won't have to wear a black bow anymore, because there won't be any more trafficking. But until that day, let's give these girls a voice!