It’s funny how things work. Someone sends you a link and you click on it. Next thing you know you are setting up conference calls with the owner of the company. Wouldn’t it be great if things were that A-to-B in our lives? They usually aren’t and neither is this instance.
Back track to last year. I hadn’t even thought of taking on this venture. I had an idea for the T-Shirts, I thought it might be a good idea but I was in the middle of writing my first book, like on Chapter 5 of 14. I was nowhere near the stage of starting anything major with my idea.
I was watching TV at my mom’s house some months later. I had just moved my stuff in a U-Haul from Key West to Boston so I was crashing at her house while I looked for the perfect place to move my daughter and me into.
I never watch TV but my mother loves to have it on. It was the Today Show. Featured on that morning’s show was a peppy little blonde and pink haired woman named, Annie. She was the head of a ministry named Hookers for Jesus. I am very drawn to people who have endured severe mercies so I leaned in on what she had to say and fixed my full attention to what she was being interviewed for. I was smitten by her cause. A former prostitute, saved by the grace of God, she rescues women caught in sex trafficking and teaches them about Jesus and helps them make a new life for themselves.
A few months later, someone was making fun of her ministry on Facebook. You have to admit, the name Hookers for Jesus does get some attention. I am pretty sure it is cleverly named that on purpose. I posted back that I praise God for what she does, who would dare to do what she does happily. She combs the spiritual dumpsters of Las Vegas looking for what society calls trash and helps women see that to God they are a treasure. In the midst of that post, I got the idea to post a video of Brian “Head” Welch’s video from I Am Second. If you don’t know anything about Brian, he was the Grammy award-winning guitarist from the internationally acclaimed band, Korn. Brian was as famous as he was addicted to Methamphetamines. He was known the world over, having everything he ever dreamed of and his life was a sewer. He became radically saved, quit Korn and went on the road to tell people about Jesus, writing 3 books to date and forming a new band, equally loud, Head. In my post coment I wrote “Would you look at this man and think he was a Christian? Yet, he has a much bigger ministry than most. Don’t judge a book by its cover”.
What does Hookers for Jesus have to do with Brian ‘Head’ Welch and Ichthus Versewear? I heard about I Am Second from a woman who I attended church with in Key West. I loved the concept and she emailed me Brian’s video. It was the first one I ever saw. What I didn’t realize was that Annie Lobert and Brian Welch are friends. They tour in a ministry together from time to time, The Whosoevers. I now follow both Annie and Brian on Twitter. I love to hear from people who have had a radical God experience like me.
One morning, Annie posted that T-Shirts would be coming for sale with the Hookers for Jesus logo on them. I was all for it! I was excited for the opportunity to share with people what Annie does. Trouble was, when I went to the vendor’s site, Veil Arms, I couldn’t find any link to take me to Hookers for Jesus’ T-Shirts. I started clicking on every avenue I could find but nothing. Then I noticed a link that I had yet to read. This link advertised Veil Arms’ coming online storefront. Did they have an online fulfillment service? I was looking for one of those. I had found one already but you have to practically pay them to sell your shirts, never mind make anything. I mean, we are a ministry but no money means no progress. We do need to take something in to grow. I have now chatted with Shawn Ullmer, founder of Veil Arms over email. I am excited to see what they can do for us. They are also a Christian company so they ‘get’ why we do what we do. Isn’t it amazing how God weaves seemingly simple, unrelated things into a beautiful tapestry of blessings?
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