I realized, today, that I posted an update on this here blog and forgot to properly introduce myself. Ms. Manners would probably call me rude. I’ll say I just felt like we were old friends, and I overlooked it. But, to keep up the ideal of manners, I will take a minute to do this all the right way.

Here is a quick insight into who I am:

My name is Shontell Brewer, and I live in the heart of the city of Reno, Nevada. There are seven of us holed up in a tiny little house: my husband and our five kiddos. By day, I teach elementary school. By night, I write here and here and wrangle my brood of very cool kids. I also am the children’s ministry leader at my church.

As a whole, we are a family about community. Weekends we can be found outside, dipping our toes in the Truckee River, or catching up on our favorite movies. And coffee? Forget about it. Coffee is my love language. After Jesus, it’s what gets me moving each day.

I was seven when God told me I was to be a teacher. I am so grateful for His direction! I am also grateful to partner with a group like Awaken and see the different faces my role as teacher can take! For now, it means spending time with you good people through blogging and hopefully bringing a little nonsense for you to mull over in your day.

Blessings,

-S.

As an organization we have often prayed about having a location that would be accessible to the people we reach out to — a one-stop location where men and women involved in commercial sexual exploitation can receive support and services.

God has answered our prayer and provided a space for this to happen. The new home of Awaken will be one block away from two strip clubs, directly across the street from the Lucky Motel and a block away from Diamonds Casino. This is a hot spot for trafficking, prostitution, and commercial sexual exploitation and it is exactly where we want to be.

Thanks to the larger office space and increased rooms, Awaken will be able to continue offering case management, counseling services, trainings, and outreach while also offering weekly restoration groups, individual and group counseling, support groups and Bible studies all out of this central space. We pray this space will become a welcoming and inviting place for us to also reach women in the strip clubs to come for prayer, support, meals, and relationship.

What is even more amazing about this property is that for the last few years it has been part of the Nevada House of Prayer, which means this property has been covered in prayer, making it a great launch site for what God has next for Awaken and the Reno community. We envision this space as a place for dedicated prayer and worship around the issue of sex trafficking in our region, and a place where churches unite on this issue.

We are grateful for this new opportunity to increase and expand our efforts and to make an even greater impact in our community. Thanks to those who made it happen. We will be renovating this month, then decorating and furnishing with hopes to have a grand opening by the end of this year! Stay tuned as we announce our opening celebration date!

There are many ways you can be a part of the growth of Awaken. As we move into this new space we will be in need of furniture, carpet, paint, decor etc. If you would like to help us with this exciting move please contact us!