This year, the Miracle Offering will be divided among these recipients: the 31:8 Project, Abbott House's Bridges Therapeutic Foster Care, the recovery ministry grant, and the Clergy Sustentation Fund.

The 31:8 Project's mission is to equip and challenge society to address issues regarding human trafficking proactively. Based in Bismarck, North Dakota, 31:8 offers informative seminars, conducts research, and creates curricula applicable to all levels of education and forms of human trafficking. Your donations support activities like the Bakken Human Trafficking Summit, mentorships for survivors of human trafficking, and the Demand Reduction Program—an education partnership designed to reduce recidivism

In addition to giving financially to the Miracle Offering, congregations are invited to collect supplies and backpacks for the Bravery Backpacks program through the 31:8 Project.

The Bravery Backpacks program came about when the 31:8 Project was approached by law enforcement to put together comfort backpacks for children who experience trauma when they are forcibly removed from their parents or guardians due to an unsafe environment, violence in the household, or drug and alcohol issues. 

The program was initially intended for 2 to 12-year-olds and has since expanded to include 13 to 17-year-olds. Service providers, law enforcement, medical professionals, schools, and foster care parents across North Dakota have distributed these comfort backpacks. 

The comfort backpacks include hygiene items, a hairbrush, hair ties, pajamas, underwear, socks, a blanket, a stuffed animal, coloring books, journals, stickers, crayons or markers, and internet safety information. Download and print a list of items needed for backpacks for ages 2-12. Download and print a list of items in Bravery Backpacks for ages 13-17.

Without the Bravery Backpacks program, police report that young people enter foster care or emergency shelters with, at best, a trash bag of clothing grabbed just before they are escorted from the home. Often, children enter placement with no possessions at all.  

The Bravery Backpacks program is positively affecting North Dakota communities, but most importantly, it continues to impact youth by addressing their immediate physical and emotional needs. Studies show that children caught up in such unstable living environments are more susceptible to becoming victims of human trafficking. 

Bravery Backpacks will be collected at the 2024 Annual Conference in Bismarck, North Dakota, June 6-8, 2024. You can bring a completed backpack or items that go inside the backpacks.