Natalie Grant Helps Women Find Their Voice

Award winning singer Natalie Grant is one of the most recognized names in contemporary Christian music but in 2004, she says she found a purpose that goes beyond her music career. “And the irony is it has very little to do with singing. Singing is what I do. It’s not who I am.”

She says the journey to discovering her passion started while watching the television show Law and Order the episode was about human trafficking.  “I just remember that TV show always saying that they were ripped from the headlines.  And I’m thinking, What headline is this? They were literally depicting kids being sold out of the back of a van in NYC. I thought if this is actually happening somewhere in the world, I need to know about it and a lot of other people need to know about it too.”

So she made plans to travel to India, the area many consider to be the epicenter of human trafficking… but two days before the trip one of her vocal cords ruptured. “They’re like you may never sing again.  You cannot speak, hum, or whisper. You can’t utter a single sound for at least 30 days. And I’m leaving to India.” Voiceless, she went anyway.

“I’ll never forget meeting this girl who was sold on her 12th birthday by her own parents. She was rescued when she was 21. So for nine years she was trafficked. One thing that she did know in English that she could say to me that I would understand. She took my hands and she just said, ‘Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus.’ She thought, Okay, I can’t go into all of my story in English. But when I say this name, you’re going to know that everything’s been made right. I came here trying to learn how I could rescue them, and these, who have so much brokenness showed me that Jesus does His best work through our broken pieces. I say it’s the day I was wrecked for life, in the best possible way.

In 2005 Natalie co-founded the non profit organization Hope for Justice, whose mission is to bring an end to human trafficking by rescuing victims, restoring lives, and reforming society.

“Hope for Justice which, it’s hard to believe, just started as a little dream after meeting those girls in India, is now on three different continents and four different countries, six different offices. So it’s amazing when you use your voice to do what God has placed inside of you

Now the artist, wife, mother, and business woman hopes to help other women find God’s calling in their own lives in her book Finding Your Voice.  In it, she shares her own journey through Bulimia, infertility, self-doubt and depression to find her identity in Christ, and God’s purpose in her life.  “All throughout the book, from start to finish, it’s full of my story, yes, but more than that, it’s full of biblical examples because the foundation to finding your voice is the Word of God.”

Natalie says ultimately a personal relationship with God will give women the confidence to live their passion out loud.

“And my prayer is that every person that reads the book, when they put it down, they’ve found their identity in who Christ says they are… Seeing ourselves through the lens of Christ and His grace over our life begins to change every aspect of our life. It will strengthen our marriage. It will strengthen our ability to parent. It will strengthen our friendships. It will strengthen our identity—it strengthens everything about our life. And when you can find your voice in first understanding His voice over your life, that understanding changes everything.”