This week I found an article from one of my favorite magazines, Relevant, that talked about an organization called 100cameras. I was so excited to read the article and even more excited to check out the website. Basically, the article talks about this project to give cameras to children in underprivileged areas and let them photograph the world through their eyes. Then, they sell these photographs and use the money to improve the community that the children are living in.
The whole point is to raise awareness and to empower the children and their communities.
To read the article, click
here.
To me, this is so awesome because my vision is to give children a voice and also to help others see what these children are seeing. I can’t think of a better way to do this. Also, it’s really cool because it’s helping children to develop their talents and see that they can make a difference.
The organization has just started within the past year and they have already begun projects in Sudan and the Lower East Side. They could really use our prayer right now for their project, as well as the children and communities they are working with.
Here are some things you can pray for:
*That because of this project, more children would be able to have a voice and show people the world through their eyes.
*The leaders of the project would have wisdom and support in keeping this project going.
*People would help start raising awareness, buying photographs and helping the communities of these children.
*Others would be inspired in many creative ways to help give these children a voice and also that more children would be empowered to explore their talents and skills.
We've been learning so much about injustice lately and about God's heart for the poor, the broken, the lonely, and the hurting. I'm starting to get so much more passionate about injustice and learning how to deal with it and what kind of response I can take towards it. I feel like I am constantly searching for articles, ministries and information about different problems all over the world and I've found some really cool things. This week we are talking about Inner Healing and as I was thinking about this topic, I thought of a few ministries that work towards inner healing. I love reading about their vision and their passion for what they are doing.
One ministry I especially love is called To Write Love on Her Arms. The whole purpose of their ministry is to give hope to and find help for people struggling with depression, addiction, self-injury and suicide. They want people to know and understand love, to know that they are not alone, and that help and hope are real. Their vision is of restoration and helping people be free and find life.
Another awesome ministry is Love146. Their vision is to abolish sex slavery and to provide restoration for the people who have been rescued from the slave trade. They are working to prevent child sex slavery, as well as to take care of the children after they have been rescued and taken out of the slave trade.
Both of these ministries are working towards restoration and are providing such great help for people. If you go to their websites you can learn a lot more about the problems they are involved with and what you can do to help.
Speaker: Cristina and Karen Moran
Topic: Child Abuse and Child Protection Policy
Summary of the Week:
This week was filled with a lot of good information as well as practical ways we can put it into practice. One of our subjects was child abuse and we went through the different types of abuse, signs of abuse and then how you can counsel and deal with situations of abuse. We were able to do practical things like “role-play” to teach us how we can handle situations. We also talked about the importance of knowing a child’s rights in each country and the importance of knowing which organizations or government branches to go to for assistance. Also, we had a few hours of lecture over children’s ministry and just discussed different activities to do with children and how to prepare ourselves for working with kids.
Thoughts:
I think it was so helpful to learn how to identify signs of abuse. I know in the future I will use this information and it’s important to be aware of. Also, I think it’s really useful to think of the different ways you can deal with the situations and how to report them. We were informed of some crazy statistics, such as:
There are 12 million children in forced labor
5.7 million children in slavery
1.8 million children in prostitution/child pornography
And 1.2 million victims of human trade
And this is all just in Latin America/the Caribbean alone. The craziest part of all this is that these kids are “protected” under the Convention of the Rights of the Child and should never be a part of any of this, yet it still happens.
This week was great because it was a lot of practical information and they also gave us ways to use it. We had a couple times of role-playing just to figure out how to best deal with situations and who you should go to first in cases where you suspect child abuse. It made it more realistic and I felt I really learned a lot from these exercises. It’s also cool because one of our teachers was telling us how they have taught children these different ways of dealing with abuse and seeing the signs, and they are now helping other children and bringing awareness about child abuse.
One thing that’s been on my mind all week concerning child abuse is just how easily it becomes a cycle and how to prevent that cycle from repeating itself. We need to step in and help restore the child, but what about the others? What about the abusers? I feel like it just keeps coming back to the same question: How can we teach others to value human life? How can we teach people that children are precious and important?
Child abuse is an injustice that should not be happening in this world. Our children should be empowered to grow and explore. They have a capacity to give, teach, spread love and we should never take those things away from them. When child abuse happens, it’s someone saying that a child is not important, that they are not made in the image of God. How can help people understand how beautiful, precious and full of purpose these children are? That’s what I want to do.
Posted by
Amanda
11:54 AM
This week’s outreaches were awesome! On Wednesday we went to work with some of the kids that are in foster care. Three of the guys from my team and I went to a park and played soccer with two of the little boys for over an hour! I found out that I was definitely not made to be a goalie, but we still had so much fun and the boys really enjoyed it. Afterwards we got them some ice cream and just hung out for a little bit. They were so precious. We were also able to go meet up with our other team and hang out with the other kids we will be working with. They are all amazing kids with such sweet hearts.
On Saturday, we went to work with Metro Ministries. Each week they take a van and travel to different locations to have mini-church with the kids in the area. We went around with the leader of the ministry, Scott, and rounded up some kids. Then we set up the van, had some worship, played some games (involving water balloons) and just enjoyed time with the kids.
My Spanish went through its first practice session this week (something I’ll need to work on) but it is still so awesome to me that you can communicate so much without using any words. I definitely want to try and talk to the kids more, but I also know that smiles, laughter and hugs can do just as much as words can.
I was really excited about what we did on Saturday because I feel like that’s how I see God the easiest, through playing and laughing with kids. I love working in poor areas because the kids in these areas just amaze me. They are still so alive and vibrant even through the circumstances they are living in and it’s really such an inspiration to me. It’s funny how I think I’m going in to help these kids, but they end up blessing me! I just love that so much.
I've been trying to keep up at least everyday with what is going on in Haiti, and at least be praying for them. I want so badly to understand what's happening there and to try and figure out what I can do. This afternoon I read another hard and heartbreaking article regarding the orphanages there (follow this link to read).
Because of the lack of food and water, people are starting to raid the orphanages and steal their supplies, sometimes even armed and aggressive. I can't even imagine what the people in Haiti are going through right now, especially the kids and orphans. It has already been traumatic enough for them without having people stealing their only sources of staying alive. They said they can only bring in supplies for one or two days, otherwise the locals will come and raid the orphanage. It's so sad that people are getting so desperate that they have begun doing this.
It's such a hard situation, I have trouble even wrapping my mind around it. What would I do in this situation? What would you do? More so, I just wonder what we could be doing better right now. How do we help all of these people and keep all of these children safe? How do we keep them from dying?
I suppose that I will just have to use what I have in my hands right now and that's prayer. If you could pray with me for Haiti, that:
*The children in the orphanages would stay safe from raiders and aggressive neighbors.
*The orphanages would be able to receive and maintain their food and water supplies.
*The others in Haiti that are lacking food and water would find ways to receive it without taking it from the orphanages.
*The chaos and desperation would calm down and that organizations and the goverment would be able to find the best ways to help the people of Haiti.
Also, I think it's so important to try and identify with these people. It's easy to hear the news and feel terrible about it, but I would encourage you to think specifically about individuals in Haiti and what they might be experiencing. Think of their stories and feelings and the thoughts they might be thinking now that they've lost their homes and possibly even families.
Posted by
Amanda
1:18 PM
Two of our speakers this week were from an organization called Viva Network. Viva does some really awesome stuff, including connecting organizations together all over the world, mobilizing communities and churches to change the lives of vulnerable kids, and equipping projects and workers to affect kids lives. Their goal is to free kids from exploitation, neglect and abuse and to just let them be happy, healthy children. It's really awesome what they are doing and I would really encourage you to check it out (especially the prayer part of the website, it's a great way to get involved). Here's a link to their site: Viva Network
Another website I really love and have supported several times in the past is WeAreOverlooked. It's basically just an organization that started out of a desire to help others. They sell merchandise and their proceeds go towards different things such as feeding a child for a month, providing mosquito nets and clean water for kids in Africa, and freeing young girls in India from sex slavery. It's such an easy and practical way to help people (and you also get a T-shirt, necklace or bag out of it!).
Matthew 25:37-40 (The Message)
37-40"Then those 'sheep' are going to say, 'Master, what are you talking about? When did we ever see you hungry and feed you, thirsty and give you a drink? And when did we ever see you sick or in prison and come to you?' Then the King will say, 'I'm telling the solemn truth: Whenever you did one of these things to someone overlooked or ignored, that was me—you did it to me.'
Here is the link to an article about an orphanage in Haiti. There are crazy, heart-breaking things happening in this country and this is only one small piece...
Orphans have no food; Home destroyed—
Some things to pray for and keep in mind:
· The lack of resources, food and water in Haiti and the workers going in to aid in relief.
· The children and workers at the orphanage would be able to find food and water, as well as shelter and protection until they can receive help.
· The 40,000 homeless people living on the streets from the earthquake.
· The orphans that have come out of the earthquake—for them to be taken care of, find new homes and recover from the trauma.
This was a really difficult article to read, not only because of the situation happening with the orphanage but also knowing that there are millions of other situations like this one in Haiti right now. It breaks my heart to know that this orphanage does not even have the basic necessities to live and no way to get those right now. After this week, it makes me wonder…how can we have hope for this situation?
Even more impacting was the fact that after the earthquake the number of orphans in Haiti tripled. There is such great need in this country right now and the damage that was done is overwhelming. They need prayer, assistance and hope now, more than ever.
I want to find ways to help this situation. It is definitely on my heart to pray for these people and to make sure people know what is happening, but there are also other ways to help. I found another article on CNN that gives organizations you can donate to who are giving relief aid in Haiti right now (link to the article). Just please keep them in your prayers as they are facing a desperate and overwhelming situation.
Posted by
Amanda
12:28 PM
Speaker: Janna Moats
Topic: Why We’re Here “A Framework for Action”
Summary of the Week
This week Janna covered so many different bases, ranging from the needs of a child, the rights of a child and the intentions that God has for children all over the world. We discussed the importance of each child and the responsibility we have to take care of them and speak up for them. We also took time to look at the different situations children at risk find themselves in and tried to figure out where our place was and what we felt God was calling us to focus on.
What I've Learned:
It’s only been the first week, but I already feel like I’ve learned so much. It has been really overwhelming going through all of the statistics about children and the problems we are facing in this world. I think one of the most impacting things for me this week has been to realize the amount of love and hope I need to go into these situations and help these kids. It’s so important to remember that each one of these kids was made in the image of God and each deserves the life God meant for them.
One thing we talked about in class that really stood out to me and brought a new change of perspective was about orphanages. Janna was saying how the point is not to get children in orphanages and take care of them there, but to place them with families that can love and take care of them and focus on their needs. Children need families, not orphanages or children’s homes. It was actually such a new concept for me, but it makes sense. The problem is not that these children’s extended families don’t want them, but that they do not have the money or resources to take care of them. Instead of spending the money and resources on the orphanage, we should be spending it on helping these families care for the children.
Another thing that stood out to me, although it wasn’t as new of a concept, was just that almost all of these problems with children and circumstances stem from poverty and the greed of people. Child labor, child prostitution, child starvation…these are all things that are caused by poverty and adults wanting money and power. What can we do to change this lust for greed in our society? How can we get people to value human life more than they value money?
Janna brought so many questions to my mind this week, some of those being: What can I do? Where is my passion? What is my focus? Another question that has been on my mind all week is just, “How can I have hope for these children, especially staring in the face of these horrible situations?” I’m so excited to see what I’m going to learn about myself, these children and what I can do to help within the next three months. I love that so many questions are coming to my mind because it’s really making me think about and look for solutions and what God’s heart is.
I know that after learning about the situations happening to children all over the world I can no longer turn my back on them. I absolutely have to do something.
Local Outreach
This week we had two different local outreaches. On Wednesday, we went to a place called Casa Viva which works with kids in the foster care system. We had orientation just to introduce us to what we will be doing the next 11 weeks. We will be picking up several foster care children each week and taking them back to Casa Viva where they can hang out with each other, with us and just have a break from their foster home.
On Friday we headed to downtown San Jose to visit some parks and pray for the problems happening in different areas. It was a good time of prayer and discussion, just realizing how many things happen in the city that are so hidden and praying that God would change people’s hearts. One of the biggest issues in San Jose is prostitution and we were just able to pray that people would start valuing human life and that God would bring to light the things that are happening in San Jose.
I feel like both of these outreaches are going to teach me a lot. This week was more about observing and listening, but you can learn quite a bit from doing that. Just talking about the foster care system really opened my eyes and made me think about how much it gets overlooked. There aren’t always people willing to work in the foster care system or to take the children in and most of the time brothers and sisters get split up. I think I will really enjoy getting to work with the kids there and I’m hoping it will give me a huge heart for kids in the foster care system and kids up for adoption.
Also, just going out observing and praying in downtown San Jose really impacted me. I think I realized how important it is to just take the time to observe and pray before doing anything. I felt like I saw downtown in a completely different way—instead of just looking at the surface, seeing the kids with their parents, the tourists wandering around, the teenagers skateboarding—I was looking at these people with new eyes. What was really going on beneath the surface? What happened after hours that no one saw? What was going on in their lives that was hidden from plain sight? I always want to pray that God will let me go into all situations with open eyes and open ears.
Websites to check out (click on the name to follow the link):
Tearfund-Tearfund is an organization that helps support ministries to children. Their website helps you get connected, find out what’s happening all over the world with children and different ministries and provides different resources to help you get involved and learn more.
The Urban Halo-This is an organization that works with orphans and the poor. Their website provides ways for you to get involved and serve, learn more about orphans and the problems surrounding them, as well as how to disciple and start your own projects.
