A Thousand Questions...
Posted by Amanda , Tuesday, March 30, 2010 4:58 PM
If you're interested in seeing a touching, challenging, inspiring video...check this out:
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Creativity!
Posted by Amanda 4:47 PM
This past week, I did a teaching on encouraging children in their creativity. Helping kids express themselves, especially through creative outlets, is something I'm very passionate about. Kids are dreamers, full of imagination and unknown possibilities. I think it's a beautiful thing and as adults we can learn a lot from them. I found a couple links talking about child creativity, with some ideas for how to encourage it.
Here's what I found: It's the doing that counts
Fostering Creativity
Teaching Creativity
Also, this is our last week of classes and we are discusses attachment disorders. It's an interesting topic and something that many people aren't aware of. As we have been discussing this week, many kids are affected by it and if we are aware of it then we can help them in greater ways. Attachment is defined as the affectionate tie between two people. Attachment disorder is the condition in which individuals have trouble forming lasting relationships. I think it's possible that we have all come in contact with children/adults that have attachment disorder. It would be a really great thing to educate ourselves on this disorder, especially if working with kids.
If you would like to read more about it, here's a great website: Attachment.org
Rape Video Games? What's next...
Posted by Amanda 4:39 PM
I have never liked video games really. For all those people that enjoy them, I am sorry but I do not. I feel like they are a mindless waste of time, most of them being violent and disturbing. They desensitize you, making murder and grotesque images a normal part of life. Now, I have found a new reason to dislike them. I recently read that they have come out with a video game in Japan that is all about raping, assaulting and molesting women. You can even choose to impregnate a woman and then force her to have an abortion. The motive for this game is revenge.
Wow.
It's no wonder that things like prostitution, human trafficking and rude sexual behavior are running rampant in this world today. What makes us think these things are okay?
I can't wrap my mind around the fact that games like this exist. It's bad enough that things like this actually happen in our world--maybe this is the reason why. In the article, it debates whether or not these kinds of games should be banned. In my mind, I wonder how that is even a debate.
I'm almost speechless. I can't find any words to say. It makes me sad, angry, frustrated that women are used like that...and for what? Revenge. It makes me upset that people place no value on human lives and that video games are just reinforcing that. How is this happening?
Here is the article: RapeLay Video Game
Our last local outreach!
Posted by Amanda , Monday, March 29, 2010 2:14 PM
Friday was our last local outreach for our school and there were sad faces all around. We went to Metro Ministries and hung out with the same kids from last week. We started off playing “Duck, Duck, Goose” with the kids again and then started another game of “Red light, Green light.” I just love the excitement of the kids. They were thrilled with whatever game we were playing and got so into it. The little girls were always grabbing my arm and rattling off in Spanish (so of course, I just smiled and nodded and giggled). For our program, we were able to share several testimonies and play some fun games with them. Scott, the leader of Metro Ministries, told them it was our last week there and we wouldn’t be coming back. After that, many of the kids were just sitting with us crying. I feel like it’s one of the hardest parts of only doing short-term ministry. You get very attached to the kids and they get attached to you. Then, three months later you’re leaving and you find yourself not wanting to. It’s especially hard when it’s such amazing, beautiful kids full of life and joy. It’s like, in those two hours of ministry time, you forget everything else in the world exists except you and those kids. You just give them love and pour yourselves into them. It’s hard to leave them. But, the excitement is knowing that I get to spend so many more months living in Jaco and spending everyday with the kids there. I will get to know them so much more intensely and I know they will steal my heart just as much as the other kids I have worked with.
On Saturday night, a few of us went to Jaco again. Since our speaker this past week was teaching about human trafficking, we went with her to observe the nightlife. We headed downtown around midnight and were shocked by how busy it was. There was an amazing amount of people on the streets and about twice as many prostitutes. Ro told us that she started counting the prostitutes, but had to stop once she hit 50 because there were just too many to count. And that was only including the women that were on the street, in plain sight. As we were walking down the street, we passed an old man—probably in his 70’s—with a young prostitute who couldn’t be more than 18 or 19 years old. They were laughing and talking. It was such an odd sight. The amount of men that were on the streets was unbelievable. There were old men, young men, men from all over the world, locals…any kind of man you could imagine basically. I have a feeling I will have a hard time liking men while I am living there. Anyways, it looks like outreach will be a challenge, but I know I will learn a lot. I’m truly excited for what is going to happen in Jaco. It will definitely be an adventure!
What’s happening in your neighborhood?
Posted by Amanda 12:32 PM
Speaker: Ro Potter
Topic: Human Trafficking
Staring into the face of the nasty, gross injustices in this world is a hard thing to do, but that is exactly what we did this past week. My heart was a mess—some days I literally felt like it was ripping out of my chest. The pain and anger from hearing stories of girls who were trafficked, abused and beaten was overwhelming. The intensity of last week is difficult to explain with words, but I need to try. I need others to understand what is happening in this world. It is not pretty.
For those of you that don’t know what human trafficking is, it is defined by the UN as being the recruitment, transportation, or harboring of a person by means of threat, force or deception for sex, labor, slave-like exploitation or the removal of organs. There are an estimated 27 million people in slavery today. To put that in perspective, there are 20 million people living in New York. Imagine every single person in New York being enslaved…along with another 7 million on top of that. Crazy, huh?
Trafficking is a huge industry and pulls in at least $32 billion a year. If you buy a girl through a trafficker, you can make back the money within one week by selling them as a prostitute. People are pulled into the industry of trafficking because you can buy a person and use them countless times without having to keep paying or getting more resources. They use people in all spans of the world, not only in prostitution. People are being enslaved to make our clothes, our chocolate, our coffee, our household furniture and appliances. Do we know where our things are coming from? Children are used as soldiers, used to murder and kill against their will. They are used in other forms of labor: housekeeping, construction, casinos, strip clubs, hotels, nail salons, massage parlors. The possibilities of where they are being used are endless.
Trafficking is happening everywhere. It could be happening in your local town, a rest stop by your house, in your suburban neighborhood. It’s not just in the cities or in poor areas. This is a real problem and it’s close to our homes. People get trafficked into the United States all the time.
“Everyone can fight human trafficking. Knowledge is power. Talk to a friend about human trafficking. Watch a documentary, educate yourself. Talk to government representatives. Ask them what your city is doing to fight trafficking,” says Ro Potter.
Fighting this is probably going to cost us. If anything, it will break our hearts. But is it worth it? Yes.
It’s easy, at least for me, to feel disgust and abhorrence for these traffickers. But it’s important to remember that they are human too and something in their past has led them to this place. It’s also important to remember that this industry is fueled by the demand. Men want cheap sex, easy gratification—so they buy a prostitute. We want cheap products—so they force young children to work for free to make those products. Someone needs an organ—so they drug someone and remove the organ without their consent. We have the responsibility to know where our stuff is coming from.
There are a million things I can say about human trafficking. Mostly, I just think we need to realize that God has a huge heart for this issue. These people, women, men, children—they never escape God’s eyes. He can’t get away from the pain they are going through. And what’s close to God’s heart should be close to ours. God wants us to bring justice for these people. If we aren’t doing that, if we aren’t listening to what He is saying to us…He will find other ways to do it. We can see that through the many secular organizations that are doing amazing things to stop these injustices.
So…the question is:
Are we listening?
Letting children express themselves...
Posted by Amanda , Tuesday, March 23, 2010 3:33 PM
I read a recent article about the affects that losing a parent/both parents has on a child, even as they grow up. Adults still deal with their feelings and emotions of losing a parent when they were young. Many times children do not have outlets for their feelings after a parent dies. I find that when these tradgedies happen, we tend to overlook the children and their feelings. We don't let them process enough and think that maybe since they are so young, it doesn't really affect them. But it does and the results show up even in adulthood. I think it's also the same when it comes to divorce. Divorces are so common these days and I think we tend to forget the affect they have on children. They need healthy, productive ways to process their thoughts and feelings, or they will shut it inside. If they never have an opportunity to deal with their feelings and hurts, they will carry it with them for the rest of their lives and it will greatly affect what kind of person they turn out to be.
I just can't get over how easily it slips past us that our childhood affects who we are as people. We seem to forget the fact that most things that happened in our childhood have shaped who we are today. And so we forget that the children that are growing up around us are being shaped into future adults and that the everyday circumstances of their lives are important. How they deal with their feelings is important. How they are treated is important. It's important to let them be children, let them be vulnerable and open, let them be themselves.
If you would like to check out the article, here it is: Kids who lose parents still grieve as adults
Reality.
Posted by Amanda 2:42 PM
Stare ugly in the face.
Step up, stare at it.
Swallow it whole.
Does it scare you?
Does it make you cry?
Does it make you change?
Stare. Really hard.
Can you ignore it?
Can you fight it?
Is it tearing at your heart?
Ugly, hideous, revolting, repulsive.
Disgusting, sickening, nauseating.
Reality.
Injustice has a dirty face.
How YOU can end slavery...
Posted by Amanda 2:16 PM
It feels like it's taken forever to get here, but finally our week on Human Trafficking is finally here. This is definitely something my eyes have been opened to and I've become very passionate about just in these past 10 weeks. I think everyone in my school feels the same way. I want so badly to open others eyes to this issue as well and to help them see the reality of situations all over the world.
More slaves exist now than any other time in history--an estimated 27 million people are in some form of slavery all over the world, whether thats sexual exploitation, prostitution, forced labor, or even the removal of organs. If your curious about what you can do to stand up and speak out, here are some websites to check out:
Stop the Traffick is a movement to Prevent, Protect and Prosecute. They work to educate and raise awareness, advocate on behalf of those trafficked and fundraise for projects to stop trafficking. If you want to learn more about what human trafficking is and what things you can do to take action--this is a great site to check out and pull information from.
Free the Slaves is also a movement to end slavery worldwide. They recognize that everyone has a role to play in the ending of slavery--governments, organizations, businesses, communities, consumers and, most importantly, us. They share stories and easy, practical ways we can educate ourselves and do something about this issue.
"When people act, things change."
Local Outreaches...
Posted by Amanda , Sunday, March 21, 2010 12:57 PM
Outreach this week was amazing. At the end of our week, we spent two mornings working at a school for children with special needs. The first morning I spent shadowing the physical therapist. I can’t even describe how cool it was. There were kids with all kinds of disabilities that came through the doors, but he knew each one of them, exactly how to work with them and how to make them smile. We were actually able to participate and help him in whatever exercises he was doing with them. The morning started out with crawling along the mats and helping a young boy with down-syndrome play ball. It progressed into rocking and bouncing some precious girls with cerebral palsy. Just watching their faces light up every time someone would talk to them or when they got to bounce was remarkable. They are so childlike and excited about everything. The therapist that was working with them was great. You could tell that he truly loved his job and cared for each one of the kids. He was always patient and gentle with them. He made it so much fun, by singing songs and playing games. They all loved it.
The next morning we were switched around into another room. There were four kids, with several disabilities. One of them especially grabbed my heart. He was talkative and funny, always seeming to enjoy everything he was doing. Close to the end of class, I took him for a walk around the school and then we went back to the classroom. It was time for us to leave, but he did not want to let go of my hand. He was playing soccer and wanted me to play with him. I kept saying “Hasta luego!” but he would have none of it. He was so sweet and I wish so badly I could have stayed longer with him. It was really great to be in that classroom though. A lot of the educating they do with the kids is teaching them life skills. The day we were there, they were making fruit salads. One way they teach the kids is by using all of the senses. Every time we cut open the cantaloupe or watermelon, the teacher would repeat the name, give them a chance to touch and smell it and then let them eat a couple pieces. It was a new experience and one that I am really glad I was able to participate in. The children were truly wonderful, full of life and love.
On Friday night, we went to do Metro Ministries. It was at a different location that some of our students have been going to throughout the whole school. I had never been there though, but immediately fell in love with the kids. We started playing “Pato, Pato, Gonzo” also known as “Duck, Duck, Goose.” Every little girl wanted to be “it” and loved being able to chase you around the circle. I feel like those times, just playing with the kids, sitting with them and smiling…those times bring me back to why I do what I do. They make the world feel right. There really is nothing better than hanging out with kids and being silly. That night, we had a team from L.A. come with us and do some dramas. The kids were really into the program. I ended up with a little girl falling asleep on my shoulder and held her for probably a good hour. I couldn’t feel my arm afterwards, but it was worth it. ;) Kids are just so great, and if there is nothing else that I take away from these experiences, I do know that kids are valuable and they bring life. Being around them refreshes me and makes me feel like taking on the world again. And that is a beautiful thing.
Discipline
Posted by Amanda , Thursday, March 18, 2010 3:28 PM
Speaker: Michelle Grimes
Topic: Behaviors and Behavior Management
Class was a little different this week. Instead of having our speaker here in person, we used Skype and interacted with our speaker while she was in Kansas City! We also only had lectures two days this week. The rest of the week was spent cleaning the base (or in my case, washing, waxing and vacuuming our vehicles!) and working in the mornings at a school for children with special needs. For our two days, we spent time discussing discipline and the reasons children act up and looking at scripture for discipline.
Discipline is such an interesting topic and also one widely debated. Sometimes kids are really hard work. They act up quite often, or in some cases are quiet, withdrawn and don't want to participate. I think it's important that we get to the root of their behaviors and use the best discipline and encouragement we can. Every child is different and they all learn in different ways. That means that disciplining a child one way, might not work for the next child you need to discipline. It's so important to look at the individiual needs of each child you are working with. Also, another thing Michelle taught on was engaging your students. If you engage the students, you can eliminate 90% of behaviors. That's incredible. But if you think about, even adults work that way. If we aren't engaged, we don't learn a thing, we don't want to be in class, we have no interest whatsoever in what we are doing. Kids just need to be challenged and also accepted and involved in whatever they are doing.
As we looked more and more at what the Bible said about discipline, I think there was a very clear point God was trying to make. Discipline is good for us and He set discipline in place because He loves us and wants the best for us. Without discipline, we would be spoiled and destroying ourselves. Actually, the Bible even says for us to love correction and discipling, knowing that its for our best interests. I think often we look at it as a bad thing. Even as Christians, we don't want to discipline our children. But, really, it's good for them, as long as you are doing it through love, just like God does for us. It makes me think differently about the way things happen sometimes, like God is taking care of me and saving me from something worse. It's interesting...
One of the things Michelle said was, "The brain is a muscle--it needs to be worked out." She was saying how she tells her students that. I think it's interesting, because it's something we could all hear really. How often do we work out our brains? How often are we trying to learn new things--unless we are forced to? If we aren't challenging ourselves and learning new information, are we really growing? I've noticed that whenever I am not challenged and learning new things, I become depressed, stagnant and generally not as happy with life. This world is full of information, nature, beauty and new things. It is a neverending classroom. We can always be learning something new. Yet we squander our time playing Solitaire or taking naps. I am definitely not the exception to this. But I am going to challenge myself to find something new, something different about everyday and to learn from all experiences. Would you like to join me?
Another interesting thing Michelle talked about was repetition. It takes 11-27 times of something being repeated for the knowledge to actually make its way to a child's brain. Wow, that is quite a lot of repetition. It does make sense though. I know, for me, the more that things are repeated--the easier they are to remember. I've also heard it's the same for habits. If you repeat them more than 21 times they will stick--or vice versa, it takes 21 days to break a habit. It's a cool topic, and I wonder how much it is put into use while teaching. I think, especially for junior high and high school, it would be a really good tool to keep using. I remember quite a lot of repetition during elementary school, but not as much the older I got. I wonder if that's why I don't remember half the information I learned in high school ;)...
Innocent victims...
Posted by Amanda 3:05 PM
I'm not sure if you all know much about the gang violence and killings going on in Mexico right now. I don't know very much, but recently read a sad and disturbing article about a shooting in Ciudad Juarez.
A couple was driving home from a birthday party with their daughter, getting ready to cross the border to get back to the States, when they were followed and gunned down by a car full of gang members. Both parents were killed, but their daughter was left alive and terrified in the backseat. The same night, another man leaving the party with his two children was shot and killed. The two children were wounded.
The article also said that Ciudad Juarez is one of the main places for the war against the drug cartels. Last year, more than 2,600 people were killed in the city. I just wonder how many people this gang/drug war is affecting. How many parents have died, orphaning their children? How many children have been lost? How many friends, co-workers, and spouses are gone? I can't imagine how this is affecting them. Many of the victims are innocent people. It's so unjust, so unfair.
It's weird, I'm a small-town girl. I grew up on a farm in Indiana and never came into contact or had to worry about gangs. But for some reason, I have a huge heart for them. They come from such broken places and are just looking for acceptance and purpose. But what they are doing is wrong. How can we better reach out to these young men? How can we prevent gangs from forming? How can we teach our kids to better love others?
So many questions...hard answers. Let's just pray for:
- The safety of those innocent lives in Mexico
- The drug cartel/gang war in Mexico comes to an end
- Gang members are ministered to
- We can learn how to prevent gangs from forming and save young men's lives
Link to the article: Couple slain in Mexico
Cooperative Discipine
Posted by Amanda 2:59 PM
This week, we were learning about discipline. One of the sites we checked out was on Cooperative Discipline. It talked about several reasons that kids act up, including attention, power, revenge and avoidance of failure. On the website, it gives information about why the children act up, ways you can handle their behavior and how you can encourage them. I think it's really helpful for anyone who has children or works with children.
A Voice for the Voiceless...
Posted by Amanda 2:45 PM
One of the greatest things I have learned from this school is how to be a voice for the voiceless. There are millions of people out there experiencing trauma, poverty and hopelessness. They are enslaved, abused and treated like nothing. They have no strength to speak on their own. They are too weak to get out of their situations. But we have strength and the power to make things happen. We can help those people. We can be a voice.
I found another ministry that is working out of South Africa, a place I am in love with. Their name is A Voice for the Voiceless and they are using their voices, their skills and their love to reach out to people in need. They are working to raise awareness and build relationships. Through storytelling and photography, they are capturing the beauty of the voiceless and empowering them. Also, they have many counseling, support and training centers located around Cape Town. It's cool to see another ministry where they are using their own personal resources and skills to bring awareness in great ways.
Thoughts on this past week...
Posted by Amanda , Sunday, March 14, 2010 1:43 PM
Speaker: Phil Aspegren & Leslie Freeman
Topic: Family Based Care Solutions/Children with Disabilities
Amidst being sick this week, I learned some pretty interesting things. We spent half the week with Phil, who is the director of Casa Viva—the foster care agency we have been working with and the only foster care system set in place in Costa Rica. The last part of the week was spent with Leslie, one of our school leaders, who taught about children with disabilities. They were both such fascinating topics and I think ones that are really pertinent to working with children.
Phil started out both of our days by breaking down some scriptures. We talked about the first chapter in Isaiah and how our responsibility is to stop doing wrong and do right. We discussed what it meant to do right—taking care of the hungry, thirsty, sick, widows, orphans and standing up for justice. Then we looked into the story of Jonathan fighting the Philistines. There are many cool things about this story, but one of the things we pulled from it was that we need to take initiative but also be totally dependent on God. So often, we get off balance and are either totally dependent on God or we take initiative and go through with our own plans. But we need to learn to do both and to do them to our fullest capacity.
Other than that, Phil also spoke on the foster care system. Basically—if we were a child in need, where would we want to live? An institution? And orphanage? Or a loving family, with either your own biological parents, adoptive parents, or foster parents? Sometimes as Christians, especially living in the States, we think of orphanages in kind of a romantic way. We always want to support people who are setting up orphanages because it’s easy to see the benefit. We feel sorry for the poor children and want to help them. It’s much harder, however, to work to set those children up in families. But is it better? Yes. If you think about when you were younger, say your parents died…would you want to live in an orphanage or institution until you were 18? I think we would all answer no. That’s where foster care and adoption come in. They are such great options really and easily accessible.
Phil gave us a crazy statistic. There are 1,910 children in orphanages in Costa Rica. There are 3,000 evangelical churches in all of Costa Rica. If each one of those churches had one family decide to take a child in, there would be no need for the orphanages anymore and the children would be living with families. Isn’t that crazy? I think it’s also the responsibility of the church to stand up behind families that want to adopt or foster children and to support them. We are a “body,” are we not?
As Leslie was talking about children with disabilities this week, I had even more to think about. When we talk about the weakest, most vulnerable of children—this would be them. In the United States, children with disabilities are given a lot more opportunities than most anywhere. They are given the right to education and are protected by law for abuse. But in many developing countries, this is not the case. They are abused, neglected and forgotten more than any other children. They are looked down upon. This is so devastating to me.
I feel like sometimes we look on children with disabilities as too much work or hard to deal with. Instead, why are we not considering everything we can learn from them? They have so much to offer and the value of their human life is no different than ours. They have purpose and passion and excitement, but we don’t take the time to explore those things. We look down on them. Why do we do this? Disabilities might bring limitations, but they do not limit the love a person can give, the inspiration they can bring or the insight and perspective they can pass on to us. They have a challenge in front of them every day. Are we helping or hindering them? So many hard questions from this week…
Life Without Limbs
Posted by Amanda , Saturday, March 13, 2010 4:03 PM
During Leslie’s teaching, she showed us a video of a man who was born with no arms or legs, yet had figured out how to do almost everything by himself—even brushing his teeth. As it turns out, he is also in love with Jesus and travels all over the world preaching. To me, this is amazing. I feel like so often we look at people with disabilities with all these limitations. At times I’ve wondered, “How would my life change if I were suddenly disabled?” To hear these stories and see others fight through and find ways to still fulfill their passions and purposes is inspiring to me. I would hope to have the same courage and perseverance as them.
There are a lot of great things to browse on his sight and some awesome resources and ways to get involved. If you would like to check out his website and follow what he’s doing: Life Without Limbs
Kids With Cameras
Posted by Amanda 4:01 PM
One of my passions is art and I love when I find ways that people are using art to minister and raise awareness. This week I found a really cool ministry called Kids with Cameras. The organization teaches art to children in poor communities all around the world. They use photography to empower kids, to capture their imaginations and to bring them hope. Their artwork is shared in exhibits, books, films and websites. They also work with organizations in the community to strengthen the kids’ education and general well-being. It’s so cool to me that these kids can express themselves through photography and that people can find ways to use that to help the kids in so many different ways. I would love to possibly do something like this in the future.
Have we lost touch with reality?
Posted by Amanda 3:59 PM
Sometimes I feel like technology has taken over our lives in such a way that we forget about reality—we forget that humans are real, tangible, valuable. I read an article this week about two parents in South Korea who had a child with health complication. Instead of taking care of their real child, they made a cyber child and spent all their time looking after it online. They would only break away from their cyber child to feed their real child every once in awhile. Their child ended up dying from malnutrition and dehydration.
When technology takes the place of reality, we have to know there is a problem. If you are choosing to take care of a cyber child instead of your actual, in-front-of-your-face child…there is a big problem. An important point made in the article is that this isn’t just something that happens across the world from us. While people in the United States aren’t killing their babies because they are taking care of cyber children, they are constantly enthralled with their technology. Whether it’s the internet, texting, calling or watching television, we have become a society obsessed with communicating through technology and getting away from our realities.
It’s sad to me that personal communication has gone down the drain. We no longer know how to communicate with each other verbally, we don’t know how to act with each other in person and our friendships aren’t as rich as they could be. If we could put down our computers, turn off our televisions and limited our cell phone use, I think we would find that there are amazing, beautiful people around us, full of love and stories and intelligence. We could enjoy nature, the way that God intended for it to be. I think we are really missing out on a lot.
It’s such a big deal to me that we are missing this. I definitely want to keep praying for this and keep this on my mind. If you want to pray with me, just pray that:
· The South Korean couple would be able to realize the value of human life and be able to deal with their loss in a healthy way.
· We would learn the importance of limiting our technology use.
· We would spend more time interacting with people, spending time getting to know one another and love each other in a deeper way.
· Our society wouldn’t be working its way to total dependence on technology, but start building relationships in more fruitful ways.
Article: Baby Dies While Parent Plays Online
Street Kids...
Posted by Amanda , Sunday, March 7, 2010 9:34 AM
Speaker: Mati Gali
Topic: Street Children
If there is one topic I find incredibly hard, it would be street children. There is an unbelievable number of street children in the world today: an estimated 100 million to be exact. They are living on the street, with no protection, no security, and no love. They steal, sniff glue, have sex, fight and rummage for food. But these things don’t define them. That is not who God intended for them to be or where God intended for them to live. They come from broken families, but God wants them to have loving parents and a safe home. They come from all over: slums, middle class, the streets, and even Christian homes. These are children, between the ages of 0 and 18…living on the streets, sleeping on cardboard, and scared for their lives. When it comes to hope, they have none. They find themselves sniffing glue to take care of the emptiness in their lives. When it comes to love, they are alone. So they end up having sex with each other to make up for that hole in their hearts.
Who is taking care of these children? They are taking care of themselves. That was never supposed to happen.
One thing Mati said this week was that, “With knowledge comes responsibility.” Once we are faced with the knowledge of these situations, we have a responsibility to do something. Satan has a lot of ways of destroying children. We can see that through what is happening to these kids on the streets. One of the ways Satan destroys children is through the apathy of those who can help those kids. I think it’s important to take a look at what is holding us back from helping children all over the world and children in our own neighborhood. Is it apathy? If so, we need to kick ourselves in the butts. Kids need us.
We talked this week about following your calling and taking a risk to follow God even if we can’t see where we are going. Moses took the Israelites out of Egypt without having any idea where he was going, how he was going to feed all of them or where they would sleep. He had no idea what he was doing, except that God told him to do it. And he followed God’s lead to wherever it took him. Do I have that kind of faith, where I will step out and do something God tells me, even if I don’t know where I will sleep, where I will get food or where I’m even going? I don’t really know. I have had the faith to come here and believe that this is where God has taken me. But in some ways, I feel as though this is a safe place. Would I be able to step out and go somewhere else? To follow God, even if I can’t see where I’m going? I’m trying and striving and moving forward. I think that’s a good place to start.
Local Outreach...
Posted by Amanda 9:07 AM
On Wednesday, a few of us took a nice, little journey to a daycare center about half an hour from the base. Instead of going to Casa Viva with the foster care kids, I think we will start going to this place for outreach every week. It was a really cool place, with kids ranging from about one to six years old. It’s funny how they all try to grab your attention, grab your hand and want you to play with them. A few of us girls went and helped out with the kids that were around one to three years old. It took them a little while to warm up to us, but in the end we were running around, playing ball and being silly. There were around eight children and only one adult to watch after them. The whole time we were there she constantly had her hands full, changing diapers, getting food, cleaning up vomit. It was an eventful day, but for the woman in charge it was just a normal day. It was nice that we were able to help her out and play with the kids while she did all of those things. The kids here are great and I’m excited for outreach, where I will be able to work with kids every day. I can’t even imagine the smiles I’m going to see, the stories I’ll have to tell and the kids that are going to touch my heart. I can’t wait for six months of that!
Would you sell your daughter?
Posted by Amanda , Tuesday, March 2, 2010 1:41 PM
As I read or listen to the news, I can't help but feel overwhelmed by the chaos and crap that is happening in this world. I think a lot of people agree. It's hard to be faced with violence and injustice. Once we know about things, we are forced to either ignore them or do something about it.
Earlier today, I was reading some articles on human trafficking. It's crazy how many articles there are and how many of them are in the United States. One of the articles that caught my eye though was about Irap and how women there are selling their own daughters. Can you ever imagine selling your daughter or son, fully knowing what you were selling them into? That is what these women are doing. It told the story of a young girl who was widowed at the age of 19. Her mother and brothers told her they were going to sell her to a brothel near them. The girl informed police that she was friends with to raid her home and the brothel. The girl ended up going to jail for two years because that's how long it took to come before the judge and be released, but the girl said she would rather go to jail than to be sold to the brothel.
This is such a terrible situation, but the article also presented us with a side of hope. Another woman from the same culture had been raped when she was 16 and kicked out of her home because of it. After educating herself on the human slave trade, she is now an undercover pimp that collects information on sex trafficking in Iraq. It hasn't been easy for her, she's even started to get beaten as more people become suspicious of her. However, she inspires me because she says she will not stop doing what she's doing, even if she is killed. She will not give up on stopping the sex trade. To me, this is a challenging, inspiring and beautiful thing. How many of us are so passionate about something that we are willing to put our lives on the line for it?
I think it would be good for all of us to get some of that passion.
Let's pray for that passion.
Let's pray for more people to take a stand, speak out, take action.
Let's pray for woman and men to realize the value of human beings, the value of children.
Let's pray for the demand of prostitutes to end, for women and young girls to be restored, for families to reconnect and love each other.
Let's just pray.
Link to the article: Iraq's Unspeakable Crime: Mothers pimping Daughters
Here's another article from Time magazine about human trafficking: Human Trafficking Rises in Recession
Justice A.C.T.S.
Posted by Amanda 12:46 PM
As some of you may know, I went to South Africa in 2007 to do a Discipleship Training School and work with children in need. I still have such a huge heart for the place and a desire to go back and do more there. I've also really been developing a great desire to become an advocate for human trafficking and help end the human slave trade.
Justice A.C.T.S. is a network of believers working in South Africa to bring awareness and combat human trafficking. They have a great group of people skilled in counseling, media production, photography, journalism and social work. They work with local churches and other organizations to go into "at-risk" communities and educate them on trafficking. We need more people to step up and use their skills to fight for justice. I think it's great what they are doing and shows how we can be advocates as well for these things.
Link: Justice A.C.T.S.
Street Kids
Posted by Amanda 12:38 PM
This week, our speaker is talking about street children. He leads the Youth With A Mission base in Recife, Brazil and has been there for 20 years working with street kids. In Brazil, there is an estimated 7-8 million street kids out of a populations of 160-170 million. That's such a crazy amount! But, I absolutely love what the YWAM bases in Brazil are doing for street kids. It's so awesome the ministry that is coming out of there. They work to prevent children from having to go to the streets, as well as have houses to help restore kids that are coming off of the streets. In Belo Horizonte, they have homes that teach the kids different trades that could be useful in finding jobs and staying off the streets. If you'd like the check out the work they are doing, here are the links:
YWAM Recife
YWAM Belo Horizonte
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