Something that I have been thinking about lately, I was thinking about how we become passionate about things in our life. What makes us decide that something is important? Many people today are concerned with the Earth, or going green, there are people involved with spreading awareness about AIDS, Darfur, the war in Iraq, children in sweatshops, homelessness, and hundreds of other problems that we face. Is one problem bigger than the other? I don't think so. So how is it that we dedicate our attention to specific ones and not others?
I think that one thing that helps us to center our focus is when we actually come face to face with the problem. There are several ways that this can happen. We see a news segment, photographs, a documentary, or possibly hear a speaker (just to name a few). Our attention is captured, and it becomes real to us. Sometimes I think we have to see things to even have a glimpse of what other people are really enduring. I think that we are so privileged here in America that we take advantage of it, and don't really understand how lucky we are to have everything that we do.
I don't have the answers to the world's problems, I can't fix anything. All I can really do is dream, and hope that some are willing to dream with me, and take action. I think it is important that we recognize those that need our help, and we do something about it. I also don' t think that we have to go overseas to India to help people. We all have different passions, and I think there is a reason for that. We have a lot of ground to cover. What the world be like if we all cared a little bit more passionately and did something about it?
Monday, November 24, 2008
How to Help
One more post about the documentary, this information is strictly coming from the director of The Day My God Died. There are two big needs for the people working to help the girls affected by the sex trade. These are medicine/medical attention and money.
The first necessity is medicine. The girls are affected by HIV/AIDS and other diseases. They need medical care, and it takes a lot to give these girls the attention that they need. The second most important thing is money. It takes a lot of money to rehabilitate the girls. Not only is the money necessary for rehabilitation, but also for prevention measures. Border patrols are being built to help, but money of course is required for this. There are several organizations that are working towards making life better for these girls.
A list has been compiled of organizations that are helpful:
http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/daymygoddied/more.html
The first necessity is medicine. The girls are affected by HIV/AIDS and other diseases. They need medical care, and it takes a lot to give these girls the attention that they need. The second most important thing is money. It takes a lot of money to rehabilitate the girls. Not only is the money necessary for rehabilitation, but also for prevention measures. Border patrols are being built to help, but money of course is required for this. There are several organizations that are working towards making life better for these girls.
A list has been compiled of organizations that are helpful:
http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/daymygoddied/more.html
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Rescue
This post I feel is highly personal, and I know that many will not agree. However, in my view it is one of the only ways that I (I personally feel this, I do not expect everyone to agree) can help others in the world. This past semester I came across a man named Jimmy Doyle's blog. He usually speaks at the church camp I work at, and I have found him to be a very interesting man.
I have struggled very much with what I personally can do to help others, and I came across a post of his that has impacted me very much. His post was entitled "helpless." In a nutshell, his post was about how he feels so helpless in making the lives of others better. Sometimes we can only wish that we had a community that was dedicated and passionate (and had the resources) to give people the boost out of their current situations (whatever that may be). However, there are so many problems in the world, and one human cannot solve them all. Here is where many people will probably disagree with me, but I found Jimmy's words to be very eye opening for me. Jimmy says he cannot make the life of anyone better. This statement confused me, I immediately thought to myself that of course we can make the lives of others better, people do kind things all the time. It wasn't until I read further that I understood, and agreed. Jimmy says the only thing he can offer people to actually make their lives better is Jesus. Jimmy says, "Jesus is the helper. He is the healer. To expect more of myself is pride. To expect less of Him is blasphemous. That is the simple burden of the Christian...to carry Christ to others. Vessels of the one who can help."
It seems so simple. To simply love others, and by doing so we are showing them how Christ loves. I would carry it even farther to say that by loving others and sharing the good news (because that is my only hope for salvation) people can have true hope and have real rescue from whatever their situation may be. The women of the slave trade don't know real love, they only know the despair this world has brought them. In the words of Jimmy, all I can truly do is be a "vessel of the one who can help."
I have struggled very much with what I personally can do to help others, and I came across a post of his that has impacted me very much. His post was entitled "helpless." In a nutshell, his post was about how he feels so helpless in making the lives of others better. Sometimes we can only wish that we had a community that was dedicated and passionate (and had the resources) to give people the boost out of their current situations (whatever that may be). However, there are so many problems in the world, and one human cannot solve them all. Here is where many people will probably disagree with me, but I found Jimmy's words to be very eye opening for me. Jimmy says he cannot make the life of anyone better. This statement confused me, I immediately thought to myself that of course we can make the lives of others better, people do kind things all the time. It wasn't until I read further that I understood, and agreed. Jimmy says the only thing he can offer people to actually make their lives better is Jesus. Jimmy says, "Jesus is the helper. He is the healer. To expect more of myself is pride. To expect less of Him is blasphemous. That is the simple burden of the Christian...to carry Christ to others. Vessels of the one who can help."
It seems so simple. To simply love others, and by doing so we are showing them how Christ loves. I would carry it even farther to say that by loving others and sharing the good news (because that is my only hope for salvation) people can have true hope and have real rescue from whatever their situation may be. The women of the slave trade don't know real love, they only know the despair this world has brought them. In the words of Jimmy, all I can truly do is be a "vessel of the one who can help."
Saturday, November 22, 2008
With the Holidays Approaching....
Lately the holiday decorations and advertisements have started to come out. As much as I love this time of the year, it made me start thinking about what I should get my family for Christmas. One might ask how does Christmas relate to this blog? In all honesty, this post doesn't relate to the women of Kamathipura very much, but it does involve another problem in our world, so please bear with me as I change topics a little here.
This blog was meant to provide education and awareness, but it is also supposed to provide information about what we can do to help. In my hometown, the high school kids I have the privilege of knowing have come together to try to lend a hand to the people of Uganda. They have become familiar with the Invisible Children organization, and they are rallying the people of their high school and our church to take part in this movement. However, although they are passionate about Invisible Children, they have taken a new angle. The kids designed their own t-shirt (with the help of a graphics artist) and sold them for $15, all profits going to Uganda.
Last time I was home, my sister and I had a conversation about Christmas. My sister is 15 years old, and I am so proud of her. We were discussing how we both felt we didn't want anything special for Christmas this year. Of course there are things that we would both love to have (both of us had already purchased a pair of shoes for ourselves for Christmas, we were feeling guilty, it wasn't a necessity). We got into a long discussion about the real meaning of Christmas (to us) and it had absolutely nothing to do with gifts, really anything that mainstream America makes the holidays out to be. Long story short, we decided we were not getting each other anything this year. We are putting our money towards the invisible children fund. I know of many people that do something like this instead of giving gifts, and so as another idea for those of you thinking about Christmas gifts, think about giving away your gift instead.
This blog was meant to provide education and awareness, but it is also supposed to provide information about what we can do to help. In my hometown, the high school kids I have the privilege of knowing have come together to try to lend a hand to the people of Uganda. They have become familiar with the Invisible Children organization, and they are rallying the people of their high school and our church to take part in this movement. However, although they are passionate about Invisible Children, they have taken a new angle. The kids designed their own t-shirt (with the help of a graphics artist) and sold them for $15, all profits going to Uganda.
Last time I was home, my sister and I had a conversation about Christmas. My sister is 15 years old, and I am so proud of her. We were discussing how we both felt we didn't want anything special for Christmas this year. Of course there are things that we would both love to have (both of us had already purchased a pair of shoes for ourselves for Christmas, we were feeling guilty, it wasn't a necessity). We got into a long discussion about the real meaning of Christmas (to us) and it had absolutely nothing to do with gifts, really anything that mainstream America makes the holidays out to be. Long story short, we decided we were not getting each other anything this year. We are putting our money towards the invisible children fund. I know of many people that do something like this instead of giving gifts, and so as another idea for those of you thinking about Christmas gifts, think about giving away your gift instead.
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Call + Response
There is a new documentary that has just recently been released about the slave trade. I found an article about it on CNN.com a few weeks ago. The documentary is called "Call + Response" and it is directed by a man named Justin Dillon. The documentary features video taken undercover in different locations that are involved in the sex trade. The CNN clip gave a UN statistic that estimated around 12.3 million people have been forced into lives of forced sexual slavery.
The documentary features people such as former secretary of state, Madeline Albright, and New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof. The film clip from CNN offers solutions from the documentary. Two of these are to rehabilitate the victims that have gone through this. Also an interesting one was to target the traffickers and help them to find a different source of income. The documentary calls for people interested in helping to take action. Possible ways are to visit the website and donate monetarily, or participate in their slave free initiative.
See the CNN clip at:
http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/crime/2008/10/13/wynter.sex.trade.expose.cnn
Visit the Call + Response website at:
http://callandresponse.com/home.html
The documentary features people such as former secretary of state, Madeline Albright, and New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof. The film clip from CNN offers solutions from the documentary. Two of these are to rehabilitate the victims that have gone through this. Also an interesting one was to target the traffickers and help them to find a different source of income. The documentary calls for people interested in helping to take action. Possible ways are to visit the website and donate monetarily, or participate in their slave free initiative.
See the CNN clip at:
http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/crime/2008/10/13/wynter.sex.trade.expose.cnn
Visit the Call + Response website at:
http://callandresponse.com/home.html
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