As we got ready for our new adventure, we wrote a couple of news letters sharing what we would be doing on the mission field. In one of those letters we communicated a list of injustice issues we were going to be involved with. One of those issues was infanticide. Now if you are like me, when I read this word for the first time, I didn’t have a clue what it meant. It wasn’t until I watched a Youtube video of my leaders, being interviewed, that I found out about the terrible practice of infanticide.
I was taken back when I heard that in the Amazon, many indigenous tribes will kill their children if they think there is something wrong with them. For most tribes it is when they feel as though the child has no soul or they believe they are possessed by an evil spirit. This awful belief makes many children at risk for infanticide. Those born out of wedlock, a child who is born as a twin or triplet, or one with a physical handicap are those who suffer this fate. The horror of their death is being buried alive. They do this to make sure the last breath the child breathes cannot pass the evil spirit onto someone else.
We heard first hand this past week from Susi how she came to know about this issue. It came after she had been given the opportunity to photograph an indigenous tribe that had never before been photographed. A year or two after her return the missionary to this specific tribe came to Hawaii and presented this injustice of infanticide. Susi, with her passion, asked if she could help in some way. The missionary’s response was, come back and photograph the tribe again. What you must know about Susi is that she has dedicated her photography to God and the pictures she took the first time, God asked her to give to the missionaries working with indigenous tribes. So, in giving her photos away, they had been so used, the missionary needed a new set of photos to raise awareness of the work they were doing with the tribes and the issues they faced.
Susi decided to make another trip to the Amazon, with a team of photographers, in order to photograph the tribe again. Shortly there after, Susi found out she was pregnant. With this new development, Susi decided not to go, because she didn’t want to jeopardize this new life. For you have to understand, Susi last pregnancy ended in a miscarriage and she didn’t want that to happen again.
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Monday, April 20, 2009
Pictures Album
Caleb with his beach ball 
"Look my shadow is trying to get me"
This is me before I cut my hair
This is me with short hair 
Busy on the computer to try to update the blogspotOutreach Vision
Outreach vision
As most of you know, we will be here for twelve weeks in Hawaii to develop our photography skills, learn more about God’s heart for injustice, and mainly spend time learning the character of God, his heart for the world and how we can respond to it.
After this time we will be sent out for three months to work in the field. We have found out that we will be going to Panama. Right now the details are limited as to where in Panama we will be and what exactly we will be doing. But from what we have been told, all 50 of us students will be in Panama for six weeks with the possibility of breaking into smaller teams for further outreach into surrounding countries.
During this time we will be learning firsthand what it means to be a photographer with a mission for the Lord’s purposes. We will be learning how to work with cultural sensitivity and truly see the world not only through the lens of our camera but also through the eyes of God.
We have heard that we will be working with those in the dumps and for some of us; we will get to travel into the jungle to four different indigenous tribes. I am not sure if we will personally get to go because of Caleb, but we will find out when we get there. Our leaders, who have two kids of their own, will know if this will be a possibility. If the possibility does arise, we would love to venture into the jungle to meet these tribes.
We will be involved in is launching the Voice for the Voiceless booklets into the Spanish speaking world. The hope is to have a conference where we share with the churches that issues of injustice are happening in their community. One of the ways we will do this is capturing with photography the local issues of injustice. Then during the conference we will have an art show where we present what we have found. Then we will ask the churches how they plan on doing something about it.
It is going to be exciting and we want to take part in this venture. We know God has called us to be here and He has gotten us to Hawaii when naturally it seemed impossible. Going to Panama will be another step of faith, but we get to watch God meet our needs. The cost to go to Panama for three of us for three months will be around $10,000. This includes our airfare, travel within the country, food and lodging. Expensive as this may sound, we believe the cost is well worth the investment to raise a voice for the voiceless in the Latin world.
As most of you know, we will be here for twelve weeks in Hawaii to develop our photography skills, learn more about God’s heart for injustice, and mainly spend time learning the character of God, his heart for the world and how we can respond to it.
After this time we will be sent out for three months to work in the field. We have found out that we will be going to Panama. Right now the details are limited as to where in Panama we will be and what exactly we will be doing. But from what we have been told, all 50 of us students will be in Panama for six weeks with the possibility of breaking into smaller teams for further outreach into surrounding countries.
During this time we will be learning firsthand what it means to be a photographer with a mission for the Lord’s purposes. We will be learning how to work with cultural sensitivity and truly see the world not only through the lens of our camera but also through the eyes of God.
We have heard that we will be working with those in the dumps and for some of us; we will get to travel into the jungle to four different indigenous tribes. I am not sure if we will personally get to go because of Caleb, but we will find out when we get there. Our leaders, who have two kids of their own, will know if this will be a possibility. If the possibility does arise, we would love to venture into the jungle to meet these tribes.
We will be involved in is launching the Voice for the Voiceless booklets into the Spanish speaking world. The hope is to have a conference where we share with the churches that issues of injustice are happening in their community. One of the ways we will do this is capturing with photography the local issues of injustice. Then during the conference we will have an art show where we present what we have found. Then we will ask the churches how they plan on doing something about it.
It is going to be exciting and we want to take part in this venture. We know God has called us to be here and He has gotten us to Hawaii when naturally it seemed impossible. Going to Panama will be another step of faith, but we get to watch God meet our needs. The cost to go to Panama for three of us for three months will be around $10,000. This includes our airfare, travel within the country, food and lodging. Expensive as this may sound, we believe the cost is well worth the investment to raise a voice for the voiceless in the Latin world.
Monday, April 13, 2009
Impact Story Part One
Heart moving, this is the best way to describe the story telling of our leader Susi Childers. If you are someone who really doesn’t have a strong interest in dealing with the injustices of the world, you would definitely be moved to tears after Susie got done sharing one of her real life encounters of someone who is suffering from the atrocities of this world.
I would like to share one of these heart moving stories, so you could get a glimpse of what Jenn and I are embarking in.
Imagine going to the local dump, where all you see is endless piles of trash and all you smell is spoiled rotting food that has been thrown out. Now place yourself in a city and as you make your way through, garbage is waist high and piled all over. This is what Susi found herself in, as she went through Kamthipura, Mumbai’s oldest and Asia's largest red light district. Walking in the street with used condoms everywhere, Susie was indeed in one of the most awful places on earth. It was extremely sad as she glanced to the make-shift buildings made from old metal debris and wood. For what she witnessed were the most beautiful women in the world, standing there draped in yards of colorful fabric, showing off their bodies in ways that would entice men to buy them sexually. As Susi tried to take everything in from this god forsaken place, she knew that the only way to make this issue of prostitution real for her was getting the chance to hear the story of one of these women. She asked the social worker that she’d come with, if it was possible to meet one of these women. The social worker said that there was one girl who might be interested.
After going to Kamthipura, a few days later, the social worker arranged for Susie to go back and meet this woman. With an eagerness to find out what it was like for someone to live as a prostitute, Susi found herself standing at the dark entrance of one of these filthy make-shift buildings in the early afternoon. Forced to go in first, she was welcomed by a giant rat. Being greeted in this style, to a pitch black room, was difficult. Luckily she managed to get to the stairs and grabbed the rail. Now as quick as she grabbed a hold of it, she let go, as the rail was covered in filth. As she made it up the first flight of stairs with no more unexpected surprises, she heard the giggling and laughing of women and girls. Susi watched as the women in the brothel were putting on makeup, doing each others hair and joking around. It was the girls’ free time to relax and prepare for the busy night of customers.
Making her way to the next flight of stairs, Susi left the women, to find what she thought were an unexpected group of children running and playing around. She asked what seemed to be the most logical question, “Where do these children live?” She was told, “They live here. These children belong to the women who work here.” Shocked to find this out, Susi then asked, “Where do these children stay?” “The children live under their mothers’ bed,” was the reply. Then Susi asked, “Now when their mother has a client, where do the children stay?” “Well,” the social worker replied, “they stay under the bed.” Think about this, a three year old, laying underneath their mothers bed as she is having sex. It is even worse knowing that many men who come into these brothels can be violent and abusive. Susi knew the destiny of these children was already paved. They too, would grow up to be prostitutes like their mothers.
Now as she was watching these children play, the social worker, who had come with Susi, called out for Lola, (the name has been changed), the girl who they had come to see. At first, when they shouted out her name, there was no answer. Again they shouted Lola and again there was no response. Finally they shouted out, “The woman from Germany is here to see you.” Within seconds, Lola shouted out, “I will be out in a few minutes.”
Ten minutes later, Susi finally met Lola. Making her way to her room, she was greeted at the door with a man leaving, zipping up his zipper, adjusting his pants, and buckling his belt. Lola had been with a customer when they were shouting out for her. For Susi, she didn’t want to know what just happened. In fact, Lola welcomed Susi by asking her to sit on her bed. This was the last place Susi wanted to be sitting, but to be polite, she did. After seating Susi, Lola went out from the room and returned with a cold coke. It was a sign that Lola was excited to meet Susi. It was the first time any one from another country had come to visit her, especially someone from Europe. As the conversation took it course, Susi, with a very simple gospel message, shared the reality of the creator, mans fall, and Christ’s redemption for all mankind. Upon hearing this story, Lola asked the question, “How long has your nation had this good news.” Well Susi knew that Germany had the gospel for a very long time. Martin Luther had translated the Bible into German and the Reformation took place almost 500 years ago. Susi was left telling Lola that her country had had this message for a very long time. With a voice of deep anguish, Lola asked, “Why hasn’t anyone else come and shared this Jesus with me?”
What you must understand, Lola was born into a very devote Hindu family. According to their faith they worship a certain goddess. Now a mandatory practice in worshiping this goddess is if your first born is a girl, she must be given to the temple to serve as a prostitute. Why you might ask, in order to atone the sins of her family. The severity of it means that each first born girl is groom from birth to become a prostitute. They don’t go to school to be educated. They don’t learn how to read or write. All they are taught is they are the atonement for their families wrong doings. .
The sad reality is this happens all too often in India. Even worse is when a girl is used up from disease, sickness and abuse and can no longer perform. When this happens, the women are thrown out into the streets and left to die. Every evening the police come through town and collect them up. The ones they find that are still alive are taken to the Mother Teresa home, where they are given dignity in their last few days on earth.
It is for these women and innocent children we want to make a difference. We want to give a voice to their story and help them. We want for the day to come when all those like Lola will be free from this awful tradition. Will you remember to pray for the prostitutes, and search your heart to see if you can help in some way these priceless children of God?!
I would like to share one of these heart moving stories, so you could get a glimpse of what Jenn and I are embarking in.
Imagine going to the local dump, where all you see is endless piles of trash and all you smell is spoiled rotting food that has been thrown out. Now place yourself in a city and as you make your way through, garbage is waist high and piled all over. This is what Susi found herself in, as she went through Kamthipura, Mumbai’s oldest and Asia's largest red light district. Walking in the street with used condoms everywhere, Susie was indeed in one of the most awful places on earth. It was extremely sad as she glanced to the make-shift buildings made from old metal debris and wood. For what she witnessed were the most beautiful women in the world, standing there draped in yards of colorful fabric, showing off their bodies in ways that would entice men to buy them sexually. As Susi tried to take everything in from this god forsaken place, she knew that the only way to make this issue of prostitution real for her was getting the chance to hear the story of one of these women. She asked the social worker that she’d come with, if it was possible to meet one of these women. The social worker said that there was one girl who might be interested.
After going to Kamthipura, a few days later, the social worker arranged for Susie to go back and meet this woman. With an eagerness to find out what it was like for someone to live as a prostitute, Susi found herself standing at the dark entrance of one of these filthy make-shift buildings in the early afternoon. Forced to go in first, she was welcomed by a giant rat. Being greeted in this style, to a pitch black room, was difficult. Luckily she managed to get to the stairs and grabbed the rail. Now as quick as she grabbed a hold of it, she let go, as the rail was covered in filth. As she made it up the first flight of stairs with no more unexpected surprises, she heard the giggling and laughing of women and girls. Susi watched as the women in the brothel were putting on makeup, doing each others hair and joking around. It was the girls’ free time to relax and prepare for the busy night of customers.
Making her way to the next flight of stairs, Susi left the women, to find what she thought were an unexpected group of children running and playing around. She asked what seemed to be the most logical question, “Where do these children live?” She was told, “They live here. These children belong to the women who work here.” Shocked to find this out, Susi then asked, “Where do these children stay?” “The children live under their mothers’ bed,” was the reply. Then Susi asked, “Now when their mother has a client, where do the children stay?” “Well,” the social worker replied, “they stay under the bed.” Think about this, a three year old, laying underneath their mothers bed as she is having sex. It is even worse knowing that many men who come into these brothels can be violent and abusive. Susi knew the destiny of these children was already paved. They too, would grow up to be prostitutes like their mothers.
Now as she was watching these children play, the social worker, who had come with Susi, called out for Lola, (the name has been changed), the girl who they had come to see. At first, when they shouted out her name, there was no answer. Again they shouted Lola and again there was no response. Finally they shouted out, “The woman from Germany is here to see you.” Within seconds, Lola shouted out, “I will be out in a few minutes.”
Ten minutes later, Susi finally met Lola. Making her way to her room, she was greeted at the door with a man leaving, zipping up his zipper, adjusting his pants, and buckling his belt. Lola had been with a customer when they were shouting out for her. For Susi, she didn’t want to know what just happened. In fact, Lola welcomed Susi by asking her to sit on her bed. This was the last place Susi wanted to be sitting, but to be polite, she did. After seating Susi, Lola went out from the room and returned with a cold coke. It was a sign that Lola was excited to meet Susi. It was the first time any one from another country had come to visit her, especially someone from Europe. As the conversation took it course, Susi, with a very simple gospel message, shared the reality of the creator, mans fall, and Christ’s redemption for all mankind. Upon hearing this story, Lola asked the question, “How long has your nation had this good news.” Well Susi knew that Germany had the gospel for a very long time. Martin Luther had translated the Bible into German and the Reformation took place almost 500 years ago. Susi was left telling Lola that her country had had this message for a very long time. With a voice of deep anguish, Lola asked, “Why hasn’t anyone else come and shared this Jesus with me?”
What you must understand, Lola was born into a very devote Hindu family. According to their faith they worship a certain goddess. Now a mandatory practice in worshiping this goddess is if your first born is a girl, she must be given to the temple to serve as a prostitute. Why you might ask, in order to atone the sins of her family. The severity of it means that each first born girl is groom from birth to become a prostitute. They don’t go to school to be educated. They don’t learn how to read or write. All they are taught is they are the atonement for their families wrong doings. .
The sad reality is this happens all too often in India. Even worse is when a girl is used up from disease, sickness and abuse and can no longer perform. When this happens, the women are thrown out into the streets and left to die. Every evening the police come through town and collect them up. The ones they find that are still alive are taken to the Mother Teresa home, where they are given dignity in their last few days on earth.
It is for these women and innocent children we want to make a difference. We want to give a voice to their story and help them. We want for the day to come when all those like Lola will be free from this awful tradition. Will you remember to pray for the prostitutes, and search your heart to see if you can help in some way these priceless children of God?!
Thursday, April 2, 2009
One Rock at a Time
Dear Friends and Family,
How do you describe the refreshing breeze of Hawaii? You simply relish the joyful and restful wind of transition. The last few weeks of preparation have been crazy and honestly I am not sure how we made it. The night before we left, Jenn and I were up very late packing. With only 15 minutes of sleep the night before and Jenn having surgery hours earlier, we wished it was already finished. We each had our own plan on how packing should go. Unfortunately we didn’t get each others memo. What we had was a string of firecrackers go off as we had to deal with each others exhaustion. This fresh breeze of Hawaiian air is the sigh of relief we needed from a long and trying development process in which we planned for this new season of life.
In starting our new adventure two days ago, I was struck by an expression my mother made to our son Caleb. We had taken a walk down to the beach and came to a marina that was mostly sea walls with a little beach. It was definitely designed for boats to come in and out with little wave disturbance. I attempted to put Caleb near the sandy part of the cove, so he could enjoy the water. He clung so tight against me, it was impossible to pry him away. Instead of the playing in the water, I ended up taking Caleb to the sea wall where Jenn was enjoying the marine life. Along the outer part of the sea wall were black crabs crawling around. In the water were two of the Hawaiian state fish, the Humuhumunukunukuāpua’a. And wouldn’t you know it, Caleb being all boy, just wanted to throw rocks in the water. First, he tried to pull the rocks from the sea wall. But he failed, as they were
imbedded in the concrete. So to help Caleb out, we started grabbing small rocks and piling them up on the sea wall for him to throw. 45 minutes later, he was still happily throwing rocks. He would still be there throwing rocks if we had let him, but we had to leave because we forgot his sun block and the morning haze was burning off. As Caleb finished throwing his last few rocks, my mom told him to throw just one rock in the water at a time. It was this statement that made me think about the past few months of our lives.
Starting in December we had to deal with work slowing down and not having our normal income. Then we decided not to move to Oregon because the economy was worse there and I couldn’t find work. We then decided to apply for a DTS (Discipleship Training School) with YWAM (Youth with a Mission), which was a huge stretch. Then we found out Jenn was pregnant, which was a shocking surprise. We were delighted to be accepted into the PhotogenX DTS even with the impending pregnancy. During this time we had a positive feedback about joining the DTS and some very negative which included; “This is a waste of time and peoples money.” We found the difference of feedback very challenging and we had to wrestle with our emotions of fear as little money was coming in and Jenn started having some health problems related to the pregnancy. As we continued to press through this time we then found out that our precious baby did not make it and in fact Jenn was having a miscarriage; all of this in the final two weeks before we left. All of these things were obstacles that we had to face and there were many nights when we were getting ready for bed, Jenn and I would say to each other, why is everything so hard for us, as soon as we get done with one thing, something else seems to come and try us.
So as I reflected on my mom’s statement, we have been throwing our one rock at a time in the water when we have been staring at our pile of trying circumstances. With each new rock we have had to purposely decide to trust God and allow his strength and peace to rest on us. It was not always the easiest thing to do especially with the loss of our baby. There were a few memorable moments when we contemplated the thought of just quitting, but shortly thereafter, we were embraced with God’s love and given strength to press on in what we believed to be the divine direction for our lives.
How do you describe the refreshing breeze of Hawaii? You simply relish the joyful and restful wind of transition. The last few weeks of preparation have been crazy and honestly I am not sure how we made it. The night before we left, Jenn and I were up very late packing. With only 15 minutes of sleep the night before and Jenn having surgery hours earlier, we wished it was already finished. We each had our own plan on how packing should go. Unfortunately we didn’t get each others memo. What we had was a string of firecrackers go off as we had to deal with each others exhaustion. This fresh breeze of Hawaiian air is the sigh of relief we needed from a long and trying development process in which we planned for this new season of life.
In starting our new adventure two days ago, I was struck by an expression my mother made to our son Caleb. We had taken a walk down to the beach and came to a marina that was mostly sea walls with a little beach. It was definitely designed for boats to come in and out with little wave disturbance. I attempted to put Caleb near the sandy part of the cove, so he could enjoy the water. He clung so tight against me, it was impossible to pry him away. Instead of the playing in the water, I ended up taking Caleb to the sea wall where Jenn was enjoying the marine life. Along the outer part of the sea wall were black crabs crawling around. In the water were two of the Hawaiian state fish, the Humuhumunukunukuāpua’a. And wouldn’t you know it, Caleb being all boy, just wanted to throw rocks in the water. First, he tried to pull the rocks from the sea wall. But he failed, as they were
imbedded in the concrete. So to help Caleb out, we started grabbing small rocks and piling them up on the sea wall for him to throw. 45 minutes later, he was still happily throwing rocks. He would still be there throwing rocks if we had let him, but we had to leave because we forgot his sun block and the morning haze was burning off. As Caleb finished throwing his last few rocks, my mom told him to throw just one rock in the water at a time. It was this statement that made me think about the past few months of our lives.Starting in December we had to deal with work slowing down and not having our normal income. Then we decided not to move to Oregon because the economy was worse there and I couldn’t find work. We then decided to apply for a DTS (Discipleship Training School) with YWAM (Youth with a Mission), which was a huge stretch. Then we found out Jenn was pregnant, which was a shocking surprise. We were delighted to be accepted into the PhotogenX DTS even with the impending pregnancy. During this time we had a positive feedback about joining the DTS and some very negative which included; “This is a waste of time and peoples money.” We found the difference of feedback very challenging and we had to wrestle with our emotions of fear as little money was coming in and Jenn started having some health problems related to the pregnancy. As we continued to press through this time we then found out that our precious baby did not make it and in fact Jenn was having a miscarriage; all of this in the final two weeks before we left. All of these things were obstacles that we had to face and there were many nights when we were getting ready for bed, Jenn and I would say to each other, why is everything so hard for us, as soon as we get done with one thing, something else seems to come and try us.
So as I reflected on my mom’s statement, we have been throwing our one rock at a time in the water when we have been staring at our pile of trying circumstances. With each new rock we have had to purposely decide to trust God and allow his strength and peace to rest on us. It was not always the easiest thing to do especially with the loss of our baby. There were a few memorable moments when we contemplated the thought of just quitting, but shortly thereafter, we were embraced with God’s love and given strength to press on in what we believed to be the divine direction for our lives.
We now stand looking back at our last three months from a new perspective. Looking with renewed hope, we see God as the faithful one. He promised to complete His good work in us and that is what He is doing. If we had tried to throw all of our rocks in the water at the same time, we might not be here in Hawaii. Thankfully God graced us with the ability to process each trial one at a time
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