Saturday, February 11, 2006
The first face of SARI BARI
So Sari Bari is a week and a half from starting it's first training and yesterday i spent some time with who i hope will be the first face of Sari Bari. She is the first face of Sari bari for me. She is why and for whom Sari Bari will exist. Her name is "Asha" and she is 20 years old and was sold into the trade by her brother in law when she was 12 years old. She is a sweet and beautiful girl who has no idea of her value and worth because all she has even known is that she can never do anything else. the freedom that sari bari will offer, is for her. She is my reason along with a thousand other reasons that we will start Sari Bari. Her story is the story of everyone who will find freedom through not only another job but the start of new life. A life in which diginity and respect are offered instead of cursing, a life of hope and restoration instead of destruction. Her life has so much value...i told her that yesterday. i told that she has so much value and is worth so much. My prayer is that she will come to the introductory meeting on tuesday this week and then make the choice for something better...not an easy choice but utlimately a choice for freedom!!
A little update
The last month has been overfull with amazing things. We are overwhelmed with the ways that we are finding community, the ways God is using us to love, serve and offer freedom to the women of Kolkata¡¦s red light districts, and the ways that we are just plain old having fun! I love being here. I am know i am in the right plave doing the right thing. This is going to be a little long but please read on because it is just soooooo good!
The first good and amazing thing is that we will are starting, I guess I should say finally starting Sari Bari. For those of you who do not know, Sari Bari will be a employment opportunity that will offer the women and girls freedom.
Sari Bari exists to provide women caught in the sex trade in the red light areas of Kolkata, India freedom by providing alternative employment and income. Sari Bari Imports (USA) markets and distributes the handmade textiles of Sari Bari India in the minority world while educating and empowering consumers to join in the pursuit of justice and redemption on their behalf.
The name "Sari Bari" comes from two symbols: a sari is the traditional clothing worn by Indian women. In India, saris represent the essence of womanhood. The word "bari" in Bengali means "house or home". Our hope is for Sari Bari to be a safe home where women, who have been exploited in the sex trade, can have their dignity as women restored. By providing a way out of selling their bodies, we believe that these women will have the opportunity to find healing and freedom and to experience the Jesus in a tangible way.
The women will be paid a “fair” wage that will sustain them and their families. Eventually, we hope to be a “fair trade” organization but until we will be seeking to follow fair trade pratices.
Sari Bari has been in the dreams and visions of our community for some time now and the dream will become realized on February 20 when we start our first training. The women train three days a week or a month or two and then they will be hire full time. We will have our first interviews this coming Tuesday and hope to see 2-5 women make the choice for freedom. We will be starting in a different red light area partnering with another organization. We will share space with this organization and work with their girls but this is just the starting point we hope to see production units in all of the city’s red light areas…offering hope, dignity and freedom to the women so long hidden and held down without a way out.
Let me know if you have any questions or if you want to be involved by offering us some of your business expertise!! We have a USA distributor so we just trying to get all the details ironed out.
Second in the amazing catergory is that we are continuing to see girls come out of the trade and freedom and hope with our friends in another buisiness project. So far 9 women have left and 7 are still moving forward into deeper transformation. The most recent girl left yesterday and started her first day---we are so excited—check my wmf co worker kristin's blog for more on her story
www.myspace.com/kristinkeen
And the third and final amazing thing this last week is that we might have finally found an apartment—no only a place to live but a place that could meet all our needs and the needs of Sari Bari in Sonagacchi which is only delayed by not having a place for it as we have so many women interested. It is actually a 2 story building with 8 rooms and courtyard. It is very poor and run down—actually only has a water pump in the courtyard—not running water in the house (we can fix this don’t worry). It actually is very similar to a brothel which strangly enough is exactly what we want…and the landlord will allow the women to come into the building. It is in poor area and we would be able to live with those who we are seeking to serve. The building has so much potential as a place for Sari Bari, a place for us to live incarnationally and be safe—but only a five minute walk from the gach, and it has the potential to be a half way house for some of the young girls coming out of the trade. Please pray, pray, pray for this and for us as we meet with the landlord this coming week on the 15th. We having been waiting and praying for something like this and this really seems to be the right place.
Oh and the last thing is that we are having a lot of fun…fun being with the girls, fun doing literacy training with a business that employs the girls, fun having an eighties party and then a swiss national party—yes these things do happen here check out the eighties party pics!! I mean the side pony tail is about the best we can do with what we have as far as costume goes with a little blue eye shadow !
The first good and amazing thing is that we will are starting, I guess I should say finally starting Sari Bari. For those of you who do not know, Sari Bari will be a employment opportunity that will offer the women and girls freedom.
Sari Bari exists to provide women caught in the sex trade in the red light areas of Kolkata, India freedom by providing alternative employment and income. Sari Bari Imports (USA) markets and distributes the handmade textiles of Sari Bari India in the minority world while educating and empowering consumers to join in the pursuit of justice and redemption on their behalf.
The name "Sari Bari" comes from two symbols: a sari is the traditional clothing worn by Indian women. In India, saris represent the essence of womanhood. The word "bari" in Bengali means "house or home". Our hope is for Sari Bari to be a safe home where women, who have been exploited in the sex trade, can have their dignity as women restored. By providing a way out of selling their bodies, we believe that these women will have the opportunity to find healing and freedom and to experience the Jesus in a tangible way.
The women will be paid a “fair” wage that will sustain them and their families. Eventually, we hope to be a “fair trade” organization but until we will be seeking to follow fair trade pratices.
Sari Bari has been in the dreams and visions of our community for some time now and the dream will become realized on February 20 when we start our first training. The women train three days a week or a month or two and then they will be hire full time. We will have our first interviews this coming Tuesday and hope to see 2-5 women make the choice for freedom. We will be starting in a different red light area partnering with another organization. We will share space with this organization and work with their girls but this is just the starting point we hope to see production units in all of the city’s red light areas…offering hope, dignity and freedom to the women so long hidden and held down without a way out.
Let me know if you have any questions or if you want to be involved by offering us some of your business expertise!! We have a USA distributor so we just trying to get all the details ironed out.
Second in the amazing catergory is that we are continuing to see girls come out of the trade and freedom and hope with our friends in another buisiness project. So far 9 women have left and 7 are still moving forward into deeper transformation. The most recent girl left yesterday and started her first day---we are so excited—check my wmf co worker kristin's blog for more on her story
www.myspace.com/kristinkeen
And the third and final amazing thing this last week is that we might have finally found an apartment—no only a place to live but a place that could meet all our needs and the needs of Sari Bari in Sonagacchi which is only delayed by not having a place for it as we have so many women interested. It is actually a 2 story building with 8 rooms and courtyard. It is very poor and run down—actually only has a water pump in the courtyard—not running water in the house (we can fix this don’t worry). It actually is very similar to a brothel which strangly enough is exactly what we want…and the landlord will allow the women to come into the building. It is in poor area and we would be able to live with those who we are seeking to serve. The building has so much potential as a place for Sari Bari, a place for us to live incarnationally and be safe—but only a five minute walk from the gach, and it has the potential to be a half way house for some of the young girls coming out of the trade. Please pray, pray, pray for this and for us as we meet with the landlord this coming week on the 15th. We having been waiting and praying for something like this and this really seems to be the right place.
Oh and the last thing is that we are having a lot of fun…fun being with the girls, fun doing literacy training with a business that employs the girls, fun having an eighties party and then a swiss national party—yes these things do happen here check out the eighties party pics!! I mean the side pony tail is about the best we can do with what we have as far as costume goes with a little blue eye shadow !
Tuesday, February 07, 2006
Bono: National Prayer Breakfast..just some excerpts
Bono
National Prayer Breakfast,
So fast-forward 2,000 years. That same thought, grace, was made incarnate - in a movement of all kinds of people. It wasn't a bless-me club... it wasn't a holy huddle. These religious guys were willing to get out in the streets, get their boots dirty, wave the placards, follow their convictions with actions...making it really hard for people like me to keep their distance. It was amazing. I almost started to like these church people.
But then my cynicism got another helping hand.
It was what Colin Powell, a five-star general, called the greatest W.M.D. of them all: a tiny little virus called AIDS. And the religious community, in large part, missed it. The ones that didn't miss it could only see it as divine retribution for bad behaviour. Even on children...even [though the] fastest growing group of HIV infections were married, faithful women.
Aha, there they go again! I thought to myself judgmentalism is back!
But in truth, I was wrong again. The church was slow but the church got busy on this the leprosy of our age.
Love was on the move.
Mercy was on the move.
God was on the move.
Moving people of all kinds to work with others they had never met, never would have cared to meet...conservative church groups hanging out with spokesmen for the gay community, all singing off the same hymn sheet on AIDS...soccer moms and quarterbacks...hip-hop stars and country stars. This is what happens when God gets on the move: crazy stuff happens!
Popes were seen wearing sunglasses!
Jesse Helms was seen with a ghetto blaster!
Crazy stuff. Evidence of the spirit.
It was breathtaking. Literally. It stopped the world in its tracks.
When churches started demonstrating on debt, governments listened - and acted. When churches starting organising, petitioning, and even - that most unholy of acts today, God forbid, lobbying...on AIDS and global health, governments listened - and acted.
I'm here today in all humility to say: you changed minds; you changed policy; you changed the world.
Look, whatever thoughts you have about God, who He is or if He exists, most will agree that if there is a God, He has a special place for the poor. In fact, the poor are where God lives.
God is in the slums, in the cardboard boxes where the poor play house. God is in the silence of a mother who has infected her child with a virus that will end both their lives. God is in the cries heard under the rubble of war. God is in the debris of wasted opportunity and lives, and God is with us if we are with them. "If you remove the yoke from your midst, the pointing of the finger and speaking wickedness, and if you give yourself to the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then your light will rise in darkness and your gloom with become like
It's not a coincidence that in the scriptures, poverty is mentioned more than 2,100 times. It's not an accident. That's a lot of air time, 2,100 mentions. (You know, the only time Christ is judgmental is on the subject of the poor.) 'As you have done it unto the least of these my brethren, you have done it unto me' (Matthew 25:40). As I say, good news to the poor.
But the reason I am here, and the reason I keep coming back to Washington, is because this is a town that is proving it can come together on behalf of what the scriptures call the least of these.
This is not a Republican idea. It is not a Democratic idea. It is not even, with all due respect, an American idea. Nor it is unique to any one faith.
'Do to others as you would have them do to you' (Luke 6:30). Jesus says that.
'Righteousness is this: that one should...give away wealth out of love for him to the near of kin and the orphans and the needy and the wayfarer and the beggars and for the emancipation of the captives.' The Koran says that (2.177).
Thus sayeth the Lord: 'Bring the homeless poor into the house, when you see the naked, cover him, then your light will break out like the dawn and your recovery will speedily spring fourth, then your Lord will be your rear guard.' The Jewish scripture says that. Isaiah 58 again.
That is a powerful incentive: 'The Lord will watch your back.' Sounds like a good deal to me, right now.
Wednesday, January 25, 2006
the beginging of freedom for another..
i am barely writing i am so tired but today was a good and amazing today. my friend angoli who is 20 (she says but i think younger) came with us to freeset. she has only been on the line for a month and she wants another job so bad...she actually came and looked for a month but could not find work as a house maid so she ended up on the line through a lady from her village. angoli is the sole bread winner for her family. her mother died and she has a younger brother and a father who is mentally ill...at 20 she carries so much on her shoulders. she has is not owned by anyone at least we are thinking not and the lady who connected her to the line work came with her and is supportive for her taking the new job and will allow her to live with her for a small expense. because she is so young and new to the line freeset wants to see her leave the line right away and live with this lady and will pay her a little more during training so that she can leave. please pray that nothing happens to change her mind between now and friday morning and pray that her "didi" is really the nice woman she appears to be...we have real concerns that maybe she may try to take lokhi's paycheck as it seems lohki is paying her most of what she earns right now--this was discovered after the agreement to come and work at freeset..seems this will require some follow up--alot actually--please pray for angoli and lokhi and us.
Tuesday, January 24, 2006
A day in the Gach
Yesterday was a great day in the gach. We have started keeping a daily journal of what happens and who we talk with...below is mine from yesterday slightly edited...
Please feel free to pray for these women!!
Please feel free to pray for these women!!
23 Jan 05
Partner: Kiran
Deepa –at the front of the line today usually in the middle with the young girls
Puja—also at the front today
Chandana - Today we met a couple of new girls at the beginning of the street. Primarily, Chandana who has been on the line for 10 days, is 19 and has 2 kid—ages 2 and 3. She was very interested in going to freeset to see about new work but was not able to go today. They always say that so I am hoping she come on Wednesday as promised.
Mona-is a flyer—does not come regularly to the gach but is really interested in new work—we talked with her about making blankets for sari
Flyers on the corner—talked with a number of ladies whose names I need to learn but do not know yet. They are always very friendly and welcoming and it is now known on that corner that we can help them get other jobs because almost every time we go they introduce to someone else who wants new work—cool but hard when right now jobs are not really available.
Monica—asked about puja (beth)—very friendly and affectionate—put her arm around me
Somali and friend puja—puja might be new—never met her before lives in somali’s brothel
Krishna—spoke her a little today—seemed a little out of sorts not her usual friendly self—busy doing laundry
Angoli-she is healthy and still interested in coming to freeset—she has only been on the line a month and we found about today that her didi Lokhi is actually her didi ma—her grandmother. She said she will come with us to freeset on Wednesday. Lokhi was not there and if I understand right she is now staying in another room—her room rent is 150 rupees a day (this ridiculous rent by the way)
Somali’s family-we had a great day in somali’s room. Sonda talked with kiran like she was a friend and was maybe the most open that I have ever seen her—talkitave….it was really a good day. I paid for tea—maybe we should offer to do this more often. Mitali was in a good mood—we talked about her birthday and having a really fun party on the 8th to celebrate. She did mendhi for me and she actually did it nice this time. I played with anish—we play hand clapping and I tried to get him to identify his nose and mouth etc…not really able…does not probably get enough stimulation. Kiran and mitali played a game—really great.
Sima—nepali girl in brothel 19/a she is only been on the line 5 months—really nice but maybe a little stand offish—spoke to kiran in hindi
Sonali—she is so sweet always asking where we are going—need to make a priority of having tea with her—maybe we can bring tea for all those girls next week.
Dumpa-gray brothel right after the young girls invited us in for lunch today—she had made roti and wanted to know if we wanted to come in and eat—it was already 3pm so we did not stay but made an appointment to go back on Monday and eat with her at one. There are a lot of girls in her brothel that we talk with including the one with the golden sindoor but whose names I do not know.
Chobi and soma’s room—we spent an hour and half in their room… I think kiran really likes to spend time with this lady and wants to see come to know jesus and release her worry…the mom talked for a long, long time but I kind of zoned out and just played with the batcha—so fun to play with him do not think he gets to play much—he kept trying to feed me and share his food—we played peek abo with my dupatta. I gave chobi my hand cream and they all kept talking about it and that probably only the boro lok(rich people--like me) have such nice cream…kind of hard place to be wanting to share but also wanting to live simply but everything I have is a treasure –wonder what the line is…
Ratana-we went to visit ratana---my first time—she has a really nice room meaning a little bigger with her own bathroom—she had another girl in her room whose name I did not get and a man and small child sleeping on the bed. She got a call from a customer while she was there and I spoke to him on the phone and he asked if he could come and make friends with me—I said no but he arranged with ratana to meet her tonight—ratana though Kristin would be going with her to the village tomorrow so she gave me her phone number Good to meet her after hearing about her…kiran advised that Kristin not go with her alone. After catching up with Kristin, Kristin called her and told her that she/ we go another day.
Another Good blog
Please check Kristin Keen's blog--she is way better at posting than i am and she really gets down what happens in daily life.
http://www.myspace.com/kristinkeen
http://www.myspace.com/kristinkeen
Tuesday, January 17, 2006
odd thoughts on kentucky friend chicken
today i went to kfc...it was sooooooooooooooooooooooooo good! i think maybe the last time i ate kentucky fried chicken was ten years ago and i am sure i have not missed it but wow--something about eating kfc in India where nothing else is familiar must be what it is...i will say that i struggle to move in between two worlds...going to a sweet mall out in the rich suburbs of calcutta (states comparable) where people take thier nannies who they pay 500 rupees a month and they sit with them but they(the nannies) do not get to eat kfc and they certainly can not afford to buy the nice things contained in the mall...just hard to make this reconcilation in my mind...i can not throw off fully who i am--i do have the money to eat kfc and today i chose to eat there and yes i did enjoy it but i was very clearly reminded that when i chose kfc in am choosing something that most of the women i work with in the gach coudl never afford..$3.00 for a meal...crazy...not fully resolved on how i feel ab0ut but uncomfortability remains in my heart...how do these things exist together..can i treat myself ocassionally when for so many such a treat is never possible.
one good update...7 ladies from the gach are now working with freeset...2 of them are asha and onita who we took awhile back but we were not sure they would return esp. onita but they have both started training...yeah..so proud of them and so hopeful about what the future will bring for them and their families.
one good update...7 ladies from the gach are now working with freeset...2 of them are asha and onita who we took awhile back but we were not sure they would return esp. onita but they have both started training...yeah..so proud of them and so hopeful about what the future will bring for them and their families.
Wednesday, January 11, 2006
Tuesday, January 10, 2006
Italian guys on the beach in thailand acting natural
this was so funny there were these three guys totally in love with themselves and so posing for the whole--we had to take a few pictures--the guy on the left was excellent at acting natural!!
My friend Siara on Sudder Street
For those of you who remember the little girl Asiya who I was able help to have surgery on her arm back in 2002 --here she is with her family (mother Siara in the middle)--she is the girl on the bottom right! She is so amazingly beautiful and grown up at 12 years old!!
What I love about Kolkata today
I love old ladies sitting in the back alley's warming themselves in the sun. The light shining and warming their faces and filling them with light.
I love kristin and beth and adam and the hope that we have in community with one another in the coming years.
I love that we got to see 5 women make a final decision to come out of the trade and work for Freeset! I love that when a woman who already works at freeset shared her testimony and story of coming out of the trade that Jesus was apart of her new life. And that the other 5 women were so compassionate and interested even thought it was a reflection of their own stories.
I love that i ate my first grilled peanut butter sandwich for breakfast--pretty tasty and new way to use the peanut butter i got for christmas!
I love that we can send Adam home today but know that he will be back within a year. And i love that God answers prayers before we even think to ask--by early next year we should go from a staff of 2 to a staff of 4!
I love sonagacchi and all the women in it...i love being with them!
And today, crazy as it may sound, i love Kolkata!
I love kristin and beth and adam and the hope that we have in community with one another in the coming years.
I love that we got to see 5 women make a final decision to come out of the trade and work for Freeset! I love that when a woman who already works at freeset shared her testimony and story of coming out of the trade that Jesus was apart of her new life. And that the other 5 women were so compassionate and interested even thought it was a reflection of their own stories.
I love that i ate my first grilled peanut butter sandwich for breakfast--pretty tasty and new way to use the peanut butter i got for christmas!
I love that we can send Adam home today but know that he will be back within a year. And i love that God answers prayers before we even think to ask--by early next year we should go from a staff of 2 to a staff of 4!
I love sonagacchi and all the women in it...i love being with them!
And today, crazy as it may sound, i love Kolkata!
Monday, January 02, 2006
NEW YEARS IN KOSAMET, THAILAND
Yes, suffered through a beautiful relaxing 4 days on the beach in thailand for New Years. It was amazing!! But i can tell i am getting old...
top ten reason why i know i am getting older
1. Sharing a room with bed bugs and 6 other people is not fun for me anymore
2. i am the first one to go to bed
3. i do not think it is fun to get woken up through out the night when people come home--I LIKE TO SLEEP!
4. silence is amazing!
5. i am the first one up in the morning
6. college seems really far away
7. i have to battle to keep my eyes open for New years
8. i prefer small intimate gathering to crazy wild parties
9. the more deserted the beach the better!
10. And FINALLY--I WEAR A HAT, SIT UNDER THE UMBRELLA AND WORE 50 SUNSCREEN!!
And while of these thing point to me being aged at 32...inspite of my age I still had a wonderful time with my amazing community of friends and fleshies.
I am hoping that 2006 will be another good year to add on to an already amazing life.
Happy Year to YA!
top ten reason why i know i am getting older
1. Sharing a room with bed bugs and 6 other people is not fun for me anymore
2. i am the first one to go to bed
3. i do not think it is fun to get woken up through out the night when people come home--I LIKE TO SLEEP!
4. silence is amazing!
5. i am the first one up in the morning
6. college seems really far away
7. i have to battle to keep my eyes open for New years
8. i prefer small intimate gathering to crazy wild parties
9. the more deserted the beach the better!
10. And FINALLY--I WEAR A HAT, SIT UNDER THE UMBRELLA AND WORE 50 SUNSCREEN!!
And while of these thing point to me being aged at 32...inspite of my age I still had a wonderful time with my amazing community of friends and fleshies.
I am hoping that 2006 will be another good year to add on to an already amazing life.
Happy Year to YA!
Tuesday, December 27, 2005
good days...
Well we brought two more women to freeset today..one is 28 and the other is 40. Asha who is 28 is ready to leave and said herself that she wants freedom and does not want to see her daughter enter into the trade by default. It is miricale in the making see three of the ten girls that we have been praying make the choice to leave.
Friday, December 23, 2005
Kristin and Beth this morning at the flower market
Buying flowers for the beautiful women of the Gach!!
We never look this good in Kolkata!
Applause and many thanks to Daniel "the Man" Mick for takin us on a sweet date!! What a man!!
Thursday, December 22, 2005
let there be HOPE!
the last couple of days have been so full...full of hope and joy and possibility...also filled with some disappointments. on tuesday we went to the gach almost right away we meet three girl who were interested in taking jobs with freeset and said they would come right then...but then i think they kinda freaked out and said they needed to take a bath and would meet us in an hour--they never showed up. beth and i were a little discouraged but saw a willingness to consider a new life and hope that maybe they would come another day. So last night, wednesday night, we went down the gach in our sari's...the girls totally loved it and we felt like beauty queens...they were super impressed that i can do my sari myself. On our way down the street on woman called us over and told me her friend had heard and wanted a job doing sly kaj--meaning sewing...so we arranged to meet them today and not one but two women met us to talk with freeset about a new job...we were so excited walking with them...it was like walking the road to freedom myself...they were unsure but as we went up the stair in the freeset building it was like hope washed over them and they could see themselves in this place--working--having freedom. Priya talked with them and asked some questions that made them pretty uncomfortable but slowly they warmed up...after talking with them awhile it seemed like it might not work...the women's expense would far outweigh what they could make at freeset..they are flyers...they come from the village daily..they have husband who have left them and they are each raising 2 children alone. they have high travel expenses (about 12 dollars a month) plus the cost of keeping their kids in school...but the women really seemed to want to change their work...so now they are going to think about it and see if there is something else they can do earn money along with working at freeset--since freeset will required they phase out of working the line in the next three months.
I went full of hope and left a little at a oss...feeling burdened for these ladies...frustrated at my inability to help them...angry at the poverty that compels them. these last days have been so up and down but so much is happening in the gach...light is penetrating...piercing the darkness and yet even as we win one battle we lose another...hoping for more light, more jesus.
last night at the christmas program put on by our friend ambika we saw so much hope and beauty as the children of the district danced and sang in the heart of the darkness of sonagacchi and all through out the crowd were the women of sonagacchi and even the customers pausing for a look...being there makes christmas more real. this is who jesus came to earth to be with...these ladies and their children and even the customer, the trafficker and the owners . he came for them and i am so blessed to be with them as we celebrate the coming of light into darkness...let it be as it was 2000 years ago when our emmanuel came as little baby...at first a small light and new hope...becoming a light that so overpowers the darkness that it overcomes it. jesus came for the world and eveyday i see how he most certainly came for sonagacchi and evey man, woman and child within it's boundaries.
tomorrow night we will go to the gach to bring beauty to our beautiful friends in the form of flowers...one flower for every girl..sundor phul, sundor meyer-er junno (beautiful flower for a beautiful girl). again may there be light in sonagacchi.
beth and i will go to the gach on christmas eve to talk with the ladies we took to freeset today --pray for them, pray for us. and pray that all 10 ladies that freeset is willing to hire will come in the next week!! that would rip my face off for sure!! let the kingdom come!!
I went full of hope and left a little at a oss...feeling burdened for these ladies...frustrated at my inability to help them...angry at the poverty that compels them. these last days have been so up and down but so much is happening in the gach...light is penetrating...piercing the darkness and yet even as we win one battle we lose another...hoping for more light, more jesus.
last night at the christmas program put on by our friend ambika we saw so much hope and beauty as the children of the district danced and sang in the heart of the darkness of sonagacchi and all through out the crowd were the women of sonagacchi and even the customers pausing for a look...being there makes christmas more real. this is who jesus came to earth to be with...these ladies and their children and even the customer, the trafficker and the owners . he came for them and i am so blessed to be with them as we celebrate the coming of light into darkness...let it be as it was 2000 years ago when our emmanuel came as little baby...at first a small light and new hope...becoming a light that so overpowers the darkness that it overcomes it. jesus came for the world and eveyday i see how he most certainly came for sonagacchi and evey man, woman and child within it's boundaries.
tomorrow night we will go to the gach to bring beauty to our beautiful friends in the form of flowers...one flower for every girl..sundor phul, sundor meyer-er junno (beautiful flower for a beautiful girl). again may there be light in sonagacchi.
beth and i will go to the gach on christmas eve to talk with the ladies we took to freeset today --pray for them, pray for us. and pray that all 10 ladies that freeset is willing to hire will come in the next week!! that would rip my face off for sure!! let the kingdom come!!
Wednesday, December 21, 2005
Super cool update on the GACH!
Just a quick but amazing update--kristin sent this out in a mass email and i am too lazy to share it my own words but really wanted you all to hear the good news!! Pray with for 9 more like Mani!
WE got to bring a lady to freeset!!! there is this group of ladies that are a tad older and i 9always say hi and talk to them some and call them all "didi" (itmeans big sister). i never invested that much time there but knew their faces. well when we found out that freeset was going to be highering 10 new girls from sonagachi and they wanted all women in the trade (no daughters this time around) andthey were taking any age i decided to talk to this group.This one lady Moni showed a lot of interest and after an unsucessful attempt to have her come she finally came. She has been in the trade for 25 years and is in her later 30's (so she was soo young when she started). She has an 18 year old son and no family to speak of. SHe rents this tiny, tiny room in Sonagachi and the 4thfloor of the building. It is literlaly the size of a closet. Adam and I took her to freeset and had her talk with Pria. We found out that her rent is only 800 ruppees a month which means that she can stay in the red light area. this is part of ourplan for community development. to empower the women to stay and slowly transformthe area. When she left Pria had this huge grin on her face adn said, "this ladywants to leave. she is really motivated." so training starts a couple days after christmas. we get to be the go between freeset and Mouni. She has a long road ahead of her. please pray for her. it is so exciting to know that her life isabout to change forever. she doesn't even know that God is giving her the familythat she never had.am having a great christmas season so far. our friends daniel and adam are in townand we are packed full with things to do.
WE got to bring a lady to freeset!!! there is this group of ladies that are a tad older and i 9always say hi and talk to them some and call them all "didi" (itmeans big sister). i never invested that much time there but knew their faces. well when we found out that freeset was going to be highering 10 new girls from sonagachi and they wanted all women in the trade (no daughters this time around) andthey were taking any age i decided to talk to this group.This one lady Moni showed a lot of interest and after an unsucessful attempt to have her come she finally came. She has been in the trade for 25 years and is in her later 30's (so she was soo young when she started). She has an 18 year old son and no family to speak of. SHe rents this tiny, tiny room in Sonagachi and the 4thfloor of the building. It is literlaly the size of a closet. Adam and I took her to freeset and had her talk with Pria. We found out that her rent is only 800 ruppees a month which means that she can stay in the red light area. this is part of ourplan for community development. to empower the women to stay and slowly transformthe area. When she left Pria had this huge grin on her face adn said, "this ladywants to leave. she is really motivated." so training starts a couple days after christmas. we get to be the go between freeset and Mouni. She has a long road ahead of her. please pray for her. it is so exciting to know that her life isabout to change forever. she doesn't even know that God is giving her the familythat she never had.am having a great christmas season so far. our friends daniel and adam are in townand we are packed full with things to do.
Sunday, December 18, 2005
Home again...Amen!
PAKI IS HOME!!
She came home yesterday morning...apparently the police somehow had the phone number of the man who had taken all of the girls and contacted him and they all returned home yesterday. I have not seen paki yet but Maya says she is well and was not harmed! I am in awe and so thankful for this amazing answer to prayer. I will post more details once i get the complete story...all i know now is that the police contacted the man and suposedly the girls were doing legitmate work catering but they believe that he may have still been planning on selling the girls. no sure what to believe but i am sooooooooo glad to have this little girl returned to her mother.
Friday, December 16, 2005
Update on Paki
Hey Friends---just wanted to give a quick update. Paki has not returned home as of yet. So we are still praying and hoping and trying to decide if we should attempt to go to her supposed location. Please keep praying.
Wednesday, December 14, 2005
Sunday, December 11, 2005
little girl lost
last night we came home to Kolkata after a month away in Bangladesh. It was a homecoming that we had been longing for--we actually really missed Calcutta. But it was joy short lived as the reality of a nightmare of many many girls was shared with me. I know the stories by heart of the girls who have been tricked or coerced into the trade...i have read, heard from the girls in the gach but i have never had someone close to me lost. Last night i went to spend some time with my friend Maya and she told me that my friend --Paki--was gone. Paki is Maya's neice and i have known her since she was 11and watched her grow into a beautiful young woman of 15. Paki's mother sat and cried as Maya told me that Paki and five other girls from the area had been taken/ or coerced by the promise of temporry jobs with good pay. Paki did not tell her family good bye but left word through the parents of the other girls that they would return on the fifteenth of this month. It is difficult to hope that this is actually true--that Paki will actually be able to return unharmed. I could not sleep for a long time last night as images and thought of the worst flashed through my brain...tears held back in my throat even now.
Maya's family has filed a police report and they will be looking for her but they are not hopefull for paki or the other girls. Maya and Paki's mom believe that she has been taken to work in a bar or brothel--to dance--but i think they do not quite understand the depth of what could happen to Paki. I am sick with the thought of this 15 year old little girl being violated or lost in anyway....last night i prayed with maya and her sister...but i could not think of what to pray accept that jesus would protect Paki and bring her home. I came home from maya's and told kristin and beth and we prayed together--and because i could not pray--we prayed Psalm 10. This Pslam is for Paki...she is one of the fatherless--having been abandoned by her own father and she is now helpless in the hands of wicked men...pray this psalm with me for paki.
We are contacting our friends at IJM in Bombay and here in Calcutta to see if they can help and also to ask their advice. There is nothing that i will not do to get Paki back...we are now praying and if she does not return by the 15th then we consider going to the area that we believe she was taken and see if we can find her. please pray for wisdom and right direction on this...
Maya told me today that she believes that her husband and her husbands friends may have contributed to Paki being gone...i am not sure what exactly this means but she called her husband and his friends bad men. And both women are concerned that they will not be able to stay in the area because those in our area will assume that purity has been lost and make life very difficult for Paki and her mother...so much heaviness in this situation.
Right now, we will wait and pray and I will be fasting breakfast and lunch until the 15th or I will stop if paki returns before that...this email is a plea for your prayers and if you feel led please fast with me for God to bring about her safe return.
I will keep you updated as i have more information.
thanks for being with us in this...i have told Paki's mom that i would ask my parents and "the church" to pray and she covets your prayers.
with deep sadness...
Maya's family has filed a police report and they will be looking for her but they are not hopefull for paki or the other girls. Maya and Paki's mom believe that she has been taken to work in a bar or brothel--to dance--but i think they do not quite understand the depth of what could happen to Paki. I am sick with the thought of this 15 year old little girl being violated or lost in anyway....last night i prayed with maya and her sister...but i could not think of what to pray accept that jesus would protect Paki and bring her home. I came home from maya's and told kristin and beth and we prayed together--and because i could not pray--we prayed Psalm 10. This Pslam is for Paki...she is one of the fatherless--having been abandoned by her own father and she is now helpless in the hands of wicked men...pray this psalm with me for paki.
We are contacting our friends at IJM in Bombay and here in Calcutta to see if they can help and also to ask their advice. There is nothing that i will not do to get Paki back...we are now praying and if she does not return by the 15th then we consider going to the area that we believe she was taken and see if we can find her. please pray for wisdom and right direction on this...
Maya told me today that she believes that her husband and her husbands friends may have contributed to Paki being gone...i am not sure what exactly this means but she called her husband and his friends bad men. And both women are concerned that they will not be able to stay in the area because those in our area will assume that purity has been lost and make life very difficult for Paki and her mother...so much heaviness in this situation.
Right now, we will wait and pray and I will be fasting breakfast and lunch until the 15th or I will stop if paki returns before that...this email is a plea for your prayers and if you feel led please fast with me for God to bring about her safe return.
I will keep you updated as i have more information.
thanks for being with us in this...i have told Paki's mom that i would ask my parents and "the church" to pray and she covets your prayers.
with deep sadness...
1 [a]Why, O LORD, do you stand far off? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?
2 In his arrogance the wicked man hunts down the weak, who are caught in the schemes he devises. 3 He boasts of the cravings of his heart; he blesses the greedy and reviles the LORD. 4 In his pride the wicked does not seek him; in all his thoughts there is no room for God. 5 His ways are always prosperous; he is haughty and your laws are far from him; he sneers at all his enemies. 6 He says to himself, "Nothing will shake me; I'll always be happy and never have trouble." 7 His mouth is full of curses and lies and threats; trouble and evil are under his tongue. 8 He lies in wait near the villages; from ambush he murders the innocent, watching in secret for his victims. 9 He lies in wait like a lion in cover; he lies in wait to catch the helpless; he catches the helpless and drags them off in his net.
10 His victims are crushed, they collapse; they fall under his strength. 11 He says to himself, "God has forgotten; he covers his face and never sees." 12 Arise, LORD! Lift up your hand, O God. Do not forget the helpless. 13 Why does the wicked man revile God? Why does he say to himself, "He won't call me to account"? 14 But you, O God, do see trouble and grief; you consider it to take it in hand. The victim commits himself to you; you are the helper of the fatherless. 15 Break the arm of the wicked and evil man; call him to account for his wickedness that would not be found out. 16 The LORD is King for ever and ever; the nations will perish from his land. 17 You hear, O LORD, the desire of the afflicted; you encourage them, and you listen to their cry, 18 defending the fatherless and the oppressed, in order that man, who is of the earth, may terrify no more.
2 In his arrogance the wicked man hunts down the weak, who are caught in the schemes he devises. 3 He boasts of the cravings of his heart; he blesses the greedy and reviles the LORD. 4 In his pride the wicked does not seek him; in all his thoughts there is no room for God. 5 His ways are always prosperous; he is haughty and your laws are far from him; he sneers at all his enemies. 6 He says to himself, "Nothing will shake me; I'll always be happy and never have trouble." 7 His mouth is full of curses and lies and threats; trouble and evil are under his tongue. 8 He lies in wait near the villages; from ambush he murders the innocent, watching in secret for his victims. 9 He lies in wait like a lion in cover; he lies in wait to catch the helpless; he catches the helpless and drags them off in his net.
10 His victims are crushed, they collapse; they fall under his strength. 11 He says to himself, "God has forgotten; he covers his face and never sees." 12 Arise, LORD! Lift up your hand, O God. Do not forget the helpless. 13 Why does the wicked man revile God? Why does he say to himself, "He won't call me to account"? 14 But you, O God, do see trouble and grief; you consider it to take it in hand. The victim commits himself to you; you are the helper of the fatherless. 15 Break the arm of the wicked and evil man; call him to account for his wickedness that would not be found out. 16 The LORD is King for ever and ever; the nations will perish from his land. 17 You hear, O LORD, the desire of the afflicted; you encourage them, and you listen to their cry, 18 defending the fatherless and the oppressed, in order that man, who is of the earth, may terrify no more.
Monday, December 05, 2005
More on sarifice and the consuming...
Yesterday, my thoughts were pretty jumbled and not really clear...i kind of verbally started processing but did not really finish till we left the email cafe. So i have continued thinking about what specifically i am called to sacrifice and what that means i will not consume in the choice to sacrifice. The obvious sacrifice is that i have left my family and my friends for a life that does not hold any tangible comforts but offers so much in other ways. it is, has been and will continue to be a sacrifice to be away from my family, to have neice that does not know me...but i make this choice not to "consume" because i am seeking to be obedient to the call Jesus has placed on my life. and truly Jesus requires obedience not sacrifice...but still sacrifce can be apart of being obedient.
On the whole choosing not to consume thing...i think that the temptation for me and maybe for many of us is to consume instead of allowing christ to fill us up. the empty place in my heart crys out for something and i often will choose to fill them with food or something new or a good cheap novel instead of the one thing that i will find truly filling and fufilling. I think i said yesterday that what i consume creates a false identity but actually i think what i consume outside of the context of obedience is something to creates a dividing wall between myself and God. I attempt to satisfy what God is waiting to fill with things that will never completely give me long term comfort and satisfaction. So i will choose not consume certain things for the sake of my relationship with jesus and because i do love him and want to be with him.
hopefully, that is more clear...
On the whole choosing not to consume thing...i think that the temptation for me and maybe for many of us is to consume instead of allowing christ to fill us up. the empty place in my heart crys out for something and i often will choose to fill them with food or something new or a good cheap novel instead of the one thing that i will find truly filling and fufilling. I think i said yesterday that what i consume creates a false identity but actually i think what i consume outside of the context of obedience is something to creates a dividing wall between myself and God. I attempt to satisfy what God is waiting to fill with things that will never completely give me long term comfort and satisfaction. So i will choose not consume certain things for the sake of my relationship with jesus and because i do love him and want to be with him.
hopefully, that is more clear...
Sunday, December 04, 2005
The meaning of sacrifice...
today in language we learned the word for sacrifice and the teacher defined it as the choice not to consume that which is yours or that which you might be entitled to consume for the sake of something... a person, a cause, a belief. I have been pondering...praying about what it means to consume, why i/we consume and what each thing that i choose to consume or not to consume means...you could say i am overthinking..but being a place where there is so little for the many and much for the few makes you constantly question your motives and what is truly important. in bangladesh 93 percent of the country lives below the poverty line in the rural areas of bangladesh--the poverty line being they make less than 2 dollars a day. the 7 percent have all the wealth and they live in the city of Dhaka where i am currently staying...anyone who visits dhaka expecially the diplomatic zone might leave with a skewed view of poverty...because they would see only the wealthy 7 percent. i keep thinking i am what i eat, i am what i have--i am what i consume. what I consume is worn as apart of the false identity i create for myself... still pondering so more on this later...if you have a thought on this stuff--please share it...
Friday, December 02, 2005
these days....
i have a ton of pictures and no way to post them...but i will as soon as i get back to kolkata...right now i am really missing calcutta alot!! the language is progressing but somewhat hampered this week by being sick...seems we all--beth, kristin, and i--picked up some kind of bug while treating ourselves to mexican food--i guess eating mexican food in bangladesh is not such a good idea...so i was laid out for one day on tuesday and got better but then i was down for the count again yesterday with a fever and possibly more "d" then i have ever experienced on a single day in my life--i think saying that i went about 25 times would not be an exaggeration...and seriously it was probably more...i basically was battling dehyration all day long with a headache--still felt pretty crappy and nauseus this morning but i forced myself to go to church (church is on friday in bandladesh--same day as the big muslim prayer day--sunday is a working day) and i have since felt much better....hopefully no more relapses. being sick in the states is much easier --there are so many distraction--tv and movies--yesterday i read a book and a half and was still bored and so discouraged by being sick another day. i always try to remember those who suffer with long term illnesses when i am sick and how hard and discouraging it must be --how if i lose hope at the end of 24 hours how does one keep hope through months and years of sickness...days like yesterday make me wish for the kind of TLC that only mom's can give....yeah so yesterday i really missed my mom alot! MOM I MISS YOU!! i still comfort myself with 7-up when i am sick just like my mom but they are missing saltines here in bangladesh so sour cream and onion chips where the best subsitute--i was totally craving salt!! must have been the dehyration. I pray three psalms this morning all with the common theme of the Lord being my refuge and strength..i guess that is the cry of those who suffer long...lord be my refuge and strength, hear my in my despair and deliver me from this sickness.
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