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By kcharles, March 5, 2010 8:50 pm

Remember 19?  Her name is Ashley.  She’s one of our students living on the other side of the world.

Months ago, we met over coffee.  She told me her story from college to Kenya.   Here is an excerpt from our time together:

(I listened) To a heart that loves Jesus. In one hand she holds a ticket for Africa; in the other those words of life. And she’s going to change the world. It’s in her giddy rambles and the excitement in her eyes. She’s fearless and alive and in love. In love with the One who has redeemed our fall. 

Well, she’s there now, teaching preschool.  Loving children.  Learning Swahili.  Gaping over zebras and hippos.  And relying on God.  Can’t wait to hear more from one of the most sensitive hearts I know.  This girl is incredible and such a riot.  Love her!

Till then, Compassion Bloggers have headed to Kenya.  They’ve got a bunch of incredible, compelling posts here.  Check them out if you get the chance.  And please take a moment to pray for Ashley also. 

Thanks and much love!
Kristin

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By kcharles, January 13, 2010 11:54 pm

Thirty-some teenagers came out for small groups tonight, but we didn’t have small groups. 

Instead, there were disturbing images and numbing statistics on Haiti.  It was uncomfortable, raw, heart-shattering into millions of pieces.  I couldn’t stop wiping away tears from my seat in the back, almost embarrassed at such visible emotion. 

Paul prayed that we would be disturbed.  Disturbed to do something.  Pray.  Give.  Mobilize. 

LOVE.

30-some students and leaders in one cramped room in one night raised $1200.  What? 

$1200.  Kids these days…

The devastation cannot be fathomed.  And no amount of dollars can heal that kind of hurt.  But there will be food and clean water and the compassion of strangers from a little white country church.  And that’s as good of a place to start as any. 

“For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in..”

The students have set the bar.  Our turn.  If you would like to give, we have seen the outstanding work of Compassion International first-hand.  Click here to donate. 

May all of us continue to be DISTURBED.  May all of us continue to LOVE. 
Gotta start somewhere.

UPDATE AS OF 1/17:  Students have upped their own pledges, giving more money than they had initially committed.  The total is now up to $1, 450.  Can you believe it? 

This is crazy sacrifice.  None of the students or leaders have access to much.  So so so proud of their huge hearts, compassion & sensitivity.  The church today was challenged to match their giving.  And match they did:)  Incredible. 

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By kcharles, December 2, 2009 1:29 pm

a need: A typhoon hit the community where Rodean lives (our youth group’s sponsored child.)

a lesson: Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs was the real deal for the Israelites, except with Manna. Today, God provides for us so that we may provide for others. (Our Children’s Church lesson 1st-6th grade)

a response: 12 children + 6 weeks + pennies = $73.64 + $73.64 (our church board matched their total- yay for them rewarding a child’s faith!) = $147.28

*the best is that these kiddos gave what they had and for some it was just a quarter they found at McDonald’s and nickels from school*

Yeah! The students almost tripled their goal with their Compassion Cups! I wish you could’ve heard their cheers (and little happy dances!)

The total was sent electronically last week, so it may be in his family’s hands now.
Looking forward to hearing how God continues to supply Rodean’s family’s needs…
Thanks to all the kids, their parents, Pastor Charles, and the board for allowing us to do this.

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By kcharles, December 1, 2009 12:09 am

Meet Lipid the Lover.

We bought Lipid from Nate, an amazing young guy with one proud dad. And proud he should be.

Nate creates little creatures, much like Lipid. Each one comes with its own story. Here is his:

Lipid used to be bored with life. Every day seemed the same.
You can buy more of Nate’s creations here. Enjoy!

But all that changed the day Lipid’s pet caterpillar ran away, for it was then that Lipid realized that everything he had could be lost.

And this is how Lipid learned what love is and the secret to experiencing everyone, and everything, as new.

Now Lipid’s favorite quote is: “The way to love anything is to realize that it may be lost.”Gilbert Chesterton

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By kcharles, November 10, 2009 9:32 pm

Congressman Altmire has decided to co-sponsor the Child Protection Compact Act!

Whoohooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Whoohoooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Got an email Friday from his DC foreign affairs staffer confirming his sponsorship. Still waiting to actually see his name on the legal document, but I suppose there is some paperwork to file first. For now, I’ll take his word for it:)

Thank you all so much for praying! Thank you, also, to Pastor Charles and Amy Gerwig for coming with me as advocates. Not sure I was so willing to have gone alone:) And Paul, thanks for getting on my case about calling his office, even though I was intimidated by the lack of prior response. Yay!

Now to pray that the bill gets passed. And that money can go to bring hope, freedom, and healing for children around the world.

Yeah, God! Whooohoooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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By admin, August 25, 2009 7:13 pm

If you threw up a few prayers for me and our crew on Monday, thank you.

It meant everything to me, really everything. To all of us. Thank you.

A moment before walking into Congressman’s Altmire’s office, I couldn’t steady my hand to text Paul. My heart raced. An ugly thought sneered, “You don’t even know what you’re talking about.”

And then we walked in. Me. Pastor Charles. Amy Gerwig.

And I felt peace. And confidence. And strength that wasn’t my own. It seemed like we all did.

We laid a framework for our involvement in the issue.
We provided stats:

* 158,000,000 children are victims of human trafficking (Actually, I blanked on this stat, so I just said a very vague, “UNICEF estimates that there are millions…oh well.)

* Children that are trafficked are engaged in the worst forms of child labor:

* Enslavement that endangers the physical and moral well-being of children, debt bondage, mandatory military involvement, use of children for drug production and trafficking, use of children for prostitution and pornography, etc.

* The US State Dept lists trafficking as the world’s third largest criminal enterprise.

We respectfully asked for his support and cosponsorship of HR 2737:

This bill, called the Child Protection Compact Act of 2009, allots 50 million dollars over three years to the State Department’s Trafficking In Persons office (TIP.)

With that money, TIP would provide grants to a number of different National Government Organizations, including International Justice Mission, World Vision, Amnesty International, The Polaris Project, Equality Now, Sojourners, etc.

With previous grant money received over the last 5 years, IJM has been able to investigate foreign pedophiles, obtain official release permits for children enslaved in work camps, and provide after-care services to children who have been rescued from the “industry.”

(On a side note – in one city in the Philippines – over a 2 year period of working with local law enforcement – IJM has seen a 75% reduction in child prostitution – 75%!!!!!!!!!!) IJM‘s work is incredible.

Though IJM has been supportive of current TIP grant making, the money has been widespread (distributed to 43 countries and over 100 different NGO’s) but not sufficient enough to eradicate a problem of this magnitude.

That’s why this bill is asking for more. The goal is an abolition of slavery in our lifetime.

Altmire’s response:

Lots of questions.
Lots of talk that flew over my head (technicalities of the bill process.)
A friendly and informative conversation, certainly a foundation for future advocacy meetings.

Bad news: He didn’t sign on the dotted line to co-sponsor the bill right then and there.

Good news: It certainly sounded as though he would in the near future, after reading the bill in its entirety. And we have contact information for 2 of his staffers, in the local office and in Washington. We are to check back in 2 weeks if we haven’t heard anything about his support first.

So it’s a start.

Please keep praying. For a commitment to be made on his part. For meetings around the nation just like this one. For the bill to be passed. And for the money to impact millions of children internationally.

Thanks, again, for supporting us if you did.

And keep an eye out for that young Amy Gerwig. I knew Pastor Charles would be awesome with Altmire. He has wisdom and knowledge and a quiet confidence and articulation…

But Amy, man. For 18, she was the bomb! Fearless and smooth. She made the situation personal to Altmire because he thought of his own daughters (with comments she made.) I was so proud of her. You go, girl!

Bet she never thought she would ask for 50 mil either.

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By admin, August 18, 2009 10:40 pm

UNICEF estimates that there are nearly 2 million children in the commercial sex trade worldwide.

2 million kids just like my own. Just like our youth group students.

I can’t handle that. At all. But ignoring the reality doesn’t help either.

On Monday, August 24th at 11:30, I’ll be meeting with Congressman Altmire to urge him to cosign the Child Protection Compact Act of 2009. As IJM states, “This bill supports poor countries’ efforts to stand up to criminals that traffic children by investing in effective law enforcement that puts traffickers and slave owners out of business and behind bars.”

I’m SO excited to have gotten a meeting. And COMPLETELY freaked out.

Got some studying to do and prep work till then. Won’t be online much.

If you’re available on Monday and local, please consider coming along. Paul’s Dad (and the pastor of our church) will be joining me. The more voices, the better.

If you can’t make it this time, please pray. I would cherish your prayers much. I don’t know what I’m doing. And this is out there for me. But 2 million times worth it.

Thanks and Much Love,
Kristin

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By admin, July 28, 2009 10:53 pm

Just a heads’ up. This post is not going to be pretty, so stopping while you’re at it would be a good suggestion. For real. I am infuriated and repulsed and deeply saddened by an issue destroying the place I once called home.

Rhode Island is the place of my roots. There is a level of comfort here in the coming back. The fierce ocean waves, gritty sand in between my toes, drinking a Del’s lemonade, clam cakes. There are the carousel rides, the cliffwalk, Pawsox games, waterfires. I love this place. Like really love it.

And yet I am coming to realize that this is not the home that some residents ever know. Their home is their prison. They are victoms of trafficking. Sure, in some cases prostitution is a choice. In other cases, women and children are bought and sold without any consent. Every freedom that I know to be true is lost to a pimp and politics who count their cash.

Rhode Island just got ratted out by a 16 year old runaway who was permitted to strip for cash. You’ve probably heard all about it. Turns out, she’s allowed by law to continue. Even Vegas prohibits child abuse. You’ve got to be at least 21 to work in a club there. Not in RI. I suppose she didn’t rat out the state after all.

If that weren’t horrific enough, Rhode Island permits indoor prostitution. It is the only remaining state that sanctions it. Providence is littered with clubs, but so are small town communities. Massage parlors have infested the state and will continue to do so if these laws are not changed.

Since the seedier side of RI has broken into the news, the media has had a heyday. A recent clip on Fox news shows Bill O’Reilly shaking his head and laughing at the loopholes in the law. He is quoted as saying, “They might want to fix it up there. You might want to fix it in the Ocean State.”

Come on now. The segment was almost portrayed as an advertisement for traffickers and predators. Was there no better way of highlighting this problem than through sarcastic laughter? How can anyone have the gall to laugh when children and teenagers are being abused? Maybe the attention was beneficial if it infuriated people. But only if it infuriated them to do more than shake their heads.

Are we just not getting it? Do we not care? If Rhode Island doesn’t change its legislation soon, this state’s problems are going to amplify across the nation and world. As it is, three neon x’s are screaming to offenders that there’s freedom to be found here. Freedom for offenders. Modern day slavery for the offended.

As this state continues to reap profits from the industry, it is also going to reap a sludge of problems. Prostitution ramps up crime, is inherently debasing, destroys families and communities, and preys on our next generation. Individuals enslaved to their traffickers undergo severe physical and psychological abuse, are forced into drug and alcohol abuse, and are at high risk for deadly disease. It sickens me to no end that children are trafficked to my home to know no other life but this.

Now that you’ve read this rant, I’m sure you’re sorry. I told you it was ugly. I’ve ruined your morning, upset your stomach, stolen happy for today. I didn’t mean to. I just needed to speak up to someone, for someone. And you were caught in the crossfire. Sorry.

Writing this will have done nothing to stop these injustices. I know that. They’re words on a computer screen. But it’s how I could find peace with my pillow for tonight.

I don’t know where to begin to deal with this. But I know people who do: my friend Court, International Justice Mission, and oh yeah – Jesus. (Courtney runs with only the best.)

Someone once said, “This world is not mine to save, but I can serve the mission of God Who has already done so.” Amazing words to live by. Now to figure out how. I guess I’ve got a lot of figuring out to do.

Goodnight.