Hi Friends,
I got an email from a good friend of mine and wanted to share it with you. He came up with a plan to change the world. [no, seriously, he really did] This idea could really make a difference in the lives of people who need it most. Read his email below and at least check out the link and see what you think. Feel free to engage in the conversation or shoot me an email at WanderingellimaC@gmail.com. And please...pass it on.
-----------------------------
So, most of you know that you'll be getting a pretty large check from the government this spring for the purpose of "economic stimulus".
History and human nature shows that most of us will just spend this check on more "stuff" - which, of course, is why the government is sending us all a check in the first place.
But here's another idea. What if we all used our checks - or at least part of our checks - to
"stimulate" the lives of people who need "economic stimulus" a lot more than we do? What if we all decided to invest in something bigger than ourselves?
Here's an example. The United Nations estimates that we could provide the entire planet with safe, clean, accessible drinking water for about $100 billion. The proposed economic stimulus package is more than $168 billion. So - in theory - if everyone invested 2/3 of their check in sustainable water projects, no one on the planet would ever be thirsty or die of water-born diseases... which kill about 6,000 people a day.
So a few friends and I have been working on a web site and blog that explores this idea of investing your economic stimulus check - or at least part of your check - in something that REALLY makes a difference. We're raising questions like, "How will you spend your check?" and "What are you passionate about?"
Take a moment to check out the site, join the conversation, leave comments on the blog for others to read and think about, and start to explore how you will spend your check...
Thanks everyone. Pass it on...
Peace.
Dave Scott
4.08.2008
3.22.2008
Travel
I am sitting at LAX airport right now – thinking about the movie “Trade” and Nepal and girls I have met and books I have read. Thinking about the current state of the sex market and how things are shifting. The traffickers are always just one step ahead. They are entrepreneurs at their best. They have a great product and know how to market it in many different arenas.
As I boarded the Flyaway bus to get to LAX there was a young girl that didn’t speak any English that got on with me. A man who didn’t look a whole lot older dropped her off. I hope he was her brother, or boyfriend, or trusted best friend – but I can’t be sure. And even if he was, I can’t be comforted. She held one small bag and a paper with ?directions? on them. I don’t know what was on the paper but she was sent somewhere alone and it looked like she was told she would be taken care of when she got there. I can’t help but wonder how much goes on right under our noses. Maybe that was just her brother and she was just going to visit some family or do something else fun – but how can I be sure?
There are signs you can look for, sure. But it is difficult when your time is so limited. And it is frustrating beyond all get out when you cannot communicate with a girl that you have suspicions about because of language barriers. Although I obviously would not have asked her straight out if she was being trafficked or sexually exploited – there are other questions you can ask around that issue that will get you the answers you are looking for. The clues and the pieces to the puzzle – that they might not even know they are giving you.
And so I sit her at LAX looking at all the young boys and girls traveling alone – or with a quite older companion. And I wonder. What can be done? When is suspicion good? When is it offensive or over the top? And why have we come to a place in a world where we have to suspect a father traveling with his adolescent daughter…
As I boarded the Flyaway bus to get to LAX there was a young girl that didn’t speak any English that got on with me. A man who didn’t look a whole lot older dropped her off. I hope he was her brother, or boyfriend, or trusted best friend – but I can’t be sure. And even if he was, I can’t be comforted. She held one small bag and a paper with ?directions? on them. I don’t know what was on the paper but she was sent somewhere alone and it looked like she was told she would be taken care of when she got there. I can’t help but wonder how much goes on right under our noses. Maybe that was just her brother and she was just going to visit some family or do something else fun – but how can I be sure?
There are signs you can look for, sure. But it is difficult when your time is so limited. And it is frustrating beyond all get out when you cannot communicate with a girl that you have suspicions about because of language barriers. Although I obviously would not have asked her straight out if she was being trafficked or sexually exploited – there are other questions you can ask around that issue that will get you the answers you are looking for. The clues and the pieces to the puzzle – that they might not even know they are giving you.
And so I sit her at LAX looking at all the young boys and girls traveling alone – or with a quite older companion. And I wonder. What can be done? When is suspicion good? When is it offensive or over the top? And why have we come to a place in a world where we have to suspect a father traveling with his adolescent daughter…
3.05.2008
Decriminalize vs. Legalize
I was able to go to the Soularize Conference in the Bahamas this last October. One of the speakers was Rita Nakashima Brock. She was co-author of a great book I read for one of my courses “Casting Stones”. I contacted her after the conference to get some resources. She said to me that after working with prostitutes and doing her research overseas she strongly believes that prostitution should not be legalized but SHOULD be decriminalized.
I have to say that the more I study here at Fuller, the more I work with the After Hours Ministry and the more I research prostitution I agree with Dr. Brock. This is still something I am very much thinking through and processing…but travel with me a bit.
Legalization: to make legal; authorize
Those that legalize prostitution (and yes, there are some places that do) “do so by giving the state control over the lives and businesses of those who work as prostitutes. Legalization often includes special taxes for prostitutes, restricting prostitutes to working in brothels or in certain zones, licenses, registration of prostitutes and government records of individual prostitutes, and health checks, which often means punitive quarantine. The term legalization does not necessarily have to refer to the above sorts of regulations. In fact, in one commonly accepted definition of legalization, legal can simply mean that prostitution is not against the law.” [quoted from this website] And this is not what we want. Prostitution should still be against the law – it just should not be a criminal act.
Decriminalize: to eliminate criminal penalties for or remove legal restrictions against (typically referring to consenting adult sexual activity)
While there are many reasons one gets into prostitution and many reasons one stays, I don’t think that putting these men and women in jail is ever really the answer. The times I have spoken with my girls after they have been in jail for a couple of weeks for getting picked up for prostitution I see no real effect the jailing had on them (other than pissing them off and making them annoyed). And to be real frank, I think it is the John’s that need to be put in jail if we are going to send anyone there. The laws that are currently in place for prostitution are reaching the “branch” problems – and we need to get to the root. Our laws are affecting the women involved while the men who are customers reap no consequences.
The criminalization of prostitution also makes it very difficult for these women to seek help or report violent actions against themselves to the police. If they report anything they can be charged or put in jail because of the actions that caused the crime against them. Several women I work with would be fearful of loosing custody of their child or losing status with the family and friends.
There is a website that makes a compelling argument “why prostitution should not ever be legalized” but you will notice that they use the two words legalization and decriminalization interchangeably. I think that is where the confusion and danger comes in. Legalization is not the same as decriminalization and until we have a clear understanding of what we mean by the word and what we are truly trying to accomplish – we’ll only get frustrated and step on each other’s toes.
And lastly, here is an article that I think is really compelling (which is for decriminalization) written by Wendy McElroy.
I have to say that the more I study here at Fuller, the more I work with the After Hours Ministry and the more I research prostitution I agree with Dr. Brock. This is still something I am very much thinking through and processing…but travel with me a bit.
Legalization: to make legal; authorize
Those that legalize prostitution (and yes, there are some places that do) “do so by giving the state control over the lives and businesses of those who work as prostitutes. Legalization often includes special taxes for prostitutes, restricting prostitutes to working in brothels or in certain zones, licenses, registration of prostitutes and government records of individual prostitutes, and health checks, which often means punitive quarantine. The term legalization does not necessarily have to refer to the above sorts of regulations. In fact, in one commonly accepted definition of legalization, legal can simply mean that prostitution is not against the law.” [quoted from this website] And this is not what we want. Prostitution should still be against the law – it just should not be a criminal act.
Decriminalize: to eliminate criminal penalties for or remove legal restrictions against (typically referring to consenting adult sexual activity)
While there are many reasons one gets into prostitution and many reasons one stays, I don’t think that putting these men and women in jail is ever really the answer. The times I have spoken with my girls after they have been in jail for a couple of weeks for getting picked up for prostitution I see no real effect the jailing had on them (other than pissing them off and making them annoyed). And to be real frank, I think it is the John’s that need to be put in jail if we are going to send anyone there. The laws that are currently in place for prostitution are reaching the “branch” problems – and we need to get to the root. Our laws are affecting the women involved while the men who are customers reap no consequences.
The criminalization of prostitution also makes it very difficult for these women to seek help or report violent actions against themselves to the police. If they report anything they can be charged or put in jail because of the actions that caused the crime against them. Several women I work with would be fearful of loosing custody of their child or losing status with the family and friends.
There is a website that makes a compelling argument “why prostitution should not ever be legalized” but you will notice that they use the two words legalization and decriminalization interchangeably. I think that is where the confusion and danger comes in. Legalization is not the same as decriminalization and until we have a clear understanding of what we mean by the word and what we are truly trying to accomplish – we’ll only get frustrated and step on each other’s toes.
And lastly, here is an article that I think is really compelling (which is for decriminalization) written by Wendy McElroy.
2.22.2008
it hurts...
sometimes it's just easier to close my eyes
to shut my heart
to ignore the reality of it all
the pain surges deeper and deeper
there seems to be no way to stop it
no cure no remedy
i want to run away but something keeps me here
i don't know what much i can do
but my heart leads me on
...until the last lock breaks
to shut my heart
to ignore the reality of it all
the pain surges deeper and deeper
there seems to be no way to stop it
no cure no remedy
i want to run away but something keeps me here
i don't know what much i can do
but my heart leads me on
...until the last lock breaks
2.18.2008
A Tribute to Shanta
There is a woman that I love, admire and respect more highly than most I have every come in contact with. Besides being one of the most loving and giving people I have ever met - she has the best laugh I've ever heard!!
I'd love to share with you Shanta's story so you can share, in part, my love and awe for her. I got this write-up of Shanta's story (literally, word for word...I am totally stealing this) from my amazing and wonderful friend, Dawnette. It was actually from her old blog so I can't give her proper credit by connecting you to it - but know that she is the one that was amazingly articulate in putting this together and remembering these details. And now, in D's words...
Shanta has been life and breath and love and peace for countless women (and men) in Nepal. I got to hear her testimony at each speaking engagement...
As a child, she was one of 5 kids born to her folks. Because of lacking medical care, three of her older siblings, two girls and a boy, died within 15 days of each other. In Nepal, sons are considered imperative to have. It is the sons who are responsible for caring for their ailing parents, and eventually providing the cremation for them when they die. It is a belief within Hinduism that without a son to do these things, one will not attain heaven. So when his only son died, Shanta's father began to mercilessly beat her mother and tried to kick her and the remaining two girls out of the house. He relented and let them stay, but he married another woman, moved her into the house, and when Shanta was 12 he gave her away in marriage to a man many years her senior.
In her marriage family, Shanta was again mistreated. The man who took her as wife also had another wife, and Shanta was definitely the subordinate one in the family. Shanta's in-laws mistreated her as well. In Nepal, it being a Hindu country and a country of strong caste-system, if you associated with someone of a lesser caste you could lose your own caste. Shanta's birth family was Brahman ~ the highest caste. And within that caste level, they were of the highest group: a Priest family. She married into another Brahman family.
In that house she found a big brown book ~ it said "Holy Bible" on it. She would sneak it into her basket each day before going out to cut grass or collect water. Her uncle had taught her to read, and had told her you always start a book at the beginning. So every day for a month Shanta read this book....but she'd start back at chapter one each day! So within that month she only ever read chapters 1-4 of Genesis! When she read that Adam had lived 930 years, she thought "I am only 12 years old - I have many years left to live - I don't need to read this book right now!" After a month of reading it, she set it aside and didn't pick up a Bible again for over 12 years.
At one point, her in-laws began selling milk to a group of missionaries. Shanta was given the task of delivering that milk. One day a missionary invited her in for tea ~ she'd never had tea, so she accepted the invitation. Friends, who knew she'd gone into this missionary's home, went back to her in-laws and told them she'd "associated" with the missionaries (who are of no caste). As a result, the family stripped her of her caste, and for nine years would not even allow her into the kitchen for fear that her touching something there would render it "unclean" since she was now of no caste. She was forbidden to enter the kitchen for NINE YEARS.
She suffered much cruelty over the course of the 12 or 13 years she was with her husband. She cried often, and constantly wondered if she might find some peace on the other side of the hills she saw each day. Finally, at age 25 she left. She went out to cut grass one day, and with the grass-cutting knife in her hand, and only the dress she was wearing, she headed for the hills and ended up in Kathmandu.
In the city she got word that the missionary she'd once known was asking about her. She met up with this woman and asked about the Big Book. The missionary told her she could find that book at a house not far away - a red house. Shanta found that house, and inside were 6 Nepali people who were starting a church together. She went inside and sat in the corner, listening as they worshiped and read from Scripture. She joined them week after week, and soon came to find the peace and love she'd ached for all her life ~ found that in the person of Jesus Christ. She also met Min, the man who would become her loving husband and father to their children.
Before long she realized she wanted to help other people, but that she needed training. Youth With A Mission offered a Discipleship Training Course and made room for her to take the course. After the 5-month program she set aside three days to fast and pray, asking the Lord for a vision for ministry. She'd known a girl with polio in her village, and in her heart she so wanted to minister to handicapped children. Three times she asked the Lord to give her a vision for handicapped kids....and three times the Lord said no ~ He had a different plan. He wanted her to work with the used and abused girls of Nepal. Twice Shanta said "No Lord, I want handicapped kids". Finally, she relented and gave herself wholly to the vision the Lord gave her.
She and Min had nothing to their name. They borrowed the equivalent of $15 to rent a two-room place so they could begin to bring girls into their home to minister to. The first girl they got, Shanta found dumped by the roadside. Her body was so tormented that maggots had already begun to eat at her. Shanta brought her home and cleaned her up and began to BE the love of Jesus to this girl.
Not long later, Shanta was in the hospital for a surgery. The hospital knew she was running a home for girls, and they approached her about a girl they had in their care. This young woman had been in the brothels 22 months, and became the first person in Nepal diagnosed HIV+. Because she was the first, the hospital literally had nothing they could do for her. She was sick with pneumonia and tuberculosis, as well as a few STD's. She was so sick she couldn't even sit up. The hospital gave her 6 weeks to live. Shanta argued that she needed medical care, but the hospital said either Shanta would take her or they would cast her out into the streets ~ people were beginning to avoid the hospital because of this woman's HIV and they just couldn't afford that. So Shanta brought her home.
Her name is Bruna, and that was 17 years ago. Bruna has NEVER had any kind of medical care for ANY of her ailments....and she is now the longest-living HIV+ person in Nepal without medical care! Bruna is also the most effective counselor Shanta's ministry has. She's been there. She knows. She has a voice none of us will ever have. Bruna has stayed with the Peace Rehabilitation Center all these years, and God has used her life in mighty ways.
There are endless stories yet to be told about Shanta, her time here, the PRC and its ministry, but those will have to wait for a subsequent entry. I pray as you read this, you take some time to simply ponder the greatness of God and His plan for our lives. Three times in Shanta's first marriage she tried to take her own life. She still weeps as she tells her story. Her life was horrific. I don't claim to understand why the horrific happens....I only have a firm belief that God is present there. And that He does have a plan. I rarely know what it is...I just feel mighty blessed, in the deepest sense, when I get a glimpse of the plan in action. I felt that a lot the past two weeks.
Shanta says she knows God had a bigger plan for her. And again, she weeps as she recognizes day after day how His vision reflects all that. It unfolds on a very consistent basis as she meets each girl who enters her home or receives PRC training.
I said it before: If you've not had the chance to meet Shanta, I hope you will sometime. I hope you get to sit with her, drink tea with her, hear her heart and enjoy silence in her presence. It really is a beautiful thing.
Shanta is beautiful.
I'd love to share with you Shanta's story so you can share, in part, my love and awe for her. I got this write-up of Shanta's story (literally, word for word...I am totally stealing this) from my amazing and wonderful friend, Dawnette. It was actually from her old blog so I can't give her proper credit by connecting you to it - but know that she is the one that was amazingly articulate in putting this together and remembering these details. And now, in D's words...
Shanta has been life and breath and love and peace for countless women (and men) in Nepal. I got to hear her testimony at each speaking engagement...
As a child, she was one of 5 kids born to her folks. Because of lacking medical care, three of her older siblings, two girls and a boy, died within 15 days of each other. In Nepal, sons are considered imperative to have. It is the sons who are responsible for caring for their ailing parents, and eventually providing the cremation for them when they die. It is a belief within Hinduism that without a son to do these things, one will not attain heaven. So when his only son died, Shanta's father began to mercilessly beat her mother and tried to kick her and the remaining two girls out of the house. He relented and let them stay, but he married another woman, moved her into the house, and when Shanta was 12 he gave her away in marriage to a man many years her senior.
In her marriage family, Shanta was again mistreated. The man who took her as wife also had another wife, and Shanta was definitely the subordinate one in the family. Shanta's in-laws mistreated her as well. In Nepal, it being a Hindu country and a country of strong caste-system, if you associated with someone of a lesser caste you could lose your own caste. Shanta's birth family was Brahman ~ the highest caste. And within that caste level, they were of the highest group: a Priest family. She married into another Brahman family.
In that house she found a big brown book ~ it said "Holy Bible" on it. She would sneak it into her basket each day before going out to cut grass or collect water. Her uncle had taught her to read, and had told her you always start a book at the beginning. So every day for a month Shanta read this book....but she'd start back at chapter one each day! So within that month she only ever read chapters 1-4 of Genesis! When she read that Adam had lived 930 years, she thought "I am only 12 years old - I have many years left to live - I don't need to read this book right now!" After a month of reading it, she set it aside and didn't pick up a Bible again for over 12 years.
At one point, her in-laws began selling milk to a group of missionaries. Shanta was given the task of delivering that milk. One day a missionary invited her in for tea ~ she'd never had tea, so she accepted the invitation. Friends, who knew she'd gone into this missionary's home, went back to her in-laws and told them she'd "associated" with the missionaries (who are of no caste). As a result, the family stripped her of her caste, and for nine years would not even allow her into the kitchen for fear that her touching something there would render it "unclean" since she was now of no caste. She was forbidden to enter the kitchen for NINE YEARS.
She suffered much cruelty over the course of the 12 or 13 years she was with her husband. She cried often, and constantly wondered if she might find some peace on the other side of the hills she saw each day. Finally, at age 25 she left. She went out to cut grass one day, and with the grass-cutting knife in her hand, and only the dress she was wearing, she headed for the hills and ended up in Kathmandu.
In the city she got word that the missionary she'd once known was asking about her. She met up with this woman and asked about the Big Book. The missionary told her she could find that book at a house not far away - a red house. Shanta found that house, and inside were 6 Nepali people who were starting a church together. She went inside and sat in the corner, listening as they worshiped and read from Scripture. She joined them week after week, and soon came to find the peace and love she'd ached for all her life ~ found that in the person of Jesus Christ. She also met Min, the man who would become her loving husband and father to their children.
Before long she realized she wanted to help other people, but that she needed training. Youth With A Mission offered a Discipleship Training Course and made room for her to take the course. After the 5-month program she set aside three days to fast and pray, asking the Lord for a vision for ministry. She'd known a girl with polio in her village, and in her heart she so wanted to minister to handicapped children. Three times she asked the Lord to give her a vision for handicapped kids....and three times the Lord said no ~ He had a different plan. He wanted her to work with the used and abused girls of Nepal. Twice Shanta said "No Lord, I want handicapped kids". Finally, she relented and gave herself wholly to the vision the Lord gave her.
She and Min had nothing to their name. They borrowed the equivalent of $15 to rent a two-room place so they could begin to bring girls into their home to minister to. The first girl they got, Shanta found dumped by the roadside. Her body was so tormented that maggots had already begun to eat at her. Shanta brought her home and cleaned her up and began to BE the love of Jesus to this girl.
Not long later, Shanta was in the hospital for a surgery. The hospital knew she was running a home for girls, and they approached her about a girl they had in their care. This young woman had been in the brothels 22 months, and became the first person in Nepal diagnosed HIV+. Because she was the first, the hospital literally had nothing they could do for her. She was sick with pneumonia and tuberculosis, as well as a few STD's. She was so sick she couldn't even sit up. The hospital gave her 6 weeks to live. Shanta argued that she needed medical care, but the hospital said either Shanta would take her or they would cast her out into the streets ~ people were beginning to avoid the hospital because of this woman's HIV and they just couldn't afford that. So Shanta brought her home.
Her name is Bruna, and that was 17 years ago. Bruna has NEVER had any kind of medical care for ANY of her ailments....and she is now the longest-living HIV+ person in Nepal without medical care! Bruna is also the most effective counselor Shanta's ministry has. She's been there. She knows. She has a voice none of us will ever have. Bruna has stayed with the Peace Rehabilitation Center all these years, and God has used her life in mighty ways.
There are endless stories yet to be told about Shanta, her time here, the PRC and its ministry, but those will have to wait for a subsequent entry. I pray as you read this, you take some time to simply ponder the greatness of God and His plan for our lives. Three times in Shanta's first marriage she tried to take her own life. She still weeps as she tells her story. Her life was horrific. I don't claim to understand why the horrific happens....I only have a firm belief that God is present there. And that He does have a plan. I rarely know what it is...I just feel mighty blessed, in the deepest sense, when I get a glimpse of the plan in action. I felt that a lot the past two weeks.
Shanta says she knows God had a bigger plan for her. And again, she weeps as she recognizes day after day how His vision reflects all that. It unfolds on a very consistent basis as she meets each girl who enters her home or receives PRC training.
I said it before: If you've not had the chance to meet Shanta, I hope you will sometime. I hope you get to sit with her, drink tea with her, hear her heart and enjoy silence in her presence. It really is a beautiful thing.
Shanta is beautiful.
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