Home Sweet Home

Well, I am back in Nepal right now. And it feels ramro cha to be back! Stepping off the plane was like coming home. For those of you two don't know my father has never been to Nepal before and made the "mistake" of saying to me, "I feel like there is a part of you I do not understand since I have never seen Nepal before, so if you plan a trip I will get us there." BAM! Itinerary in his inbox the next day :) Needless to say we have been having a great time.
Nepal is cold, of course, but the people make it warm and it has been a delight to introduce my father to the many friends I have here.
On the day we landed Kumar met us at the airport to give us a ride into Thamel and get us all situated. He has always had a huge hand in anything that has taken place on my previous trips here so it was good for my father to meet him - and so good to be able to see him again and catch up. As we drove the crowded streets of Nepal one of my father's first comments was "they sure like to honk their horns here!" - haah! It was only the beginning I told him. We grabbed dinner at the Rumdoodle and called it a night.
On the 14th we headed to the Leper Colony that I visit each time I am here so I could introduce my father to Igeio - one of my favorite people on the face of the planet. I have to admit each time I travel there I get a bit nervous that he might not be there - his health continues to deteriate each time I see him. But he was there and was looking good. I was able to spend a good amount of time with him and my father was able to see the colony, meet Igeio and see the church. We spent the rest of the day walking around hanging out with many of the street kids and rickshaw drivers I am lucky to call friend. My father was able to meet Rita, Sangita, Maya, Raju, Mr Om, Casey, Saroj, and many more!!
On the 15th we arose EARLY in the morning and took a sightseeing flight with Yeti Airlines over Everest. It was BEAUTIFUL. Pictures did not capture and words will not be able to describe. And I got to see Everest from the cockpit of the plane. It was an exciting expereience. We then grabbed some breakfast at the Mandap Guest House which is where the Peak Performance teams eat breakfast each morning when they are in Nepal. We got to eat sitting next to a wood burning fire and of course enjoyed the hilarious company of our favorite Nepali waiter! When we got back we were able to hook up with Harka - a friend from back home in California. He is working on his doctoral studies in El Monte which is real near Pasadena. He is back in Kathmandu for about a month to check up on his family a ministry. It was fun to see him in Nepal and actually visit the ministry I get to hear so often about. I was able to meet the many kids that are a part of his orphanage and then visit the church that he pastors. We also took a walk over the the plot of land that they have purchased with the hopes of building a church and then one day a school on. His wife cooked my father and I a delicious meal of dal baht!! It was a wonderful afternoon. We shopped a bit in the afternoon and ended our day with dinner at the Roadhouse.
And now today my father and I will take a car to Nagarkot for a little R&R. I hope we get a good view of the beautiful mountains. It has been great weather so far so I am hopeful. We have many more exciting meetings when we return to Kathmandu and then as we move into Bangkok and Popiet. I'll be sure to fill you in on it all - including some thoughts and reflections on why I love Nepal, the needs in Nepal and the tensions I feel in my heart.

Israel's Sex Trafficking Crisis

The BBC researches a story about a young girl "Marina." Marina rarely leaves her two-room home in northern Israel these days.

She is in hiding - wanted by the Israeli authorities for being an illegal immigrant, and by the criminal gangs who brought her here to sell her into prostitution.

Marina - not her real name - was lured to Israel by human traffickers.

During the height of the phenomenon, from the beginning of the 1990s to the early years of 2000, an estimated 3,000 women a year were brought to Israel on the false promise of jobs and a better way of life.

"When I was in the Ukraine, I had a difficult life," said Marina, who came to Israel in 1999 at the age of 33 after answering a newspaper advertisement offering the opportunity to study abroad.

"I was taken to an apartment in Ashkelon, and other women there told me I was now in prostitution. I became hysterical, but a guy starting hitting me and then others there raped me.

"I was then taken to a place where they sold me - just sold me!" she said, recalling how she was locked in a windowless basement for a month, drank water from a toilet and was deprived of food.

That part of her ordeal only ended when she managed to escape, but the physical and mental scars remain.

Last year, the United Nations named Israel as one of the main destinations in the world for trafficked women; it has also consistently appeared as an offender in the annual US State Department's Trafficking in Persons (Tip) report.

While this year's report said Israel was making "significant efforts" to eliminate trafficking, it said it still does not "fully comply with the minimum standards" to do so.

Like Marina, some trafficked women are brought into the country legally, while others are smuggled by Bedouins across the border from Egypt.

In all cases, the traffickers - as many as 20 in the chain from recruitment to sale - take away the women's passports before selling them on to pimps.

Sometimes the women are subjected to degrading human auctions, where they are stripped, examined and sold for $8,000-$10,000.

Sanctions threat

Prostitution in Israel is legal, but pimping and maintaining a brothel are not.

The law however is not widely enforced and few brothels are closed down.

In Tel Aviv's Neve Shaanan district for instance, just a short walk from the city's five-star tourist hotels, brothels masquerading as massage parlors, saunas and even internet cafes, fill the streets.

One such place even operates opposite the local police station.

There are bars on windows and heavily-built men guard the doors, which are only opened to let customers in and out.

Inside, groups of sullen-looking women sit in dimly-lit rooms, waiting for their next client.

Foreign women fetch the highest prices, with trafficked women forced to work up to 18 hours a day.

For years, the absence of anti-trafficking laws in Israel meant such activity - less risky and often more profitable than trafficking drugs or arms - went unchecked.

"During the first 10 years of trafficking, Israel did absolutely nothing," said Nomi Levenkron, of the Migrant Workers' Hotline, an NGO which helps trafficked women and puts pressure on the state to act.

"Women were trafficked into Israel - the first case we uncovered was in 1992 - and not much really happened," she said.

"Occasionally traffickers were brought to trial, but the victims were arrested as well, they were forced to testify, and then they were deported."

In 2000, trafficking for sexual exploitation was made a crime but the punishments were light and its implementation was poor, NGOs say.

It was only after repeated criticism of Israel by the United States - and the threat of sanctions - that authorities began to act.

Investigations into suspected traffickers increased, stiff jail terms were handed down and Israel's borders were tightened against people smuggling.

Changing tactics

Campaigners say things began to change for the better in 2004, when the government opened a shelter in north Tel Aviv for women who had been trafficked for sex.

It marked a change in the way the state perceived them - as victims of a crime rather than accomplices.

There are some 30 women at the Maggan shelter - most from former Soviet states, but also five from China.

"When they come here they are in a bad condition," said Rinat Davidovich, the shelter's director.

"Most have sexual diseases and some have hepatitis and even tuberculosis. They also have problems going to sleep because they remember what used to happen to them at night," she said.

"It's very hard and it's a long procedure to start to help and treat them."

Police say their actions have led to a significant drop in the number of women now being trafficked into Israel for sex - hundreds, rather than thousands, a year - and they say the women's working environment has improved too.

"There is a significant change in the conditions that the women are being held in," said anti-trafficking police chief Raanan Caspi.

"In 2003 we used to find women who were being raped, incarcerated and suffering violence. In 2007, the situation is completely different - they get paid in most cases and the conditions that they're in are much more humane."

But the true picture might not be so clear-cut.

Campaigners say increased police activity has also had an adverse effect. Instead of operating openly in brothels, traffickers have become more discreet, playing their trade in private apartments and escort agencies, making the practice more difficult to detect.

"We've been keeping tabs on trends, in terms of, for instance, prices of exploitative services," said Yedida Wolfe, of the Task Force on Human Trafficking.

"Those prices have not gone up, which leads us to believe that the supply of victims has gone down."

"While government officials are saying that their efforts have drastically cut the number of victims in the country, the NGOs on the scene really don't feel that's true."

Israel might well have turned a corner in its fight against the traffickers, but the battle is far from won.

Outreach

Last night was another great night out in Compton (Lynwood). It was Daryl, Laurie, Ty, Sarah, Naomie and myself. It was really really cold so I was uncertain of how many girls we were actually going to see. By the end of the night we were able to meet up with 7 different girls, some guys and a couple cops. They were all out pretty early and then everyone disappeared so we got out of there around 5:00a.
Right when we got there, Sarah and I saw several girls across the street so we ran over to chat with them. One beautiful young girl named T said she would love a gift bag and then said, “are you handing our prayers tonight”? OF COURSE! While we were talking to her two other women came up. We gave them bags and asked if they wanted to join us in praying. They didn’t want to share their names but God knows their name. The five of us huddled up and prayed together for protection, peace and provision.
As Sarah and I crossed the street again we came across a 17-year old girl named M. She told us she has only been on the street for ONE WEEK! Of course we were curious what drove her to this and why she was out here, “I ain’t got nobody but myself and the street right now. I just gotta make a way.” It is so difficult when you run into girls time and time again with such a lack of options – or what they feel is a lack of options. It is wonderful to be able to enter in and provide some resources should they choose to take them. We chatted with her a bit more about being out there and her pimp. She talked to us about one pimp L that we have actually met before that is crazy. He will just pull over on the side of the road get out and yell or grab the girls. She was pretty surprised we had talked with him before “was he pimpin’ you?” No, we just had a nice conversation when he was pulled over to the side of the road. We didn’t see him last night – but will keep our eyes open in the next couple of weeks. M didn’t want a bag but said she would like some prayer so the three of us huddled up and prayed for M to find the provision she needs to be able to stop doing this. That God would bring some people into her life that could speak wisdom into her, provide for her and truly love her.
Pretty soon after our conversation with M some cops pulled up next to us, “what’s going on here?” I guess it is pretty strange to see a group just walking around at 3:30 in the morning. Laurie was the one to go over to the car and talk to the two officers about why we were out here. One of them ended up being a Christian as well so started letting us know where the transvestites were as well as some of the pimps and what kind of car they drive. After about a 10 min. conversation they went on their way and we began out walk down the street.
We split up into two groups since there were six of us. Daryl, Sarah and I crossed the street again to see what girls we might run into. Not too far down the street we caught up with T and Tt. T I had seen several weeks ago but had not been out lately. She told us she has been in jail for the last couple of weeks and could really use some prayer. “I guess prayer doesn’t keep you out of jail. But while I was there I decided I needed to go to church so I just went ANYWHERE and after I went I got out the next day.” It was good to catch up with her a bit and be able to pray for her. Tt didn’t want a bag either but chatted with us a bit about why we were out there. “You all rollin’ 6 deep – I bet there are even more of you we don’t see!”
After that we waked around for a little while longer and after seeing no girls decided to hop in the car and drive down the strip. We didn’t see anymore girls out – everyone had disappeared – so we decided to head back to Hollywood.
Although we did not run into too many girls it was still a great night out. I love seeing the same girls week after week and continuing to build that foundation they need to truly trust you and talk to you about where they are at. Just two weeks ago (which I forgot to every write about) I ran into P again. As soon as she saw me she said, “There’s my girl! How you been?” I gave her a big hug and asked how she had been the last week. She then proceeded to tell me her real name rather than her street name and we had a great time of catching up.
God’s moving – sometimes slower than I would like – but I am so thankful he lets me be a small part of it!

For Richer or Poorer

This was written by a beautiful young lady, Karlynn, after her first experience in Nepal. She went as one of my students the summer of 2002.

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I am an American, my fellow American’s wouldn’t consider me wealthy, but at my current resident, I am of great prestige. I’ve always wanted that. Unfortunately, here in Nepal, money has a stench greater than the lack of.
A dark salesman tries to teach me a lesson. He waves his product and renders me guilty for not purchasing.
A flock of Tibetan women wave their thick heavily jeweled hands and flail their sharply accented English in a mad attempt to make the almighty buck.
A heard of children tug on my clothing “you have sweet?” Their soiled mouths cry out. I didn’t ask for this!
This was not in the brochure! I…I…didn’t ask for…for a lesson. Suddenly, I’m vowed to poverty, and it only cost me three easy payments of $999.99 and my youth pastors signature!
My windy weeps of worthless unwillingness register whining. “Oh Poor Me! Oh pity me! My pain is so great and that of the unbearable.”
OR sometimes I am too quick to judge. “I would never cheat stupid Americans out of their money.
OR I would teach my children manners.
OR I would be reluctant to…
Or – Or – Or…
I saw a starving child today. Not a poor dirty child, but a starving child. His little belly hung like that of a bloated pregnant woman’s. His face was crusted with sickness. His eyes were yellow, his fingernails were speckled. An urgency to get this kid some food came over me. But you can’t give a starving child blow pops and fruit snacks.
I found myself disgusted wit his mother. Why wasn’t she getting work? How did she get cigarettes but not food? Where is her husband?
But I’ve never had to survive the off-season, when tourism is low and rains are high. I’ve never had to sell cheap jewelry. I’ve never had to decide between cigarettes and food.
I didn’t ask for this! I didn’t want to learn a lesson! Not this lesson! I didn’t ask to get this knowledge – I didn’t know what I was trading!
And when I get back to my hometown, I’ll use this little trick I learned.
“Madame, Madame? You remember me? I have something for you. Come look. Looking free. We swap, yes?”
You give me your ignorance, and I’ll finally be rid of this knowledge.

Open My Heart

Father open, open up my heart
This tender part of me – I don’t think can stand another break
But Father, open, open up my heart
Bring some people in that can help me grow again

If pain is a part of this, I just might quit, it might be too hard
That will just enforce my self-reliance upon you.
I don’t need anyone else to help me though

The times that I’ve been wounded are the times I’ve trusted most
I don’t know what you think you were teaching me
I only drew in further to my cocoon

It’s just a lot easier to give love than to receive it
Cause then I get to be the stronger one.
I open up someone else’s heart and learn to listen well
There’s much less chance of hurting if my mouth just stays shut

Father open, open up my heart
I beg you to come in and restore this flesh again
So Father, open, open up my heart
Abuse it if it helps – just know I might walk away again