from righteous anger to action!

Today Tom and I participated in Day 1 of a Three Day seminar on Aftercare for Survivors of Human Trafficking.  Our brains are filled and our hearts are motivated to glean from the expertise of others so that we might be more effective here in Belize.  

We are so grateful for all who feel called to learn and grow and help others as well.  It definitely takes a village working together to provide support and stability to those in need.  Keep us all in your prayers...we have two more long days ahead!!

back to work...

 

We are still traveling after a weekend get away to San Pedro...a city on one of the islands off of Belize called Ambergris Caye.  Right now we are in Orange Walk Town up in the northern part of Belize.  Today begins a week of teacher training all over the country and the Ministry of Education has allowed for the first day to be an Anti-trafficking seminar.  

Please keep all of the teachers who are attending similar sessions across the country of Belize in your prayers.  And pray that they would be a strong line of defense for vulnerable children in their classrooms for years to come. 

3 things you can do to combat sex slavery

Watching the movie Nefarious: Merchant of Souls reduced me to a blubbering mess.  

It is not a feel good movie.  Not the kind where you sit with a bowl of popcorn, feet up on the couch, and kick back waiting to be entertained.  It is the kind that confronts you with the facts of modern day slavery.   Sex slavery to be specific.

This movie covers everything from initial recruitment to victim liberation.  I learned that trafficking is based on an exploitation of vulnerability.  I learned that in a place like Cambodia you can buy a beer for $4, a bunch of grapes for $5 and a girl for $3 and charge it all to your credit card.  I learned that even in a place where prostitution is legal there are still girls in brothels that have been sold into that lifestyle by their parents.

As we watched I was reminded that all around the world there are women and children being abused, neglected and exploited.   And they need our prayers.  They need advocates brave enough to intervene.  Education and money alone will not stop evil from advancing in this world.  

There is only one Power great enough to overcome evil...let us turn to Him!  

The goal of the Child Development Foundation, the organization we work with,  is to eradicate the commercial sexual exploitation of children here in Belize.  Each week we meet for prayer.  We pray over the different awareness programs we have scheduled, we pray for the counseling clients we see, we pray for the victims of abuse and exploitation, we pray for each other to have the strength and endurance to keep on working.  We pray for the funding we need to keep creating awareness throughout the country and the monies needed to build a safe house here in Belize.  This movie was hard for me to watch but it also showed me that CDF is on the right track in fighting this evil.     

And according to the movie there are some things each of us can do to help fight this battle:

Please join us in prayer for the victims,  pray about what you can do to promote awareness about this issue wherever you are, and pray about becoming a partner with us in this effort.

behind the veil of the sex industry...

The first film in the Nefarious Documentary Trilogy comes out on DVD May 1st... help spread the word!

Synopsis 

“Modern slavery.” It sounds like a paradox. Hasn’t humanity progressed? Didn’t we leave slavery dead on the battlefields of the American Civil War? Didn’t social reformers like Lincoln and Wilberforce legislate against such cruelty over a hundred years ago? So we had thought. But, with over 27 million enslaved people in the world, human trafficking is once again the battlefront of the century.

Regardless of nationality, victims are systematically stripped of their identity, battered into gruesome submission, and made to perform humiliating sexual acts on up to 40 strangers every night. Most are held in dingy apartments and brothels, forced to take heavy doses of illegal drugs, and monitored very closely. Victims are often thrown into such ghastly oppression at 13 years old. Some are abducted outright, while others are lured out of poverty, romantically seduced, or sold by their families.

Nefarious, Merchant of Souls, is a hard-hitting documentary that exposes the disturbing trends in modern sex slavery. From the very first scene, Nefarious ushers you into the nightmare of sex slavery that hundreds of thousands experience daily. You’ll see where slaves are sold (often in developed, affluent countries), where they work, and where they are confined. You’ll hear first-hand interviews with real victims and traffickers, along with expert analysis from international humanitarian leaders.

From initial recruitment to victim liberation—and everything in between—the previously veiled underworld of sex slavery is uncovered in the groundbreaking, tell-all Nefarious, Merchant of Souls.

Tune In!

If you are looking for us on Saturday this is where we will be! 

Tom is one of the speakers for this one day event sponsored by CDF to train Youth Pastors and Youth Workers.   Please pray for those who will attend and for all of the people who are working to make this event a success.  And for all who take part in the seminar to come away feeling more equipped to handle emergency situations with their youth.

If you are here in Belize and work with youth come on out and join us!

Lolita's broken life...

 Excerpt from Lolita,
 by Vladimir Nabokov                         

"I'll die if you touch me," I said.  "You are sure you are not coming with me?  Is there no hope of your coming?  Tell me only this."

"No," she said.  "No, honey, no.

She had never called me honey before.

"No," she said, "it is quite out of the question.  I would sooner go back to Cue.  I mean-" She groped for words.  I supplied them mentally ("He broke my heart. You merely broke my life").

                                                                     

It took me years to face this book.  Other books by Nabokov are not so difficult to read.  I knew that it was about a middle aged man and his relationship with a 12 year old girl.  I didn't think I had the strength to make it through a book like this.  I read it while we still lived in Russia.  It was a difficult read.  It broke my heart.  It moved me to tears and it made me angry.

Vladimir Nabokov is quoted as saying:

Some people, and I am one of them, hate happy ends.  We feel cheated.  Harm is the norm.

I disagree.  Harm should never be the norm.  

But, sometimes it is. Each week there are children and teens whose lives, hearts and spirits have been broken. Some of them are brought to their knees by their life circumstances. Others were abused or mistreated by someone who was supposed to care for them.  These dear ones often struggle to conceive of a power great enough to mend their lives, heal their hearts, replenish their spirits and redeem all of the suffering they have faced.

I still believe though...that healing can begin with a whispered prayer calling forth the Light of Healing.

Join with us in prayer for those who are still victims.

Please remember the Lolitas of the world.  

Chocolate and water and modern day slavery...

It was hard for me to imagine the connection.  

However, according to Change.org there are five ways that lack of clean water leads to modern day slavery.  In the opening lines of the article we read:

"The global water crisis contributes to poverty and disease, holds back gender equity advancement, and affects the use of enslaved and exploited labor in commercial agriculture. These problems and others make millions of men, women, and children vulnerable to modern-day slavery."

Here are the reasons cited in the article:
1. Lack of water access keeps people in poverty
2. Fetching water can put women and children at risk for trafficking
3. Lack of water keeps women from being equal
4. Unsafe water and unsanitary living conditions cause disease and death
5. Industrial agriculture enslaves people made poor by lack of water.

If you click on the link and read the article you will see each reason expounded upon.  click here

Learning about water got me to thinking about what other industries contribute to modern day slavery.  And then I found this story about chocolate's child slaves.

The chocolate bar you snack on likely starts at a plant in a West African cocoa plantation, and often the people who harvest it are children. Many are slaves to a system that produces something almost all of us consume and enjoy.

We have learned from our work with the Child Development Foundation that poverty is a major factor in child trafficking.  There are unscrupulous people who prey on poor families whose only assets are their adolescent sons or daughters.  We have learned more than we ever wanted to know about the depravity of mankind.  And as we conclude a productive week of working in the counseling office and look forward to another class this weekend of Tom training counseling students...we are praying.

Praying for those around the world who are still victims.  

Praying for those here in Belize who are suffering.  

Praying for the abused, misused and neglected children.  

And praying for the perpetrators to WAKE up and repent of their deeds.  

Won't you pray with us?

If you are looking for a cause to support please consider making donations to the following organizations:

The Child Development Foundation works to bring awareness of the problem of commercial sexual exploitation of children and eradicate this situation here in Belize.
Water Missions Belize works to provide whole villages with access to clean water, does education on hygiene and helps to set up micro businesses to abate poverty.
Hearts of Christ works against illiteracy by providing children with sponsors who will pay for their education.  Education in Belize is not free.  And poor families often keep children home to help earn a living.

What is in the news here in Belize?

Sadly, we continue to hear stories of abuse in our counseling office and more stories from the community are in the news.  While we cannot talk about what we hear in the office we can share with you the news from the community.  Please keep all of the children involved in your prayers.    Two Disturbing Sexual Assaults; One By A Step-Father, One By a Pastor

Mon, October 24, 2011

There are two disturbing stories of sexual assault to report tonight.  A 42 year old man who allegedly committed a sexual assault on his 11 year old step-daughter, was denied bail after he appeared today in the Magistrate's Court and was charged with aggravated assault of an indecent nature. The man pleaded not guilty but the prosecution objected to bail on the grounds that the defendant is on parole for a conviction of indecent assault on a previous step-daughter. When asked to give a good reason why he should be granted bail, the man said he met his common-law-wife about 2 years ago and she did not tell him she has 3 children.  He said the 11 year old does not like when he disciplines her and she comes home late at night and sometimes she comes home with money.  But because he is on parole for a similar offence, Chief Magistrate Ana Marie Smith remanded him into custody until November 24. The incident occurred on September 29. The child reported to the police that her step-father fondled her private parts.  And a student of Belmopan in the presence of his mother reported that sometime in the month of June of this year, while at his pastor's house - namely Jason Neal- in Roaring Creek, he was sleeping on his sofa when he was awakened by Neal who was touching his private parts.He also reported that in the month of July of this year, Neal had touched him inappropriately.  As a result Police arrested 37 year old Pastor Jason Neal of Roaring Creek Village and charged him with 2 counts of Aggravated Assault. ___________________________________________________________________ We have not heard any updates about the step-father but regarding the pastor we have heard that he was fined $3000 for each count and that he has until December 16th to pay this fine or he will have to serve jail time. CDF has done sensitization training to make the problem of sexual abuse and exploitation known in all of the high schools here in the area and also some of the elementary schools.  For the little ones there is a Yell and Tell campaign and for the teens there is the "My Body, My Future" project. Valley of Peace We at CDF have spoken at churches, and to women in  villages and to youth.   Since September when a four year old was raped there have been more people who are willing to tell their stories and more cases are coming to light.  This does not mean there is more abuse going on than in the past...just that people now have the courage to talk about it. Orange Walk Town Pray for us as we seek to understand the existing laws and help make changes in these laws regarding how these cases are handled and the penalties involved.  Pray for the funds to continue doing outreach to various communities on this issue.  Pray for continued bravery for children, youth and adults to speak out when they or someone they know is being abused. supporting one another in prayer in Esperanza *clicking on the highlighted words will either take you to a news story, website or a blog post that will give more information on that subject.

Sex Tourism and Belize

This article comes from 7 News Belize:

Sex Tourism and Belize

Wed, October 5, 2011

We all like to talk about tourism - and right that we should - it's the country's leading foreign exchange earner - but the ugly underside of that is sex tourism - which in many cases, involves the exploitation of male and female minors and children.Today, building on the success of the national symposium on the commercial sexual exploitation of children in August of 2010, the office of the special envoy for women and children turned its attention to the tourist industry.At opening ceremonies for a one day workshop they discussed the demand in certain areas of the tourist sector for children: Hon. Eden Martinez - Minister of Human Development "We need to focus our attention in curbing the demand, in deterring the demand, in making it difficult and downright perilous for those who want to buy our children. In the fight to curb demand, the tourism sector is key, hence the reason for this meeting, today." Kim Simplis - Barrow - Special Envoy for Women and Children "Sexual abuse and exploitation exists because there is a demand for sex with a child. We must never blame the victim. There is an adult out there who wants to pay, and will pay, in cash or in kind for sexual gratification with a child. And yes, it is a fight, a fight against something that has become so widespread and common, that we cannot allow ourselves to become de-sensitized to its occurrence. We implore of you to trust your judgment when you sense that a situation between an adult and a child just doesn't seem right. Take action by reporting such instances to your supervisors and the authorities. We ask that you turn down financial offers for you to acquire children for sexual predators. And we beg that you go even further, and report that person to the authorities. Report, as well, those locals who you know are involved as brokers, or rather simply 'pimping out' our children." Jim Scott - President, BTIA "Within tourism, it's pretty common knowledge that through some taxies and some tour guides, they will facilitate young girls - young boys, for you if you come to Belize. And knowing the internet, and the market out there, the information is there. So, people know how to access that, and we really need to tighten up in that regard." Hon. Eden Martinez "I know that we are all interested in the growth of tourism in our country. It is one of our major revenue earners, but we must pause and think of the quality of tourism product that we are selling. Are we prepared to have the trading in the flesh of our children to be part of the package that we are selling? Are we prepared to have the exploitation of our children to be part of the appeal of what draws people to our shores?" The office of the special envoy has launched a PR Campaign and is pushing legislation for the protection of children against such exploitation.

What is in the news in Belize?

We were!!

Our time in Orange Walk Town this weekend was incredible!  I cannot find the video but here is a link to the transcript of two of three interviews>> CDF Holds National Youth Rally

The news cameras showed up near the end of the rally while Pastor Antoinette, a local pastor, was leading the youth in a purity pledge.  They even filmed Tom, Patrice and I handing out New Testaments. As people were clearing out they interviewed Jadine, a CDF board member, along with Patrick and Esmerelda, members of the drama team from Mt Hope. We had 130 youth show up and some parents too.

The program began with prayer and then the Belizean national anthem followed by several performances from the youth group that went up with us from Mt Hope Church in Unitedville. We had worship and then I gave my testimony, followed by Patrice, a volunteer, giving a talk on who CDF is and what we do.  After lunch we split the large group into three small groups.  Jadine took the kids under 12 and she taught them about personal safety.  Patrice, took the parents and taught them how to talk with their kids to protect them from abuse or exploitation.  And Tom and I, had the largest group, ages 12-18+, and we took turns teaching about the emotional, psychological and spiritual effects of sexual exploitation and sexual abuse.  It was an awesome day!

Getting ready to start

Youth from Mt. Hope performing a rap song

Drama team from Mt. Hope

Late comers in the bleachers

Worship

Father-Daughter

Mother-son

Belizean flag

Break time

Signing in

Everyone was given lunch 

Pastor Antoinette

New Testaments to be handed out

Patrick being interviewed

We had to cancel the Saturday event because of Tropical Storm Harvey coming through.  The plan is to reschedule so that we can go back and do a presentation to the community and the surrounding churches.  Parents were very receptive to our message and the teens were engaged all throughout the day.  We hope that word of mouth along with the story making the news will draw out even more people when we go back.

Thanks for all of your prayers!

Sensitization weekend in Orange Walk

We are gearing up for another busy weekend.  On Friday we will be with CDF at a sensitization event for teens to educate them about Commercial Sexual Exploitation..  And on Saturday we will be doing the same thing for the community and local churches.

At the youth event I will be sharing my testimony about sexual abuse.  And on Saturday at the community event, Tom will speak on the psychological effects of exploitation and I will speak on the spiritual effects.  There is a large team going up together for these back to back presentations. Including the youth group from a local church here in Belmopan.  They will be performing several skits throughout the day on Friday.

Recently I was spoke with someone who used to live in area the presentations will be in and I heard about the number of young girls who take jobs in bars that often lead to prostitution.  Often, these young ladies see this 'job opportunity' as a way to help provide for their families.  We hope that the education we provide will dissuade at least one girl from falling prey to that type of lifestyle.

Keep us, CDF and all who will be attending these events in your thoughts and prayers!

Girl Talk

I was down in the village of Esperanza with CDF today speaking with about 40 girls from age 8 to 16 about the Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children and sexual abuse.  We covered the definitions of sexual exploitation and sexual abuse and then addressed the medical, social, emotional aspects of the issue and broke into small groups for a time of discussion.  The girls were put into 2 large groups from ages 8-12 and 13 & up to cover the medical and emotional issues.  It was a long day, but a productive one.  We have no idea what the girls took away from it all.  The most important message that was stressed over and over again was that if something had already happened to them it was not their fault.

I was not scheduled to be a speaker today...I was just supposed to be a small group leader.  But I got asked to share my personal story of abuse so I did.  I had to tailor it so that the little ones could understand and that was a first for me.  One young lady shared with me in the small group time about a friend of hers that had been exploited.  I was grateful that my story led to her opening up to me.  And it was evident on the faces of others that they had stories to share but were not quite ready.

Tomorrow we will be presenting to Sunday School teachers and Children's workers here in Belmopan and giving the same talks.  Tom will join us and speak about the importance of counseling.  We aren't sure how many there will be at tomorrow's session.  But the plan is for 40 again.  And we expect it to be mostly women.

We have heard that there will be a small group of ladies coming from the Mennonite community and we are very excited about getting the chance to work with them.  It would be great if doors were opened through them that would lead to us being able to do a seminar specifically for the people in Spanish Lookout.  Please keep CDF and this work in your thoughts and prayers! 

CDF in Benque

This weekend we were down in Benque to do a presentation for the Child Development Foundation.  The conference began on Friday night and ended Saturday afternoon.  Tom and I both spoke on Saturday along with several other speakers.

I made the mistake of forgetting my camera on Saturday so I don't have many shots from the day.  There are a few that I took Friday night.

Church of the Nazarene

Called to Holiness

Evangelical Temple

Church of the Nazarene

Jadine translating  into Spanish as Diana speaks on Gomer and Hosea 

Break the Silence Poster

We had 20 people the first night and 25 the next day.  I have a lot of admiration for the people who attended the weekend.  This is not an easy subject and not one that most people would want to give up so much of their free time for.  It felt like a good weekend for us.  And for CDF.

I hope you had a good weekend...  I would love to hear about it!

Sell Tacos! Not Children!

The Child Development Foundation (CDF) is sponsoring a talent contest here in Belize.  And the motto for the contest is Sell Tacos!  Not Children!  It will be interesting to see what the kids come up with.  The contest is open to youth 13-18.  If you are here in Belize you can call 822-0101 for more information or send an email to cdfbelize@ymail.com.

This weekend Tom and I will be going to down to the village of Benque to speak at a CDF conference to help bring awareness to pastors and community leaders.  We are only two of the speakers on the schedule and since we are going to a Spanish speaking community we will have translators working with us.

I will be speaking on the Spiritual Affects on Survivors of Commercial Sexual Exploitation and Abuse.  And Tom is speaking on How Effective Christian Counseling Helps.  We are excited about this opportunity and hope to have a good turn out in the area.