The Delilah Project.

For the past couple weeks, we've been working on an installation art project to raise awareness of human trafficking and the cycle of abuse. It's a structure that is about 6 by 6 meters in width and about 3 high. The viewer will enter the structure and walk through a tunnel that goes through the cycle starting with a young innocent girl (in this part we use video footage and picture from the high risk girls we worked with in Albania) then moves to abuse and devaluing, to show tha through this an the lose of sense worth they are trafficked or just enter the world of a working girl. In the center of the piece their story meets up with that of the man; the pimp, the John who buys...then we go backwards through his story and how different things in life harden him and take away the innocence that was once a young boy who loved women, loved his mother (so once again we show the footage of the young boys we worked with in Albania, who have the potential of becoming these men).

So this is the basics of it and we set it up tonight for the first time in Independence Square which is central Kyiv. We spoke to over 400 people tonight, and we're setting it up again tomorrow.

Before we set it up, we realized that a permit was probably needed. A couple people suggested to just try and do it without a permit because it takes 2-3 weeks to get a permit and we only started this a week ago so there was no way to get it in the amount of time. A few days ago a few team members stumbled upon city hall. Upon finding an english speaker they explain what we were doing and the lady who worked there said that if they wrote up a letter today, she would give us the permit the same day and we could set up our structure outside city hall with our van and everything! This is huge!!

Here we are, Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine, a hotspot in Easter Europe for human trafficking and they've told us that we can do our awareness campaign right outside city hall!

So thank God for the favour we've found in city hall and keep us in your prayers

saturday and sunday when we put this up. Pray for good weather and receptiveness to what we're saying through this piece, and safety as we anticipate some very strong, maybe not so positive reactions.

The other project we're working on as a team is a documentary on human trafficking to bring home and pass around through different connections when we get home to raise awareness. We're using footage and the stories of the children in albania, many of who have siblings who have been trafficked, etc. We're using everything we're learning here through street interviews, interviews with different officials, we've been connected with IOM (international organization of migrations) and they've been helping us out and many other people. We've been going into hotels, clubs, disco's, casinio's and places of the sort to get first hand experience as well as footage for the documentary.

The main place we've found is a casino called the River Palace. It's a multi story boat that is on the river and on any given night you can go into the disco and find upwards of 150 working girls. It's such a hot spot and being there, it's clear that anyone there is either there to buy or to sell. We were there last friday and intending to go back this week but we've been so busy with the other project we haven't been in a couple days. (Oh and the other thing we've been doing is simple intercession. When we first got there, three team members sat on the docks and to intercede for these places as the team was inside. And one of them, out of the boldness of her heart would ask for impossible things, like that these places would be gone all together. Anyways, we got back last night and heard that the River Palace is now gone. Since we've been there a couple days ago, it's been raided, either by police or the mafia and now the boat has just up and disappeared. It's incredible! We can't even believe it.

So there you have it. That's what we've been up to.

If you can also keep the documentary in your prayers that we can get everything we need and that God will direct us in every part of this.

Kiev!

We made it to Kiev last Friday and got settled into our apartments. Sorry for the lack of update. Internet cafes aren't cheap.

Though our hearts are still broken for the kids in Albania, we're pressing through and channeling that energy into our work in Ukraine. While we're here we'll be doing everything in our power to make an impact on the counter-trafficking movement in Ukraine. We're gathering all the information we can, interviewing people every chance we get, and brainstorming like crazy hoping to pull it all together in some sort of documentary and installation art piece.

Here is our vision:

We have no idea what this portion of the outreach will be like
For Sure it will be different from the first half
But in many ways also the same
In Pogradec we learned.
We learned way more than most of us wanted to know
We learned way more than most of us know what to do with.

We are a Justice Arts Media and Music DTS
All of us have expressed, in some way, the desire to tell a story through our gifts
And we all have gifts.
This may be the most gifted team that has come through I.Net

We have packed into our minds the tragic, yet somehow hopeful stories of 30 some kids that we all have fallen in love with
Stories that, I believe, have determined in some way, the destiny of each of our lives

Let’s begin to tell their stories using our God given inspiration.

I fell strongly that Ukraine will be the time that we step into our JAMM title more fully

In Pogradec, we had Judy to bring us into the story of the kids and give us incredible insight into their unjust realities
Her we will mostly have ourselves
This will call for an extra measure of iniative and boldness to step into the dark places
To ask the hard questions in order to gain insight into the story of trafficking in Ukraine

This is why we came
It’s our Go given responsibility to tell the story
I am thinking Victor Malarek style

We have Emma, Bekki who edit video
Steph and Audrey who are gifted in multimedia and graphic design
Kate, Janet and Kyle who take emotion capturing photos that tell a story of their own
We have Ben who is a gifted writer
The Dutchies who have a unique boldness about them that make it easier to meet the right people
I am learning the art of asking the right questions to find out the necessary info to tell a story
Lizzy tells stories through her songwriting
Pearl just needs a canvas to portray beauty through the brokenness of a victim
Joan can articulate in great detail with her sketches of people and places
Christina will bring a prophetic edge to whatever message we have
And all of us have proven that we have nothing for hope for the oppressed

Perhaps this month can be about focusing on how to best tell the stories
The stories of Sajmir and Daniel and Delilah
And the stories we will seek out here

The stories of real names
Real faces
Real people whose lives are the injustices we read in books

Let’s live up to our JAMM name and tell the story of God’s justice as we’ve found it in Eastern Europe
We never know far it might travel and what ears might hear it

We will knock on the doors of NGO’s, orphanages, police stations, night clubs, brothels in order to find out what we need to know

It’s our chance to be part of their hope

So let’s disrupt the rhythym of evil here in Kyiv so that imagination can breathe!

(written by Sue).

"I have many people in this city."

Now we leave...

As hard as it is, we must say goodbye to the children we have grown to love these past 3 weeks. It is with heavy hearts that we say goodbye, but we know that God will take care of these children.

Now the remaining part of our Outreach will be spent in Kiev, Ukraine.

We are tired, emotionally worn-out, but we're still marching on!

Best.

Albania Trip Update - Rebeca Z

I came to Albania to work with a bunch of kids. In my mind, this was
to be nothing different than stuff I’ve done on other outreaches.
After all, kids are kids all over the world. We were to run summer
camps, maybe try to teach the kids a bible story or two. But as my
main objective, I was to learn as much as I could about human
trafficking. The camps were sort of an aside thing. What I
encountered has been much MUCH deeper than that. These past three
weeks have deeply affected me. The stories I have heard, the kids I
have met, have brought me to a place of deep wrestling with questions
which I’m quite sure I will never fully know the answer to. But also,
these past three weeks have birthed in me a desire and a fire to fight
for those who really are voiceless. For these children who are at
highest risk of being sold and trafficked and exploited. For children
who have very few people, if any at all fighting for them.


How do you help a child who comes from a 3rd generation of abusive
parents? A child of generational alcoholics or a prostituted woman?
How can you help a boy who stays up all nigh protecting his four
younger siblings and his mother from his abusive, drunken step father?
A child who still has a small bit of innocence in him but because of
his environment and lack of role models, it’s just a matter of time
before he himself starts drinking and gambling?
A boy who is just a few choices away from becoming a criminal?
A girl who at 11 years old is thinking of “willingly” going to Greece
at the counsel of an older brother who has been exploiting her since
she was a baby?
When a child comes from a family where several of her siblings have
been trafficked to Greece by their grandmother and you may be the next
one in line.
Or when you meet a boy who has so much potential to go to school, is
bright, and has an amazing musical talent but may never be able to
realize them simply because the opportunities aren’t there. There just
isn’t a way.

What can be done?

Each of the above mentioned cases have a face and a name, and I have
been privileged enough to have gotten to know them. And it is sad to
say, but as much help as has been given to these children, it just has
not been enough. I’m really praying and thinking of what would be
most beneficial for these kids. Perhaps setting up a university fund
or a sort of sponsorship program so that at least a few of them would
be able to get an education and get out of their current situation.
Perhaps bring teams once a year to help with home repairs and
renovations, tutoring, education for the parents on issues of abuse,
proper child-care, trafficking awareness, etc. Perhaps making sure
that these summer camps run every single year and that we can get as
many kids as possible to attend.

As we concluded the camps yesterday, we hosted a lovely talent show
where many of the students were able to showcase their talents by
doing dances, singing traditional Roma and Albanian songs, reciting
poetry, etc. We had one person on our team make a video and were able
to show it to all the children, and the few parents who were present,
as well as presenting each child with a unique award of excellence
highlighting a specific quality of that child. Things such as “Great
leadership potential”, “Friendly”, “Most helpful”, “Entertainer
Award”, etc. We also gave each child a gift and a picture. We had
two of our photographers take portraits of each child and we left each
one with a beautiful picture of themselves. It truly was a beautiful
closing to the summer camps.

As we begin to get ready to leave Albania, I am finding myself
realizing that very little was accomplished during our summer camps in
terms of changing these children’s lives. But I am leaving with a
commitment to doing something long-term for them. (And I know that
within the team, I'm not the only one who feels this way) I am also
encouraged with the reality that if we were able to convey the love of
God to them and if we leave them knowing that some random team of 14
foreigners came to Pogradec, Albania just to show them how special
and loved they are, our journey here has been worthwhile. That we
have left them with a bunch of good memories and that as one of Sue’s
uncle so beautifully articulated; we displaced the rhythm of evil for
a moment so that imagination could breathe”

Thank you for being such an integral part of this journey!



Without your support, none of this would have been possible.

Many blessings on each of you

Sincerely,

Rebeca Zacharias

Update from Mission Adventures Vancouver - Team Ali, Richard & Heather

Ali & Kristin (summer staff of Mission Adventure YWAM Vancouver) hosted the first team of 10 (8 kids & 2 Adults-Youth pastors) for 10 days. They stayed with them every night, Ali made their breakfast every single morning with tons of love and care, even when students were telling him not to. They loved Ali and his story, they were amazed to hear how God is working in his life, even in a close country like Saudi Arabia. We took all the participant with the staff to a Mosque and it was very interesting to hear Ali asking the questions to this PR guy whose is originally from Kenya and now a immigrant in Canada and has a softer and more tolerated Islamic believe then people in Saudi. Anyway all the participant learned so much from Ali and loved him so much that they gave him a new makeover. haha
We also took all the participants to a Sikh Gurudwara and a Budhist Temple, and that brought a lots of interesting conversations about the religions and cultures within the group (they didn't even know anything about the Islam (except what you hear on American Media))


Me (Richard) and Heather were also part of the program this week in multiple things, i had a opportunity to share my story, and also lead the students to pray for poverty in India. It was very interesting how they were able to connect with stories of slum kids who are many thousands of miles away from them.


Now that the team from Idaho, USA left on Thursday morning and we all have a three and a half day off, we all are ready for our next teams (yes two teams of 8 & 16), this time Me and Heather are hosting a team. We are so much looking forward for their arrival. Keep all of us in your prayers

Thanks

Richard, Heather and Ali
Mission Adventure 2010
YWAM Vancouver

To clear any confusion... Albania Team

The majority of our Jamm Team is in Albania at the moment, there were two of us who, unfortunately, could not travel internationally with us, so they flew to Vancouver. So they will be posting their amazing Outreach adventure along with us!

To sumarize last week:
We all had a great time! We are still hanging out with high risk children daily, so as you can imagine, we're all getting burnt out over here! However, it has been a wonderful and fulfiling experience! We will finish up this week leading the camps, then spend an extra week here, probably to actually go and observe Albanian culture in the more rural villages. Last Saturday, we all took a trip to Macedonia (the border is literally 5 minutes away) and spent the day there, enjoying some much needed rest and swimming!

Pictures will follow shortly!

Best,
Jamm DTS team (Albania)

Howdy!

We all are having a blast here in Albania! For the past week and a half we have been hanging out with about 30 children who are at high risk for being trafficked. Apart from the language barrier, these kids have really impacted us! For about 4-5 hours a day we have Bible Study, arts and crafts, and a lot of soccer! We are constantly on the go, and by the end of the day we're completely exhausted! However, we're having a great time! We're safe, healthy, and eating our fruits and vegetables!

Until next time!
Jamm DTS