This is a part of my Cambodia Trip Series, checkout another video:
Two Weddings and a Titus – Cambodia Vlog
With a guest appearance from Titus, our second video kicks off with details about two weddings and what Rapha House does, and why they are so awesome. Two weeks from now, I’ll be sorting through customs at LAX, and they heading to Taipei with our team!
This is a part of my Cambodia Trip Series, checkout another video:
Cambodia Vlog – Trip Dates Changed!
Here’s a quick update on my trip, and my first official video blog for it. More to come! My dates for my trip got moved up an entire month, so I’m in semi-scramble mode. Have you checked out Rapha House’s website yet?
This is a part of my Cambodia Trip Series, checkout another video:
Slavery Still Exists
I’m reposting this from it’s original home on my other site where we post more personal things.
I’m going to be writing a lot about my upcoming experience in Cambodia, and wanted to have this here as well. I’m currently 100% funded for my trip costs, I’m just working to get some final pieces of video equipment. My trip has been moved from March to February, so I currently have less than 3 weeks till I’m flying to Cambodia!
Slavery still exists, I’m writing to ask for your help with 3 things.
Two years ago I began to learn about the issues of sex trafficking through a documentary called Baht. This film tells the story of a girl who was deceptively sold into the sex industry at a very young age by her family, and walks you through her experience.
Thankfully she was able to get her freedom, and begin her healing process with an organization called Rapha House. This film has burned into my heart a deeply rooted desire to fight for justice, and to help heal those who have been abused beyond what I am capable of understanding. I’ve been learning about this issue ever sense. I’ve used the film in our youth ministry, in our church, and with friends to help bring awareness to this issue.
I’ve decided to take two trips to Cambodia in 2012. The first by myself in March (actually with a small group, but I’m the only one going from our church), and the second with our older youth group students in August. This awareness trip will allow me to enter into the reality of the lives of those who have been trafficked. I’ll spend my time being present with the children in the safe houses, learning about the genocide that took the lives of two million Cambodians, the political, social, and economic factors related to sex trafficking, and how Rapha House is responding. Currently, Rapha House has 350+ children, primarily girls, from the ages of 4-18. They are rapidly expanding thanks to support from within the US.
Watch this short video that gives an overview of what Rapha House is:
This issue is MUCH larger than what is happening in Cambodia. The old USSR, Vietnam, and the Philippines all outrank Cambodia in the number of minors trafficked yearly. And sadly, the United States sees 150,000-300,000 of our own children trafficked each year.
The i5 corridor that runs from Mexico to Canada is one of the most prevalent areas where this is happening. I’m currently in the process of learning how best to fight this issue locally as well. We have Dr. Cyndi Romine from Called to Rescue coming to teach our youth group about how they can be involved locally, and I’m in the process of being trained to join a local “task force” for the prevention of sex trafficking in Eugene.
So, there are three things I’d like you to consider helping me with:
1) Watch the documentary. I can’t publically share the video online, but I have it easily available. PLEASE contact me, and I’ll get it to you immediately. I’d rather you watch the film than support me financially.
2) Pray for the girls and boys in the US, Cambodia, and the rest of the world who are being abused and oppressed. I desperately want them to have freedom. But also pray for those on the other end, for their pimps, and for their purchasers. This problem wouldn’t exist if there wasn’t a market for this, and my heart is heavy for those who would disregard and abuse the value of a child.
3) Help me get there. This is not an inexpensive trip, and I’ll be going twice. Each trip is approximately $2600, the majority of that being for airfare. The rest of the cost covers my expenses while in Cambodia for 12-14 days. If you are interested in helping, you can send a check to our church, and you’ll get a tax deductible receipt. Any money that is received above the $2600 will go towards my trip in August, and any money received beyond the total of my two trips will be applied to our youth who will be going in August as well.
If you’d like to send a check, here’s the info:
Santa Clara Church
2600 Belmont St.
Eugene, OR 97404
Memo Note: Luke’s Mission Trip
If a gift receipt isn’t an issue, that you can donate to my paypal account:
Total remaining I need to fundraise for my trip in March: $2400. Half of that is due in November, and the remaining balance in January.
If you are interested in following along on my fundraising progress, my trip, or how we are fighting this issue locally, checkout our website: Enterlife.net. There isn’t much there yet, but that’s the place that I’ll be posting stuff too (along with Facebook and twitter).
A side note.
My connection to Rapha House and the issues of human trafficking came primarily through video. I’ll be using video to help me communicate my experience in Cambodia. I’ve spent the past few months researching equipment, making purchases, and getting ready. I’ve still got several pieces of kit that would make the whole process not only easier, but will allow me to create a much more powerful story. I’m estimating $1500. My trip expenses are my first priority. I can’t offer a tax deductible receipt for these gifts, but I’ll credit you in my videos! If you are interested in contributing to my “Tell a Better Story” fund, either use this paypal button (different from the one above), or contact me:
If you are interested in contributing to my “Tell a Better Story” fund, please contact me.
Setting the Environment – Awaken Justice
Our youth ministry hosted a night of education, awareness, and training related to Human Trafficking, specifically within our area of Eugene and Springfield. We invited our entire community to participate in the event, and I wanted to create something that would craft the environment. Check it out:
My goals were:
- to make people feel welcome – most of the people attending had never been to our church before
- to communicate that this is a night of hope, a night of action – people are often overwhelmed with this subject, so I didn’t want people to have a negative attitude
- to begin processing about human trafficking – I wanted people to be engaged in conversations about human trafficking the moment they walked in the door
- to create energy and excitement about the night – to inspire actions
- to allow people to mingle – the majority of the attendees with middle school and high school youth, and I wanted them to be able to connect with each other
The video worked great. Way better than I had anticipated. We set the video up to loop for about 15 minutes while people were arriving. Everyone was excitedly mingling, and yet when it was time to transition into our training, people were instantly engaged.
Next time, instead of “hard looping” the video, it might have been better to create one that would play for 15-20 minutes, and to loop the content within the video. This would have let me:
- Separate the content of the video. Rather than having “WELCOME” every 4 minutes for 10-15 seconds, I could have had a lower-third the cycled more frequently.
- Integrate more music. I think it’s a great song, but after listening to it 5 times, a fresh song could have enabled people to reengage with the video. Some people disconnected after the first loop since the audio was the same. Even with repeating content, a new song would direct peoples attention back to the screen perhaps.
This video was relatively simple to put together, checkout the animation preset that I created to bring simplicity and design unity.
Our youth helped create the promotional video as well, sooooo impressed with their ownership of this project:
Need something like this? Shoot me an email, I’d love to talk with you about your needs.