To Russia
As our ministry is being drawn towards the Slavic Nations, we are now planning an outreach to one of the most influential countries to many of these nations.
Our ministry, Hope Dies Last, wants to spend about two months in Russia. Aside from absorbing the culture and learning from it, we want to connect with a couple of YWAM bases. We will serve the bases in the areas they are already working, as well as supporting existing anti-trafficking ministries. This will give us valuable hands on experience for working in this part of the world. Another base further east in Russia has expressed a desire for us to help establish a prevention program in their city.
For this outreach, we feel like God wants us to be in Moscow for a large part of the time. In Moscow there are around 100,000 women working in prostitution and very few people doing ministry in this area. We learned recently that Moscow is in fact one of the most expensive cities in the world.
Our outreach budget for 4 people for two months is:
1,500 euro ($1920)per person and about 6,000 euro ($7,683) for the team.
Please pray for our us as we are planning for this outreach.
Visa's - The Russian visa application process is extremely complex.
Finances - Please pray that God will bring together the finances for this trip, and if you should play a role in sending us out.
Direction - We've never been to Russia before, and nobody from our base has either. Pray for God's direction as we step into new territory and that connecting with, and working with, our contacts there would be a smooth and productive time.
If you want to give towards this outreach you are welcome to donate via the PayPal link on the top of my page. Please not that the donation is for 'HDL' or 'Hope Dies Last'.
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While one time gifts are certainly appreciated, I also need monthly supporters. I will be in missions long term, and the consistant partnership of monthly supporters is extremely valuable.
I would like to see my monthly support increase by at least $500 dollars each month. If 20 people would commit to $25 a month that goal would be reached.
Americans: If your are interested in supporting me on a monthly basis, you can email julie.sinke@ywamtyler.org to go about setting up a monthly auto debit.
For one time donations you can make checks out to YWAM and mail to
Accounting Department,
PO Box 3000,
Garden Valley, TX 75771-3000
Donations made through Ywam Tyler are tax deductable, so for tax purposes my name cannot appear anywhere on the check. With the check please enclose a SEPARATE piece of paper with the following on it: “Donation for: Sean C Rogers, Herrnhut Germany”
You will get a receipt in the mail confirming your donation. If you would like to set up an automatic withdrawal.. you can email Julie in their accounting department and she can send you a letter of explanation julie.sinke@ywamtyler.org Thanks so much to everyone for your prayers and support, every little bit helps!
Sean
Hope Dies Last
I'm back in Germany after spending about a month in Moldova with our team.
The time in Moldova was a time of learning from, and serving, a ministry called Beginning of Life. Beginning of Life expressed a need for media to help them with fundraising and communication. We spent our time interviewing them, working at their rehabilitation center and camps, and exploring the capital city of Chișinău to put together this promotional video for them.
Please stay tuned, as soon as Beginning of Life has this set up we would like everyone to share the video! Please pray for this video, that when we DO distribute it that God will maximize its effectiveness.
First to Cheb, in the Czech Republic, and then to Nuremberg, in Germany. Both cities have widespread prostitution and resulting sexual exploitation.
Cheb has a long-term YWAM team that is pulling together a base to host its first Discipleship Training School (DTS). This new base still has many needs: from renovation of the new building- to staff for their DTS. We plan to help them with some some publicity within the global YWAM community to help them get their base and school underway.
Outlook for the coming months.
In the coming months, our ministry is focusing more on Eastern Europe and the Slavic nations. We have been invited to visit YWAM bases in Russia, and are planning to be there at the end of this year. The city of Moscow has 100,000 prostitutes and Russia is a destination country for a significant portion of the men and women trafficked from Moldova and other nations. Russia has for the past several years received low ratings in the TIP report for its attempts to counteract trafficking in persons in and out of its country. Please pray for a smooth visa process and the finances for this outreach. For Americans to get into Russia it is a complex and time consuming process.
From the States to Eastern Europe
This couple weeks back in Germany marks a brief pause in an otherwise very busy few months.
Back from the states, we quickly to turn around and head to London. YWAM is congregating in London during the Olympics for a unique opportunity to reach many different nations in one location. Our base already has outreach teams there and they have had many amazing stories of people coming to Jesus. While I am going with a band playing shows, we are hopeful we will get to engage people with the Gospel as well.
From England I leave the band to fly straight to Eastern Europe for three or four weeks to join a team there.
In the tiny country of Moldova, just north of Romania, our small Herrnhut team will be partnering with a few different human trafficking focused ministries already working in the areas of aftercare and prevention. One of the ministries runs prevention programs in schools there. Both this ministry and our team are hopeful that we can pull together fresh media to aid the ministry in communicating more effectively to at-risk youth.
In older times back in the USSR, when times were tough and all seemed lost: people knew that until death itself took them, they could still hold on to their hopes, even to their last breath. As followers of Christ, we know that when we die, along with the hopes we are holding onto, that our hope in Jesus is not lost, but in fact a guarantee coming into fruition. So, in the old USSR a phrase emerged that is still spoken in Slavic regions today. It is translated into English: 'Hope Dies Last.'
As a small group at the base taking steps to pioneer work in the area of human trafficking in Eastern Europe, and as the area of human trafficking can seem hopeless, we thought this a fitting name for our emerging ministry. The name serves as a reminder, to ourselves and those we serve, that when all else seems lost, we can hang on to an eternal hope in Christ. Please pray for safe travels, team finances, that good groundwork will be established as we are seeking to pioneer a ministry, and that God will help use our time there to its maximum effectiveness for His purposes.
I
AM
EXCITED
надежда умирает последней
Back from the states, we quickly to turn around and head to London. YWAM is congregating in London during the Olympics for a unique opportunity to reach many different nations in one location. Our base already has outreach teams there and they have had many amazing stories of people coming to Jesus. While I am going with a band playing shows, we are hopeful we will get to engage people with the Gospel as well.
From England I leave the band to fly straight to Eastern Europe for three or four weeks to join a team there.
In the tiny country of Moldova, just north of Romania, our small Herrnhut team will be partnering with a few different human trafficking focused ministries already working in the areas of aftercare and prevention. One of the ministries runs prevention programs in schools there. Both this ministry and our team are hopeful that we can pull together fresh media to aid the ministry in communicating more effectively to at-risk youth.
In older times back in the USSR, when times were tough and all seemed lost: people knew that until death itself took them, they could still hold on to their hopes, even to their last breath. As followers of Christ, we know that when we die, along with the hopes we are holding onto, that our hope in Jesus is not lost, but in fact a guarantee coming into fruition. So, in the old USSR a phrase emerged that is still spoken in Slavic regions today. It is translated into English: 'Hope Dies Last.'
As a small group at the base taking steps to pioneer work in the area of human trafficking in Eastern Europe, and as the area of human trafficking can seem hopeless, we thought this a fitting name for our emerging ministry. The name serves as a reminder, to ourselves and those we serve, that when all else seems lost, we can hang on to an eternal hope in Christ. Please pray for safe travels, team finances, that good groundwork will be established as we are seeking to pioneer a ministry, and that God will help use our time there to its maximum effectiveness for His purposes.
I
AM
EXCITED
надежда умирает последней
I'm leaving tomorrow and going to be on a mobile outreach with Liz and the Lions for the next month in the states!
Please pray for our time as we will be traveling up and down the east coast of the USA! Pray that people will be moved to Jesus through our words, actions and music.
Our hope is that we can use our band's tour dates and shows as a tool to share the gospel and motivate a generation to engage the world with the gospel!
Please pray for our time as we will be traveling up and down the east coast of the USA! Pray that people will be moved to Jesus through our words, actions and music.
Our hope is that we can use our band's tour dates and shows as a tool to share the gospel and motivate a generation to engage the world with the gospel!
Friends Family and Supporters!
Greetings! its been a little while since my last blog update...
The past few months i have been working at our base in the area of media... From helping out with graphics for websites.. to building websites... to blessing people with photos for their supporters..
There are a couple things that still need to be finished, and then i will post a big block of it on here.
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In the upcoming week me and four or five others will be traveling to Ukraine! There we will be attending a YWAM organized conference on human trafficking in eastern europe. We are praying that this will be an informative and equipping time but also that God would open up time for ministry while we are there.
Later this year after the U.S. tour with our base's arts ministry, I'm planning to work with a team from our base working with Not for Sale forums on human trafficking in eastern europe and in south east asia! The rest of this year is looking packed full of exciting opportunities!
Cambodia
Here are a few photos i have printed in our Castle Cafe... along with the info displayed with them.
Nuen was our little neighbor in Cambodia.
Here is a photo of Nuen's little brother Sal
My sister and her husband just had a baby. I was excited to get to visit her family, along with the rest of my family and catch up with friends back in the United States for a couple weeks. It was a refreshing time and it flew by. Now its good to be back in Germany as the base is getting back into full swing after the holidays. Excited for whats to come this year! Gonna be a busy one!
Here's little Kepler resting on his dad's arm... right about two weeks old at this point.
Quick Update!
Been back from Cambodia for almost a month now.. and the DTS has been over for a couple weeks...
Its been awesome participating in this school and leading outreaches to both Romania and Cambodia. A few of the students are either staying here or planning on coming back in February to join staff at the base (which is super exciting)! Its been awesome to see the changes, big and small, that have taken place in students' lives over the past 6 months.
After norway im excited For the new year.. from tours promoting ministry in the UK and the States, to the possibility of outreach in Asia, to maybe staffing another school, to getting back to central Africa, to human trafficking forums in the Philippines and maybe Eastern Europe somewhere...
I still have more I can say about Cambodia, but at same time, the new year is already coming up in just a few days! On the 27th I head over to Norway to help a friend at the YWAM base North of Oslo with a big youth conference over new years... An alternative to 'partying it up' the 6 day conference focuses on getting the youth ( mainly highschoolers) excited about Jesus and excited about getting involved in ministry and missions; wether in their home country or abroad. From Speakers, to 24 hour prayer and worship time, it should be an awesome event and I'm excited to participate.
After norway im excited For the new year.. from tours promoting ministry in the UK and the States, to the possibility of outreach in Asia, to maybe staffing another school, to getting back to central Africa, to human trafficking forums in the Philippines and maybe Eastern Europe somewhere... for the first time in my life..
I think come new years day my schedule for the rest of the year is already just about full.... for those of you that know me.. thats kinda weird... and exciting... I'm excited for what God has in store.
Stay tuned hopefully I'll have more on the Justice DTS and outreach in Cambodia soon!
Also THANKS SO MUCH to everyone who has been supporting me over the past year through prayer and finances... Its such a blessing and encouragement... its so cool to see God's provision through you!
Not far from this city are a series of Hindu and Buddhist
temples from the Angkor era of Cambodia; some of which are over 2,000 years old.
Angkor Wat: the largest religious building in the world.
Bayun: a temple covered with huge stone face carvings.
Ta Prom: A expansive temple ruin area overgrown with huge trees with extensive root systems.Here in Siem Reap we are working with a ministry with girls brought out of human trafficking.
Some of our team or spending time in the girls center doing handcrafted merchandise for the girls
to sell to help them out of prostitution. Some of the other girls in the center are participating in job internships to work in a hair salons.
In addition to building relationships with this girls and encouraging them, the team is also able to participate in discipling these girls.
Some of the girls have been able to have been able go from counseling and recovery to having an outward focus. Have been able to put on a children's program once a week in a nearby slum. Not only are they pouring into the lives of others but by blessing others the are starting to see more of their own self worth.
The children's program has worship songs and a bible lesson, a short English lesson and games.
The girls also wash the children's hair to help prevent lice and they do simple wound care as well.
Ex prostitutes becoming missionaries?
It is so cool to see.....
As part of the ministry in the slum a new ministry started for guys living in the slum. Rather than living in the slum where drugs, alcholism, and crime are major problems/temptations, the guys are given a chance to live in a community house together and to receive discipleship.
Mike, the other guy on our team, and myself are able to work there.
Vitchet one of the boys from the house. I heard him goofing around on the drums one day and he seemed quite talented. But when it was time for our music lesson and I asked him I he wanted to learn drums. He responded with a no I'll learn guitar and pointed to his leg.
Vitchet lost some of his left leg to a land mine below the knee and uses a prosthetic leg (landmine fields are still a problem in Cambodia).
I told Vitchet "dude! You can totally play drums!" I told him the story of Def Leppard's drummer who lost his whole left arm and continued to play drums for a famous band. So he smiled and agreed to learn drums.
He has quite a knack for it and is my best student.
We went fishing the other day where he became the teacher and I the student.
I did catch a fish... it was tiny. but it was a great day of hanging out.
Its been an awesome couple weeks of ministry and I am looking forward to the next few weeks of ministry here!
Thanks for all your prayers and support! Keep us in your Prayers!
The girls also wash the children's hair to help prevent lice and they do simple wound care as well.
Ex prostitutes becoming missionaries?
It is so cool to see.....
Redemption
.....so clearly at work.
As part of the ministry in the slum a new ministry started for guys living in the slum. Rather than living in the slum where drugs, alcholism, and crime are major problems/temptations, the guys are given a chance to live in a community house together and to receive discipleship.
Mike, the other guy on our team, and myself are able to work there. We are teaching music and computer classes, and a couple of English classes. We are able to share about Jesus and about the Bible throughout the week as we build relationship with these boys.
Vitchet one of the boys from the house. I heard him goofing around on the drums one day and he seemed quite talented. But when it was time for our music lesson and I asked him I he wanted to learn drums. He responded with a no I'll learn guitar and pointed to his leg.Vitchet lost some of his left leg to a land mine below the knee and uses a prosthetic leg (landmine fields are still a problem in Cambodia).
I told Vitchet "dude! You can totally play drums!" I told him the story of Def Leppard's drummer who lost his whole left arm and continued to play drums for a famous band. So he smiled and agreed to learn drums.
He has quite a knack for it and is my best student.
We went fishing the other day where he became the teacher and I the student.
I did catch a fish... it was tiny. but it was a great day of hanging out.
Its been an awesome couple weeks of ministry and I am looking forward to the next few weeks of ministry here!
Thanks for all your prayers and support! Keep us in your Prayers!
So the past month we were working in a village with our contact Ra and his wife.
During our time we were sharing the gospel through english classes, teaching soccer, spending time with monks and putting on youth programs, and washing kids hair. It was great time and we were so blessed by Ra and his family. They were such a blessing to myself and the team and we were privelaged to be able to serve the work they are doing there.
Linda, 15, a member of Ra's extended family has been working in a factory to support her family instead of going to school. A couple of our team members decided to start sponsoring her and her family so that she can finish her education. She is such a sweet girl and it was so cool for our team to get to know her and be able to bless her family.
Ra's mom, who often helped Ra's wife cooking for us.
Panya a crazy little kid who was also a member of Ra's extended family.
Quick update from Cambodia
3 English classes in a village a nightly bible teaching, helping plant vegetables in a field, serving at an orphanage playing with kids, colliding with mike during soccer games, teaching English In monastery, praying for opportunity to share Jesus clearly in that monastery, watching the neighbor kids with no parents when the grandma is away.... It's been a busy week for team Cambodia.
Cambodia
The last couple months have been a whirlwind.At the end of August I lead a team to Romania for a week. In Romania we worked in a secluded Gypsy village. Our team lead a kids program everyday, as well as various other community programs in the evenings. I was able to take family portraits of several families that i was able to print and give back to them.
One of the evenings that we lead was a women's night, where a woman named Rodika gave her life to Jesus. It was great to be there and be able to bless Dani and Ramona, the long term missionaries there.
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This past week, I was able to record an album with Liz in the Dresden area. I played in a band with Liz back in Orlando, so its funny to be recording an album with her on the other side of the world almost 7 or 8 years later.
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Now, in two weeks I am leading a team that is off to Cambodia for two months.
I am excited to see what God has in store for me and the rest of the team there in Cambodia.
We are still unsure 'exactly' what kind of work we will be doing there. But there is a lot of opportunity to share with various demographics there. Cambodia is an almost entirely buddhist nation, so that presents many opportunities in and of itself. But Cambodia is also a country with a huge problem with human trafficking and sexual exploration. We are hopeful that we will be able to work with children at risk for these type of things.
A few prayer requests right now:
Please pray for open doors with various ministries in Cambodia
Please Pray for team finances
Also please pray for our team's health as we travel down there.
The Terrorist
There was once a terrorist...
His mission in life was to bring Christianity to an end.
I think my first reaction, were I to come across this man on a road in the middle east, would be a desire to execute judgement.
As an American male my desire in hearing of such acts would be to "go all Rambo on his ass" and "take him out".
But in this case God had something different in mind; a desire to see JUSTICE
rather than simply ending injustice.
He met this man on a road, and brought about REDEMPTION.....
And a man named Saul changed his name to Paul.
So often we think about ending injustice, but what about bringing justice? Is justice nothing more than the absence of its opposite, or is it something more proactive?
Throughout the Old Testament, God shows his people what justice looks like. We are told not to forget the widow, the orphan, the refugee. God placed laws in effect to make sure the 'least' were cared for. Laws ensuring that the poor had food to eat; that slaves were not mistreated. There were laws in place so that eventually debts would be erased and slaves would go free...
An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth: in a world where people did not recognize that everyone had value and a sacred humanity; these laws showed that everyone's life had just as much value as your own. God gave his people laws to show the world what a society living in justice should look like.
When God's people didn't live up to these laws, God sent prophets. When justice was lacking prophets cried out and brought light to the dark areas of society, reminding people what justice should look like. The word of the Lord came to _______ (fill in the blank with almost any prophet's name) and injustice is exposed and God's desire to see justice on earth is voiced.
His mission in life was to bring Christianity to an end.
I think my first reaction, were I to come across this man on a road in the middle east, would be a desire to execute judgement.
As an American male my desire in hearing of such acts would be to "go all Rambo on his ass" and "take him out".
But in this case God had something different in mind; a desire to see JUSTICE
rather than simply ending injustice.
He met this man on a road, and brought about REDEMPTION.....
And a man named Saul changed his name to Paul.
So often we think about ending injustice, but what about bringing justice? Is justice nothing more than the absence of its opposite, or is it something more proactive?
Throughout the Old Testament, God shows his people what justice looks like. We are told not to forget the widow, the orphan, the refugee. God placed laws in effect to make sure the 'least' were cared for. Laws ensuring that the poor had food to eat; that slaves were not mistreated. There were laws in place so that eventually debts would be erased and slaves would go free...
An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth: in a world where people did not recognize that everyone had value and a sacred humanity; these laws showed that everyone's life had just as much value as your own. God gave his people laws to show the world what a society living in justice should look like.
When God's people didn't live up to these laws, God sent prophets. When justice was lacking prophets cried out and brought light to the dark areas of society, reminding people what justice should look like. The word of the Lord came to _______ (fill in the blank with almost any prophet's name) and injustice is exposed and God's desire to see justice on earth is voiced.
Their houses are full of deceit;
they have become rich and powerful
they have become rich and powerful
and have grown fat and sleek.
Their evil deeds have no limit;
they do not seek justice.
They do not promote the case of the fatherless;
they do not defend the just cause of the poor.
Their evil deeds have no limit;
they do not seek justice.
They do not promote the case of the fatherless;
they do not defend the just cause of the poor.
Jeremiah 5
God's desire for justice, this word of the Lord, came to prophet after prophet after prophet. And finally....
the word
became flesh
and dwelt among us...
John 1
God's desire for justice in the form of a man... and what does He do?
Surrounded by Zelots who want to fight against oppression, Jesus tells us to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us..... Then, as he is being put to death he actually does it.
"Father forgive them for the know not what they do"
Jesus drives home the point that people have a sacred value. He adds a point to the eye for eye tooth for tooth scriptures by saying turn the other cheek. This isn't saying 'be a sissy.' This is saying, in a culture where you only interact with people using your right hand, including slapping them, 'when someone backhand slaps you across the face as an inferior, turn and look them in the eye, as an equal, created in the image of God.'
What does the summary of God's love and desire for justice expressed in the prophets look like?
Jesus sums up all the law and the prophets:
LOVE GOD, LOVE PEOPLE.
Jesus asserts our sacred humanity. He challenges us to love and be merciful. His life is a testimony to God's desire to redeem.
If we lived in a world where people recognized that everyone else was valuable and that life is sacred - one third of the population of Moldova would not have been trafficked out of the country.
If we lived in a world were we showed mercy to our debtors - there wouldn't be entire communities in India trapped in generational debt slavery
If we were actually the salt of the earth, the flavor of God in this world, if we actually loved our enemies - perhaps Islam would begin to grasp the idea of a God who is not to be intensely feared, but would begin to understand what a God who intensely loves looks like and perhaps that would transform the middle east from its foundations.
If we loved God and loved people, if we acted righteously to one another and became lovers of mercy walking in humility, then maybe, just maybe...
THAT would bring justice, the kingdom of heaven, here to this earth.
Staffing a justice focused DTS, I am constantly challenged in my thinking about justice issues. What does Justice look like here? Sometimes in the details it seems less simple, but I want to keep pressing into the learning heart of the one who leads justice to victory (Matt 12) The more I look into these things, the more I see Jesus being the most relevant solution to the injustice in the world. If traffickers, terrorists, recruiters of child soldiers, high cast slave owners, and corrupt politicians were to become actual disciples of Jesus, the culture of this world would be transformed from the ground up. We can tack on aid programs, fight wars and raise awareness, but unless people's heart's are changed and culture is transformed from its roots we will not see justice flourish.
As I review my thoughts, I realize, this is why I need to be more than an activist... I need to be a disciple, a disciple and a missionary.
Beginning of a new season
So the band got back earlier this week. The tour was awesome.
We played shows every day for the week we were in the Frankfurt area. This tour fit so well with the heart of our ministry. We played music, but also were able to promote our projects in Ethiopia and raise awareness for them. During the course of the tour we were able to raise in the viscinity of 1000 euros for our projects in Ethiopia. We were all super encouraged to see such a great marriage of arts and ministry in action.
As soon I got back staff training started for the upcoming Discipleship Training School I am staffing. It has been an exciting week as the students are starting to arrive and we are really preparing for the school to get underway this saturday.
I am super excited for the things God is going to do in this school, in the students, and in me.
Please pray for this school:
For wisdom, strength, and perseverance for those of us in the school's leadership.
For the students that God would begin preparing their hearts now for the things they will be learning.
For some of our international students from Egypt, the Philippines and Ghana as they are still waiting for German visas.
This time is going to be challenging but I am super excited!
Thanks everyone!
We played shows every day for the week we were in the Frankfurt area. This tour fit so well with the heart of our ministry. We played music, but also were able to promote our projects in Ethiopia and raise awareness for them. During the course of the tour we were able to raise in the viscinity of 1000 euros for our projects in Ethiopia. We were all super encouraged to see such a great marriage of arts and ministry in action.
As soon I got back staff training started for the upcoming Discipleship Training School I am staffing. It has been an exciting week as the students are starting to arrive and we are really preparing for the school to get underway this saturday.
I am super excited for the things God is going to do in this school, in the students, and in me.
Please pray for this school: For wisdom, strength, and perseverance for those of us in the school's leadership.
For the students that God would begin preparing their hearts now for the things they will be learning.
For some of our international students from Egypt, the Philippines and Ghana as they are still waiting for German visas.
This time is going to be challenging but I am super excited!
Thanks everyone!
Spreading the word!
So as part of a ministry here in Germany called Pick-A-Pocket, we use our ARTS as a tool to affect change locally as well as globally. Among other art forms, this sometimes involves photography, and sometimes involves music.
This next week(well starting today actually), it will be music.
The band I'm in, 'Liz and the Lions', will be going on tour through Frankfurt here in Germany for a week. We will be playing shows in churches as well as pubs. Our desire is to raise awareness about extreme poverty, change peoples paradigms, and get people involved. These sort of events can be great places for conversations so pray for us; that God will use us as we set out, and pray for the people attending our shows as well!
AND WE’RE OFF!
This next week(well starting today actually), it will be music.
The band I'm in, 'Liz and the Lions', will be going on tour through Frankfurt here in Germany for a week. We will be playing shows in churches as well as pubs. Our desire is to raise awareness about extreme poverty, change peoples paradigms, and get people involved. These sort of events can be great places for conversations so pray for us; that God will use us as we set out, and pray for the people attending our shows as well!
AND WE’RE OFF!
Tunisia
So I was in Tunisia for an intense two weeks.
For my friend Ryan and I the time flew by. We were working at a Lybian Refugee camp near the Lybian boarder. While we were there a small uprising of sorts happened. Fires in the camp caused protests...
...which tuned into roadblocks. Unfortunately these roadblocks were on northern Tunisia's main trade route into Lybia. This frustrated the nearby townspeople. To voice their frustrations, the townspeople attacked, burning down about two thirds of the tents in the camp, including schools, and aid organizations tents including the tent we were working out of.
In the wake of this attack the camp residents were afraid to even stay in their own tents.. and were sleeping under the stars a few hundred yards away from the actual camp.
You might say the refugees at this camp are double or even triple refugees. All of the people in the camp had already come to Lybia seeking jobs or refuge from their home countries. So in the camp we were able to interact with people from Sudan, Darfur, Chad, Eritrea, Ethiopia and others. These people of course had to flee from Lybia as well due to the conlict. during our time there we played games talked, taught simple english lessons, listened to people's stories, and built relationships.
We became friends with Martin, one of our Sudanese tent neighbors, he was in the camp when the attacks happened. When we arrived the next day he rushed out of his tent and told us, "Guys i don't have your number! This is problemmmmm, I wanted to call you when your tent was burning down but i didn't have your number!"
Although we were staring at the ashes of a place we'd invested the past few days into, we couldn't help but laugh at animated way in which our Sudanese rasta-neighbor expressed his concern. Martin also helped us remember quickly that it was not a organization's tent that we had invested into, but the lives of our neighbors in the camp. We've been in some contact with the team from our base still in Tunesia and we are glad to hear that this relationship between our group and Martin is still growing.
It was great to participate in what that organization is doing over there... we are glad we made it back in one piece. Please pray as our base continues to send groups of people to work with the refugees from Lybia to Tunisia.
The past couple months have been a bit of a whirlwind for me. Coming back from Kenya, working on media from there, promoting our ministry in England, and then only a few days later going on this last minute trip to Tunisia. The next couple months will be less spread across the world, but still challenging in their own way. This next month I'll be starting the task of staffing and helping lead a discipleship training school (DTS) with a focus on justice issues. Similar to when I first came to this small German town as a DTS student myself: this school will have three months of lecture phase, where students will delve into God's heart for Justice and their roles in bringing the kingdom of heaven to earth. The following three months I'll be leading a student outreach to... somewhere where we will put to use the things we have learned. I'm excited for what these few months will hold and for what God will do both in the students as well as myself as I am stretched in the area of leadership.
Thanks so much for all your prayers and support!!!
We became friends with Martin, one of our Sudanese tent neighbors, he was in the camp when the attacks happened. When we arrived the next day he rushed out of his tent and told us, "Guys i don't have your number! This is problemmmmm, I wanted to call you when your tent was burning down but i didn't have your number!"
Although we were staring at the ashes of a place we'd invested the past few days into, we couldn't help but laugh at animated way in which our Sudanese rasta-neighbor expressed his concern. Martin also helped us remember quickly that it was not a organization's tent that we had invested into, but the lives of our neighbors in the camp. We've been in some contact with the team from our base still in Tunesia and we are glad to hear that this relationship between our group and Martin is still growing.
It was great to participate in what that organization is doing over there... we are glad we made it back in one piece. Please pray as our base continues to send groups of people to work with the refugees from Lybia to Tunisia.The past couple months have been a bit of a whirlwind for me. Coming back from Kenya, working on media from there, promoting our ministry in England, and then only a few days later going on this last minute trip to Tunisia. The next couple months will be less spread across the world, but still challenging in their own way. This next month I'll be starting the task of staffing and helping lead a discipleship training school (DTS) with a focus on justice issues. Similar to when I first came to this small German town as a DTS student myself: this school will have three months of lecture phase, where students will delve into God's heart for Justice and their roles in bringing the kingdom of heaven to earth. The following three months I'll be leading a student outreach to... somewhere where we will put to use the things we have learned. I'm excited for what these few months will hold and for what God will do both in the students as well as myself as I am stretched in the area of leadership.
Thanks so much for all your prayers and support!!!
Turkana
the voiceless tribe
In the inhospitibal region that is Northern Kenya, lives the Turkana Tribe. One of two main tribal groups in the area, they are the unwelcome immigrants.
Both the Turkana and Samburu tribes are pastoralist by nature. They are semi nomadic tribes and their cattle are a main source of their ability to survive. Since the colonial days in Northern Kenya, the Samburu have been considered the "natives" in the areas to the South and East of lake Turkana. Over the years however some Turkana's have found there way in among them. This intermingling has not come without its problems. For many reasons the Turkana are greatly disliked in this Samburu populated land. In addition to the Turkana's being immigrants into Samburu territory, they are also looked down upon because their men are uncircumcized (Samburu men are cicumcized at age 18 as a right of passage into manhood). Drought has also increased the already existing dissension between Turkana and Samburu by increasing their inclination for cattle rustling. It is not uncommon for tribes to steal one another's cattle which inevitably includes killing of the men who watch over the cattle. This commonly escalates via revenge killings to all out war between villages. This in turn leads to widowed wives and fatherless children. For the Turkana women this situation is worsened because they are a minority.
Due to this tribal violence a large group of Turkana women we encountered have been relocated to a refugee camp in the area of Maralal. As we took their photos and got to learn more about them we realized that while the government does support them with a small amount of food... it is exactly that; a small amount of food. These women are given monthy only enough food for a few days. When our group interacted with them several of them hadn't eaten in days.
As a photographer doing a photoshoot, some of this group of women requested small payment for their time and photos which I gladly gave. Not half an hour after the photoshoot we saw them walking back down the street with big bags of food on their heads. They stopped long enough to smile the largest most genuine and grateful smiles i've seen in a long time.
(click on photos for larger image)
Alice Lokorio
Age:70's (doesn't know)
From Loporot
Living in refugee camp Maralal
Mother of five Children
After our time in Northern Kenya Amy and I had to spend the remainder of our time in Kenya working on filming a documentary/promotional video for the orphanage we were working at further south. However Robin who was to be in Kenya a bit longer was able to follow up with the refugee women in Maralal. The women who are used to tribal/pastoralist lifestyle and were having a very difficult time supporting themselves in a city environment. There are some aid programs in the area but again because it is "Samburu country" and Turkana are the minority, there are really no aid programs in that area helping them out. Through the contacts that we made on our initial trip she was able to start a grocery kiosk for the women there to help them support themselves.
Robin has also been trying to help get a few of the refugee women out of jail. The Turkana make a traditional "home brew" alcohol that the women were trying to make and sell as a means of supporting themselves, but because of strict laws, this was considered illegal and three of these teenage girls were imprisoned. Robin also been networking to try to find adult ed classes for the women to get some form of education as well. If you want to know more in depth what Robin is has been able to accomplish, or support the work she's started in Maralal, check out her blog RobinElander.blogspot.com
Im still trying to get info for specifically supporting the reconciliation and water ministry in the SouthHorr area near Lake Turkana, but if you are interested in getting involved you can check out www.newdirections.org. They have some great projects all over the world but I can personally vouch for the work they are doing with the Turkana and Samburu tribes in SouthHorr and lake Turkana areas.
Next week Amy our friend Ryan and myself will be going on a short tour in England to get the word out on PickaPocket's projects as well as these new opportunites to fight extreme poverty in Kenya. In England we will be speaking at a couple churches as well as a human rights convention with Amnesty International at a university outside of London. Pray that these go well!!!
Thanks for reading!
~Sean
In the inhospitibal region that is Northern Kenya, lives the Turkana Tribe. One of two main tribal groups in the area, they are the unwelcome immigrants.
Both the Turkana and Samburu tribes are pastoralist by nature. They are semi nomadic tribes and their cattle are a main source of their ability to survive. Since the colonial days in Northern Kenya, the Samburu have been considered the "natives" in the areas to the South and East of lake Turkana. Over the years however some Turkana's have found there way in among them. This intermingling has not come without its problems. For many reasons the Turkana are greatly disliked in this Samburu populated land. In addition to the Turkana's being immigrants into Samburu territory, they are also looked down upon because their men are uncircumcized (Samburu men are cicumcized at age 18 as a right of passage into manhood). Drought has also increased the already existing dissension between Turkana and Samburu by increasing their inclination for cattle rustling. It is not uncommon for tribes to steal one another's cattle which inevitably includes killing of the men who watch over the cattle. This commonly escalates via revenge killings to all out war between villages. This in turn leads to widowed wives and fatherless children. For the Turkana women this situation is worsened because they are a minority.
Due to this tribal violence a large group of Turkana women we encountered have been relocated to a refugee camp in the area of Maralal. As we took their photos and got to learn more about them we realized that while the government does support them with a small amount of food... it is exactly that; a small amount of food. These women are given monthy only enough food for a few days. When our group interacted with them several of them hadn't eaten in days.
As a photographer doing a photoshoot, some of this group of women requested small payment for their time and photos which I gladly gave. Not half an hour after the photoshoot we saw them walking back down the street with big bags of food on their heads. They stopped long enough to smile the largest most genuine and grateful smiles i've seen in a long time.
(click on photos for larger image)
Alice LokorioAge:70's (doesn't know)
From Loporot
Living in refugee camp Maralal
Mother of five Children
Najina
Age:16
From Loporot
Living in refugee camp Maralal
Tarasea
Age:40
From Loporot
Living in refugee camp Maralal
Mother of three children
Akeno
Age:90's?
(she stopped counting)
From Baragoi
Living in Refugee camp Maralal
Mother of eight children
Age:16
From Loporot
Living in refugee camp Maralal
Tarasea
Age:40
From Loporot
Living in refugee camp Maralal
Mother of three children
Akeno
Age:90's?
(she stopped counting)
From Baragoi
Living in Refugee camp Maralal
Mother of eight children
Palina and baby Loibas
Age:50, and baby: 8 months
From Loporot
Living in refugee camp Maralal
Age:50, and baby: 8 months
From Loporot
Living in refugee camp Maralal
Akeno
Age:90's?
(she stopped counting)
From Baragoi
Living in refugee camp Maralal
Mother of eight children
As Maralal was only a stop on a bigger journey we had to leave the day after interacting with these women, but this was not a situation we wanted to leave as-is. As we continued to travel North the Turkana refugee women of Maralal were strongly on our hearts. When we arrived at our next location, low and behold, we found ourselves staying, to our surprise, at a guest house that doubled as a ministry working with both Turkana and Samburu peoples. This ministry provides water for a Turkana Village further North as well as works on reconciliation between Turkana and Samburu youth through sports camps. Here we were able to brainstorm with the ministries founder (a missionary/aid project starter for 40+ years) JL Williams. JL was able to give us some good direction as we were thinking about ways to help the refugee women. Also while we were there we were able go with them on a water run out to the Turkana village of Sarima. This village is suffering greatly because of a severe drought that has been going on for over a year in Northern Kenya (literally not a drop of rain has fallen in over a year). Because this village relies on seasonal rivers for themselves and their livestock, this drought has been crippling. They can take donkeys to lake Turkana some 15-20 miles away, but that water is highly alkaline and can only be used for cooking, NOT drinking. This ministry however has a deep well and is able to deliver houndreds of gallons of clean drinking water every couple of weeks to this village. Providing them not only with one of their most basic of needs, but with the gospel in word as well as in deed. It was an awesome experience to be able to participate for a short time in what this ministry is doing there.
Nayokono Ekukoi
Age: 65
From Nawapa
Nayokono is a Turkana medicine man
Over the years he has killed many hyenas and wild dogs in defense of his camels and cattle
Age:90's?
(she stopped counting)
From Baragoi
Living in refugee camp Maralal
Mother of eight children
As Maralal was only a stop on a bigger journey we had to leave the day after interacting with these women, but this was not a situation we wanted to leave as-is. As we continued to travel North the Turkana refugee women of Maralal were strongly on our hearts. When we arrived at our next location, low and behold, we found ourselves staying, to our surprise, at a guest house that doubled as a ministry working with both Turkana and Samburu peoples. This ministry provides water for a Turkana Village further North as well as works on reconciliation between Turkana and Samburu youth through sports camps. Here we were able to brainstorm with the ministries founder (a missionary/aid project starter for 40+ years) JL Williams. JL was able to give us some good direction as we were thinking about ways to help the refugee women. Also while we were there we were able go with them on a water run out to the Turkana village of Sarima. This village is suffering greatly because of a severe drought that has been going on for over a year in Northern Kenya (literally not a drop of rain has fallen in over a year). Because this village relies on seasonal rivers for themselves and their livestock, this drought has been crippling. They can take donkeys to lake Turkana some 15-20 miles away, but that water is highly alkaline and can only be used for cooking, NOT drinking. This ministry however has a deep well and is able to deliver houndreds of gallons of clean drinking water every couple of weeks to this village. Providing them not only with one of their most basic of needs, but with the gospel in word as well as in deed. It was an awesome experience to be able to participate for a short time in what this ministry is doing there.
Nayokono EkukoiAge: 65
From Nawapa
Nayokono is a Turkana medicine man
Over the years he has killed many hyenas and wild dogs in defense of his camels and cattle
Nayokono Ekukoi
Age: 65
From Nawapa
Nayokono is a Turkana medicine man
Over the years he has killed many hyenas and wild dogs in defense of his camels and cattle
Age: 65
From Nawapa
Nayokono is a Turkana medicine man
Over the years he has killed many hyenas and wild dogs in defense of his camels and cattle
Lojore
Age:7
From Sarima
Lojore is one of five children
Kuya
Age:48
From Sarima
Kuya has eight children
Emase
Age: 55
From Sarima
Emase is mother of eight children
Ebakatu
Age:50
From Sarima
Ebakatu has 5 children
Ebakatu and baby Asunyen
Age:50 and baby: 9 months
From Sarima
Asunyen is the youngest of five children
Age:7
From Sarima
Lojore is one of five children
Kuya
Age:48
From Sarima
Kuya has eight children
Emase
Age: 55
From Sarima
Emase is mother of eight children
Ebakatu
Age:50
From Sarima
Ebakatu has 5 children
Ebakatu and baby Asunyen
Age:50 and baby: 9 months
From Sarima
Asunyen is the youngest of five children
After our time in Northern Kenya Amy and I had to spend the remainder of our time in Kenya working on filming a documentary/promotional video for the orphanage we were working at further south. However Robin who was to be in Kenya a bit longer was able to follow up with the refugee women in Maralal. The women who are used to tribal/pastoralist lifestyle and were having a very difficult time supporting themselves in a city environment. There are some aid programs in the area but again because it is "Samburu country" and Turkana are the minority, there are really no aid programs in that area helping them out. Through the contacts that we made on our initial trip she was able to start a grocery kiosk for the women there to help them support themselves.
Robin has also been trying to help get a few of the refugee women out of jail. The Turkana make a traditional "home brew" alcohol that the women were trying to make and sell as a means of supporting themselves, but because of strict laws, this was considered illegal and three of these teenage girls were imprisoned. Robin also been networking to try to find adult ed classes for the women to get some form of education as well. If you want to know more in depth what Robin is has been able to accomplish, or support the work she's started in Maralal, check out her blog RobinElander.blogspot.comIm still trying to get info for specifically supporting the reconciliation and water ministry in the SouthHorr area near Lake Turkana, but if you are interested in getting involved you can check out www.newdirections.org. They have some great projects all over the world but I can personally vouch for the work they are doing with the Turkana and Samburu tribes in SouthHorr and lake Turkana areas.
Next week Amy our friend Ryan and myself will be going on a short tour in England to get the word out on PickaPocket's projects as well as these new opportunites to fight extreme poverty in Kenya. In England we will be speaking at a couple churches as well as a human rights convention with Amnesty International at a university outside of London. Pray that these go well!!!
Thanks for reading!
~Sean
Kenya
The Bus leaves at 11.... the bus actually leaves at 130....
Zebras Rhinos and Giraffes.....
Fear of bandits....
Unexpected opportunities......
The hike with your 50 pound backpack will take 4 hours...
The hike through deserty terrain with a 50 pound backpack actually takes 9 hours....
Spending 3 days with Samburus in their village...
The Cattle truck we will ride on top of with 30 other people leaves at 3:00... or 7:30...
The trip will take 9 hours.... + three flat tires and a broken differential, with a mechanic who will drive for an hour to come laugh at then drive all the way back to the nearest town while we sleep on the side of the road listening to hyena's.....
The cattle truck journey actually takes 18 hours...
Unexpected connections...
Delivering water to a Village of Turkana people suffering from a year long draught
Photos.... LOTS of photos....
Lake Turkana...
Swimming without being eaten by a crocodile....
Knowing that all the "little coincidences" are answers to prayer......
Not seeing bandits....
Dustiest "road" back to "civilization "ever.... almost there...
God is GOOD
During part of my time in Kenya I jokingly said to Amy...
"We should go up North to Lake Turkana and take photos of the tribes there..."
I was joking because according to some sources Northen Kenya is generally considered a lawless place. Bandits hijack cars and transports, tribes steal each others cattle and revenge killings and violence among the tribespeople are common. Not to mention drinking fresh cow blood was a main part of these tribes diets. A conversation along these lines occured:
Amy "Yeah, lets do it we can take public transport and it will be cheap"
Me: "I was mostly joking, there are robbers and bandits and Matatus even go that far North?"
Amy: "It'll be fine, yeah they go that far North, I'll research it tomorrow.
Me: "But there are bandits"
Amy: "It'll be fine, Its a good plan!"
About a week later Amy, our friend Robin from the orphanage, and myself were packed with 25 kenyans in a small van and our huge bags on our way North....
As we headed North we prayed for opportunities, as well as travel protection, God was happy to give plenty of both .
The Maralal area presented itself with a multitude of opportunities, from being able to provide some basic first aid to a boy not 5 years old who had been forcibly cirucumsized by his 7 year old brother(he had been sitting in the street crying through the night and through the day when we came across him) to telling a suicidal cripple that God loves him deeply and has purpose for his life, to developing relationships with some of the tribal groups in the area.
We stayed in a Samburu village some hike out of the city for a few days. It was here that we faced both the greatest danger and the greatest sense of peace in the face of fear. On the hike out to the village we passed through some farmland. The drunken farmer and a couple of friends ran out and cut us off. They began yelling at us rather harshley. We explained that we didn't realized we were doing anything wrong and were just passing through the way our guides were leading us. They motioned at us(the white folks) to "just go" but as we walked we couldn't help but look over our shoulders at our guides who were still being yelled at. Soon yelling at our guides turned to pushing our guides to the ground, slapping them and hitting them with sticks. That turned into pushing, pulling, and dragging them back towards there farm and another three or four of their group. At this point we three travelers had increasing reason to be concerned. We were now eight ours into the middle of African wilderness on foot, with no way of knowing really how to get back, and our guides were being dragged away and beaten by an angry group of around 6 tribal men with sticks clubs and machetes.It was time to pray for peace over the situation. After a few minutes tempers settled and our guides were let go after giving them men the equivalent of about 5 dollars. Apparently the alcoholic farmers claimed we needed to pay them for crossing their land.
Once we finally reached the village learned a lot about both their culture and the culture of the other main tribal group in the area the Turkanas. The Samburu being "native" to that area have a lot of aid programs in place and missionary groups helping them out, but we found that the Turkana who are the "foreigners" in the area have little help. Both in Maralal and further North we were able to interact with some Turkanas and again God brought forth some opportunities to get involved(I'll talk some more about this in the next post).
As we headed further North again we were blessed with not only safety but free transportation. One of our stops turned out to be a ministry that is working with the tribals in the area, and they were able to arrange for us to finish our trek North by hitching a ride with some police officers that were headed that way. This free transportation in the back of a police pickup with a bunch of armed men, was again, a huge answer to prayer.
I was nervous about going to Northern Kenya, I felt like maybe God wanted me to go, but I was definitely scared about all the things that could potentially go wrong. In retrospect i suppose I can take Jesus words to heart a little bit, "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?"
A lesson I am continually learning, over and over: Sometimes you've got to stop worrying and just go, God's already there waiting for willing people to show up get done the things that are on His heart.
Abdalla
So I am currently in Kenya
When I first arrived at the orhanage I met a little boy named Abdalla.
He pulled my arm right up to his face to look at my tattoos.
He looked at them very very closely.
Abdalla and I both wear glasses. A little thing to bond over I suppose..
the other day one of the other volunteers saw him walking around with a corn husk "beard".
Are you Sean? the volunteer asked? He nodded his head yes with a grin...
Abdalla wants to learn to read... he looks at alphabet books.. very very very closely...
He wants to learn to read before his sight goes completely..
His glasses help a little, but not for long.. His vission is getting worse and worse, and doctors say he'll be completely blind in a few months.
There is an expensive surgery he could have.. but even that only has a 50 percent success rate.. of repairing sight or causing complete loss of sight.
My prayer lately is to have my heart be more like Gods... A heart that loves as he loves, sees others as he sees them, a heart that breaks for the things that break his... my heart breaks continually for this boy...
When I first arrived at the orhanage I met a little boy named Abdalla.
He pulled my arm right up to his face to look at my tattoos.
He looked at them very very closely.
Abdalla and I both wear glasses. A little thing to bond over I suppose..
the other day one of the other volunteers saw him walking around with a corn husk "beard".
Are you Sean? the volunteer asked? He nodded his head yes with a grin...
Abdalla wants to learn to read... he looks at alphabet books.. very very very closely...
He wants to learn to read before his sight goes completely..
His glasses help a little, but not for long.. His vission is getting worse and worse, and doctors say he'll be completely blind in a few months.
There is an expensive surgery he could have.. but even that only has a 50 percent success rate.. of repairing sight or causing complete loss of sight.
My prayer lately is to have my heart be more like Gods... A heart that loves as he loves, sees others as he sees them, a heart that breaks for the things that break his... my heart breaks continually for this boy...