Prayer Like HOPE Rises! Amen

Finally, the day has come!
      To give space for the larger story experienced
            To give thanks and praise!

I begin with saying thank you! Thank you that from the beginning I received so much encouragement from so many people.  Encouragement that came in the form of kind words, shared economics and shared stories of how and why addressing Human Trafficking matters. Encouragement came through learning of the thousands of people I was simply joining effort with around the globe to bring our suffering into transformative HOPE RISING Amongst us!

My first flight was from Portland to Los Angeles, where my dear Friend and Pastoral Colleague Floredelia Gratoral whisked me from the airport with joy to meet everyone at CHET(The Center for Hispanic Theological Studies).  Together everyone at this school joined the effort to be involved in Nepal for the sake of healing and hope born from sharing stories and artistic expressions of suffering.  I am thankful to everyone at CHET for their prayers rising on my behalf.

The next two legs of my journey brought me to Bahrain, through the windows of the Philippines.  From LA to Hong Kong my seat mate was a lovely grandmother living in the US.  She was originally from the Philippines and headed back for a five week vacation.  She spoke of many things, including how impossible life would be in the Philippines with out the servants.  My seat mate on the second plane from Hong Kong to Bahrain was a young woman from the Philippines, so silent at first, finally revealing amidst shared food offerings, she had signed a contract to be a house servant for two years in Bahrain.  She didn't know if she would be assigned to a good family or someone who would be unkind, abusive or worse.  We prayed as she wept silently over her three sons she left behind.

In Bahrain, after being detained by security for over an hour, I was set free into the beautiful space filled with Emily!  For 24 hrs in Bahrain, we walked and talked of experiencing life in this place where women, aren't sometimes even seen.  Men ran the hotel, made our food, dealt with all financial exchanges, and spoke to us, everywhere we went.  Hope Rose Unbelievably in the Museum that night, where Women"s artwork stating their case of disenfranchisement, disembodiment and imprisonment were on DISPLAY!!!! And the sculptures made by men from around the world reflecting the LIFE embodied in women surrounded us! The Museum, so surreal!!!  a safe haven, where little girls were running between the works of art,  in wonderment. And there was time for prayer through movement and dance in the sculpture garden. Timeless, endless ripples of dancing, standing, singing prayers for peace amongst all people.  The beautiful, courageous atmosphere os sharing in Emily's presence, hope Rising Amidst!

From Bahrain to Dubai, and then a plane of 80 men and 5 women to Nepal.  The men, all workers returning from Qatar to Nepal for a couple weeks of rest.  One explained, we are all working to build the soccer stadiums for world cup.  We are being killed by lack of protection from heat, lack of water, lack of rest, and lack of safety on site.  We are falling to our deaths!  I will not go back!  I will find what ever work I can in Nepal and Live!  And the plane landed us in Kathmandu.

A cacophony of experiences, of silent warm spaces, crowded loud places and excruciating honesty of the human joys and perils awaits the one who visits Kathmandu.  Nothing is really hidden.  No buffer zones exist.  The narrow streets are filled with everyone, including those on scooters and motorcycles who just don't care that the walkers are there!  Everything shares the same place, animals, people, feces and food vendors. Generousity and greed co-mingle. And always there is prayer.  Prayer wheels are turned, prayer hours kept, prayer songs sung, prayer offerings given. Prayers for healing burst forth as you walk by the sick, the crippled, the aging, the dying. Prayers of gratitude flow like streams of living water, as people share their food, their funds, their music, their talents, their hearts for peace. Prayers desperately leap from the eyes of womanly wombs, please lets birth a new day, for women and children in Nepal, in New York, in Bahrain, in Philippines, in, in , in ... all the world.  For in Nepal denial of the usury of human beings is no longer possible.  Prayer amongst us rose and rose and rose in thanksgiving, in despair, in rejoicing and anguish, in gratefulness and in pleading.  Prayer that sets us in the embrace of love.  All of us in the embrace of Love of God!

And through the illness that struck my body hard, people were praying.  Thank you.  It was a long journey home on the wings of your prayers.  Thank you!  As a woman on the planes from the middle east I experienced reminders of who I was not!  I am not a person of equal value, as the male steward ignored me or spoke to me with disdain.  I was not as a women, someone with intelligence who could speak to the varieties of ice we were flying over, until the indignation of the man next to me,  was overcome by his desire to understand what he was seeing.  I am also NOT a woman who will stand and watch a man treat a stewardess disrespectfully just because he thinks he can! Hmmm, I guess you can imagine the rest of that story...  Prayers from me, prayers for me to respond to life in ways that increase peace.

And finally Seattle! Where utter exhaustion overcame me, and the kindness of strangers carried me.  The border agent who walked me through the computer prompts I could not comprehend.  The Security Guard who stayed beside me through regaining my luggage and sense of place, as my glasses were broke along with my sense of time and space. And into the arms of my Beloved again. As my JOE, gathered me, and my belongings and my longings to be held, into his capable loving arms.

And nothing is new under the sun today, and I see everything anew in each day.
Human beings everywhere use other human beings!  The constant circular, spiraling effect of greed, self importance, selfishness, and blindness is killing us and the land that gives us life, everywhere!  The seeds and stance of Patriarchy which devalues even unto death, women, children and men demeaned because of their ethnicity, embodied presence and economic privilege ascribed by birth are everywhere!  I flew over so much desert.  Dry and thirsty humanity everywhere, being sucked dry like the land, of all richness through enslavement and extraction and extortion.

And nothing is new under the sun today in Oregon, as migrant workers pick fruit, sometimes for farmers whose hearts have been touched by grace and moved by the artistry and beauty of justice, and sometimes NOT!  In Oregon today there is a new home for women rescued from human trafficking, yes United States women who have suffered enslavement, and yes there is only 1 such place in the midst of a need for many.  In Oregon this week, there has been much talk and protesting and walking with our brothers and sisters of color enraged by events in Ferguson this week, by  only SOME!  And Jews and Arabs in Palestine and Israel and all over the world, are VISIONING peace for the politicians, for their children, for a future filled with HOPE! Praying for Peace, many everywhere are praying for PEACE.

And nothing new is under the sun today.  Humanity is born with the gift of BEAUTY residing inside! Yes!  Each and EVERY ONE of US, within us Beauty resides!  Look at Creation in all its magnificence and see the hands that have too, fashioned US!  We are everyone one of us, flowers in the Garden of a great Creator, of God who holds us all in a great embrace of love.  Nothing is made that wasn't made by Creator God, all are beloved, all are formed with beauty desiring to be becoming a shining light of HOPE in a world of humanly created systems that also cause harm.

Nothing new under the sun today, we shall perish or flourish together, one garden, one land, one sky, one ocean, one lament, one day of rejoicing yet to come!  Yes, I have HOPE! Born from my time with all who have shared this journey.  And for all of you, I give thanks and praise! Amen

Soon, I will post on the next leg of the Journey!

Remembering: A love Letter

Another Glimpse!

In 1996, Indian Brothels were raided and many women and girls rescued.  Many of these women and girls were Nepali.  Nepal did not want to receive them home because it was thought these women would bring the AIDS virus with them.  The Nepali government ignored these women and girls.  Seven NGO's worked together to bring them back to Nepal... but what about home? (Please go to Shakti Samahu, a wonderful organization formed by these women survivors for more information.
(shaktisamuha.org.np))

How do you find HOME when your country would like to dismiss the idea of your citizenship?
How do you return HOME when systemic shame and family fear tell you to never return?
What is HOME?  What does it mean to feel at home, when the place you lived for the last long stretch of time, was a place of pain suffering and degradation in even unimaginable ways?

In the second week of being in Nepal, I spent one day with teenage girls who had been rescued from human trafficking and were being cared for in a home provided by the Shakti Samuha organization.
I experienced such welcome from these girls in their excitement and great willingness to help us move into play through their smiles and laughter and determination to have fun.  I experienced these girls as wonderfully endearing, energetic young folks who desired to be found lovable by us, beautiful by us, seen by us, remembered by us.  And it was easy to do just that.

How do you forget young girls with so much love and joy and dignity and ability to welcome you?  How do you forget these beautiful bright spirits who still have such courage to risk engaging in relationship with anyone after suffering at the hands of other human beings so powerfully?  How do you forget the genuine joy and need for hugs and the need for soothing young bodies that had been   awoken to pain rather than protected for days of experiencing matured beauty?

How do you forget that these young girls are no longer welcomed "home" by their families? These wonderful delightful young women will suffer a stigmatization that brings more weariness to their very bones unless there experiences of being trafficked are kept from public awareness.  How does one forget that these girls must fight now for their citizenship in some cases.  How does one forget that these girls must walk through processes of healing and will need tremendous support, which won't come from communities of their origin and birth most likely.  How does one forget that simply because they are female in a male dominated world, they will have obstacles at every turn to regaining their dignity.  How does one provide support that never becomes pity or charity or sympathy which only would continue to devalue the strength, courage, intelligence and resiliency within them to find their way into dignified presence in this world?!

I am home now, and I cannot forget that at the very least, 17,000 women and children are trafficked into the US every year and that more than 300,000, yes three hundred thousand teenage girls are at risk of being trafficked in the US.  I am at home now and I remember that laws need to be written and enforced to protect women and children.  I remember that parents and teens need to be educated more furiously about the realities of exploitation of teenagers and children.  I remember that border patrols can be used to protect children from being trafficked rather than treating children like enemies to be incarcerated, expunged or expelled.  I remember, that we the Human Community are responsible for the victimization of women and children.  I remember too, it is the Human Community that must bear the shame of being responsible for the existence of a Global Economy made robust in large part by the trafficking of human beings!

The young woman I spent time with at the home for girls at Shakti Sanuha and at the Third National Conference for Women Survivors, spoke many things to me through her lovely face, curious heart and deeply longing eyes... and nothing was more powerful than her continual refrain...
                                 
                                      "You Won't Forget Me Will You?"

No, I won't forget you,
                        your smile, your face
                                your deep set eyes, your physical grace
My time with you, embedded deeply
                moving forward
                        you
 Living how weeping
                      turns to dancing
                          you
       Beautiful, Courageous, Strong, Wise Teacher!
                      OH YES!
I will remember you...
                  and be grateful to you...
                                 for restoring more fully, my humanity ...


All my love,
Mary

the DANCE

Amongst the days in Nepal was one shared by our Harambee Arts Team, Manuka Thapa the Chairperson of Raksha Nepal and many Women who are a part of Raksha Nepal.  Raksha Nepal seeks to provide pathways for women to exit exploitive circumstances which so often serve as their only option for feeding their children and staying alive.

We spent a joyous day with over 50 women who experience or are contributing to ending exploitation and sexual violence.  In all honesty it doesn't matter whose experience is which, we were about 70 women total who came together to remind each other that our suffering Does Not Define Who We Are!  We are gloriously formed, beautiful women, created for beautiful purpose, containing within ourselves great capacity for laughter, celebration, sharing, caring and loving-kindness!

In entering our shared space, pain was palpable for me in silent ways. I sensed pain in expressions, postures, eyes, in myself too.  As a member of the Harambee Arts team, I am aware of the brutal exploitation which fills everyday existence for many women we will spend the day with.  If we had come with any other attitude accept to share in a day of joy, I do believe we would have done more damage.  We did not come to "help", to "rescue", to define problems, we came to remember together our identity as women.  Together we reminded each other our spirits are strong, our laughter infectious, our hearts able to open up to loving-kindness, and our generosity in receiving and giving exquisite to experience!  We are resourceful, beautiful, women able to bring healing and vibrancy and beauty and laughter into any circumstance when securing the freedom to do so.  And we will continue to work towards securing the freedom to be change agents in this world, in this generation, in our communities, in this world!

May you experience the JOY as you view the photos of the dancing Lionesses!  The Raksha Nepal and Harambee Arts Women,

             
                                                 Together, bearing HOPE into the world!

The Women!

I have been home from Nepal two weeks now, and struggling deeply with writing about my experience.  What do I share?  Where do I begin? Finally, I land with the women!

For five days on the roof of the the Happy Hotel in Kathmandu, 25 women gathered to experience Expressive Arts practice as a healing pathway through pain.  It didn't matter who was from where or what particular history of suffering anyone had, the Expressive Arts practice was an opportunity for all of us to experience a safe place to support one another into greater health and healing.

One core principle we agreed to as defined by the Nepali trainers was that empathy not sympathy would guide us in being with each other.  Practicing empathy by listening, being present, and treating others as equals gives everyone their full dignity first as whole, beautiful, capable women.  This is very different than sympathy.  Sympathy in practice implies pity, status, assumptions or the idea that others do not possess the ability to take care of themselves. There are no rescuers, no fixers, no powerful ones coming to the aid of the weak here.  We were all beautiful, strong, courageous women, doing what women are capable of doing.  We are listening, caring about, supporting and strengthening each other into more personal freedom.  And Our FREEDOM, becomes potential freedom for the world around us.  Freedom from abuse, from enslavement and trafficking, freedom from harm to the earth, freedom for the oppressor from the heinous crimes that yet could be committed if women and men remain silent about what is happening now!

Expressive Arts practices gave us opportunity to each day be grounded in our embodied selves, in loving ways we can treat our bodies, and in loving words we can speak to ourselves about who we are.  Expressive Arts practice gave us opportunity to give place outside of ourselves, to the hurtful, even horrible experiences of our lives.  Expressive Arts practice gave us all opportunities to give voice and image to the impacts these experiences still have on us as we try and be in this world "weller" everyday.  Expressive Arts practice meant also that we DANCED! and LAUGHED! and SANG! and CELEBRATED EVERYDAY!  Because women Rise!  Thank you Maya Angelo! Yes we do RISE!
Sharing Lovingkindness, receiving warm embrace from one another as we struggle through, and yes we Rise to laugh and dance and sing with every new day.  We are determined to do so!

And I am thankful, thankful for this gathering, thankful for the moving through pain, the healing that came, the strength that grew amongst us and the lovingkindness forever now shared!

The black and white charcoal drawings are my responses, my drawings of witness to the painful stories.  They are my aesthetic response to the suffering.  It is important to deal with the suffering, less we dishonor the truth of the work.  The photos are just some of the rejoicings!  The celebration of new strength, resources, friendships, courage and freedom we gained in being with each other.  May these be witness to all who see them, of what humanity can do when we focus on healing, health and life!

With so much gratefulness, so much love, and so much joy,
More stories to come,
Mary

Walking With-Walking Freely-Walking Forward

Walking with one another against those who trod on others is necessary.
Walking Freely is only possible when our steps are peaceful.
Walking forward as Beauty becoming manifest through humanity happens only when we walk with one another, the Earth and the Great Spirit of life that holds us, in peace.

These are the ways of the great ones! These are the life giving ways I have found in every tribe, people group and life giving faith experience I have been amongst. Walking WITH, walking Free, walking Forward as Beauty becoming manifest through humanity are the ways of resilient people.  These are the ways of the strongest, whom have endured great struggle, unfathomable pain and unspeakable torture and moved forward towards peace.  Native Americans from many tribes, peoples of the revolutions in Central and South America, undocumented people's in the US; Cambodian, Hmong, Laotian refugees, my brothers and sisters of the African American/Black American communities, Black African peoples who walk this way have taught the world so much.  Religious leaders who humbly speak of and work to live well with the Creator, Giver and Spirit of Life that is whole and based in Beauty, Justice, Compassion, Mercy, Peace and Lovingkindness, have also taught me so much.

As I continue my research on Human Trafficking and in particular sex trafficking, I am thankful to come across so many organizations walking with one another, in powerful, united steps towards peace, for the sake of restoring dignity to the full of Humanity.  One in particular is Global Alliance Against Traffic in Women(GAATW).  The extent of the efforts of this group to walk in partnership and in non-violence has informed and helped me to understand the great complexities, contributing factors and necessary partnerships of effective advocacy against trafficking of women.  

Primary to me now, is that the way out of suffering is most profoundly known by the one who has endured suffering!  I go to Nepal to be with women and children, to be loving presence as we engage in art making, and being together in ways that are creative, honoring and Hope filled.  I go to Nepal as a quite learner of the ways of the teachers there, and as a woman who has known the painful experience of dominance in many forms, including my personal, professional and religious life.  I go to Nepal as a woman who practices listening for the emerging heart of of Hope that springs from the suffering there, that leads to resilience, that leads to fighting for freedom of oppression and enslavement for all humanity, and that leads to Peace: Beauty of Humanity fully realized.

Thank you so much to all who have contributed to this work!  I am so humbled and thankful that bringing opportunities for healing and reduction in human suffering, matters so much to so many.

As I prepare to leave, I want to encourage anyone who is still considering helping me get to Nepal, Please, give today!  I have still a deficit of over $600 of identified expenses yet to be covered in addition to travel expenses I will incur on the trip.
The most expedient way to donate is to go to:

gofundme.com/Hope-Rising-Amidst

or make a tax exempt donation by check mailed to: Nepal CO/Sunset Covenant Church
                                                                                   18555 NW Rock Creek Blvd.
                                                                                   Portlad, Oregon 97229
I am most grateful too for your prayers!
Prayer is the greatest sustenance of Life I know, thank you for giving prayer!

With much love, and a blank canvass, waiting to be filled with what will emerge as we share life in community in Nepal, I sign out for know.


May peace be in you, Beauty find you and Joy that springs forth from love
                          abound in and through you this day!
Mary

Beauty and Destruction between birthing and dying...

We are all born into a world embroiled in the simultaneously sounding vibrations of becoming beautiful and dying destructively by the activities of human hands.  We are born with the potentials of creating and destroying.   We choose or become caught in the waves of power-filled human restrictions and or beauty.   The earth and world around us resound the choices we are making, the traps we are caught in.  Earth and Sky, moaning storms of destruction, rains of weeping and songs of springly birds, lava pouring new land, and snow melting refreshing waters birthing.  This is the poietic way of things.

Human trafficking is power-filled restriction which traps so many, especially women and children, in devastatingly destructive human activity.  To restrict is to put limit on, to keep under control, to deprive of freedom.(Oxford Dic.) Its Latin meaning is to “bind fast, to constrain”. (Oxford. Dic.) Victims of human trafficking are bound and held fast in the global vibrations of violence which are given permission to flourish by greed and need.  Modern day slavery continues to be the most lucrative business in the global market, demonstrating that greed knows no restraint!  Modern day slavery continues too, because dominance, having dominion over, remains a powerful story in some cultures and is in need of victimization of others in order to remain a strong enough story for some to believe in the practice of human hierarchy as righteous.

Painfully true too, is the impact of restraint, which is often constraint.  Human beings whom have suffered oppressive restrictions of domination, even when set free, struggle with self -constriction.  To constrain is to become/make narrower, to make ourselves smaller.  People whom have suffered domination, often must work really hard to regain the ability to suspect that beauty and lovingkindness exists within them, can be discovered in the world around them and is worth the risk of exposing oneself, to be regained as a way of life.

In going to Nepal, I am bringing myself, with what freedom I have gained, to join in efforts of strengthening women and children recently unbound from circumstances of human trafficking.  I go, knowing that in contributing to healing and decreasing of constriction, I too will find increased freedom to live more fully.  I will be enriched by the courage and dignity and determination of Nepali women and children to work to regain a full sense of their dignity.  All of us contributing to this effort will be enriched by the beauty of these women and children daring to risk trusting that goodness, kindness, HOPE and LOVE will be the strongest force in humanity.  This is our greatest human potential, to be HOPE Rising AMIDST humanly generated vibrations of greed, dominance and destruction.

I go to Nepal with the help of many others, to contribute to breaking bonds of restrictions and adopted habits of constrictions for the sake of bringing forth HOPE Rising Amidst the painful Human condition  and continued entrapment of habitual human enslavement.

If you would like to contribute to the dismantling of the injustice that is Human Trafficking through this effort you may send tax deductible donations to:

Nepal

C/O Sunset Covenant Church

18555 NW Rock Creek Blvd

Beaverton, Oregon 97229

Or Electronically at(non-tax deductible):

http://www.gofundme.com/Hope-Rising-Amidst

Please join with me in being HOPE Rising Amidst the painful reality that is human trafficking!

Meeting our Need

I have thought about this blog for many days now and am "late" with my posting, because this time it is more deeply personal.  My heart has for many years been so troubled by the brokenness of us, our humanity.  I have carried a deep sense of awareness of the human struggle to become beautiful and whole. I have intentionally sought from my teachers to learn to walk with high sensitivity amongst people; to be touched by sadness, disappointment, frustration anger, pain, anguish, isolation, loss and yes, to be touched by peace, contentment, happiness, joy, generosity, welcome and Love too.  I know this pain in my heart to be deep longing for the beauty of humanity to become fully realized.   I sense and believe all human beings have this same longing, a shared need to be whole and wholly Beautiful in community with the earth and all people!

"Need is:
1-a situation in which someone or something must do or have something
2-something that a person must have: something that is needed in oder to live or succeed or be happy
3-a physiological or psychological requirement for the well being of an organism. "
(Miriam Webster.com)

In this definition we clearly see that experiencing need, is like experiencing being stuck until something comes, presents itself, meets us and moves us forward out of need.  There have been many moments when I have been in need in my life physiologically, psychologically and spiritually.  In my childhood and growing up there were many difficult and painful events and circumstances that impacted me deeply.  I often found myself arguing with God exclaiming "things are not the way they are supposed to be!" As a teenager and young adult I struggled daily with adjusting to the emotional impact of a series of difficult life experiences.  When I was 35, I was crushed by my beloved horse, yes crushed by a 1200 lb horse which reared up and fell back on top of me.  I have known need, great "stuckness" that was absolutely unresolvable without community.

Becoming unstuck, always required someone else coming alongside with compassion, empathy encouragement and care!  I have grown through painful life events because other resilient people have come alongside me, to speak words of worth and dignity and truth and goodness and beauty into my hurting, wounded places.  I learned that resiliency is a seed within each one of us which we can water, establish, nourish and grow by being in loving, beautiful, caring community.

As a teen and young adult various family members and good friends came along and listened and listened and walked with me and spoke words of life into my heart that kept me going while I learned the emotional, spiritual and embodied skills needed for getting through rough times.  I spent my late twenties and early thirties growing as a counselor and community psychologist, being given skills, words, and ways of being with others that nurtured life in relationship. I have spent the last 15 years being accompanied by various physical healers who have tirelessly worked to rebuild everything from my injured brain to fractured bones, to twisted spine to contorted tissues and muscles and incomprehensible physical fatigue. Always through out my life I have felt the presence of YAWEH, of God, not a great man in the sky, but YAWEH, the unknowable one, the one who loves and holds and helps and accompanies all of us who share the earth.   I have been accompanied by Jesus and and ministered to by angels.  And in their coming, I have been taught to respect the spiritual, emotional and embodied life of others.  I have learned to trust that people's painful experiences and circumstances cannot change our identity as small and humble and meek and GOOD and Beautiful and Impactful and full of Dignity in our very "being".  Our need, is our great teacher for becoming fully humanly beautiful

Susan Ross, a theologian and writer shares: “From my mother and others along the way I have learned that beauty is to be shared, that creating beauty is a statement that one cares about others and oneself".    We are Beauty becoming when we practice the art of being highly sensitive to one anthers need, in a way that lets strength, courage, kindness, compassion and love emerge in each of us in the midst of accompanying one another through life. 

I am going to Nepal in recognition that the women and children I will accompany for 15 days, who have experienced the horrid circumstance of human trafficking, are just like me, fearfully, wonderfully beautifully made, with need of the company of others that the beauty within them may be encouraged to flourish.   Together we are Beauty becoming!

If you would like to financially support this trip, I remain in need of $1,935.00
There are 2 ways to contribute

Donate Electronically: http://www.gofundme.com/Hope-Rising-Amidst

Or by Check, as a tax deductible donation sent to: Nepal c/o Sunset Covenant Church

                                                                                   18555 NW Rock Creek Blvd.

                                                                                    Portland OR. 97229

Thank you for donating, that we together might meet this need.

 Sharing...


         Place

Sharing...

       the same base...
LIFE Bringing Forth.... 



                                                            Life 
                                                                Giving place, space
                                                                     Beauty becoming
                                                                         artful healing 
                                                                             Beauty-FULL
                                                                                Birth place.

                                              

A simple thought today of healing through sharing. The photos above are from the Red Wood Forests in California.  Beauty of the earth, of natural world for me is always experienced in the sharing.  The natural world thrives with sharing as its habit, essential truth and value.  The earth teaches us always in a new way, from its very old way of being.

The earth lives habitually in opposite ways of repression, oppression, extraction, exploitation, or paying the price of loss of humanity due to our behaviors of destruction.

To share is to have in common.  In my walking the forest everything seemed to have in common, life and its many seasons, aspects and forms from birthing to decaying. Everything in its time and place was uniquely living in the sharing of the common life that is the beautiful forest.

I believe all of life began this way, in sharing of an outpouring of love which brought forth all life in this cosmos.  And the bringing forth of life became very good when everything for the beginning had been made.  Creator God called everything "very good" when creation in its original form was finished and whole, night day, earth sky, plants animals fish and  the full of human kind, both male and female together on the final day of original creating.

Nepal is a geographical location.  Human trafficking and the need for transformation of the ways of repression, exploitation and collateral loss of human beauty from this atrocity is Global.  Healing humanity requires pulling together to bring beauty from the ashes of human atrocities as we examine the past, imagine a future and move differently in the present for the sake of our future.  We are Beauty becoming free to bring forth more beauty! It requires sharing resources of knowledge to change laws, to change beliefs and philosophies and theologies and psychologies and anything created by human beings that breaks the wholeness of knowing we have life in common and it is very good!

The women in Nepal and the Harambee Arts team which is gathering from across the globe, will work together through expressive arts to bring forth a time of sharing in the strength and courage it takes to look at our brokenness for the purpose of regaining wholeness.  And as I return to the US and Oregon, I will bring back with me a greater sense of what it means to walk in the sharing of Healing and Hope and Life to share with all of you.

As a Pastor in the Christian faith, I believe Jesus is always calling us to share, bread, fish, wine, water, finances and mostly LOVE which brings forth LIFE!  So I go to Nepal to share my life as part of a gathering community who is determined to bring forth beauty from the ashes of human trafficking experienced, and community restored where some were cut off because of repression, exploitation and the habit ignoring or allowing of the pain of some, and the perpetrating of harm by others.

Will you join me in this effort of Raising Change?

• Will you read about Human Trafficking in your own geographical location?
• Will you work to gain a comprehensive understanding of this Global heinous economic enterprise?
• Will you find ways to be involved in the transforming work that creates a world where human trafficking no longer exists in any form? 

Will you join with me through sharing your economic resources, that I may share with the women in Nepal, your loving kindness and care?

Donate Electronically: http://www.gofundme.com/Hope-Rising-Amidst

Or by Check, as a tax deductible donation sent to: Nepal c/o Sunset Covenant Church

                                                                                   18555 NW Rock Creek Blvd.

                                                                                    Portland OR. 97229