some dreams coming into fruition...

Many of you know that my heart is significantly drawn to those who are trafficked into the sex industry, and the new ‘abolition’ movements that are addressing this global ‘slavery’. In the past years, I have sought out ways to get involved locally, jumping into any opportunity I get to learn more & educate others about this issue, including creating an independent study last year. My eyes have been opened to the reality of ‘Domestic Minor Sex Trafficking’ (DMST). Like many others, I have gone through the transition from thinking of sex trafficking as an issue that mainly plagues SE Asia, to seeing its nasty outreaching hands that encompass the globe…even the USA.

Now I get to be involved in both areas.

Last January 2010 I organized a 2-hour panel at our local transit center called ‘STOP Trafficking’, through my work at Skagit Domestic Violence & Sexual Assault Services. The panel included a local woman whose daughter was trafficked 20 minutes from where the panel was held, as well as the director of Washington Anti-Trafficking Network, a local sheriff (who was unaware of the issue locally), and a woman whose started an org to raise money for victims of trafficking. 135 people came, packing the room to the brim. Out of that I started Skagit Against Slavery, (www.skagitagainstslavery.org), that still meets at TN, seeking to educate the community on trafficking for both sex & labor.

In April I went to an 8-hour training on DMST by Shared Hope International and decided I

wanted to bring that training to the Skagit Valley. This past Monday, we did it! Beth Mauden, from Soroptomist International (in pic), and I organized two events for Shared Hope International to train & expose our community to what this issue looks like locally and how we can respond.

January 24th Tierra Nueva and our next-door church hosted a 6 1/2 hour training by Shared Hope International on Domestic Minor Sex Trafficking....and 130 social service providers and law enforcement came! That evening, we trained 160+ educators, parents, youth, and concerned citizens who came to the Sedro Woolley Community Center. If you don't know anything about Sedro Woolley, its a very small community...and we were astounded by this attendance. People also came from surrounding towns such as Marysville, Bellingham, La Connor, Anacortes, Mt. Vernon, Burlington, and Arlington. It was amazing and very gratifying.

I was also on a radio broadcast with Seattle Police Department's Sgt Detective Ryan Long on the topic, to hear it go to speakupspeakoutradio.org

In addition, in the past two weeks, I have been invited to fulfill another dream of mine...

go to SE Asia and visit organizations that are working there with survivors of trafficking! I am amazed at this opportunity and can’t describe how excited I am! A friend named Yonnie is leading the trip, who Bob Ekblad (TN’s director) met while visiting Iris Ministries in Mozambique. She has welcomed me into the team of mainly other Iris folk, whose goal is to pursue the planting of an Iris base in Thailand. Things are coming together and (thanks to the generous support of donors these past months!) I will be joining the team’s trip to Thailand March 1-15^th, and going to Cambodia March 15^th-27^th! Both coworkers at Tierra Nueva and at SDVSAS are very supportive of me going on this trip, knowing its importance to me.

We will join up with Nightlight as they do street outreach one night, visit with YWAM in Bangkok, meet a missionary couple who specifically focuses on the men who are involved in prostitution, and celebrate God among the masses in Pattaya Praise! (Pattaya is one of the largest sex trafficking destinations in the world). I am excited to learn about the work these people are doing, as well as learn alongside the Iris team as we minister to both staff and participants that we meet. It is a huge privilege! (Nightlight has a beautiful jewelry making business, if you would like to send any orders along with me, let me know :)

In Cambodia, I hope to visit Hagar International, Servants of Asia’s Urban Poor (who Bob & Gracie Ekblad met with last year), and a dear friend of mine who moved there last year!

I am so grateful…both of these are DREAMS come true…the training and mobilization of local leaders to address Domestic Minor Sex Trafficking, and now soon to visit these organizations AND do so with a team of people, rooted and grounded in prayer.

Thanks again for YOUR SUPPORT of me, you help make this happen!

As led, I’d love your INTERCESSION for me as I enter into preparation and for me during the trip (Feb 28^th to March 27^th).

"You're approved for the jail!"

That was the text I received this morning from my friend and TN coworker Amy. A funny statement...I couldn't help but be aware of its oddity and how for many this is not a statement which is followed with an exclamation point and congratulations! And yet, that is (fortunately) my situation. Next Sunday, for the first time I will join others from Tierra Nueva who have been leading Sunday Jail Bible Studies for years.

The Skagit County Jail Ministry has been one of Tierra Nueva's core ministries for the past 16 years, since Bob Ekblad began leading dialogical bible studies with the inmates. The dialogical model is one in which the inmates are invited as full-on participants--their contributions being equally if not of more value than those of the leaders. For more on this model, see:

• Bob Ekblad's "Reading the Bible With the Damned" which includes numerous discussions that have risen out of both reading the bible with Skagit County Jail inmates as well as campesinos in Honduras

• works by Gerald O. West, such as: Reading the Bible in Africa: Constructing our own Discourse, School of Theology, University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 1996.
• Ernesto Cardenal's The Gospel in Solentiname, which is 'a radical reading of the Good News of Jesus from the perspective of the poor and oppressed

As the Tierra Nueva's website explains,
"Most of these inmates view God as a judge or prosecutor, ready to write them off, condemn them, and damn them to a place of no return. But through open discussion of Scripture and healing prayer, many are discovering a God they have never known before, a God ready to liberate, heal, love, and restore. God is constantly touching these forgotten ones through physical healings, legal miracles, and the resolution of impossible situations."
http://www.tierra-nueva.org/TheJailMinistry.html. Click here to see the article (.pdf format) that appeared on the front page of the Skagit Valley Herald a couple years ago!

TN staff lead Bible Studies in the Men's, Women's, and Juvenile Jails multiple times per week. For the women, these are on Sunday at 1pm, and 1:30pm in the different pods. Amy is the lead Women's Chaplain and has been for the past year. See: http://skagitwomensjail.blogspot.com/ for more on the past Bible Studies and experiences.
I look forward to joining this time of worship & study, (or 'jail church') and to learning from inmates. So if you think of it, every third Sunday of the month, from 1-2ish, that's where I will be!

Family Support Center Year End Report

Happy New Year!

Tierra Nueva's Family Support Center

Year End Report

To give you a little taste of what this year has looked like, I wanted to let you know the mix of things Salvio and I do in the FSC and about how frequently. The following is an average of the number of families TN’s FSC serves per month:

• Clothing: 20-25 families
• Court/Legal Appointments: 10-15 individuals
• Doctor Appointments: 5 individuals
• Immigration related appts in Seattle/Tukwila: 5 individuals/families
• Housing Assistance/Applications: 5-10 families
• Job Applications: 15 individuals (2-3 applications each)
• Identification (WA State ID, Mexican Consulate, License): 10-15 individuals
• Referrals to other agencies: 15-20 individuals
• Baby diaper coupons: up to 60 families
• Mail distribution: 20-30 individuals
• Monthly Total~ 90 families; 90 individuals

the baby diaper coupons!
The FSC distributes the diaper coupons not only to provide forpeople's basic needs, but also as a way to foster further connection, support, and advocacy as needed. People that wouldn't otherwise know about our services, hear through word of mouth that we give out these coupons for a program called Basics for Babies. We are one of two programs that distributes these coupons. The majority of these families also select clothing & blankets from our clothing closet. A number of families, also begin to develop trust with us, and learn that they can come to us with a variety of other problems and needs: legal, medical, housing, employment, accessing other resources, etc. All of these families are either Spanish, Mixtec, or Triqui families. Baby Diaper pick-up time is on Wednesdays from 9-2pm, so Weds from 11-2pm is our busiest time of week with numerous families coming through our doors.

The FSC distributed baby diaper coupons to:

• a total of 230 separate families throughout 2010
• 122 of 230 were new families who had never received our coupons before and more than likely had never entered our FSC.
• families came to the FSC at least once and up to 12 times for the coupons, (able to receive coupons once a month).
• family size ranges from 3 to 9, so the number of individuals we served in this manner is approximately 1400 during 2010.
• baby diaper coupons open the door to continued service, connection, and relationship

Through providing holistic advocacy, accompaniment, and pastoral care, the Family Support Center continues to open its doors to some of the most needy and vulnerable in Skagit Valley.

Thank you for your support and care!