Giving Thanks While on the Road

What an interesting week. It has been the best and worst one of tour, all at once. How does that work, you ask? Well let me tell you...

We started out this week on Sunday with three screenings-- 2 at different churches and then one at a benefit show up in Ventura. At our first screening, the church handed us a $2500 check very discreetly, we almost missed out on the fact that they had just given us the funds to rescue a refugee, but realized it right before we left, and were able to thank them profusely. Sean and I both felt that we hadn't done our best during the presentation, but apparently the congregation was moved enough that they were awesome enough to save a refugee's life! Wow. What a great start to our week.

One downer was that LA traffic was awful this week. We barely made it in time to every single one of our screenings, no matter how early or late we left for it. Oh well. I suppose that's the life of an LA-er.

Even though it was the week of Thanksgiving, we had so many screenings! I'm not sure if people were more kind because it was almost the holidays, or because they are just awesome. I think it's the latter. I met so many incredible people at all of the screenings. Christina opened her home to Jane & I, even though neither of us was at the screening that she hosted. Jonathan allowed us to sleep on his floor & couch, even though it was just for 2 hours, since we had to get going at 4am to take Sean to the airport so that he could surprise his mom for Thanksgiving (so awesome- apparently she cried because she was so happy! Glad we could help out with that one).

Thanksgiving was wonderful! Jane & I joined Kevin's family for a lovely meal & some fun hanging out time. We played pool (where I lost royally... I'm pretty bad...) and ate lots of delicious pie-- pecan, apple, and pumpkin! I really loved exposing Jane to American-ness. We drove past a giant blow-up turkey the day before Thanksgiving as we drove to the beach to hang out, and all I could say was "Welcome to America! That's how we do things." Goodness. Some people are ridiculous. Though it was pretty awesome to be able to spend the day on the beach at the end of November. I do love southern California!

I wish I could say that the week ended as well as it started, but I got a very grumpy phone call this morning from one of our contacts, letting me know that he was angry with LiNK because we didn't have a North Korean refugee at our screening. Unfortunately, that's not what we do. Sean, Jane, and I are passionate about the issue, and that is usually all that matters. Apparently they were expecting a refugee, and when we did not deliver one, they were so disappointed that they want to take back all of their donations to LiNK, as well as never hear from us again. This guy even was angry that there was a "white American boy" and a "Canadian girl" on stage talking to the people about North Korea. Really? I don't appreciate being told that I can't talk about the issue because I'm not North Korean, let alone Korean in general. Such a disappointment for us :( But I guess there has to be ONE crazy contact out of 100. We had been having such a good roll so far, so it was pretty inevitable. Luckily, Justin defended our honor, and the situation was made better.

But hey. We are ending our week on a positive note! Our regional manager, Brenda's friend is going to India on a mission trip, and is holding a benefit concert tonight to raise funds for her trip. So we are relaxing and about to listen to some good music to end our week on a high note!

Crazy times. Only one more week left! Next stop: more of LA and OC! :)

Become a Nomad!!!

It's Your Turn To Speak: Apply to be a Nomad from LiNK Global on Vimeo.

Applications due November 30th! :)

LA. Week 1. Crazy.

This week went by super fast! We have had 15 screenings over 5 days, a day off today, and then 3 more screenings tomorrow! It was totally worth it though. We have met some incredible people over the past week. Foothill Tech HS started out our week, then off to UCSD in the same day (Liz Choi & here chapter are awesome!). On Tuesday, we had Cal Lutheran & SBCC, both of which were much better than we ever expected, which was so awesome! Wednesday was pretty much our day from hell... Jane & I stayed at a high school all day while Sean went off to CAMS and LACC. After all that, we met back up after sitting in traffic for forever, and split up again to go to Oxy & College Ave. Whew. After all that, we stayed with Rod, who was a really awesome guy who lives in the hills that overlook LA. What a view! He also had a lot of cats, and a lot of musical instruments. Which was super sweeeeet!

Thursday started out with us going back to CAMS, and then heading to Cleveland HS, where there were about 50 kids for an afternoon screening! Wow. They were all pretty cool, especially the KSA club members. In the evening, we went to the church that rescued Yoon Hui over the summer! They were very humble & very excited to see the documentary. As soon as that was done, we headed over to Pomona, where we met up with one of Sean's friends from IC to go see the midnight premier of Harry Potter! I won't spoil it for anyone, but it is somewhat different than the book (as usual). That is all.

On Friday, we started out our day slightly tired, but pumped after seeing HP7(part1). We went to Thoreau HS, a continuation school with about 70 kids. They all squeezed into one classroom, and were intrigued & interested in what we had to say about North Korea. They asked some great questions, and some of them stayed after we were done (which was the end of their school day/week/start of Tgiving break) to talk to us some more! From there, we headed to Glen A. Wilson HS, where a LiNK chapter just formed about a month ago. We had no idea what to expect, but as soon as we showed up & saw the "Welcome LiNK Nomads" sign, we knew something amazing was about to happen...

While planning for this event, the chapter had approximated 20-50 students to show up for their after school screening. However, 19 teachers offered extra credit for the screening, and they did an amazing job at promoting it. So on a Friday, after school, 200 kids showed up to watch "Hiding"!!!!!!!!!!! Wow. Those girls were really underestimated by the administration. Not only were there more than expected, but they didn't all fit into the classroom! So we moved the screening into the largest room on campus (where they were all still stuffed in like sardines), and had a super awesome screening!

After all that, we drove down to Torrance for our last screening of the day for a youth group. They were all super sweet & asked a lot of questions, even the cute little 6th graders! I also tried Kimchi for the first time last night... Let's just say it's not my new favorite food... haha.

Fun times. Today we have the day off, so we are just bumming around in Torrance! Tomorrow is going to be a crazy one as well, along with the next 3 days up until a quick little break for Thanksgiving. :)

Next 2 weeks: Greater LA/OC!

Westside Ministries

11/7/10

Before arriving this morning, we knew two things about this ministry: they were poor, and they had somehow managed to rescue a refugee over the summer. We were excited to share the story of Myung-Su, the refugee who they funded. As soon as we arrived, we knew that these were amazing people. The pastor was in the kitchen in sweats, making french toast for breakfast for the entire congregation. Quite a few people were even wearing their "Run DMZ" shirts that they had purchased over the summer.

As we shared the stories of the five refugees, we got a response like none other that we had seen before. When Myung-Su beat Justin at arm wrestling, they cheered, as if he was their son, and he had just scored the winning touch down at the football championship game. A similar cheer sounded when the Chinese police officer overlooked the refugees on the bus.

This group was so impressed by the change that they had made in just one individual's life, that they decided to continue their commitment to this issue, and to LiNK. They wrote us another $2500 check to rescue a second refugee, and pledged to raise the funds to rescue an additional THREE refugees by January 1, 2011! We were blown away by their generosity, not because they rescued 2 refugees already this year, but because these people in the ministry are not rich. They are literally giving all that they possibly can, and probably even more than that. It's the poor helping the poor. Many of the people originally came the the United States illegally, so they understand the situation-- many of them have lived or experienced the same stories.

I was (and still am) so inspired by this small, humble group. Honestly, now I feel like I'm not doing as much as I possibly can for this cause. This experience has inspired me to give the remaining four weeks of tour more than my all.

Around noon today (11/8), we got a call from our VP (Justin), letting us know that not only had that ministry done all of that yesterday, but this morning, they sent off another $2500 check, and had received a $10,000 check, bringing their total refugees rescued to SEVEN since July!

Wow, Westside Ministries. I am touched by your generosity. There is just no way to say Thank You enough. If everyone in the world was as kind and as wonderful as you, this world would be an incredible place.