“When our grandchildren ask us where we were when the weak and the voiceless and the vulnerable of our era needed a leader of compassion and purpose and hope – I hope we can say that we showed up, and that we showed up on time. And that the very God of history might say, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant.’” -Gary Haugen

I've had some free time since finals were over, and I've been reading the book Terrify No More by Gary Haugen. He is the founder of International Justice Mission, an agency that rescues victims of violence, oppression, sexual exploitation, and slavery. Terrify No More is the heart-wrenching, sickening, hope-filled, intense story of IJM’s operation to rescue the brutalized children of Svay Pak, Cambodia. Svay Pak was a village built around the sex trade of children, some as young as five. It had become an acceptable industry, protected by even the highest authorities in Cambodia. When IJM workers heard of it, they immediately began an operation to rescue the children and bring justice to their abusers. Their first raid ended in the arrest of all the rescued children because they were illegal Vietnamese immigrants. Two of the head undercover investigators had their covers blown, and the third had his life threatened more than once.

Haugen visited Svay Pak for himself before the rescue operation was put into full swing to get a feel for the village and the level of suspicion in the brothel owners. After being taken back into a brothel with 5-10 year old girls, he writes, “The sight of elementary-school-age girls, like those who gather in giggling groups at my own kids’ school, being assembled not to play a game or hear a lesson or watch a movie, but to be forced into sex acts, was one of the most disorienting moments of my life…it was as if someone had reached inside to grab my deepest internal compass of reality and orientation and had sent the arrow spinning in violent circles with a massive flick of the finger.”

The IJM workers didn’t take on this operation to make themselves heroes. They were simply doing for these girls what they would have done for their own children in the same situation. They finally received participation from the government and were able to conduct a planned raid with help from Cambodian policemen. Dateline NBC covered the story, which can be read at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4038249/. They tell the story much better than I can. There is also footage showing teenage boys trying to sell the services of 8-year-old girls, and the little girls telling the undercover investigator how much they cost. It's sickening on many levels. But it's real, and now that I've seen it I must ask myself, and ask God, how to respond.

Gary Haugen writes in one chapter about how evil triumps because those that can act to end it have a poverty of compassion, purpose, and hope. He writes, “We are paralyzed in a poverty of hope because, first, we underestimate the value of what God has given us to transform lives. Second, we underestimate the value of a single life. And third, we underestimate God’s determination to rescue us from a trivial existence if we will just free up our hands and our hearts from unworthy distractions and apply them to matters that make a difference in someone else’s life.” In order to overcome that poverty, I have to be determined to look to Jesus and resist the temptation to lose hope. I long to end my obsession with myself and to turn to the only one who can give me lasting joy, and then to have the compassion for others that He feels.

Highlights of my week:
1. The Grove women's Jazzy Christmas Party!
2. Laine's Birthday party on Monday night, where we ate bruschetta and played Disney Scene It for hours on end.
3. Korean barbeque for dinner Tuesday night, and hanging out with my friends who cooked it and their cute and cuddly twins.
4. Finishing The Horse and His Boy. I read it between projects to help stay focused when I was actually working, and so I wouldn't go insane from staring at the computer for 3 days straight.
5. Full nights of sleep.
6. My Chinese oral final, and finding out that Xu laoshi feels the same way I do about U of A's education program. But I won't go into that. She was really encouraging, and I'm blessed to be in her class again next semester.
7. Finishing all my Literacy assignments.
8. Making 10 points above the class average on my last macro test (not the final..it's still coming)
8. Finding out that Kristen got her and Stephen's visas in time for them to leave for India on Monday!

Lows of the week:
1. No new episode of Grey's and Erin is out of town, which means we didn't have Girl's Night (probably good though, because that would have led to more procrastination.)
2. Not turning my literacy assignments in on time...I missed the part about making an appointment with the teacher to give them to her.
3. Scene 3 of the kids' play at rehearsal...or maybe it was good, and I just didn't know that the wise men ran around the manger with large plastic spears, Joseph threw things at Mary a lot, and she made faces at Gabriel as he announced that she's going to be Jesus's mother.
4. The fact that the class average for the last macro test was a 54%.
5. The 10-degree weather this morning.

So...I have a lot to be thankful for! The weekend is here, and I'm going to the Bentonville Christmas parade tomorrow. Worrying gets nothing accomplished...studying does sometimes, though.

This week the majority of my time will be devoted to the following 4 literacy projects (due Friday) that I have put off until now:
1. A paper about my own definition and opinion of reading.
2. Five reports over the books Bridge to Terabithia, the Hundred Dresses, Ramona Quimby Age 8, Ramona and her Father, and Hatchet.
3. My practicum notebook, with all my notes from my fun-filled days at Walker Elementary.
4. My final project, which is going to be a lesson plan using the book China's Bravest Girl to teach reading comprehension, vocabulary, and conversational English to Chinese speakers.

As long as I don't waste too much time watching Scrubs reruns and the constant TV showings of Elf and Love Actually, I will probably be able to get everything done without too much stress.

Yesterday my sister and I played with her webcam effects.

"We read to know we are not alone." -C.S. Lewis

So, I finally cleaned off my bookshelf and actually put my books in it. Here are some recent additions to my collection (most of which I found at the library's used book store):
Farmer Boy by Laura Ingalls Wilder
Christian Reflections by C.S. Lewis
Kindergarten Teacher's Activities Desk Book
Hatchet by Gary Paulsen
Ramona and Her Father by Beverly Cleary
Masterworks of World Literature
The Grace Awakening by Charles Swindoll
And, the most treasured addition is my grandmother's Bible that she carried until she passed away.

I love how children's literature helps me reconnect to the way children really think and experience life. Even though I usually work with children about 12 hours a week, I forget the way their minds work. They are experiencing a lot for the first time, and I'm sure it's overwhelming to process everything going on around them. It's hard for me to imagine the time when childhood wasn't considered a distinct stage of life, and when literature written specifically for children was nonexistent. Thankfully, since then there have been many gifted children's authors whose stories can be used to teach kids moral truth, help them realize they're not alone in the world, and give adults a glimpse at the inner workings of their minds and hearts.

He's here! This is Kort, the most adorable baby in the world. He was born this morning to my sister Beth and her husband Schuyler. 7 pounds, 10 ounces of cuteness! He's already smiling and I think he'll be able to say my name within the next 6 months.

I love this guy! Praise God for new life!