Posted in Cambodia by Loretta Washburn on 10/19/2011
In September we worked with an organization called Teen Challenge. TC is a drug rehabilitation center and this particular one was for teen boys and men. It was so hard to believe that some of the guys there had dealt with and were still likely to be handling an addiction, whether to alcohol, meth, glue, pornography, or sex. Our first week involved "helping" them clear the rice fields and plant new ones. I used quotations because although we were helping and entertaining them with our rough techniques of pulling rice, I think we mainly slowed them down. The next two weeks involved teaching English, Bible, Art, Health, and as always, getting our butts kicked at volleyball.
From an outsider's point of view, everything about our experience in Cambodia was wonderful. The people we met were extremely hospitable and friendly, our relationships with our contacts, and the men we were serving was great, team relations were great, I loved teaching English, we had food, shelter, and cool water for showers in the extreme humidity...I just hated life that month. Not everything, of course, but there was definitely something off in my spirit. My best efforts at defining it are that I was unsatisfied with my spiritual growth up to that point. Also, the oppressive heat and humidity, stacked against our one fickle oscillating fan for 5 people weren't cutting it for me. I really can't blame it on the heat though.
In January, at the beginning of the Race, I knew that I'd be up for any type of ministry thrown at me. The only thing I wanted for myself was to become free. I wanted freedom from fear, codependency, low self-worth, etc., and I very aware that I was not there yet. I've made lots of progress in those areas but I felt very frustrated realizing we're getting closer to the end.
Looking back, I still cannot clearly define the funk I was in. All I know is that it was the low before the amazing high I've experienced in Australia. I was also a little disappointed to think that I might not be able to hack it in 3rd world countries. God needs people to places with beds and A/C too, right?! 
| |
|
Posted in Australia by Loretta Washburn on 10/9/2011
I don't mean to sound dramatic, but I'm desperate for FREEDOM, all over and
in general. I'm pretty sure I'm the only one holding me back, but
I've lived in my people pleasing, risk-free comfort zone, showing you
only about 70% of who I am for WAY TOO LONG! And only 70 % because
there's a good chunk of the other 30% that I didn't know about
myself or trust others with.
I'm so tired of thinking for so long about every single
thing I do, asking myself, "Is this what defines me best?"
I'm SO over it. Have the stinkin' mocha frappe, wear the gray nail
polish, buy that thing because you love it...and on and on and on.
This might seem completely normal to some, but its not for me. Don't
judge. There are a million other things I could tell you about discovering freedom, but I really want to tell you about this one...
Back in February I had the
chance to get my nose pierced and didn't because I was too worried
about what it would mean. "It doesn't really mesh with my life back
home..." Also I gained the approval of some people in my group for
not doing it when several other girls had. I later felt disgusted to
realize how much I do, and for that matter, don't do to be pleasing other
people! So, for the whole month of March, I contemplated it, like I
do, and determined not that I wanted to get my nose pierced,
but that I had to. No one on my team went with me (a WR no-no,
sorry), so in the moment of truth I squeezed the hand of my Sicilian
contact, Eliseo, who being tatted up and pierced himself, was fully
supportive :) No worries, my family isn't finding out through this
blog, they've known the whole time.
Apparently there are three things that
gals on the Race are likely to do: get a tattoo, shave their heads,
and get their noses pierced. I didn't know that beforehand, and yes,
all those things have happened on my squad!
Here it is, I think its
lovely.
It doesn't mean anything. I'm not a hippie, or a punk, or whatever. ..I thought I'd just give you the opportunity to get over it while I'm not there :)
| |
|
Posted in Cambodia by Loretta Washburn on 10/9/2011
Early in the month of September we
found ourselves in Siem Reap, Cambodia for our month 8 debrief. We
have a total of four debriefs in the 11 month span. They are after
months 2, 4, 8, and 11. This particular one is where they know
they'll find us ragged and exhausted in every possible way. The staff
who came from America did a great job of re-energizing us, pouring
into us, and being available to us for whatever we needed. However,
I'd say their biggest priority during those few days of debriefing is
to prepare us for re-entering life back home in America, or Canada if
you're Anne Embree :)
The major points I took away are:
Have a plan. What are you going to
need to do the first day back?, the first week?, month?, etc.
Find a community.
Find an opportunity to get
involved
Talk to your family, friends, etc.
about your expectations and merging the new you with the old.
Ask for help.
Prepare how you'll talk about your
experience.
You're going to ask, "How
was your trip?" and I'm going to say, "Great!" while
at the same time determining if you want the 10 second version, the
10 minutes, or the 1 hour long version. How can you possibly explain
this experience in the 10 seconds or less that everybody hopes your
answer will take?
So let me know if you're the hour long
version person, otherwise I'll give you a shorter version that I'm
sure I'll have ready by then. Also we can have ongoing discussions
about it if you want. I'm sure I'll think about it every day for the
rest of my life.
Get ready for me to be overwhelmed at
answering that question, but at the same moment wanting to convey
everything that God was doing in the world
and in me. Heck, just the other night I'm pretty sure I cast out an
evil spirit! Seriously. Now that I think about it, I've decided to
compile a list of suggestions of things to ask about, seeing as how I
can jump to a particular story easily :)
Buddhist/Hindu temples
Hindu gods
Muslim mosques
Indian weddings
house visits in Moldova
glue kids
hiking/camping in Nepal
clearing and planting rice
teaching English
casting out demons my testimony singing out
team time every day
being given dog to eat
fasting
hospital visits in Swaziland
the Jesus film in Mozambique
our 60 hours of travel through
Mozambique (including the soul-sucking chapa)
an authentic Asian restaurant
getting lice
learning to prophesy and having tons of
prophecies given to me
intercessory prayer for women in bars,
the Navy boys on Bangla Road, health, druggies, children, parents,
etc.
my first motorcylce ride
feeding homeless indigenous people
trains, planes, automobiles, tuk tuks,
koombis, autos, taxis, etc.
bargaining
braais
Pinterest
elephants
monkeys
hippos
fish spas
iced coffee and pad thai
game drives
beaches
the Taj Mahal
Angkor Wat
...and last but not least, dating on
the WR is not allowed, so there's nothing new to report there, I
promise :)
| |
|
Posted in Thailand by Loretta Washburn on 9/26/2011
Here's my teammate Lauren's video recap for Thailand! Get ready, its beautiful!
Untitled from Lauren Rush on Vimeo.
| |
|
Posted in Cambodia by Loretta Washburn on 9/26/2011
This month I was served at Teen Challenge in Cambodia. It was hot, extremely humid, buggy, sweaty, and perfect for us. Our team was so blessed to spend time with these happy, energetic boys and men. I think you'll be surprised that these sweet faces are recovering drug addicts.
My awesome leader Lauren has been putting together videos of our ministry each month. Here's the recap for September!
Untitled from Lauren Rush on Vimeo.
| |
|
Posted in Thailand by Loretta Washburn on 8/24/2011
Yup. Here's what that looks like...
8:00am Sleep in/Morning run/walk- For one of the first times on the race, I have a nice place to run or walk with some great running buddies. Its so nice to get moving again! |
|
|
|
Before  After running in the rain. 
12:00pm LUNCH TIME 1:00pm Afternoon ministry- Each afternoon looks a little different. Some days we are in the field doing practical labor (planting trees, hoeing, pouring concrete, playing in the mud, watering bushes, weed eating, etc) at the next SHE ministry site...  
 
...while others go to the SHE office where there's AC (a.k.a. a fan) to make jewelry, construct mosaics, or bake cookies.  
  
Others put their prayer to work in the streets of Patong where we return to later that night (the streets are practically deserted during the day).  
While still others might be hanging out with some women that they met the night before at the bars! 
5:00pm DINNER TIME/SHOWER/NAP 7:00pm Free time- It never fails that this time consist of fighting Winston for your shoes, an evening walk to the local 7/11 or fruit stand for snacks, back to do a little relaxing and catching up on whats happening around back home (a.k.a. Facebook stalking), and team time!  
 
 
8:00pm Group Worship- To get our heart and minds focused preparation for our work on the streets, we spend an hour in praise and worship. I love this time- 25 people seeking complete intimacy with the Lord!   
9:00pm Night ministry- After worship we say good-bye to our guard dog, Winston, pile in the truck, and head to the bars in Patong (never thought I would say that on a mission trip)! Once there we split into groups of 3 or 4, pray for guidance, and go where the Lord leads us. Most nights we go to about 3 bars. Just by walking the streets, you can feel the spiritual warfare in the air. There are women dancing on bars, little kids drugged by parents to stay awake selling necklaces, and people passing out flyers with invites to things I can't even mention here (which we are prohibited from going to as well, even to witness). When we get to the bars, we order our juice, soda, water and then start conversations with the women. Most of the time we play games (Connect Four, Jenga, the nail game or Jackpot) to break the ice. Sometime the conversations go well and we end up with a lunch date, other times they are a fail and we try again at another bar!
   
 
For those not in the bar, they stay back at SHE and intercede. This job is not to be taken lightly. Interceding is just as important, if not more, than the people on the streets. It looks a little different each night. Sometimes we worship, and pray as a group, other times everyone spreads out and does their own praying while still other times we walk to the dam and pray in the middle of God's beautiful creation!  
12:00am Return from ministry/ debrief- At the end of each night, we all meet together and have one final debrief of our day, how things went at the bar/praying, and we close in prayer. This month has been incredible. The country is beautiful and I get to see God at work every day! Thanks to everyone who has supported me in extra prayer or finances! Because of you, lives are being changed.
|
|
|
|
| |
|
Posted in Mozambique by Loretta Washburn on 8/16/2011
Here's a video recap of our CRAZY long travel days ~ 60 hours and 3000 km (that's right, 2000 miles!) from Maputo to Lichinga, Mozambique (go ahead and see if you can find the two cities on the map below). We were hating life at the time and I may or may not have lost part of my soul (no worries, my contacts helped recover it).
By the end of our travels we had grown together as a team only to find ourselves catapulted to even higher places in our walks with God. Even to this day we refer back to "our Mozambique" as a standard to strive for. We loved Mozambique and our time with Iris Ministries!!!
Untitled from Lauren Rush on Vimeo.
| |
|
Posted in Thailand by Loretta Washburn on 8/13/2011
HUMAN TRAFFICKING: the illegal trade of human beings for the purposes of commercial sexual exploitation or forced labor; a modern-day form of slavery; and the fastest growing criminal industry in the world and is tied with the illegal arms industry as the second largest, after the drug-trade.ual exploitation or forced labor; a modern-day form of slavery; and the fastest growing criminal industry in the world and is tied with the illegal arms industry as the second largest, after the drug-trade.
Get
this though, what we're seeing here is women who have purposefully
come to Phuket from poor towns all over Thailand. They just want to
make some money and take it back home to live with their families. They choose to work in the bars to draw customers in and potentially go home with men in exchange for money. They aren't slaves for the most part. You may think, "Well if
they're choosing it, then there's bigger issues at hand than what I
can deal with." Excuse me? Have you met Jesus? Has He radically
changed your life? Okay then, you should be able to muster up
all the "leverage" you need to talk to someone about coming out
of that lifestyle. If you think you need a
little more than Jesus to seal the deal, then I'm tempted to
wonder...have you really encountered
Him?
I've
been wondering, "How can I do this ministry? I'm only here
for a month. I need more training, resources, courage..." Here's
the thing I need to remind myself. SHE Thailand is the gateway out.
They're staying here for the long haul, they're trained, they're staffed, and they do this all the time. Ironically, all I've heard them
say is, "Cover this in prayer and listen to the Holy Spirit.
It doesn't really work any other way."
That's
it. I'm not responsible for dragging anyone out of a bar, leading
every single woman to Christ, finding her a new way to make a living,
or an answer to how she'll feed her fatherless child. It doesn't
sound like much, but I'm just being myself, covered in prayer before,
during, and after, being the love of Jesus that I already know.
Mark and Sharon run SHE and they work hard to put things in place for
women who choose to leave that lifestyle behind. But they can't do it
all. There are 1,000 + women working on this one road in Thailand.
What is needed are workers, people who will carry love, the love of
Christ, to each woman. That's why AIM sends Racers all the time.
The
pressure is off. I can totally do this.
The
LORD is a refuge for the oppressed, a refuge in times of distress.
Those who know your name will
trust you, for you have not forsaken those who seek you, LORD. Psalm
9:9-10
| |
|
Posted in Thailand by Loretta Washburn on 8/8/2011
During the month of August, I am working with SHE ministries in the Red-light district in Phuket, Thailand. (http://www.shethailand.org/).
We have an incredible opportunity to reach hundreds of prostitutes through bar ministry as we develop relationships with these women, inviting them to lunches and offering them job alternatives with SHE ministries.
During the hours of 9pm-11:30pm, our teams go from bar to bar and sit and play games with the women as we talk about their lives, their families, and their jobs.
Even if a woman rejects our invitation to SHE ministries, we've still kept her from being sold for the night to one of the many men that prowl on the streets. Every conversation, every encounter, every woman is worth it.
...and in case you're wondering, we order water, juice, soda, etc :)
| |
|
Posted in Swaziland by Loretta Washburn on 7/26/2011
If you've ever had totally good intentions when buying TOMS but at the same time wondered if you've spent too much on them, then I have some good news for you. These particular TOMS, and many others were spotted on the feet of kids walking by were in northern Swaziland, just north of Tshaneni. 
Also, I spent July with a cool chick named Adrienne Thompson who paints TOMS professionally in Disney World. She's only here a month and she's already giving stuff away. This girl gets it.
Check out Adrienne's artwork!
| |
|
Next 10 Articles >>
|
|
|
