holy night 2014

16
Light for cemetery prostitutes HOLY NIGHT

Upload: compassion-first

Post on 04-Apr-2016

234 views

Category:

Documents


2 download

DESCRIPTION

 

TRANSCRIPT

Page 1: Holy Night 2014

Light for cemetery prostitutesHOLY NIGHT

Page 2: Holy Night 2014

2

Page 3: Holy Night 2014

3

God still comes as He did on that Holy Night 2000 years ago, to people and places where least

expect him.

Into darknessAmong the poorToward the suffering ones

Holy Night is the where the depravity of mankind and Divinity collide.

Dead ground sprouts life Light shines in darkest nightLove triumphs

Compassion First’s Holy Night Campaign is bringing hope to one of Indonesia’s most misunderstood and marginalized populations — cemetery prostitutes of Surabaya, Indoneisa.

Page 4: Holy Night 2014

Yellow Flower Cemetery Prostitute | Surabaya, Indonesia4

Page 5: Holy Night 2014

Small children play among the garbage as she cleans massive gravestones with a small straw hand broom.

Shortly after sunset, she tucks her children into the single dirty mattress they all share before wearily returning to the graveyard.

There, among the graves, she gives her body for pocket change to the stream of men approaching on bicycles and motorbikes.

Her nightly earnings are barely enough to provide food and rent money for a 10’x10’ dingy cement room along the cemetery’s edge.

Her neighbors call her names. They say she is dirty and as good as dead. She is enslaved by poverty and haunted by shame.

Still she does not give up.She dreams of something different.

5

Page 6: Holy Night 2014

6

Page 7: Holy Night 2014

7

Page 8: Holy Night 2014

In January 2013 CF hosted a Christmas celebration in Surabaya, inviting 300 of the cemetery’s sex workers and their children as honored guests.

Then at the invitation of our new friends, we returned again and again to the cemetery, just for visits. From these visits we began to better understand the realities of daily life there, but mostly we fell in love.

8

It started with a party

Page 9: Holy Night 2014

In January 2014 we hosted another Christmas celebra-tion. It was truly a banquet fit for a king; complete with a beautifully decorated banquet hall, delicious food, sing-ing, exchanging stories, and gift giving. The hope when designing this event was not to impress, but to affirm the inestimable value of our precious guests.

9

Guests fit for a king

Page 10: Holy Night 2014

10

Page 11: Holy Night 2014

11

Page 12: Holy Night 2014

Inspired by her determination for a better life, we’ve given our first micro-capital business loan to a cemetery woman. She has already repaid the loan in full and is earning $3 every day by preparing

food and selling it from her modest home along the cemetery’s edge. Her business continues to grow, as does her influence. Her suc-cess is inspiring other women to dream of different futures for them-selves and their children too.

A 14 year old girl’s resolution to walk a path different than as a sex worker like her mother, presented opportunity for CF to provide men-toring and a full scholarship into a local middle school. She loves school and her teachers tell us that she is thriving in every way. She dreams of being a teacher someday, and is already leading the way in her community. We are continually identifying other cemetery children we hope to scholarship through the Holy Night Campaign.

We recently hired an amazing Indonesian woman as our first full-time employee in Surabaya. Her regular interaction with those we serve there provides us a continual connection to the happenings and heartbeat in the cemetery. We are thrilled and believe that God has provided just the right person for the job. Her in-volvement is evidence of God’s ten-der heart and kindness toward those we love in the cemetery.

We’ve been welcomed by com-munity leaders to move into the neighborhood and we are working toward acquiring a small house in the center of the cemetery population. The gathering place would provide a safe space for a children’s program as well as business training and other empowering opportunities for their mothers.

A Student is Sized for Her l Uniform | Surabaya, Indonesia

12

Since then...

Page 13: Holy Night 2014

Signing a Loan for Her Rice Shop | Surabaya, Indonesia

13

Visiting the Rice Shop | Surabaya, Indonesia

Page 14: Holy Night 2014

The Holy Night Campaign celebrates a God who comes near to us, and to all who suffer. He comes with Light that turns darkness into day and with a Love that changes everything!

14

You are invited into this unfolding story. PrayGiveShare

compassionfirst.org

Page 15: Holy Night 2014

Another party, of course! Building on a joyful foun-dation of friendship and mutual respect, we will return to Surabaya in January 2015 for another

Holy Night celebration, but with a little different emphasis this time.

A Family Affair

Like you and I, the biggest concern of the ones we love in the cemetery is the well-being of their families. Our friendship with the women has heightened our aware-ness of the men’s needs. Many of the women we serve have husbands and most have children. There is ex-pressed desire for relationship with the whole family. So this year’s Christmas celebration will be a family affair.

Together with our friends in the cemetery, we are making arrangements for a warm Christmas gathering where women, children, and men come just as they are—in celebration of the One who loves them most.

We will also host a retreat for cemetery families. This is new territory and we are humbled and excited for the invitation to build relationships with the men there. The two-day event will help us better understand the dy-namics and values of cemetery families. We trust that by sincerely appreciating their stories and backgrounds, we may identify our role in empowering them to create the futures they dream of.

God is up to something beautiful in the cemetery of Sura-baya and is inviting us to join him there.

15

What’s Next?

Page 16: Holy Night 2014

COMPASSION FIRST16055 SW Walker Rd., PMB 239Beaverton, OR 97006-4592compassionfirst.org

(503) [email protected]

The people who walk in darkness will see a great light.For those who live in a land of deep darkness, a light will shine. Isaiah 9:2 NLT

The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it John 1:5 NLT

Ibu Lala | Yellow Flower Cemetery Prostitute

Light for cemetery prostitutesHOLY NIGHT