This week was an awesome week for me. We learned about attachment disorder. Attachment disorder is the affectionate tie between two people which begins with the mother and becomes internally representative of how the child will form relationships with the world. This was one of my favorite topics during the school and I can’t wait to use the material I learned in the class for real life. We learned how even if a child was abused at one years old his brain function completely changes from that time on. My favorite thing during this week was learning how to work with the kids and what to do to improve their condition.

http://www.courant.com/news/connecticut/hc-copdigbrf0401.art1apr01,0,2718225.story

In this article it is talking about how a man was charged with trading child pornography over the internet. He was caught by an undercover cop on the internet. After that they raided his house and found 600 pornography images on his computer. He was sentenced to 6 years in prison.

Prayer Points
*Children in the child porn industry
*People who run the child porn business to get caught or stop
*People who are involved with child porn in any way

This week we had a speaker named Ro Potter and she taught on human trafficking. She told us a lot of personal encounters that she had with human trafficking, which was really interesting. She taught us not only from the victims perspective but the john and the pimp as well. She told us a story about a man who was into trafficking women and what happened before he started doing it. I realized that a lot of the time I get really mad at the pimp or the trafficker but what I didn’t realize was that they have a story too. They were not born with a cold heart but they most likely got there from past abuse. I’m not saying this is right but the pimps and traffickers are hurting people as well.

This week was a really sad week for ministry because it was our last week working with Metro Ministries. It was a really good last week and we have a lot of good memories to look back at with the kids. I am going to miss them a lot. This week I got to share my testimony in front of the kids which was really nice even though I was really nervous it was worth planting that seed in their lives. I got to share about my father and how he was never in my life and how God can take the place of a physical father.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-ambroz/35-foster-children-dead-s_b_520584.html

In this article it is talking about how 35 foster children have died in Las Angeles, California since 2008. The most recent being a two year old who was killed by a hammer by a caregiver in a foster care agency. Throughout the article they are talking about how the kids are not being checked up on by outside sources. They suggested that they want to use technology to help share data and information about the youth and their placement.

Prayer Points

*Placed with safe and loving caregivers
*Good new Director of Child Welfare
*New system that would work

This week we had our teaching over skype with one of my school leaders sister. She is a school teacher of one of the inner city schools of Kansas City. Her teaching was mainly around four behaviors that kids develop. The first was “attention,” these kids are the ones in class that are always interrupting and trying to make them be a focus or distraction. The second behavior was “revenge,” these kids will be trying to start fights and be out of control. For example, throwing a chair or making threats towards other people. The third was “power,” these kids will be try to challenge your authority and will most likely try to do anything not to listen to your rules or the things you tell them to do. The fourth was “avoidance of failure,” these kids would try to do anything not to do their works and say that they can’t do it or they are not smart enough to complete the task. Along with all this she taught us how to handle each behavior and what most likely caused the kid to take on this behavior.

On Thursday and Friday we went to a facility that took care of kids with special needs. At first it was really intimidating because the woman was very who ran the place was drilling us as soon as we got there. But once we split up into groups of two and went into the rooms with two children and two teachers, it was all good. I was so surprised on how good the teachers were with the kids. It was such a great experience and I had so much fun with the kids and got a lot out of it. The kids were very blessed by having us there and we were also blessed by being there. On Friday we also got to work with Metro Ministries and a team from Las Angeles, California joined us as well and did a couple of skits, which was really awesome. This week was especially cool for me because I got to mingle with the older kids a little bit as well as the younger kids. I have been wanting to talk to them every week but it is really intimidating when my Spanish is not very good. But God blessed me and let me get my foot in the door. I have been wanting to talk to these guys every week I have been there and my heart has been for these guys as well. I have hope for these guys and believe that God is going to work in their lives.

http://in.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idINIndia-47123720100322

In this article it is talking about how one hundred and forty seven children have been infected with HIV in Uzbekistan. This happened in the hospitals in Eastern part of the country. Out of these kids fourteen of them are no longer living. All this happened from not sterilizing the syringes that were used by previous patients who obviously carried HIV. Luckily twelve of the medical staff have been fired and sentenced to jail, sadly this can’t take back the kids from the HIV virus.

Prayer Points

*Medical awareness of proper sterilizing
*That the kids can cope as well as they can
*Salvation over the kids

Week 9

This week we had 3 speakers. The first speaker was a guy named Phil from Casa Viva and he taught us about Isaiah 1. He emphasized how God prefers justice and mercy over religious deeds and legalism. This really stuck out to me and made me realize that God isn’t all about sacrifices you need to make in your life but he really wants you to support the weak and lost. The second teacher was his wife and she taught us about discipline, and how you need to discipline children according to the background. For example you can’t discipline a kid that has been living on the street the same way you would discipline your own child. The last teacher was my leader Scott’s wife, Leslie. She taught on kids with disabilities. This topic really struck my interest and I could see myself working with the disabled in the future. The thing I really liked about the way she taught was that she had us do research and had us teach ourselves.

For outreach we went to two locations. The first location we went to the same daycare as last week. It was really cool to go back because I had already built a relationship with some of the kids and they were happy for us to be there. We did a couple of activities and game and talked about God’s characters and how he loves us. It was really cool to plant seeds in these children and can’t wait for God to root in them. On Friday we worked with Metro Ministries again. I love this group of kids and their playfulness that they have. At the end of it I got to pray for this man that was in a wheelchair who was in a motorbike accident and is just now starting to try and walk again. It was a really nice time.

http://www.pekintimes.com/news/x324655596/Hard-times-children-at-risk

In this article it is talking about how children have been at risk in their own homes. How with the economy and people not having a lot of money are needing help at home. In this they are allowing people to stay in their house for rent that they don’t know very well. This causes problems because the children are sometimes left home alone and some of the kids have been abused. As well as single mothers having their boyfriends come stay at their house and the kids are being taken advantage of.

Prayer Points

*Mothers discernment for good boyfriends
*Protection for kids from roommates
*Awareness of situations like this
*Kids talk up when abused

This week we had a Samoan speaker come and he taught us about street children. He lives in Brazil and has been working with street children over there for a while. What I really liked about his teaching was how he emphasized on how much we need to rely on God and prayer while working with the street kids. He also taught us about some practical things to do when you run into situations with street kids. For example, don’t try to break up a fight when you see them fighting. He also gave a couple of testimonies that he went through while working with children at risk and put it in real perspective for me on how hard it can be at times and showed a lot of the reality while working with street kids.

This week we went to a day care and got to hang out with the kids their. It was a free day care ran for the children in the neighborhood. We had lots of fun with the kids. We got to push them on the swings which they really enjoyed and played cards with them. I could really tell that they enjoyed us being there to have new people to hang around with. At the end we got to play a little soccer with them as well.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hZxpBuPrX2vIYnBuZtCVLuNvBN6gD9E99SSO0

In this article it is talking about two girls who went missing in San Diego, California. One was fourteen years old and the other was seventeen. The seventeen year old was taken while she was going on a jog at a local park. Shortly after she was found dead at a nearby lake. A convicted sex offender was charged with her murder. The fourteen year old girl was taken while on her way to school. She has not been found yet but law enforcement is still searching for her.

Prayer Points
*For the seventeen year old girls parents to cope with her death
*For the fourteen year old to be alive
*For law enforcement to find the fourteen year old
*For the stress of the fourteen year olds parents

Dave Swann- Project planning and Development

Dave was a guy from England who lives in South Africa. He taught us about project planning and strategic planning. The difference between the two is that strategic planning is more over a bigger group of people or nation and is focused on a vision and a mission. Where project planning is focused more on a smaller group of people/culture and driven by goals and objectives. In the class he split us up in two groups and gave us a chance to plan a project of our own and my group made up a coffee shop project. After we were done he gave us pointers on what would work and what wouldn’t. He also had us read Nehemiah 1 through 2 and pointed out how there was strategy in the bible not only spirituality, which made me realize that God gave us reasoning and thinking for a reason.

This week for outreach we worked alongside with Metro Ministries once again. We did a few skits that showed how our choices (Adam and Eve) separate us from unity with God and how Jesus brought us back together (Jesus crucifixion). I played the part of Adam. It was really cool because at the end we had a little alter call and invited the kids on stage to accept Jesus. Almost the whole stage was filled up with kids which was awesome to see as it showed their excitement to respond. These kids are accepting the seeds that are sown into their life and I can’t wait for them to be full grown.

http://www.sundaymercury.net/news/midlands-news/2010/02/28/council-knew-145-kids-were-missing-in-birmingham-at-time-of-khyra-death-66331-25927807/

In this article it is talking about 145 kids missing in Birmingham schools during the death of a young girl who was not attending school. Some of the kids had been missing since 2006 and not able to be traced in the whole country. This is a scary thing to think about that so many children are first taken out of their education and second, are not able to be found. The ages ranged between 5 and 16 years old.

Unicef.org

This organization is working with children at risk all around the world. Some of their main focus areas are: child survival and development, basic education and gender equality, HIV/AIDS, Child protection, and policy advocacy and partnership. Their motives or the reason why they do it is because children have rights, children demand a voice, poverty reduction starts with children, and because children should not be dying from preventable cause. You can support by being a donor, volunteer or member of one of their organizations they are partnered with.

Rick Allegretto- Servant Leadership

This week we learned on how to lead with a servants heart. Along with that Rick taught us that leading has no formula and that people need to be lead with different styles. This really stuck out to me and made me realize that people are going to be at different places in their walk with God and all needed to be approached differently. He gave a good example of this by saying if you told someone to walk them through it instead of expecting them to do it on their own. This help me realize that not everyone is going to be at the place you are at in your walk with God and you are going to have to take these people to process slowly and walk them through it step by step. He also talked about Jesus being the best servant leader and how he came to serve and not be served. I learned that humility was a big part in leadership and to not portray yourself as perfect, because it is a lot easier to approach a leader when he admits his faults and is honest with you.

This week I got to work with metro ministries and it turned out great once again. This time we went to a different location which had about twice as many kids show up. It was a very good group of kids who had lots of energy and were hard to keep up with. Worship was really fun and all the boys were wanting to crawl on my back while I was jumping around. It was really nice to bring joy to the boys while worshiping God, that was really cool. There is nothing better than to share the joy of the Lord.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/invisible-children-at-risk-from-unofficial-fostering-1905789.html

In this article it is talking about children who are at risk from unofficial fostering or being fostered in secret. The British Association for Adoption and Fostering (BAAF) did a survey and found out that one out of ten of the kids they surveyed had been looked after by someone other than a parent or close relative for at least four consecutive weeks at a time, yet only a few of them were registered with local authorities or child protection services. In cases like these it leaves child vulnerable and open to be taken advantage of especially if the care giver is not being watched over and made sure that they are providing a safe environment for the child. This puts them in a greater risk of abuse, neglect, slavery and prostitution.

Prayer Points

- that the community would recognize and stand up for these children
- that the children would be put in a safe home and taken care of
- children would be protected from abusers
- families to stay together and not have to abandon there kids

Greg Burch- City Wide Strategies and Child Participation

This week was good, it’s a little hard to put it into summary. We had two speakers come- Greg Burch and Brooke Burns. Greg taught more on how to approach starting or joining a ministry. He gave us a lot of good examples on what not to do and strategies on how to go into a city or town. He emphasized on doing your research before entering a place and being aware of the atmosphere/culture. This helped out a lot and made me realize that I can’t just walk into a place without knowing what these children have been surrounded by all their lives and things that have been impacting them or taught to them by their culture. Brooke Burns taught on child prostitution and her experiences she has had with it. She taught us a little on how to manage a child who has been through prostitution. One thing that she said that really stuck out to me was “Be focused more on a healing journey, not moment.” This helped me realize that it is a process and God’s going to have to walk them through it and that there are not necessarily words that you can say, but it is a journey with each individual. She went on talking about how she has been working with a girl for a little over a year and just recently went through a breakthrough with her.

This week I got to help clean at Casa Viva. It was nice to serve the place after all they are doing for the children. We split up in two groups while some of us helped at Casa Viva and the other group went into town and played music and hung out with the locals. The other group had a really good time and met a girl that lives somewhere around us. I also got the chance to work with Metro Ministries again this week. It went well and this weeks topic was the power of words. I got to do an illustration of throwing trash into a trashcan. The moral of it was that what words you let into your life is what you are going to get out. As well as the importance on how you talk to people and what you say.

http://globalvoicesonline.org/2010/02/13/darfur-youth-keep-crisis-in-the-spotlight/

In this article it is talking about what is happening in Darfur, Western Sudan. Since 2003 there has been a war between the rebel groups and the Sudanese government forces. Since then 300,000 people have died, 2.7 million Darfur people have been forced into refugee camps in Sudan and Chad. The crazy thing is that 80% of these deaths during this time were caused by disease, not violence. But the children are being affected by all of this. There is an estimated 1.8 million children affected by the armed conflict, by having a disrupted education, exposed to health concerns, and brutal violence. Along with that there is an estimated 4,500 children associated with the armed forces and groups.

Prayer points
*Protection from violence
*Protection from refugee camps
*Awareness of disease and how to avoid it
*Education for the children

Teenchallengeusa.com

This is a christian organization focused on helping kids with drug and alcohol problems. They use biblical principles in order to free them from this. Their goal is to have the kids mentally sound, emotionally balanced, socially adjusted, physically well, and spiritually alive.

Christy Scott- Inner Healing



This week was a very good week and I got a lot out of it. She taught us that there has been a battle for our lives between God and satan that began in our moms womb. She also told us how important our childhood lives were from 0-6 years old and how the things that were spoken in our lives during that time would create a filter on how we react to situations. For example, if we were told as a child that we were unwanted then this might make us live our lives as if we had to prove ourselves or be perfect, or feel like we are rejected. What this taught us is if we want to fix the reactions/personality traits that we took on we would have to go to the roots. A new revelation that i got was to know that truth= to be set free and that Jesus is the truth. I cam to a deeper understanding of what this really means. This stuff brought out a lot of questions on what areas of God's character do I not trust or not believe to be true? Along with, what lies have I been believing.



This week we went back to Casa Viva and hung out with the kids again. This time it was a little bit more organized and we had a small lesson plan that we did. My favorite thing was just playing soccer with the kids and bringing them joy by letting them score sometimes. We also went to Jaco beach and got to go to this little part called "The River." It was a very poverish area where this woman was doing a ministry down there. She let us get a little glimpse of what she was doing and what kids she was working with.



http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1247847/20-000-children-risk-neglect-bad-nurseries-staff-limited-knowledge-safe.html



In this article it is talking about how there are thousands of children who are at risk at nurseries. Around a thousand childcare providers in charge of nearly 20,000 children were said to be inadequately taking care/safeguarding children under 5 years old. One of the common problems was the failure to ensure the caregivers were suitable to work with children. As well as not doing background check on the adults working with the kids. Some other concerns were not maintaining the childs hygiene and no training in first aid. They also discovered that five percent of the quality of education was inadequate and twenty nine percent was barely satisfactory.



Prayer Points

*Proper educational training
*Trained people would step up
*Parents would take more time in choosing what nurseries they are putting their children
*Nurseries would not take in people without proper knowledge or experience

armsoflove.org

This is a christian ministry that operates homes that provide long-term care for orphaned, abandoned, and abused children in a family environment. They work in five locations- Nicaragua, Philippines, Mexico, Senegel, and Brazil. They receive children whol have been permanently separated from their parents due to a combination of death, abandonment and abuse.

viva.org

They discover who is working with children at risk and where they are and support the organizations. Usually by uniting those projects and workers, enabling partnerships that will mutually benefit and serve. They help mobilize churches, communities and individuals to play their part in changing the loves of the children.

Cristina and Karen- Child Abuse & Child Protection Policy

This week was a really good week for me. We did a lot of hands on activities. The first day we played jeopardy with the categories being different types of child abuse-physical, sexual,spiritual, neglect and emotional. Another activity that i enjoyed and got a lot out of was when we had to act out a skit consisting of an abused child and how to react/handle when the child tells you about the abuse that they have suffered. She also taught us how to take legal actions and who to call in a situation like this (PANI), which was very helpful and necessary. The thing that was most impacting to me was when we had to write a fake journal of a Haitian child that went through the earthquake. This helped me realize what some of the children might be going through/thinking and put myself in their shoes. Our outreach went really well, besides the fact that i was completely exhausted after wards, but of course it was worth it. We picked up four adopted siblings and took them back to the orphanage from where they used to live and hung out with them we did arts and crafts and lots of soccer. I did not have too much conversation with the kids which made me realize that i need to work on my spanish but this will come in time.

HelptheChildren.org

This is a non profit christian humanitarian relief organization. They work in the U.S. and around the world there goal is to meet peoples emotional, spiritual and physical needs. They have provided 165 million pounds of food, 100 containers of medical equiptment, medicines and personal hygiene, 3 million textbooks around the world and 50 free medical and dental outreaches to third world countries.

SavetheChildren.org

There vision is to ensure every child the right to survival, protection, development and participation. Their programs include: Training new mothers with prenatal care, supplying immunizations for young children, building schools in developing countries and improving literacy and nutrition for children living in rural poverty in the U.S.

http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2010/01/22/haiti-orphans-unicef-1001222.html

In this article it is talking about all the kids that have lost their parents or have been abandoned by them. The rates of orphans have gone up rapidly since the earthquake and the children are left with decisions to make where to go for shelter how to eat and most of all how to survive and in this kind of situation the children are very vulnerable and can be easily persuaded. Along with that they are being taken advantage of and being trafficked which one of the pastors in the article who is running an orphanage found out first hand he was offered to take a child in exchange for fifty dollars. Luckily he refused. But who knows if the next person will refuse and take the child. Or what the intentions of the person receiving the child are and the sad thing is this isn't the only child put in a situation like this.

Prayer Points

*Pray for orphans and abandoned to find their family
*Pray for survival
*Pray for orphanages to be just in the decision of taking in children
*Pray for protection from trafficking of the children

first week

Janna Moats - Topic: Why we're here - A framework for action

She taught us how we can use our skills, money, and influence for our advantage to reach kids. We learned about the importance of parenting and the affects of the parenting on the childrens growth. Kids have 5 basic needs; security, significance, boundaries, community and creativity. She made us aware of the issues that children are facing at home and how they react to these issues. What impacted me the most was when she told us that we need to be going into the situation to learn and not think that we have all the answers. A new understanding that i got was humility and the power of using it. One question that she brought out of me was why are people not doing anything to help preventable diseases? For our local outreach we went to a park nearby and prayed for spiritual wisdom of the things that were going on around the area. One of the girls felt like there were lots of things going on in secret, this mainly led us to pray about the prostitution in the city. This has been a very productive and busy week.

http://www.compassion.com/
This website is focused on helping children spiritually, socially, physically, and economically. They try to get people to sponsor children, want to link one sponsor to one child in need. They offer to educate sponsors about poverty and development.

https://www.worldhope.org/
They are a non-religious organization. They are focused on fighting poverty by helping people get clean water, food, shelter, clothing, and medical supplies. They have four values- humility, sustainability, longevity, and a holistic approach.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/17/AR2010011700901.html
In this article it is talking about what is happening in Katmandu, Nepal. The last ten years the Moaists have been in war against the government. 3 years ago they forcefully took the children out of schools and persuaded them to fight in the war not only did they take them out of school but they took them from their families. Today the children are supposed to be released from the camps that they have been trapped in for the last three years they have been given 130 dollars and a set of clothes. Along with that they have been given an identification card and a "rehabilitation package," which will allow them to go back to school or get into business. But the thing that can't be given back to them is the last three years of their childhood lives. Along with that they are going to try to be a normal child civilian again. On top of that they have to worry about reconnecting with their families.

prayer topics:
* safe travel
*reconnect with their family
*restoration from hurt that was caused in the last 3 years
*their identification is given back to them