This was written by Rachelle Uribe, one of my teammates. I, personally, am not in need of finances as far as AIM is concerned. We are required as World Racers to raise $14,300. Through one time and monthly donors I have the $14,300 accounted for. By the ended of the Race (May 2011) I do hope to have at least $15,000 in my account to cover expenses such as buying equipment, shots, plane ticket to launch etc.
For now I’m asking that you read this blog and consider supporting my squad mates so they can finish the Race!
Thank you all SO much!!
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I hope this letter finds you well, that your
Christmas shopping is almost finished, and the crisp winter weather is
to your liking. I hope the nights are filled with hot chocolate and warm
beds. I hope you are surrounded by your friends and family. Tonight I
hope you are loved. Tonight I am riding in the back of a truck through
Chang Mai, Thailand. It is a warm and humid 65 degrees and there is the
delicious smell of spices in the air. It is going to be a long night
and I won’t get to bed until 2 or 3 am (that’s about noon in
California), but this is what you may not know about tonight.
- Tonight 20,000 – 30,000 street children are impoverished,
hungry and in danger of being exploited on the streets of Bangkok,
Pattaya and Chiang Mai.
- Tonight girls,
age 13-15, who were sold to pimps by their parents for 5,000 – 10,000
baht ($160- $325), are working in bars and brothels of Chang Mai.
I know it is easy to stop here…but please don’t…read on!
- Tonight
a rural family will eat thanks to the 300 million dollars transferred
yearly by women engaged in prostitution in urban areas.
- Tonight 18-20% of all Thai women aged 18-30 are in
sexual slavery
- Tonight the streets are
walked by men who sell sex because it is the only work they know, the
work they have been doing since they were children.
- Tonight the industry is booming and 2.8 million sex
workers, including 800,000 minors under the age of 18 are available for
purchase in Thailand.
There are a lot of sad and
discouraging numbers on this page but they
aren’t just numbers, they are people, beautiful people, they are
daughters and sons, brothers and sisters, they are children.This past
weekend over 1 million people changed their face book profile pictures
to favorite childhood cartoons to combat child abuse. Over 1 million
people were willing to take the time to change their profile to voice an
opinion that child abuse is not acceptable. What if they were willing
to do more? What if those 1million people descended on Thailand and
outnumbered the 500,000 foreign tourists who buy women and children for
prostitution every year, 2 to 1? What if each one of those 1 million
people took personal interest a woman or child trapped in Thailand’s sex
industry and showed them real love? What if?
I can’t stop sex tourism, I can’t deliver a crushing blow to the sex
industry or end human trafficking. What I can do is buy a woman or
child for the evening and keep them from having to do sex work that
night. I can talk to them about the foundations and the resources
available to help them out of trap of the sex industry. I can become
their friend and let them know not everyone in the world wants to use
them… I can’t do these things if I am not here.
At the moment there are 43 June 2010 world racers in Thailand. We
are working with orphans, street kids and sex workers. We are building
houses, doing out reach, making friends and even picking up trash. We
have spent the last six months and hope to spend the next five (11
total) working with existing ministries in Europe, Africa, Asia and
Central America to bring the Love and the word of God to the people. On
December 15th,the final support goal for the world race requires each of
us to have $14,300 donated or pledged to continue on the race, without
it we will be forced to abandon our work and have to return home to the
U.S. There are currently 11 racers in danger of leaving the field. 11
racers! That’s 11 friends, 11 pairs of hands and feet, 11 smiling faces,
11 people doing the work and giving the love that you want to. I know
finances are tight, I know Christmas is coming and there are so many
things to do and to buy, I know I am asking a lot but if I don’t ask you
can’t help.
Below is a link for each at risk racer and the amount they need to
raise in the next 7 days, please take a little time (maybe the amount it
would take to change a profile picture) to share this email with your
friends and family and read our blogs. Read about what we have been
doing, what we have been learning and who we are becoming and if you
feel moved to help please pick a racer and commit to make a one time or
monthly (for the next 5 months) donation to support their mission.
James:2-14-17 What does it profit, my brethren, if
someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him?
If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, and one of
you says to them, “Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,” but you do
not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it
profit? Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.
Tom and Casey Kowatch, Colorado -$4,446
Rachelle
Uribe, California-$3,575
Lili Mejia,
Texas– $2,515
Anna
Matthews, South Carolina– $2,100
Kris Tippett,
Maryland– $2,088
Carrie
Campbell, Florida– $2,000
Nathan
Salley, Colorado– $1,800
Dan
Montenegro, Texas– $400
Sarah Hogan,
Oklahoma– $390
Garrett
McNeill, North Carolina– $50
The Lord has called us to
this and I have no doubt He will provide the finances necessary for His
will to be accomplished. We are inviting you to partner with us, with
God in the work He is doing in Thailand, Cambodia, Nicaragua, Guatemala
and wherever else He sends our squad.
Thank you for reading, may God bless and keep you!
Merry
Christmas and Happy New Year
Sources:
http://www.uri.edu/artsci/wms/hughes/thailand.htm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/6277176.stm
http://www.chiangmainews.com/ecmn/viewfa.php?id=2879
http://nhtrc.polarisproject.org/materials/Human-Trafficking-Statistics.pdf
