The Kony 2012 video went viral. And after being in the public eye, it received a lot of criticism and backlash. And although I don't agree with Invisible Children all the time (never have, probably never will), they are the only group out there trying to bring Kony's name into every household, and that is something I can get behind. I'm not required to give any money to them, I don't have to advocate for their group...it's simply about Joseph Kony and his victims in Central and East Africa.
While I was in Uganda, Watoto was launching Project Gulu. Gulu is in Northern Uganda, which is where the LRA was "stationed" for decades, and they have suffered severe loss and trauma due to the war there (Have you still not watched the movie, "War Dance"? C'mon people. This is the third or fourth time I've written about it. It's a beautiful story about hope and redemption. Seriously, watch it. Now.) Watoto was trying to make life livable again in Northern Uganda through trauma rehabilitation for the children who had been child soldiers, medical intervention (check out this video of Nancy), and starting one of their villages/babies' home there. I got to hear a young man, David, give his testimony at Watoto church. He was a child soldier, forced to kill. Through Watoto, he found Jesus and learned the power of forgiveness. His story stuck has with me, which is part of why this campaign is so close to my heart.
(He is featured in this viedo, along with others who Watoto has helped. The first minute and a half-ish is about Watoto's founders and how it started)
Anyways, so because the video went viral, Invisible Children kind of changed their initial plan of Cover the Night. Yes, it still involved hanging posters and such around your city, but they asked that you focus on getting involved in community service in someway on Friday. Because making a change in the world starts across the street. Beautiful right?
Ryan and I both work full, full days on Fridays so our available hours weren't really compatible with volunteering at a local charity. And the annual Philly Spring Clean up was last weekend, so areas around us that need trash pick-up were covered during that. So I had to settle with getting some toiletries for a local homeless shelter for women and children (I called earlier and asked what they needed most, and that's what they said. Not volunteers, not food or clothes but toiletries.) But I've also connected with a ministry just down the street that I'm going to start volunteering with every Tuesday. I'll be working at their food pantry, which they try and run like a grocery store. Where the families benefiting from it can come in and shop for food they want rather than just receive a bag of food we put together for them. They have a certain amount of credits to use on non-perishables and an amount for fresh foods. I'm so excited to start doing stuff in my community. (Our small group is studying the book of James and after discussing the section in James 2 about "faith without works is dead" I've been really convicted to do more physically in my community. Not just volunteering with church, but taking the initiative to seek out a group to volunteer with separate from our church. Then this Kony 2012 campaign was just an extra push in that direction.
They also asked to send hand written letters to your leaders (representatives, senators, and president for me) either thanking them if they supported the recent initiatives to support bringing Kony to justice or asking them to jump on-board. (I learned that my representative is named Chaka Fattah. I've been saying it over and over ever since.)
Ryan and I headed out late Friday night and hung posters and wrote in chalk all over town. We were as considerate as possible and tried not to create any extra work for people, because that would only bring more negative attention to the campaign. So we used painter's masking tape to hang our posters and only did chalk "graffiti" so it would wash away in the next rain (which was on Sunday). And I told myself that any posters that I hung that I still saw hanging by Tuesday, I would take down myself. But they have all been torn down by now. I also attempted to get permission to paint a wall, but every one I contacted either didn't respond or said no. Oh well, we did what we could.
This post was meant to just share our pictures from the night. Sorry for all my video links. It's just that I can't help myself, this is a topic too close to heart.
(He is featured in this viedo, along with others who Watoto has helped. The first minute and a half-ish is about Watoto's founders and how it started)
Anyways, so because the video went viral, Invisible Children kind of changed their initial plan of Cover the Night. Yes, it still involved hanging posters and such around your city, but they asked that you focus on getting involved in community service in someway on Friday. Because making a change in the world starts across the street. Beautiful right?
Ryan and I both work full, full days on Fridays so our available hours weren't really compatible with volunteering at a local charity. And the annual Philly Spring Clean up was last weekend, so areas around us that need trash pick-up were covered during that. So I had to settle with getting some toiletries for a local homeless shelter for women and children (I called earlier and asked what they needed most, and that's what they said. Not volunteers, not food or clothes but toiletries.) But I've also connected with a ministry just down the street that I'm going to start volunteering with every Tuesday. I'll be working at their food pantry, which they try and run like a grocery store. Where the families benefiting from it can come in and shop for food they want rather than just receive a bag of food we put together for them. They have a certain amount of credits to use on non-perishables and an amount for fresh foods. I'm so excited to start doing stuff in my community. (Our small group is studying the book of James and after discussing the section in James 2 about "faith without works is dead" I've been really convicted to do more physically in my community. Not just volunteering with church, but taking the initiative to seek out a group to volunteer with separate from our church. Then this Kony 2012 campaign was just an extra push in that direction.
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| Broad Street Ministries, where I'll be volunteering |
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| Some of our donations to drop off at Mercy Hospice |
Ryan and I headed out late Friday night and hung posters and wrote in chalk all over town. We were as considerate as possible and tried not to create any extra work for people, because that would only bring more negative attention to the campaign. So we used painter's masking tape to hang our posters and only did chalk "graffiti" so it would wash away in the next rain (which was on Sunday). And I told myself that any posters that I hung that I still saw hanging by Tuesday, I would take down myself. But they have all been torn down by now. I also attempted to get permission to paint a wall, but every one I contacted either didn't respond or said no. Oh well, we did what we could.
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| Ryan has improved a lot in the picture taking department. He took this without a flash at night, which is nearly impossible to get a clear shot with, with my camera |
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| Somebody else's work, but still a cool shot. (I didn't buy posters from Invisible Children) |
This post was meant to just share our pictures from the night. Sorry for all my video links. It's just that I can't help myself, this is a topic too close to heart.
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