3 films

over the last few weeks we've seen three films that were really wonderful, each of which dealt with impossible dreams.

The first was The Amateurs, starring Jeff Bridges. It is a sweet movie with an odd cast of characters and an unlikely story. Jeff ridges plays a character not unlike many others he has played - a lovable loser. He comes up with an idea... their little town will be the first town to produce a full length porno film. The porno film is a disaster but everything turns out in the end.

The second was King of California. Michael Douglas plays a character recently released from a mental hospital who has a dream of finding buried treasure. He pulls his daughter into this crazy scheme and they go searching after the treasure. You'll have to watch it to discover whether they find it.

The third is a completely different take on impossible dreams - Trade tells the story of a teenage Mexican boy trying to rescue his sister who has been trafficked into the US. Against impossible odds, Jorge goes after his sister Adrianna as she is sold in this strange new land of the United States. He is helped by an American police officer who is searching for a daughter he fathered via an affair some years earlier and who was sold into sex slavery by her mother. It is a glimpse of the darkest hell that human beings can create contrasted with love that will endure anything.

The three films point to the most beautiful aspects of the human spirit and in the case of Trade, the ugliest as well. I highly recommend all three films.

Christmas is coming.

Annie Dieselberg spoke at our church last night... what an amazing woman! Annie works with Nightlight, a ministry in Bangkok, Thailand, working with women and children involved in the sex trade. We heard about the cultural pressures in Thailand that facilitate the horrors of trafficking of women and children. We learned that human trafficking is tied for second place in the list of the most lucrative illegal moneymaking ventures (illegal arms and drugs are the others in the top 3). There are as many as 27 million people held in slavery in the world today with 800,000 people being trafficked each year, perhaps as many as 50,000 being trafficked into the US.

It is easy to despair at the numbers, shrug one's shoulders and go on ignoring the issue... or we can begin to chip away at the problem. It begins by men making the simple declaration - "not buying" because women are not for sale. It goes on from there with organizations that offer alternatives for the women such as Nightlight.

Nightlight does amazing work in helping these women. Training in life skills and reinforcing the idea that a women does not have to sacrifice herself and her dignity to show love for her family build a foundation for a new life. Learning above all that God loves them and that they have value far beyond what a man is wiling to pay in a bar gives strength for positive change. Still, there are cultural expectations of supporting their families and economic pressures that cannot be ignored. Nightlight addresses these issues and restores dignity for the women by teaching them to make jewelry and then marketing the jewelry around the world. The jewelry is available here.

Christmas is coming and while generally I feel pretty negative about the materialism that surrounds that holiday, we have found some ways to give presents that make a positive impact in the world. Nightlight ranks right up there. Purchasing this jewelry directly impacts the lives of women who otherwise would be on the streets or in the bars in Bangkok selling their bodies. The equation is simple. More jewelry sold = more women helped. So... purchase some jewelry as presents, give it away, transform some lives.