Dear Francis,
Updated 3/6/06 8:00am. Music: I am rocking my Christian Rock Best of Playlist, which includes bands like Switchfoot, Aaron Sprinkle, Poor Old Lu, Brave Saint Saturn, Black Eyed Sceva, and Model Engine. Rock and Roll!!!
Anyway it was brought to my attention that the Handshake link is a bit confusing. Handshake is a song by Black Eyed Sceva written by Jeremy Post. The song is about Jeremy's interaction with a homosexual individual who has AIDS, and dealing with his own homophobia and fear about AIDS. Sorry if that was confusing.
Music: Well I listened to a lot of Hip-Hop this week, lots of Mars Ill and Pigeon John. Today I have listened to Model Engine and Black Eyed Sceva, Foo Fighters, and am curently rocking out to Switchfoot…
Well I am feeling way ahead in my classes and this being Spring Break we are going to blog and then get to some homework later, oh I am a bad man!!!
Well last night a bunch of us went to see Dear Francis, at what has been named “First Friday Films” at Bethlehem Baptist. Their link has also been added to my link section and any of the movies I see there can be accessed from their little blog.
Anyway a little setup about the film. Unlike the last film we saw (Seoul Train) this film had more of a faith-based perspective. It basically chronicles a trip taken by two college students to the country of Swaziland. If you have never heard of Swaziland don’t be totally alarmed I hadn’t either. You can read more by clicking on Swaziland above. The link above will tell you that Swaziland has one of the highest rates of infection of HIV/AIDS in the world. Well that is not exactly true, it actually has the highest rate. In 2003 it is estimated that 38% of the population was infected with the virus and then we heard after the film that the most recent report the number had gone up again to 42%. In adults 25-29 (I think those were the number) it is estimated that 48% of the people are infected. Here are a couple more statistics that I found on the website. Of those between the ages of 15-23, 53% of are HIV positive. Of rural Swazis, 20% of the children are orphans from HIV/AIDS. 88% of 15 year-old boys will be dead by 2015 because of AIDS. Those statistics are breathtaking… If you can, don’t just read over those statistics but take a second and let them sink in… I saw them and have a hard time feeling the whole weight of what that means.
But now lets add some faces to those statistics. The two students were going with an organization that presents abstinence to adolescence as a way of fighting the epidemic, along with encouraging students to get tested for the virus instead of just living without knowing. The two students were naive and under prepared for what they would encounter as apposed to all the rest of college students who set out on short-term mission trips to devastated areas of the world.
What they encounter is that the problem, like most problems around the world and in our lives, is not so cut and dry. Poverty, blending of cultures, fear, apathy, shame, desperation of the oppressed, and the sinfulness of man muddy the waters of the situation. It is compelling to see the discovery of this and the way the two students deal with it.
Kelly (one of the two students) visited an orphanage/foster care center and learned about how deep the problem goes, how often children’s parents will die and the children will exchange sex for food instead of starving. She also learned more about the issue of child abuse and rape in Swaziland, it was amazing to hear how many of the girls had been raped by family members, teachers, or other people that should be protecting them. She heard story after story of the abuse of the powerless by the powerful. She was talking with the director of the orphanage and you can see him break down as he tells stories of abuse and as his voice finally fails him he mumbles “No Justice, No Justice…”
One of the students (Lance) establishes a relationship with a young man (Senzo) who like many of the students could possibly be infected because he has been sexually active and had a father die of an “unknown” illness. Lance is able to convince Senzo to go and be tested for AIDS. It was heart wrenching (my body hurt from the stress) to watch them go in and take the test wait for the results and then receive the news. Unlike Lance (who also takes the test) Senzo has probably a 50/50 chance of having the virus. I will not tell you the results cause you should try and see the movie yourself. Even today as I was driving over to Macalester College to study, I was fighting back tears thinking about Senzo and his bravery, and the drama of his story and his life.
I don’t know stress…
Missy asked me as we were driving home, “So why do you think it is important to watch things like this?” And I added “And what can we do now that we have seen it?” Or something like that (sorry Mis). I will start with what I told her, I do think she knew the answer I was going to give but it was nice of her to ask. Awareness is the first step towards action! As Christians we need to be more aware of what the rest of the world is going through. So that we can tell others, pray and hopefully get involved, whether it is by going over and serving short term or long term or helping and encouraging others to go. More importantly we can pray, and be on our faces before God asking for justice and hope for these people. At DearFrancis.org you can find information on how to help. There are ways to help financially and there continues to be teams that go on similar trips. There are also tons of organizations who do great things in Swaziland and the other countries of Africa to fight the AIDS epidemic.
See this movie, it was very moving. My emotions are easily stirred when I see children in pain and hurting, and in some ways this story hits just a little to close to home as I have seen someone close to me die of this horrible disease… So maybe I am not the best critic, maybe I am to emotionally involved, but I guess I will let you be the judge, “Go, go see this movie…”
I know my posts have been heavy as of late and have been talking about weighty issues but I really think it is important for these things to be on our mind and really effect they way we live our lives. We may not all be able to help financially or go right now but there are things we can do… Again remember the story of the Good Samaritan. My neighbor is anyone I can show mercy to. I love you all very much, thanks for reading, it does mean a lot to me when people say they read what I wrote and sometimes even liked it. I have found great joy in rambling, and am thankful for this stress reliever. And thankful for anyone who would take time to read this...
Godspeed,
Caleb M. Saarela
If you do not own or have never heard “The Beautiful Letdown” by Switchfoot you should check it out. I’m on fire when I think of the carnage of the world...
Handshake
Jeremy Post
Anyway it was brought to my attention that the Handshake link is a bit confusing. Handshake is a song by Black Eyed Sceva written by Jeremy Post. The song is about Jeremy's interaction with a homosexual individual who has AIDS, and dealing with his own homophobia and fear about AIDS. Sorry if that was confusing.
Music: Well I listened to a lot of Hip-Hop this week, lots of Mars Ill and Pigeon John. Today I have listened to Model Engine and Black Eyed Sceva, Foo Fighters, and am curently rocking out to Switchfoot…
Well I am feeling way ahead in my classes and this being Spring Break we are going to blog and then get to some homework later, oh I am a bad man!!!
Well last night a bunch of us went to see Dear Francis, at what has been named “First Friday Films” at Bethlehem Baptist. Their link has also been added to my link section and any of the movies I see there can be accessed from their little blog.
Anyway a little setup about the film. Unlike the last film we saw (Seoul Train) this film had more of a faith-based perspective. It basically chronicles a trip taken by two college students to the country of Swaziland. If you have never heard of Swaziland don’t be totally alarmed I hadn’t either. You can read more by clicking on Swaziland above. The link above will tell you that Swaziland has one of the highest rates of infection of HIV/AIDS in the world. Well that is not exactly true, it actually has the highest rate. In 2003 it is estimated that 38% of the population was infected with the virus and then we heard after the film that the most recent report the number had gone up again to 42%. In adults 25-29 (I think those were the number) it is estimated that 48% of the people are infected. Here are a couple more statistics that I found on the website. Of those between the ages of 15-23, 53% of are HIV positive. Of rural Swazis, 20% of the children are orphans from HIV/AIDS. 88% of 15 year-old boys will be dead by 2015 because of AIDS. Those statistics are breathtaking… If you can, don’t just read over those statistics but take a second and let them sink in… I saw them and have a hard time feeling the whole weight of what that means.
But now lets add some faces to those statistics. The two students were going with an organization that presents abstinence to adolescence as a way of fighting the epidemic, along with encouraging students to get tested for the virus instead of just living without knowing. The two students were naive and under prepared for what they would encounter as apposed to all the rest of college students who set out on short-term mission trips to devastated areas of the world.
What they encounter is that the problem, like most problems around the world and in our lives, is not so cut and dry. Poverty, blending of cultures, fear, apathy, shame, desperation of the oppressed, and the sinfulness of man muddy the waters of the situation. It is compelling to see the discovery of this and the way the two students deal with it.
Kelly (one of the two students) visited an orphanage/foster care center and learned about how deep the problem goes, how often children’s parents will die and the children will exchange sex for food instead of starving. She also learned more about the issue of child abuse and rape in Swaziland, it was amazing to hear how many of the girls had been raped by family members, teachers, or other people that should be protecting them. She heard story after story of the abuse of the powerless by the powerful. She was talking with the director of the orphanage and you can see him break down as he tells stories of abuse and as his voice finally fails him he mumbles “No Justice, No Justice…”One of the students (Lance) establishes a relationship with a young man (Senzo) who like many of the students could possibly be infected because he has been sexually active and had a father die of an “unknown” illness. Lance is able to convince Senzo to go and be tested for AIDS. It was heart wrenching (my body hurt from the stress) to watch them go in and take the test wait for the results and then receive the news. Unlike Lance (who also takes the test) Senzo has probably a 50/50 chance of having the virus. I will not tell you the results cause you should try and see the movie yourself. Even today as I was driving over to Macalester College to study, I was fighting back tears thinking about Senzo and his bravery, and the drama of his story and his life.
I don’t know stress…
Missy asked me as we were driving home, “So why do you think it is important to watch things like this?” And I added “And what can we do now that we have seen it?” Or something like that (sorry Mis). I will start with what I told her, I do think she knew the answer I was going to give but it was nice of her to ask. Awareness is the first step towards action! As Christians we need to be more aware of what the rest of the world is going through. So that we can tell others, pray and hopefully get involved, whether it is by going over and serving short term or long term or helping and encouraging others to go. More importantly we can pray, and be on our faces before God asking for justice and hope for these people. At DearFrancis.org you can find information on how to help. There are ways to help financially and there continues to be teams that go on similar trips. There are also tons of organizations who do great things in Swaziland and the other countries of Africa to fight the AIDS epidemic.
See this movie, it was very moving. My emotions are easily stirred when I see children in pain and hurting, and in some ways this story hits just a little to close to home as I have seen someone close to me die of this horrible disease… So maybe I am not the best critic, maybe I am to emotionally involved, but I guess I will let you be the judge, “Go, go see this movie…”
I know my posts have been heavy as of late and have been talking about weighty issues but I really think it is important for these things to be on our mind and really effect they way we live our lives. We may not all be able to help financially or go right now but there are things we can do… Again remember the story of the Good Samaritan. My neighbor is anyone I can show mercy to. I love you all very much, thanks for reading, it does mean a lot to me when people say they read what I wrote and sometimes even liked it. I have found great joy in rambling, and am thankful for this stress reliever. And thankful for anyone who would take time to read this...
Godspeed,
Caleb M. Saarela
If you do not own or have never heard “The Beautiful Letdown” by Switchfoot you should check it out. I’m on fire when I think of the carnage of the world...
Handshake
Jeremy Post
Labels: Serious Stuff, Social Justice
posted by Caleb M. Saarela at 3:30 PM
1 Comments:
Thanks Mitch, I know what you mean. I feel you dogg...
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