Tour Part Two

Our Rags and Riches tour team hit Europe with great enthusiasm.  Four young people, including myself, on a mission to conquer Europe with our "end poverty" message with only our book in our hands and no money in our pockets - this was an adventure!  Here is a little bit about what that looked like.

We went to Switzerland

Then to Germany

Houses in Luzern.

Lamp post.  Maps.  Confusion.

Walking through the streets of Luzern with Sarah and David.

It was a twelve hour time difference - literally night and day time change from Hawaii.

It took me a bit to get used to, but in the afternoon one morning, I woke up to this view of the Swiss Alps.  

We spoke about how everyone has a part in ending world poverty.  This youth group in Luzern was a great audience.  Some of them are leaving on a missions trip shortly.  Special thanks to Mel and Andy for hosting us!

In between speaking engagements we had a lot of time tour the cities and country side.

The ukulele is my new favourite.  Singing on the bus, in the park... Wherever.  It's fun.

We heard a man yodelling right before this picture.  Yup, they still yodel.

In Burn we screened our documentary "Behind the Curtain" and spoke about human trafficking.

Then we skipped over to GERMANY!!

The World Cup champions.

Sarah's mom's church - they prayed for us in the front after we told stories from our last two years.  Thanks to Sarah's mom for hosting at at her home in the Black Forest.

Our book and merchandise table

Sarah's Oma's church.  

Sarah translated our presentation from English to German.  

She was so good!

Oma is a sweetheart, opening her home to four wandering vagabonds as we trekked through Villingen.

We serenaded the elderly at a luncheon put on by the community.

The classics "You are my Sunshine" & "Amazing Grace"

were our best options for our German crowd.

I still can't believe we squished all of our belongings into Dani's car like this.  It was a rockin ride!  Thanks to Dani and his family for hosting our team in Nuremburg.

From Germany we traveled to...

AUSTRIA

"Have a good trip"

We rented a car and drove to Vienna.

(Note to travellers: it's cheaper to rent a car and split it between everyone then to buy separate train tickets.  It's also more convenient)

We loved Austria so much!  We got treated like royalty.

At this speaking engagement, I took off my shoes on stage.

"This evening we want you to experience what it's like to walk in someone else's shoes... And sometimes, those people don't have shoes."

Here Rachel tells the story of Jefry, a man in the slums of Jakarta, Indonesia who used to aide men in finding boys to go home with.  After he became a Christian, Jefry now has a mission to help within the transvestitie community, supporting both their spiritual and physical needs.  He also organizes an annual retreat for transvestites where many people have chosen to turn their lives around.

Here is a screen shot of the story called "Eddy" from the iBook.

Eddy was a transvestite who became a Christian at the retreat Jefry hosted in 2012.

The profits from our book sales are funding ministries like Jefry's.

Other organizations our book "Rags ans Riches" supports are:

'Amani Orphanage' in Kenya and 'Henri Coanda' community projects in Romania.

After Austria we went to the Czech Republic.

Check out this random border crossing.

We spoke at Teen Challenge outside of Prague.

The roads of the Czech were the most adventurous roads we ventured on.

Sarah, rockin the sticker.

(Note to travellers: if you rent a car and travel between European countries, pick up a Vignette sticker to make your car legal)

Every time we drove through a Villiage called "Slapanice" Rachel would slap David in the back seat.  Is that supposed to be a compliment??!

Then they got along and had... Sleepovers?

Prague is amazing.  One of my favourite European cities.

Bahunka is an amazing woman!  She hosted us at teen Challenge and arranged for us to speak there.  It was a different crowd then we were used to speaking to, and we were a bit nervous for it.  At the end of the evening, the people in the audience asked so many questions it nearly doubled our presentation time.  It was amazing to see that stories of what God is doing around the world can encourage and inspire anyone, from a recovering drug addict to the teenager to the old lady sitting in a church pew.

From the Czech Republic, we headed to Bad Blankenburg, Germany on the autobahn.

It didn't take long.

Oh, where these feet have trod.

This is an old hotel.  It is being constructed into a new PhotogenX base.

We helped to build and repair things.  We also slept in the dust we created.

I was sick, but the rest of the crew spoke to a small crowd about our book "Rags and Riches" and how we can each do our part to end poverty.

Then we headed off to THE NETHERLANDS.

A few buses later... We were in Amsterdam.

We had two speaking engagements scheduled in Groningen.

One was the "Behind the Curtain" documentary screening, and the other was the "Rags and Riches" presentation.  My family attended!

A big thanks to our lovely hosts Gert & Evangeline in Groningen!

I even got a delicious homemade Dutch apple pie for my birthday breakfast.

Also, the team met my Oma and her boyfriend.

The cute gesture of waving goodbye until we can't see eachother anymore is now a team tradition, started by my family.

Good bye Oma & Gerrit... Tot siens!

(Aren't they cute)

And then we were in Amsterdam together again.

Our last night before we all broke apart.

It was a bitter sweet ending after nearly two years of being together.

But also a time of rejoicing in the future.

Thanks for joining us.

Much love to everyone we met on our tour through Europe.

"There is no such thing as an ending.  Just a new beginning."

p.s. (a note for fellow travellers)

(be nice, be generous, be open and meet people becuase...)

:: six weeks in europe :: housing total was 44 euros ::

#thatsamazing

#thankyouthankyouverymuch

Tour Part One.

We stared island hopping.

Big Island - Maui - Oahu

This is a cool story.

The sun was setting on this cool dreamy evening.  I waited outside for the flight to board and pondered life.  A man, who appeared to be a pilot came to my bench and our conversation drifted toward our current project, "Rags and Riches" and how it came to be.  I told him of our work last year and about the purpose of it all.  His name is Eric and he is the captian of a small 9 seater "Mokulele plane we were soon to fly in.  "How do you fund a trip like this?" he asked me.  

"Each member of the team does their own fundraising, or has saved money... it's all volunteer" 

I replied.  

"Does Mokulele sponsor you?" he asks.

And with that Eric became our wings in the sky.

Not only did he deliver 40 books on last minute notice, he also gave Rachel and I a free joy ride along the beautiful coastline of Maui and two "buddy passes" to Oahu.

Thank the Lord for generous, talented people!

A double rainbow followed the plane as we enjoyed the scenery along the Maui coastline.

The view of Maui's coast coming from Hana.

A special thanks to Mokulele Airlines, Eric, every pilot who flew us around and every check-in person who treated us with special priveledge.  You are good people.

Sarah and Rachel spoke in Maui, a pre-start of our tour.

The response was incredible.  Twenty-five books were sold making $500 for the orpanage in Kenya and the community project in the slums of Jakarta.

Pastor John and Mariam were amazing.  They treated us to an exquisite, delicious lunch at Tommy Bahamas.  Somehow it became my Hawaiian Birthday, complete with candles and a song.

After about one week in Maui, Rachel and I headed to Oahu for some rest and relaxation before heading to Europe to officially start our book tour.  We stayed with our friend Tim.

The rainbow trees in Hawaii are incredible!  This is my favourite island.  It was a huge blessing to spend a week in Oahu, just relaxing and reflecting on the last year and a half.

Tim and Chester waiting for me to finish oogling the rainbow trees.

This is me proudly holding the first printed copy of our book "Rags and Riches".

Rachel and I spent lots of time in this lovely cafe preparing for the rest of tour.

It was a sad goodbye to leave Hawaii and island life as I knew it.

But the European tour is ahead of me, and it's gonna be awesome!

Love.

And now I will show you the most excellent way:

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.  If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.  If I give all I have to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.

Love is patient, love is kind.  It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.  It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.  Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.  It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

Love never fails.

- From the Bible in 1 Corinthians 13:1-8

Meet the Rags and Riches Team

Rags and Riches: Changed Perspectives Change Lives

The PhotogenX Around the World Track is about to hit the road again!  Last year we traveled to over 20 countries to document injustices.  What we found was men, woman and children ending up in horrible situations and often driven to desperate measures because of poverty.  We met many of the thousands that poverty has landed under bridges, in orphanages, in red light districts and in slums.

For me, the reality of poverty hit home in a personal way.  The face of suffering became real when we met kids who could be fed for a few days for the cost of one Starbucks latte.  We felt a burden to do something, but how could we, as a team of photojournalists help to end this world wide problem?  Our photos weren’t clothing the homeless, or feeding the hungry.  What could I, a young Canadian woman really do to make a lasting impact?

I can’t say that we found a solution to end world poverty, but we want to do our part.  To quote Mother Teresa, “Not all of us can do great things.  But we can do small things with great love.”  I believe that a child should be raised in a loving home, not alone on the streets.  I believe that people should have proper nutrition and housing.  I believe in mentoring and educating the next generation because after all, education is a fundamental solution to poverty.

We just published a book titled: Rags and Riches.  It tells stories of the people who we met through our travels.  Our purpose in writing this book is to use it as a tool to help combat poverty.  In July and August of this year we will travel through Europe and North America to promote the book, raise awareness about poverty, and to raise funds in support of orphans and community projects in Kenya, Romania and Indonesia.  All profits from the book will go toward these projects.  Most of all we want to inspire and empower others to use their skills and gifts to respond to the needs of the world.

I am so excited to be a part of this team, and to help change the lives of people around the world through our Rags and Riches project.  We hope that by the end of tour there will be enough funds to build up two orphanages and aide in two community projects who help and mentor youth and people trapped in slums.  Please visit our website: www.track.photogenx.net to read more about our team and the organizations we are supporting.

You can be a part of ending world poverty too.  It starts small.  You don’t have to go around the world to find people who are in need.  Right there, in our own neighbourhood there are people who have needs.  You can donate clothing, sponsor a child or go on a missions trip.  You can also partner with me in donating towards the financial costs of our tour, which will in turn, support the cause of our book.  Above all, I challenge you to be part of ending poverty yourself.  Let’s make this world a better place, by doing small things with great love.

To donate towards our tour follow this link:

Project Funding Office

Find out more about our book and tour:

Rags and Riches Website

Thanks everyone.  Thank you very much.

European Book Tour Flyer

I'm a tool.

I was reminded of a tragic accident that occurred nearly three years ago outside of my house.  Despite efforts to save his life, Cole Slavin, age 17 died in my arms with his friend watching.  Cole loved biking, but in the end - biking claimed him.  It's hard to imagine how much pain and hardship was faced by so many people on that fateful day.

Last year I travelled around the world - to fourteen countries.  In the dark places, we saw and learned things most people can't comprehend.  From trafficking victims, to drug addicts, to homeless, to abandoned children we found these people in the corners of the earth.  We helped, we fed people, we prayed, we loved and we documented their stories.  Whatever we could do - we did it.

As I recollected my thoughts from traveling, I realized something:  I don't need to go far to find people who need help.  Simple - yet it took me a journey around the world to understand.  It took looking into the eyes of Cole Slavin as he took his last breath - something I just learned now - three years later.

I don't know why this came to mind.  Perhaps it was because I am thinking about the future.  I know God has called me to work with teenagers at home, but lately I've been exploring other "money making" options.
As I relived the events and emotions of that pivotal hour with Cole, a thought resonated through my head:

"Why am I concerned about money when life or death is in your hands?"

Is not human life of more concern than debt?

What would happen if a teenager decided to play a sport, or join a club of some sort instead of smoking weed or getting drunk?  If you could influence someone's life in a positive way, would you?  Sometimes that decision could be the choice or life or death.

Youth at risk.  What does that mean?  To me it means they're at risk to joining gangs, getting addicted to drugs or engaging in risky behaviour.  They are at risk of not living up to their full potential.  Their lives are at stake.

How can we, as an "older" generation set an example, and teach our youth to make good choices?
How can I be a part of changing my own neighbourhood?

I know this is a heavy topic, I apologize if you didn't see that coming.  But we have to realize that life is too short for some.  We have to make a difference now - wherever we're at.  We're the ones who can be the change.  I am the one who gets to have a future, while some kids, like Cole do not.

My experience has taught me many things, but one thing sticks out more than any other:

Bad things happen and sometimes we don't know why God would allow it.  We could either blame God and see no way around it or maybe, just maybe we can be the tools he uses to fix it.