Scarier than Any Halloween Movie: Nefarious

Scarier than Friday the 13th, The Exorcist, Halloween, Night of the Living Dead, etc.

Scarier than ANY Halloween movie. Ever.

What is?

Nefarious: Merchant of Souls.

It is a documentary I saw recently and the reason it is SO scary is because it isn't Hollywood.

It. Is. Real. Life.

It is an incredibly well-made documentary detailing the selling of souls. Not objects but people.

People (mostly women) who are raped multiple times a day by lots of different men.
Often trapped in the same tiny room that is basically a prison.
Treated worse than a dog.
Dehumanized.
Violated.
Sold.
Broken - body, spirit, soul.
------------
And then it happens the next day.
And the next.
And the next.
With NO END in sight.

And again, this movie isn't a made up Hollywood Horror.

It is real life for millions of people.

27 million people, in fact, who are bought and sold in modern day slavery.

Like Ordering a Pizza or Buying a Beer

In the movie, one man compared the process of purchasing women to the process of ordering a pizza. Do you want mushroom or pepperoni? The blonde or the brunette?

Oh. My. Word.

I wanted to spit in his face. People around me were sniffling and crying but I had a simmering anger stirring inside of me.

Another man in Asia owned 2,400 girls. He sold them in clubs where a beer cost $4, grapes cost $5 and for ONE HOUR, a little girl cost $3. Little girls who grow up with the horrible false reality that they can be bought for a price and a price less than a beer!?! Little girls who grow up with no sense of self-worth and no hope and no dreams of a future. Little girls who are away from family. Little girls who are sold into the slave trade by their family!?!

Cable or Your Kid

The movie described a "culture of complicity" where families see their daughters as a blessing, not because they get to love them as they raise them into a cherished young woman. Instead, daughters are blessings because they are seen as a security asset to sell if they needed more money. Frighteningly, this process of parents prostituting their daughters in human trafficking has become so common that many of them sell their daughters not because they have to but because the money their daughters can make allows for families to have luxuries like television and alcohol. Yep, keep you kid or have access to cable tv.

Moving Mannequins

Another disgusting and heart-wrenching image was in Amsterdam where prostitution is legal. Women were standing in windows displaying themselves for purchase. They looked like the mannequins in a Victoria's Secret window, only they moved. And they had faces and hearts and souls. 

And in the rooms where they worked, there was a built-in "panic button" in case their customer tried to injure or kill them. 

The website lists this fact: Up to 96% of women in prostitution want to escape but feel that they can't.  

That is not Hollywood horror; it is real life.

Other Fast Facts from the Website

• A child is trafficked every 30 seconds. – UNICEF
• Human Trafficking occurs in 161 out of 192 countries. – The United Nations
• In some countries it is estimated that 70% of men purchase sex. – Victor Malarek; The Johns
• Over 27 million people are enslaved around the world. This is more than double the number of Africans enslaved during the Trans-Atlantic slave trade. – Kevin Bales; Free the Slaves

Scary, is it not? 

I could go on for pages and pages detailing the frightening facts and insights this movie provides on the real life horror of human trafficking. Instead, I encourage you to simply watch the film yourself. 

It has won over 21 film festival honors. 

You can buy the film or host a screening. 

And then find out how you can take action because again, this film is not a made up Halloween Hollywood Horror but it is real life. 

I Did It: I Applied to Graduate School!?!

Last week I submitted my graduate school application to Vanderbilt!?!

I applied for a degree in Community Development and Action. You may never have heard of it; I hadn't.

But, once I discovered it and researched it, I fell in love with it... so much so that I am not applying anywhere else. I realize this is risky but I'm stepping out in faith because I know that if I applied to the other programs I was looking at, I wouldn't go even if I was accepted to them. If I don't get into Vandy, I'll just reapply.

That is how cool this program is :)

So, what is it?

The Program

It is technically a Masters of Education, though one does not have to teach once they graduate. The website says that

"Graduates of the CDA program can work in community organizations, governmental agencies, and development institutions. some have continued on to further post-graduate degrees in various fields; future study might include Social Work, Law, Public Health, Community Development, and social sciences such as Psychology, Anthropology, and Sociology."

You know, just basically everything I'm interested in ;) 

The focus of the program is to train

"professionals seeking to foster developmental change in human communities. We analyze development as freedom to choose among opportunities for realizing our human potential." 

I love that: helping people learn to make the most of themselves and their gifts and their passions... their human potential.

I also love the content of the program that seeks to develop the following in its students:

• competencies as a self-directed, life-long learner
• competencies in helping roles that the student may perform as a human services worker
• group relations competencies
• administrative and organizational competencies
• competencies as a change agent
• research competencies upon which all the above depend

This hits on so many of my interests: learning, helping, being with people, organizing, and making positive change.

I can hardly believe these are all rolled into one program!?!

Round 1 of Applying

The first time I started applying to graduate school was my senior year of college. I had taken the GRE the summer after my junior year, visited a couple campuses, started 3 different applications and was on my way to pursuing a PhD to become a professor in Communication and/or Women's and Gender Studies.

But, my heart wasn't in it.

I was simply applying because my parents and professors really wanted me to and I didn't have another alternative. This PhD route seemed to be a good idea because I enjoy school and teaching; however, I had intense anxiety and no peace about spending so much time, money and effort on the next 5-6 years of my life to end up with a degree and a profession I wasn't 100% certain I wanted to have.

I finally broke down and decided to take a detour from that PhD path, much to my parents' and professors' disappointment. I, however, felt incredibly free and relieved... though I had no plans for what to do instead.

Fortunately, a door was opened to allow me to work with BCM which I've been doing the last year and a half. It has provided me with a mental breather and also placed me not behind a desk or at a computer all day but in a community where I've been able to learn so much about people and myself.

Another blessing about this job is that it led me to Vanderbilt.

What Led me to Nashville

Side note for a moment: Do you remember the YaYa Sisterhood phenomenon from a few years back? Well I do, largely because I had seen it lived out my whole life in a group of ladies my mom took vacations with. They met in college and ever since, they've been getting together over the years to relive their memories and make new ones... so I call them the YaYas.

Their trips have included New York City, Vegas, San Francisco, etc. For whatever reason, in 2012, they chose to have their YaYa reunion in Nashville, a place I had always been enthralled with but never had the chance to visit. My mom, knowing my interest in the city, its music and its art scene, asked her friends if I could tag along. I was so excited to hear they said yes that I booked a plane ticket right away.

NOW, back to BCM: The very next day after I bought my plane ticket, I received an email from my boss about how BCM had a national collegiate ministry conference which is held once every 3 years. They were to meet in May of 2012 and it was the first time ever that they invited the semester missionaries/BCM interns (aka me) to come along.

It sounded like a good opportunity to learn and network and prepare to be a better BCM intern for this year so I said yes. When he sent me further details I found out that it was where???

Oh. Nashville. NBD.

And when???

Oh just the 3 days prior to when I was supposed to tag along on the YaYa long weekend reunion.

Hmmm. Handy.

Now, realizing that I was going to be in Nashville for nearly a week I thought I might go ahead and check out Vanderbilt because it is such a good school.

How I Discovered the CDA

I googled Vanderbilt and Masters of Public Administration which is what I was considering this time around for grad school since literally ALL of my internships happened to be in non-profits (not on purpose, because I chose several of the first few for writing or PR experience and they just happened to be at non-profits). 

What came up as the result of my search was the Community Development and Action program. 

I could not believe how perfect it was. 

Ephesians 3:20 has been a huge verse for me in the last couple years as things continue to happen that are better than I could ask or imagine. This was another Ephesians 3:20 moment for me because I had no clue this kind of program existed. 

It combines helping people, activism, organizing, empowering, an interdisciplinary approach where you can pursue classes that align with your passions. PLUS it is in Nashville (which I loved by the way, more than I even thought I would have)!?!

It seems too good to be true but I am hoping and praying that is not the case. 

If you pray too, please do pray that doors would open and that they would accept me... if it is the Lord's will. And if it isn't, I'm praying that he will give me peace and a plan B... much like the door to BCM opened up after my senior year. 

But, by February at the latest, I should know if I'll be heading to music city to start at Vandy!?!