via the Invisible Children Blog

On July 11th, 2010, we lost our friend Nate “Oteka” Henn.

Nate dedicated his life to peace and education in central Africa.

He worked without pay for a year and a half as a Roadie and an intern at Invisible Children, a non-profit organization raising awareness about the use of child soldiers in Joseph Kony’s war and raising money to build schools and provide education to Northern Uganda’s war-affected children.

Nate’s family wants other people to have the opportunity to speak with their life the way Nate did; to speak with their hands and feet and humble service. They ask that if you feel compelled to act, honor Nate and donate to the Nate “Oteka” Henn Memorial Fund. This money will be used to support the Roadie internship and the awareness efforts that Nate made his life.

Blessed are the peacemakers. We love you Nate.

www.natehenn.com

Nate Henn // 1985 – 2010 from INVISIBLE CHILDREN on Vimeo.

- Kahana

“There is no beauty but the beauty of action.” -Proverb

This quote was recently posted on the Jedidiah Twitter and Facebook accounts and has really got me thinking about recent events at Jedidiah over the past few weeks.

In a recent staff meeting, Kevin got to talk a little bit about what his time in Cambodia with World Vision was like and how much of an impact it had on him. Kahana spoke about his recent trip to Haiti with Compassion (which you will find out more about in the weeks to come), and then I shared about hosting Stand Up For Kids in our building and touched on our trip with Amor to Mexico a few days after that.

At Jedidiah, we are all about action. We want to use the platform we have to blur the line between our lives and our professions, all in order to create community and a culture of giving.

We want to hear from you! What are some ways you have taken action over the past few weeks and months? Or how are you planning on taking action soon? Comment below with your answer and become eligible to win a Summer Jedidiah t-shirt of your choice!

Almost five and a half months after the catastrophe in Haiti, we don’t want to forget about the atrocities that took place. We recently had the privilege of sending a check for $29,775 to Compassion to aid their relief efforts on the ground and we know that they are using the funds as effectively as possible by providing physical, emotional and psychological stability for the earthquake victims.

The Compassion team has been sending over updates of people affected by the earthquake, most having to do with their Leadership Development Program participants and specifically pertaining to a young lady named Ferlandie, and how Compassion has brought hope to Haitians to press on.

Please read the update below and remember, it was your purchase of the Haiti relief shirts that allows us to give back to an organization investing in people for good.

To read our first Compassion Haiti Relief update, please click here or http://www.jedidiahusa.com/causes/update-compassion-haiti-relief.

To continue to support Compassion, purchase their Hope Collection Tee, from which $10 of your $25 purchases goes directly to Compassion International. To purchase the white shirt, click here. or to purchase the black one, click here.

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Recently, 89 Leadership Development Program students climbed into two buses that would take them to Mirebalais, a town 40 miles from Port Au Prince, to participate in a four-day camp. It was the first time all the Leasdership students had been together since January 12th (the date of the earthquake).

Moving outside Port-au-Prince gave them a sense of recreation and deep fellowship. Songs to uplift their souls were sung by them all along the road until they reached La Forteresse Hotel, a huge place appropriate for the intended activities. Before leaving, they even composed a song that was performed the last night that they sung vigorously, fully embracing their call to be leaders.

At the camp, students participated in activities like brain-teaser games, sports, birthday celebrations, and cultural performances. A lecture on earthquakes was also presented followed by a productive debate. Two psychologists were made available for the students, to help them to address the psychological impact of the quake. The students also realized the need for brainstorming on what roles they will play as young leaders to change a devastated Haiti.

“This multi-day retreat was, on one hand, a moment of great emotion, emotions to see again the faces of friends who survived, resulting in abundant joy and tears; and on the other hand, it was a time to bury the bad memories of the January-12 tragedy. Our meetings have also rekindled the flame of our belief which tells us that the future is still very promising and that we have a big role to play in the reconstruction of Haiti’’ said LDP student Wesly Hyppolite.

The students were grateful for the camp and said they were impacted in a significant way.

Below are recent pictures of Ferlandie at the tent university Compassion has had to put up and another of her in a tent classroom at the tent university.

We have an infinite amount of trust in the Compassion staff to know that they are handling the funds extremely well and where most needed to suit the needs of the Haitian people.

With their promotional code, receive up to 20% off the gate price, depending on the seating category. Part of the ticket proceeds go back to Amor. Please buy your tickets in advance by going to: www.padres.com/promo and use the promo code: AMOR.

For more information on Amor, visit www.amor.org.

(Photo below by Michael Chen from recent trip to Mexico with Amor.)

]]> http://www.jedidiahusa.com/causes/san-diego-come-support-amor-at-the-padres/feed 3 http://www.jedidiahusa.com/causes/product-feature-stand-up-for-kids-hope-collection-shirt http://www.jedidiahusa.com/causes/product-feature-stand-up-for-kids-hope-collection-shirt#comments Sat, 19 Jun 2010 01:25:11 +0000 patrick http://www.jedidiahusa.com/?p=2980 With our recent visit from Stand Up For Kids’ San Diego and Oceanside centers fresh on our minds and the Switchfoot Bro-Am benefitting Stand Up For Kids coming up next week, we also wanted to let you know that purchasing the Stand Up For Kids Hope Collection t-shirt directly contributes to their help of at-risk youth. The shirt [...]]]>

With our recent visit from Stand Up For Kids’ San Diego and Oceanside centers fresh on our minds and the Switchfoot Bro-Am benefitting Stand Up For Kids coming up next week, we also wanted to let you know that purchasing the Stand Up For Kids Hope Collection t-shirt directly contributes to their help of at-risk youth.

The shirt design was directly inspired by the Stand Up For Kids centers bringing hope to so many teenagers who do not have a home. $10 of your $25 purchase goes directly to further the mission of Stand Up For Kids. To purchase the shirt, click here or here: http://store.jedidiahusa.com/hope-collection/stand-up-for-kids-hope-collection-t-shirt.html.

For more information on Stand Up For Kids, visit www.standupforkids.org.

We started our journey by meeting Jeff Ahlberg from Amor at a Carl’s Jr. near the border (which is Amor’s weekday check-in point) and continued our day by driving through the Otay border entrance and then directly to the community of Fraccionamiento del Trabajo in Eastern Tijuana.

Immediately after our arrival to what was already the shell of a house with one coat of stucco belonging to the Mancera Rosas family, Jeff (pictured below) quickly showed us the ropes to mixing what would become the stucco that would be added as a second coat to the house. Jeff said that there we were going to start with this particular double house, and if we were able to finish that, we could continue the same task on a single house that was nearby. He did also mention that we would be the “A-Team” if we were able to get them both done.

Our team immediately hit the workload hard by mixing the stucco, loading it onto our hawks and trowels and applying it to all 4 walls. Our physical features enabled some of us to get high ground and others to get low ground on the walls. Jeff definitely set our team up for success by explaining the process well and helping a lot along the way.

Just after noon, we had finished the second coat of stucco on the first house. We took a quick break for lunch and were able to get to hear a little bit more from Jeff about the work Amor does and why they do it the way they do. Jeff told us that next week, there will be 1,300 people down building houses through Amor. That is a remarkable number!

We then drove about an eighth of a mile to the second house belonging to the Romero Martinez family and started working on it right away. The family who we were working on the house for was watching us work while the men were a huge help with the stucco job. You could feel their excitement and thankfulness. Cross-culturally, a smile says so much and anytime you made eye contact with them, a smile automatically followed.

After a few hours, that process was done and the sense of giving that the whole Jedidiah group felt started to set in a little bit. We drove away hoping that the actions of the day will be long-lasting for the families they directly impact.

From there, we made our way to the Tecate border entrance, but not before stopping for some authentic and incredible fish tacos.

Today, the soreness is a small reminder of the impact we hope we had as a collective group and of how much we can do. Organizations like Amor are available and ready to take a trip for a group of your friends or co-workers to allow you to serve others.

An old proverb that was posted on our Facebook and Twitter accounts today said “There is no beauty but the beauty of action.” Jedidiah is committed to take action by giving away 5% of our sales, 5% of our time and 5% of our clothes. Amor received some of that time and will receive a check for 5% of our sales after the second quarter of this year ends. After yesterday, we couldn’t be more confident that it will be used for great things. Keep your eye out for “How YOU Made A Difference: Amor”.

For more information about Amor, please visit www.amor.org.

On Saturday, we had the privilege of hosting a group of about 35 from Stand Up For Kids‘ San Diego and Oceanside chapters. We had an amazing day spending time with them and participating in some activities we had set up for them. We ate together and some the guys and gals from the group got to watch Kevin manually print them a shirt with a design they picked and colors they picked as well. They also got to go through our storefront and take some brand new swag with them; we were so excited to clothe them with some rad apparel that they were really excited about and then we got to take pictures in our photo studio with some of their new clothes. But most of all, we really enjoyed spending some time getting to know them. They are such incredible people with amazing stories. We can’t wait for the Bro-Am on June 26 to get to reconnect with them.

Kim Goodeve, the Director of Operations at the Oceanside center, mentioned this is an e-mail just this morning:

We really didn’t know what to expect, and never in our wildest dreams did we think it would be so much fun.  My kids were just excited to have a “family” outing….they really don’t care what we do, they just like “hanging out…”  but my ears HURT from all the talking, shouting, excitement that was going on at the center after we arrived back!!  Believe me, when I say, there will be a lot of “pouting” from the kids that didn’t show up for our outing!!  As the kids that went, will make sure to talk about it!!

But….this is a good lesson for the kids (that didn’t come) as life is about choices….and they “chose” not to show, and they missed out on an amazing opportunity.  I want to THANK YOU most of all for taking two of my kids around……and just talking about your company, and how you got started and well…..taking the time.  As they were in AWE of the company as a whole.

It was really our privilege. Thanks to Stand Up For Kids for coming and sharing your stories with us.

More to come from our day with Stand Up this week on our Insider Blog.

And below are a few pictures from the photo booth that our own Michael Chen set up for the kids:

Pictured below is the group from the San Diego outreach center…

…and this one (below) is the group from the Oceanside center.

Thank you for your amazing, generous financial contribution to Surfing The Nations! We are so stoked and overwhelmed by your goodness to us! We are grateful beyond words for our partnership.  Your commitment is the greatest encouraging and inspires us to the impossible.

Your Jedidiah donation of $17,246.43 has been disbursed as follows:

Bangladesh – Surf Clubhouse

Surfing The Nations will be sending $500 to the building of the Surf Club House.  STN had raised all but $500 of the projected budget to build the Bangladesh Surf Club.  With the Jedidiah funds the dream of the clubhouse will reach its exciting completion. The government of Bangladesh donated a plot of land in front of the surf break for the clubhouse and now the building can begin.

Sri Lanka – Surf Center

The vision of a Surf Center in Arugam Bay, Sir Lanka was birthed when STN sent a team to help with the tsunami of 2004.  A STN Surf Center would be an outreach center housing a permanent team with the ability to receive short term teams.  At the center, local people will be taught how to repair surfboards, will be taught English as a second language, will be able to train locals in food services by building a small restaurant on the property; will create a place to “hang out” to watch surf movies; etc, etc. We are sending $500 of the Jedidiah donation to our team in Sri Lanka for the Surf Center work/building. The property is secure and we have finally successful dug our well (the well was a major project taking three attempts) so we now have water on property. Buildings still need to be erected so the base can become a place where people can live and gather together. Sri Lanka is a big surfing destination for Israeli as well as other international surfers so we’re looking forward to how this will impact them as well as the local community. This summer there will be a 6 star surf contest event with Sri Lanka Airlines right in “our” little village, Arugam Bay.

Wahiawa Transformation

STN is focusing on seeing Wahiawa transformed for good – starting with the porn shop next door! It is the second largest porn shop in Hawaii and needs to be gone.  STN needs parking to meet state requirements to proceed with our development of the STN Community Center (former bar).  The porn shop has the best parking on the block.  We want to purchase the porn building and parking as well as the strip club two doors down and see this community radically changed. We want Wahiawa to become a place people want to come to instead of run away from. We are putting $724.43 towards our efforts to transform the ghetto of Wahiawa and hope to report miraculous stories soon.

Surfing The Nations Wahiawa Headquarters

Without the STN Wahiawa headquarters there would not be Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Feeding The Hungry or any of the other ministries of Surfing The Nations. The Wahiawa headquarters is where it all begins: training volunteers, interns and staff, it is a place to live, gathering and sorting of food, clothing, and household donations, sending out mission trips, tutor the youth of the neighborhood, meeting room for lectures to concerts and run the STN office.  The cost of the apartment block and former bar was $1.5 million and we were miraculously provided $1.3 million at the outset! We were left with $200,000 to raise and pay by 22 December 2010. Before the Jedidiah donation we had a balance due of $79,000. We have applied $15,519 of your giving to our mortgage leaving a balance due of $63,481. Your contribution has been an incredible boost to us! We are trusting in God that the balance will be provided. Having our headquarters paid off will establish us with roots deep in Wahiawa, as the building itself becomes part of our branding and identity in the community and internationally.

Disbursement of the Jedidiah Donation:

Bangladesh Surf Clubhouse: $500.00
Sri Lanka Surf Center: $500.00
Wahiawa Transformation: $724.43
STN Wahiawa Headquarters: $15,519.00

Total Donation $17,243.43

For more about Surfing The Nations, head to www.surfingthenations.com. Also make sure to watch the video below of their recent Freedom Surf Contest!

Currently they have a factory that makes recycled bags and they are starting to produce t-shirts as well. I traveled to their factory today to meet with the staff as it has been a desire for Jedidiah to find factories just like this to work with. We agreed to work together in an effort to build their capacity, increase their awareness on logistics, sourcing and production. Their business model is still being developed, but part of the Jedidiah long term mission is to find and empower these burgeoning factories. We would love to build a Jedidiah t-shirt program with factories based on these models wherever they are in the world.

We had to say goodbye to our new friends here in Phnom Penh. It was great to be here with Aaron Chang; getting to know him and his talents first hand was a special gift to me. Also, a special thanks to Keith Kall (of World Vision USA) who pushed for this trip on our behalf. World Vision took me to places that I never would have experienced on my own. They truly travel to places no one else goes, loving people and serving others daily.

To say I am inspired by their work is not saying enough. My heart and mind are pierced with the sights, sounds, smells and images of this week. I will do my best to process everything, giving honor to the people I met and supporting World Vision…

I leave you with some of Aaron’s images below. On behalf of the Jedidiah team, thanks for following along…

Kevin Murray

Today was the day that we got to go deep into the practical application of what World Vision does to transform lives here in Cambodia. What I saw today is the model World Vision uses around the world in developing countries to create a system of education and development that empowers the local community to be part of the lasting change to their health and welfare.

We traveled a few hours south of Phnom Penh to a community known as Phnom Srouch where we spent time at a World Vision Area Development Project (ADP). After being greeted and meeting staff we traveled further into more remote regions and spent time at the village of Peam Khave. I am still trying to wrap my head around this one, but we were told by our guides that we were the first Americans to have ever visited this village. Through our interpreter we spent the day speaking with the village leaders, families and children. My goal was to try and get a sense of what the village felt about World Vision walking along side of them as a partner in their development. What I saw was a series of miracles.

Here is a snapshot of what World Vision has done in partnership with this community just in the last few years:

-They have dug a deep water reservoir pond to hold clean water in the dry season.

-They have established a self funded community medical insurance policy where all the villagers contribute to a group fund and then help each other individually when a medical need arises.

-They have created a Rice Bank where all the community contributes rice in a community storage facility and gives it out to the most needy when their food supply runs out.

-Through awareness and education, World Vision has dramatically dropped the rate of domestic violence and have liberated the women of the community. One man explained to us that “peace” has come to their village like never before.

-About 1/3 of the children of this village are sponsored now and are clothed and educated in the World Vision sponsorship program.

Other than that, a Children’s Club has been created to give children a voice in their community and a place to belong. We were honored guests at the second ever meeting of this club of about 100 children who sang us songs, presented us with their art and gave an overview of their purpose and plans for the future.

The miracle of transformation does not happen quickly. We spoke with 3 generations of people in this village and transformation is evident and clear in the minds and hearts of everyone there. It is so cool to see how World Vision is such a trusted partner to people in Cambodia! Everywhere I go see I see the effects of what it means to be there, day after day, month after month, year after year.