Greetings!

As promised, here is out weekly update as to the comings and goings here at Arts Aftercare.

Curtis, Grace and Lacie met this last week with a group of four delegates from Poland who were interested in learning more about human trafficking aftercare. The group was comprised of two professors from the University of Warsaw, a judge and a border patrol official. The meeting was arranged by Seattle organization The World Affairs Council.

While the meeting didn't result in a plan of action for Arts Aftercare to make a trip to Eastern Europe, it was a valuable chance to share knowledge and gain exposure.

In other news, Jubilee will be representing Arts Aftercare at the upcoming Art of Freedom event on June 28th. The cost of the event is $29 + dinner. Here is the blurb from the Facebook Event page:

Join us on June 28th to celebrate the art community with the ART OF FREEDOM benefit to help raise funds to increase rescues overseas and healing for victims of human trafficking locally and globally. With 27 million slaves in the world today and thousands in the Puget Sound area, we need to come together to help combat and end human trafficking in our lifetime. This is one small effort to continue doing so.

KEYNOTE SPEAKER: Justin Dillon, Founder of 'Call + Response' & Slavery Footprint www.callandresponse.com + www.slaveryfootprint.org
Come learn more about this important issue and discover how you can make a difference in the lives of others.

FEATURED ARTISTS
-JUBILEE | www.livejubilee.org
-Karin Stevens Dance Company www.karinstevensdance.com
-Anj Granieri | www.facebook.com/AnjGranieriMusic/app_2405167945
-Tim Matsui | www.timmatsui.com
-Christian St. Jacques & Renee Yong

Organized by Hope for Justice in partnership with the art community
For more Information visit:
www.art-of-freedom.com
www.hopeforjustice.org

Our network of service providers receiving donations include:
International Justice Mission www.ijm.org
WA Anti-Trafficking Response Network www.warn-trafficking.org/
Penny's Place www.pennysplace.info

Hope to see you there!

Let me take a moment to introduce myself before diving into some exciting news. My name is Jonathan Assink and I have been involved for a while now with Arts Aftercare taking on a variety of tasks.

The latest of these is rebooting our social media presence. Hopefully in the coming weeks you'll notice a lot more activity here on the blog, on Facebook and on Twitter as we seek to keep you up to date with all the comings and goings of Arts Aftercare.

Our hope is to use the blog for weekly news updates in between our email newsletters. Facebook and Twitter will be a place that we can engage with each other, whether it's questions you have for us, or an article we wanted to share with you. Keep an eye out, and don't hesitate to give us a shout!

Now, on to the news!

The latest and biggest news for Arts Aftercare has been our trip to the Philippines in conjunction with IJM. Curtis, Grace and Lacie led the trip to introduce local therapists and shelter staff to the Healing Arts Toolkit. The trainings went extremely well and already reports are coming back of people being helped by their first exposure to this kind of therapy. Watch for some of these stories in an upcoming newsletter email!

Curtis also had an exciting follow-up meeting this week with the Director of International Church Mobilization for International Justice Mission. They are looking at ways to partner on a project that would bring church musicians and worship leaders from the U.S. and the Philippines together in Manila early next year to connect on issues of human trafficking. The goal is to help churches become more inclusive and welcoming to those who are attempting to reintegrate into society after being trafficked.

Please continue to let your friends know about us, forward on posts and emails and make sure you like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter. Thank you so much for your support!

Jonathan Assink
Social Media Coordinator

Having immense joy in your work trumps the stress of having to get the work (even a ton of work) done. Receiving abundantly more than you could have ever asked or imagined outweighs the sacrifice of what you have given.

The training is done. Twenty four people have returned to six facilities in different parts of the Philippines, each with their own Healing Arts Toolkit. This thing we've sweated over. Prayed over. This thing we began wondering about two years ago. Have asked hundreds of questions about. Have sent thousands of emails about. It is now in the hands of people who can use it. And we prayed that it could be useful, meaningful, helpful for them and the women and children they serve, but this weekend has proven our expectations were too small.

Above and beyond. These are the words running through my mind the past couple days. Our time with the trainees was beyond rich. The feedback we've received has overwhelmed our hopes. The encouragement, networking and collaboration that have happened between these six staffs because of this weekend has left us overjoyed and awed. Many have told us that the fact we offered all of it for free (the training, meals, lodging, travel to Manila, the Toolkit) enabled some of them to connect in ways they've been hoping to connect for years. We're left speechless and filled to overflowing with gratitude. To God be the glory.

Tired? Yes. Depleted and drained? Quite the opposite. We're ready to move on to the next phase of our adventure. Even now, the Samaritana staff are facilitating the activities they learned this weekend with the women they serve. Tomorrow we'll be joining IJM Manila to do the same. The next day, on to another city and more onsite visits with our trainees.

So much more to come.

This blog will be a place for you to keep up to speed on recent news and developments.  Also follow us on Facebook and Twitter.

Love creatively, and keep in touch!

Curtis