Lost Boys in Kansas City--The Good Lie

That’s the story told in the new movie “The Good Lie,” which stars a brunette Reese Witherspoon as a Kansas City employment counselor who befriends the three young men. (The fourth refugee, the sister of one of the guys, gets sent to a family in Boston.)

The movie is fictional but based on real events: About 3,600 Lost Boys (and girls) from Sudan settled in the United States around 2001 after surviving civil war in their homeland. Sixty or so came to Kansas City then, and hundreds have arrived since.--Tim Engle

Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/entertainment/movies-news-reviews/article2168318.html#storylink=cpy

--I'm pretty excited, as I was reading my 2nd article about this movie in the Kansas City Star, I realized there might be a way to get free tickets to the upcoming screening.  I was successful, so I am going to see The Good Lie tomorrow night.

 
--The movie has ties to Kansas City, because it is supposed to take place here, although most of the filming was done in Atlanta.

The film is also being used to raise money for Lost Boys organizations through the Good Lie Fund (thegoodliefund.org). The fund’s initial focus will be the Kakuma refugee camp in Kenya, which was shot for the movie.

Two local kids and their father are prominently featured in “The Good Lie.” Keji Jale, 12 during filming, plays young Abital, the girl in the group, and her brother Okwar, 13, plays a boy named Theo. Filmmakers visited several U.S. cities with Sudanese communities, including Kansas City, and auditioned as many as 1,500 people.

Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/entertainment/movies-news-reviews/article2168318.html#storylink=cpy

--I am looking forward to seeing this because of my love for Africa, and learning about the lost boys from Sudan.

--I will definitely be doing a review of the movie.  Stay Tuned...

Previously:
The Lost Boys of Sudan
What is the What--A Review

The Plight of Sudanese Christian Meriam Ibrahim!

"It is a matter of principle that women are free and equal."--Ayaan Hirsi Ali

 --There are a lot of countries around the world where women have very few rights, mainly in Africa and the Middle East.  Many of them are Muslim countries that believe in Sharia Law.

--Sudan has seen a lot of turmoil.  During the Second Sudanes Civil War (1983-2005), many Christian Sudanese have been murdered by Muslim Arabs and many children displaced and orphaned.  Sudan recently split into 2 different countries, the Muslim north staying Sudan and the Christian south becoming South Sudan.

--Meriam Ibrahim was born to a Christian mother and a Muslim father.  Her father left her family when she was young, so Ibrahim was raised as a Christian.

--Ibrahim married a Christian man, Daniel Wani who is an American citizen.  According to Islamic (Sharia) law, Muslim women are not allowed to marry non-Muslim men.  Since, Ibrahim is considered to be a Muslim woman because of her father, she was accused of committing adultery. She was sentenced to 100 lashes, death by hanging and put in jail unless she renounced her faith.

--Ibrahim was put in jail with her 20 month old son and she was also 8 months pregnant.  She was shackled and not given proper medical attention. 

--Miraculously (because of global outrage), a Sudanese appeals court ordered her to be released.  She was to fly with her family to the United States the next day, but was prevented from doing that.  Finally, Lapo Pistelli (vice-minister for foreign affairs in Italy) flew to Sudan and Italy was able to secure her release.

--Ibrahim flew to Italy with Pistelli and she got to meet the Pope.

--This is a victory for religious freedom that is rare these days.  The way women are treated under Sharia Law is horrific.  Female circumcision is one of the most gruesome procedures, and yet it still happens:

The numbers are really sickening. Last year, 3.6 million little girls were “cut”–or had their genitals mutilated. The crude cultural ritual involves the removal, usually with a knife or razor, of a girl’s clitoris and labia–and not always with anesthesia. The extent of the procedure varies, but the trauma and pain can last a lifetime.
 
The practice is still “almost universal” in Egypt, Somalia, Guinea and Djibouti, and common in more than 25 other countries, according to a report out Tuesday from UNICEF. It is even practiced in “pockets” of North America and Europe, UNICEF says.

When you read the numbers, think not of the many zeroes at the end, which can make any of us glaze over, but of the individual tales of each life one, by one, by one, and what each girl had to endure. Cutting is always done before puberty—sometimes when the girls are still tots, often between the ages of five and 14, but always when a girl is most vulnerable and unable to protect herself.

Worldwide, an estimated 125 million women alive today have been mutilated, primarily in Africa and the Middle East, even though the practice has been outlawed in many of the countries where families still force their girls to go through it. Cutting is the ultimate global barometer of gender inequality.

--Finding a way to free women and girls from the oppression of Sharia Law is a cause I am passionate about.

--The AHA Foundation is making great strides in fighting FGM (Female Genital Mutilation) in the United States.

Africa in Review!

--Since, I am back to blogging on a regular basis, I thought it would be good to reflect on what I have blogged about for the past 9 years, starting back in 2005.

 --Monday is Africa day, so, I thought I would post some of my previous posts on Africa.

 --I went to Senegal, West Africa in 2011.  It was an amazing trip, the above picture is just one of many from that trip.

--I think I'm going to continue my series of doing a profile on the different countries in Africa.

SENEGAL
--I am Going to Senegal, West Africa
--Senegal ABC's

SUDAN
--The Lost Boys of Sudan!
--Pray for Peace for Sudan
--Sudan--Global Day of Prayer!
--Horrific Flogging of Woman in Sudan!
--President Bush Fed up with UN's Lack of Action on Darfur
--Genocide in Darfur
--A review of Attack on Darfur

SOMALIA
--Going After Terrorists in Somalia 
--A Review of The True Story of Black Hawk Down

RWANDA
--Rwanda

UGANDA
--Kisses from Katie

The Africa Series!--Part 2--Rwanda!

Hotel Rwanda--Based on the true story during the Rwanda Genocide

After my summer trip to Senegal, I decided that my son and I would do a Unit Study on Africa this year. I wanted to learn about as many African countries as we could, but I especially wanted to learn about 3 countries in particular: Sudan, Darfur has been a focus of mine, Rwanda because of the genocide in 1994 and Somalia because of Black Hawk Down.

After learning of the genocide in 1994, I also learned that like most African countries, Rwanda has a lot of orphans and street kids. Operation World is a book that has statistics on every single country in the world and how you can pray for them.(I use it all the time, and highly recommend it!) According to OW, Rwanda has up to 900,000 orphans.

It is for this reason, that I picked a 12 year old girl named Beatha from Rwanda to sponsor. The group I went with, Food for the Hungry, had several countries in Africa, but I felt led to Rwanda. My kids are helping with their money as well in this sponsorship. So, it has become a family project.

What made me even prouder, was when my 17 year old daughter went to a Christian concert and decided to sponsor a little boy with AIDS from Rwanda all by herself. She is sponsoring him through Compassion.

I am seriously considering and praying about going back to Africa this coming summer. I am looking at a possible Tanzania trip, and I also found a trip to orphanages in Ethiopia and Rwanda that looks awesome, but praying for God to lead me where He wants me to go.

Previously:
The Africa Series!--Part 1--Senegal ABC's!

Horrific Flogging of Woman in Sudan!

Via Gateway Pundit:

Societies that treat women badly, are dangerous societies.~~Condoleeza Rice

I have been outspoken about human rights abuses in other countries, especially against women. Sudan is plagued by genocide in Darfur and their human rights' abuses are atrocious. Sudan is run by Omar al-Bashir, who was listed as the world's 2nd worst dictator by Parade Magazine last year.

Sudan needs our prayer, and the women in the Middle East and other countries need our help and prayers as well.

Sudan--Global Day of Prayer!

The week of March 21-28th is being set aside to pray for Sudan. Samaritan's Purse is joining with churches to pray, here are the details:

As Sudan prepares for historic presidential and parliamentary elections, Samaritan's Purse and church leaders in Sudan are calling on believers across the nation and around the world to participate in a week of prayer March 21-27, culminating with a Sudan Global Day of Prayer on March 28.

“Churches nationwide are mobilizing prayer,” said Pastor James, a church leader in Khartoum. “We are praying that everything will run smoothly. We are praying for the nation of Sudan.”

More than 2 million people died in Sudan's civil war before the Comprehensive Peace Agreement was signed five years ago. The 2005 accord ushered in an uneasy truce, tied to a promise that the people of southern Sudan would be allowed to participate in national elections in 2010 and vote in a referendum on independence in 2011.

Free and fair elections in April could help lay a foundation for lasting peace. However, if violence erupts it could start a chain reaction that plunges the nation back into civil war.

Government and church leaders in both the North and South agree that prayer is the key for maintaining peace in Sudan. Please join us in praying daily for Sudan the week of March 21-27, concluding in the Sudan Global Day of Prayer on Palm Sunday, March 28.

Samaritan's Purse has specific prayer requests for each day, go here to sign up.

Above all, please pray for Sudan!!