Call + Response Screening Premier!

On May 15th, I met with the producers of a film called “Call & Response – Concert to End Slavery.” It’s part concert, part documentary film that dissects the modern day slave trade. I viewed the film with them and a hand full of friends. After the viewing, it turned into a prayer meeting. We prayed for protection for the director and his wife (who was also there), the producers, and that the film would make a major impact on those who view it.

It was a very inspiring time for me. I applaud them and their efforts. My heart is 100% behind them, believing they have heard the heart beat of heaven and they are trying to do something to stop human trafficking.

Watch the premier of Call + Response, and help Not For Sale build a Health Clinic in Thailand!

Not For Sale has teamed up with Call + Response to make a difference in the lives of exploited kids! At the end of every screening premier, the audience will have an immediate opportunity to RESPOND with a $5 text message donation — ALL of which will go to support Not For Sale’s own Kru Nam and her work at Buddies Along the Roadside in Thailand. Click HERE to learn more about Kru Nam and our exciting goals for the clinic!

You’ll also be one of the FIRST to see Cornel West, Madeleine Albright, Daryl Hannah, Julia Ormond, Ashley Judd, Nicholas Kristof, David Batstone and many other prominent political and cultural figures come together on the silver screen as they reveal the realities of human trafficking in our modern world.

Performances from Grammy-winning and critically acclaimed artists including Moby, Natasha Bedingfield, Cold War Kids, Matisyahu, Imogen Heap, Talib Kweli, Five For Fighting, Switchfoot, members of Nickel Creek and Tom Petty’s Heartbreakers, and Rocco Deluca respond to the heart-wrenching realities with passionate musical stylings in a concert unlike any you’ve ever seen.

The film opens NATIONALLY on October 10th and will premier the following week throughout US major cities…

ATLANTA, AUSTIN, DALLAS, SAN FRANCISCO, BOSTON, CHICAGO, DENVER, LOS ANGELES, MINNEAPOLIS, NASHVILLE, NEW YORK, ORANGE COUNTY, PORTLAND, REDWOOD CITY, SAN DIEGO, SAN JOSE, SEATTLE, WASHINGTON DC

Be one of the first to join the Call: Purchase your tickets TODAY!

Flying to Poland in 10 hours!

In ten hours my family and I are flying to Wroclaw (Vro-tslav), Poland.  My wife I grew up there and I have lived there for four years.  We will be participating in the 25th anniversary of a Catholic Charismatic fellowship Iwona helped start and lead.  I will also be shooting a documentary there as well as doing research for a future film I would like to produce/direct on the issue of human-trafficking of Eastern European women.

Watch this three-minute video about Wroclaw. It’s a beautiful city!

Who will stand for truth?

You have to watch this video by Grassroots Films. It’s awesome!

this election day

everything you hold sacred

will need your vote

vote your conscience

Biden and Pelosi, both Catholics, were asked about their stand on the issue of life at conception during recent TV interviews. Their answers which did not align with the teaching of the Catholic church, prompted a response from US Catholic bishops by publishing Fact sheet on pro-life and Church teaching on abortion.

KC bishops on moral responsibility and voting

“Never forget that everything Hitler did in Germany was legal”

Martin Luther King, Jr.

TheCall DC – Racial healing prayer / Passerby view

TheCall DC 2008 – Racial healing prayer

TheCall DC 2008 – Passerby view

TheCall DC 2008 – IHOP’s CEC kids praying and dancing videos

TheCall DC 2008 – IHOP’s CEC kids praying to end abortion

TheCall DC 2008 – Children dancing with Lou Engle at the end

TheCall DC 2008 – Praying for Christian Media / Ending minutes

TheCall DC 2008 – Praying for Christian Media to raise up

TheCall DC 2008 – Ending minutes

21 children rescued from child sex trafficking in America

News from today: FBI arrested 389 people involved in human trafficking and prostitution, after raids in 16 cities across the country. According to CNN, those involved in child trafficking are facing federal charges, which might end up in life sentences.

Innocence Lost National Initiative, till today rescued more than 400 kids and led to persecution of 308 persons. Last week they held the largest operation since 2005.

Finally someone is being serious about it. I wonder how many of the victims were from abroad.

click on the photo to go to the TRADE web site

If you want to see a recent movie about the subject, watch “Trade” Movie (free online). The story evolves around Eastern European and Mexican girls, human trafficked from Mexico to USA, humiliated, abused and treated like slaves.

Hakani – a docudrama about infanticide

Tonight I viewed a docudrama called “Hakani” with it’s director and producer, David Cunningham. I instantly connected with his heart and passion regarding this issue of infanticide in Brazil. I pray that his work will cause people who view it to become abolitionist who take a stand and save thousands of children.

What is infanticide?

The popular expression used to refer to the murder of unwanted children, the term infanticide takes us back to a problem as old as humanity itself, registered all over the world throughout history.

Violence against children is a sad mark of modern society, registered in all social layers and in all around the world. In the case of indigenous children in Brazil, the added difficulty is that they cannot count on the same protection as other children, because culture is valued more than life and their voices are muffled out by the mantle of belief in unalterable and static cultures.

The following contains indigenous nudity and some disturbing images

This is the story of Hakani – whose name means “smile” – one of hundreds of children who are targeted for death each year amongst Brazil’s 200 plus indigenous tribes. Physical or mental handicaps, being born a twin or triplet or being born out of wedlock – all are considered valid reasons for taking a child’s life.

Forgive me, the Declaration of Human Rights does not apply to the Indians. The Constitution does not apply to the Indians. – Congressman Francisco Praciano (PT-AM)

“Call & Response – Concert to End Slavery.”

Yesterday I met with the producers of a film called “Call & Response – Concert to End Slavery.” It’s part concert, part documentary film that dissects the modern day slave trade. I viewed the film with them and a hand full of friends. After the viewing, it turned into a prayer meeting. We prayed for protection for the director and his wife (who was also there), the producers, and that the film would make a major impact on those who view it.

It was a very inspiring time for me. I applaud them and their efforts. My heart is 100% behind them, believing they have heard the heart beat of heaven and they are trying to do something to stop human trafficking.

The movie is intended to be a worldwide “call” to action. It hopes to raise awareness of the issue, while inspiring people to “respond,” and lend their voices to the cause. Visitors to the “Call & Response” movie’s website are presented with an unsettling video of a young slave girl talking about her life.

The film will be in theaters on September 12, 2008.

I’m dreaming of…

“This is the camera I’ve been waiting for my whole career: jaw-dropping imagery recorded onboard a camera light enough to hold with one hand. …RED is going to change everything.”

- Academy Award winning
Director, Steven Soderbergh
Director and Cinematographer of Ocean’s Eleven, Traffic and Solaris

“I liked what they were doing – making a digital camera of the utmost quality, and making it affordable for indie filmmakers.”

- Academy Award winning
Director, Peter Jackson
Director and Producer of The Lord of the Rings Trilogy and King Kong