February 2014 - Center for Global Impact

A Better Ending

Sometimes, people are exposed to the truth about trafficking and they are overwhelmed. They want to run in the opposite direction, because learning how dark and present the problem is, can make us feel powerless. Those feelings are natural, and we’ve all felt them.

But sometimes, people are exposed to the truth about trafficking and they choose to move toward the issue, fighting back against it. They know that change won’t come unless we act, whether we act as one person or one million on behalf of a righteous cause. Those feelings are supernatural. They are God calling us to lay down our fears and skepticism and fight for Kingdom justice, one step at a time.

Nadine Hill is a person who came face-to-face with the realities of human trafficking and chose not to run away. Today, she runs the Ecumenical Women’s Coalition Against Human Trafficking in Indianapolis, and works each day to combat sexual slavery and provide hope and relief for its victims. She’s teamed up with CGI to empower the women of byTavi, sharing their stories and using her networks to sell their products and pave the way for a stable future.

Read Nadine’s story below and be inspired to act! You may be only one person, but you have the power to bring healing, hope and a better ending.

Click Here to Read Nadine’s Story

Want to find out ways you can be involved? Contact us at bytavi@gmail.com.

The Beringers in Cambodia

Alan and Katy

Alan Beringer is CGI’s Director of Operations in Cambodia. Two years into serving in the mission field–along with his wife Katy and son Jonah–Alan plays a vital role in our organization, connecting the dots between supporters in the States and the day-to-day work of CGI in Cambodia.

He knows the whole package, from the visions of our stateside office to the faces of girls living into that vision. We caught up with Alan for a quick Q&A on what he does, how he does it, and how we can pray for his family.

What is your role with CGI?
I’m Director of Operations in Cambodia. Basically, I make sure that our projects in Cambodia are running smoothly.

Can you walk us through a typical week in your shoes?

There really isn’t a typical week! But here’s a little bit of my weekly routine: I attend a Khmer language school. (Yes, I continue to learn language; it brings smiles to Cambodians’ faces whenever they hear Katy and I speak Khmer!) I spend time with the CGI office staff reading the Bible and praying. Currently we’re reading the Book of Acts. My wife, Katy, attends a weekly meeting with the social workers at the Imprint Project, and I spend time at both Imprint and byTavi (only about a 5 minute walk between those buildings) throughout the week. I lead a Bible study with the women of byTavi and we normally end our time with a song.

I observe our Kien Svay Kids program (part of CGI Kids) each week and also learn how to sew with the women at byTavi. We have CGI staff meetings on Fridays and our time is filled with prayer, discussion about the week and staff development. I stay in constant communication with the CGI office Stateside, with regular Skype calls and weekly reports with details of what’s happening in our programs and with the individuals we serve here.

You have a unique view of the fruits of CGI’s programs and projects. What can you tell supporters half a world away about what their efforts are doing in the hearts and lives of the women we serve?
I first want to say thank you for your support of CGI. We would not be where we are without people like you. I have seen first hand how God is moving in our programs and how people’s lives are being transformed and redemption is happening. It’s amazing to me how new program participants come to us with little hope, but after they have been in our programs for a few weeks even, they are filled with joy and hope. God is at work here in Cambodia.

Being in the mission field can be challenging, and requires faith and plenty of prayer support. How can we pray specifically for you and your family?
Please pray that God would continue to give us strength as it would not be possible otherwise.
Please pray that we would stay healthy.
Please pray that we would continue to listen to and obey the Holy Spirit.

Please join us in praying for the Beringer family as they serve the people of Cambodia!

Host an Exclusive Shopping Experience!

Want to host a byTavi show without the hassle of getting your home ready for guests to enjoy? Then our new Exclusive Shopping Experience is perfect for you!

The Exclusive Shopping Experience allows a host to invite a minimum of ten friends to come to our byTavi store after hours to shop! Hostesses are welcome to bring refreshments for their guests to enjoy. All guests will have access to shop our entire inventory in both our storefront and our warehouse AND receive 20% off their entire purchase. As a host, there will be extra incentives available to you.

byTavi held our first Exclusive Shopping Experience with host Suni Johnson a couple of weeks ago. We had a successful evening with Suni and her guests and we were able to make new connections with her group of friends. The shopping experience provided a relaxed and enjoyable setting for us to share who Center for Global Impact is and what we are doing through our vocational training programs. Many of Suni’s guests were touched by the ministry of CGI and will continue to support our programs through purchasing byTavi and Imprint products and spreading the word!

The Exclusive Shopping Experience is perfect for girls night out, fellowship groups, birthday parties, or to have a fun way to introduce Center for Global Impact to your friends and family. Contact us today at bytavi@cgidev.wpengine.com to host your Exclusive Shopping Experience!

by Hali Mynatt

Addressing Gender Inequality

Photo: King Khalid Foundation

Saudi Arabia is launching a new campaign to end domestic violence against women. This is considered a major shift in culture for this country, who has long viewed women as second-class citizens. You can read more about it here.

This skewed view of women creates oppression around the globe. It’s the belief that women are inferior that perpetrates some of the world’s most heinous oppression, including (but certainly not limited to) domestic violence and human trafficking. When we change the way we think about women and give them the value they deserve, we can end injustices like these.

Please join with us in praying for a reality in which every person has the dignity and value God intended.

Love Redefined

What is love?

On Valentine’s Day, many of us celebrate romantic love—we shower our significant others with gifts and affection to show them we care. The Ancient Greeks separated love into different types ranging from affection, friendship, and romance to divine love, which they called agape.

Jesus spoke of this divine love when asked which was the greatest commandment—to love God and each other. Agape love transcends understanding and conditions. It’s Christ’s love in us that flows to others through us. C.S. Lewis, in his book The Four Loves, describes agape as a selfless love that is passionately committed to the well-being of others.

As an organization, we strive to be passionately committed to the well-being of others. We are so fortunate to work shoulder-to-shoulder with so many of you who strive for the same.

Happy Valentine’s Day from CGI and thanks for the love you extend through your support.

Signs of Trafficking

Within CGI, our programs work hard to prevent trafficking. As advocates, we want to push away the risks for sexual slavery before it ever begins. At the same time, we also have The Imprint Project, that is designed to help women who have been rescued and need help re-integrating back into a safe community.

Through these programs, we are able to help women in Cambodia who look to us for help on one side or the other: the “before” or the “after.” Today, we want to take a moment to acknowledge the “in between”… the darkness that is sexual slavery, and the signs that someone is entrapped in it.

It doesn’t just happen in Cambodia, or Southeast Asia, or developing countries. It happens in the US. In our cities, suburbs and sometimes neighborhoods. It’s vital to know the signs of someone who is being forced into sexual slavery, and Love 146 has created a list of ways to recognize them. Take a look and share it. You may save a life.

Signs of Trafficking from Love 146

Influence Your Network for Good!

Joyce and Ly Phalla at the Culinary Training Center (CTC)

God surprises me when I least expect it.

Perhaps you can relate. After finishing full-time vocational ministry over three years ago, I began part-time tutoring, admiring how God had brought me full circle, back to my roots as a language arts teacher.

Just as I was becoming comfortable semi-retired, I was introduced to Paul Vida, who was using his skill as both a chef and a culinary arts instructor to develop CGI’s Culinary Training Center (CTC). In early 2011, the building in Battambang, Cambodia, had recently been leased by CGI. No staff! No in-country leadership! Just faith, a vision, and a generous start-up donation.

The goal? To provide at-risk young women skills, income, and most importantly, an introduction to Jesus Christ.

At that time, I had no clue I could contribute to CGI’s mission other than to write a few letters, add a few commas, and do a bit of editing. Surprisingly, God revealed that I could be much more influential. He will answer when we pray for opportunities to make a difference in people’s lives.

Those opportunities came in a variety of ways. The simplest one was introducing friends and family to CGI’s mission by selling byTavi products. As that influence grew, God provided events where I could sell and become a vocal advocate for the women CGI helps.

These include a women’s conference my college roommate helped organize, the Spring Bling at the assisted living facility where my mother lived, and a variety of women’s groups at local churches, including my home congregation. Through these, I’ve been blessed to speak to many women about extreme poverty and how they can help. And I’m looking forward to how God will use me in the future.

Even if we don’t realize it, each of us has a network of resources and influence. My challenge is for you to pray and let God surprise you.

Blessings both here and half a world away will follow.

By Joyce Long

Make Valentine’s Day Count!

Sponsor a Culinary Training Center student today!

cgidev.wpengine.com

Perspective in Phnom Penh

“The girls have started thinking differently. Their dreams are growing, and their day-to-day work has improved.” –CTC Chef Ryana DeArmond

Do you know about our Culinary Training Center (CTC) in Battambang, Cambodia? One of CGI’s projects designed to empower at-risk women, the CTC is now training its third class of students in culinary arts! This third class of girls, like the ones before, come from lives characterized by poverty and extremely limited choices. CGI’s resident chef, Ryana DeArmond, works intensely with these girls to train them in not only cooking, but in all aspects of life. She wants to see them succeed.

So, Chef Ryana recently took the CTC students on a trip to Cambodia’s capital city, Phnom Penh. She had one goal: to expose them to things outside of their “regular” worlds and give them fresh perspective. They visited fine dining restaurants, went to the movie theater, stopped in coffee shops and took a sunset boat ride. They saw the service industry from the customer’s standpoint, witnessed successfully-run businesses, and experienced things they’d never tried.

After that trip, these girls see the world a little differently. They see their place in it differently. They see what they can become as people set free from poverty.

Get Involved with CTC

36 Women

Last week, 36 Cambodian women went out for pizza. But it was so much more than that.

It was 36 women with a stable job and the freedom to turn their backs on the sex industry as an option for income.

It was 36 women with re-written futures and a new course for their families.

It was 36 women who can smile and laugh with no fear of tomorrow.

Praising God for the byTavi program and those who make it happen.