In the several months since painting live at a Falling Whistles event here in Denver, I’ve made several connections across the country with fantastic individuals working to end the more than 20-year war going on in the Congo, and the devastating effects it’s had on its people. I met Beth Haley through Facebook, who contacted me to ask the meaning behind my “There is Freedom in Story” piece, and had the honor of sitting down to coffee with her a few months ago when she passed through town.

Beth’s passions are evident. The instant connection and inspiration I felt in our conversation are sure to be the experience of all others who have the same privilege. Started over a year ago, Beth helped found an organization called eXile International, which “exists to instill hope, healing, and love to the trauma victims of Africa by providing trauma counseling, art therapy programs and by teaching peace, reconciliation and conflict resolutions skills.”

Creatively, Beth’s passions lie in writing, photography, and in the work she does with her clients in her counseling practice in Nashville and with eXile. The following is a statement about Beth and the inspiration behind eXile and what drives her to use her art (and many other talents) for a much greater cause:

“Feeding a child is a vital and basic necessity, but when you feed a child, that which fills their stomach will disappear. Hunger returns. It always does. But if you teach a child to Hope, it will be their greatest companion on a hungry night.

eXile international was founded by Beth and friend Peggy Cox. Out of her first trip to Congo for trauma counseling, Beth had to redefine her understanding of what hope meant. After she and the team visited five displacement camps in one day, she realized the people were not only living in true EXILE, but in emotional EXILE as well – lacking security and stability of the heart. Beth was shown a new level of hopelessness…

• Child soldiers asking her to be their mother
• Women trying to give her their children
• Children being abducted by rebels and forced to kill their parents or to watch their parents be murdered in brutal ways.
• Stories of women being repeatedly raped and having their children being stolen from their arms by the rebels
• Children who had been so traumatized they rarely spoke or showed emotion.

Her primary thought prevailed, ‘This is so much bigger than we are. How can we make a difference?’ On the plane ride back, she sat next to an autistic Kenyan boy. Looking out the window at the clouds and the heavens, he started to repeat in his catatonic way, ‘It is bigger than we are. It is bigger than we are. It is so much bigger than we are.’

In amazement, it was then that she realized it IS so much bigger than we are….as individuals – but not as a collaborative team and not with a big God.

Out of her experiences (and being a social worker and psychologist) the dream began of creating a trauma counseling program for the war-torn youth of Congo and Eastern Africa that would involved art/expressive therapy and peace & reconciliation training.”

They invite you to join with them by fighting this fight and making this dream a reality.

Beth, in remarking on what’s brought her to this place, told me, “As a child and a preacher’s kid, I was on the front row when the missionaries came to church. My friends would skip that night, but I was there foaming at the mouth to get over to Africa. My family would turn off the Save The Children infomercials because I would be so into it. (I even desperately wanted a live monkey for Christmas when I was little.) Over the years, I have been to many countries doing mission work throughout the world, but was praying for God to bring my skills as a therapist and my love for Africa together.

I was in Dallas doing my own personal work for trauma recovery/emotional wounds and was without a car, so I walked to the nearest church on a Sunday. A man was speaking by the name of Célestin Musekura who survived the Rwandan genocide. Out of his own story, he founded an organization called ALARM (African Leadership and Reconciliation Ministries). Their mission is teach peace, reconciliation, trauma counseling, and discipleship training in Eastern Africa. He and I talked the day after I met him and began talking about creating a trauma counseling program for the youth in Africa. I went with ALARM to Congo in 2008. Congo was like no other country I had been to. I think for some people, its darkness envelops you in a way that bonds you to it. You leave knowing you have a play some part it bringing light to her people.”

eXile international exists to instill hope, healing, and love to the traumatized children of war in Congo and Eastern Africa by providing art/expressive therapy and peace building through a program called the HOPE Initiative.

Their mission: Through partnering with existing African organizations, orphanages, churches, and schools on the ground, the vision is for the art therapy and peace program to be implemented throughout Congo and Eastern Africa.

Their greatest vision is for this program to provide a means for the children to heal from their heartaches and to learn forgiveness, peace, and reconciliation at a deeper level. With a problem so massive, they believe they must begin with the smallest child and teach them a different way: To live in hope, peace, and healing.

Their motto is this: We Must Stop the Bleeding and Mend the Wound To Change the Course…..

Stopping the Bleeding is international political activism to support peace in Congo and throughout Eastern Africa.

Mending the Wound is giving the children an opportunity to heal from their heartaches through art, dance, drama, and music therapy and teaching them what peace, reconciliation, and forgiveness looks like.

If both of those things happen over time and through the hearts of enough children, we can see a change in the course of war. Their dream is for the next generation of Africa’s children to be soldiers of peace rather than soldiers of war.

Finally, Beth remarked, “My heart cry is for the people of Congo and Eastern Africa, but in general, it is for anyone who others have given up on. I think believing in someone and valuing them for who they were created to be, in the place they currently are, is one of the greatest honors you can give them. That can be the underdog who is my next door neighbor, on the team on the basketball court who is loosing, or in a developing country. God is the ultimate one who believes in us when no one else does. Although I fail daily, my wish is to be His heart here on earth. Apart from that, its kids kids and kids. I love my nieces and nephew like crazy.

Simply: [I want to] let the Lord use my passions to make a difference, to embed peace in once war torn countries, and help these kids know that God is beside of them in their pain. Much of the program has to do with togetherness. In showing them that they have all suffered greatly, but they have suffered together and they can heal together…that they are not alone. Because there is a strength that lives inside of them that no one can ever take away – they are never alone and peace is possible.”

Falling Whistles is a non-profit organization building a coalition in the west to enable an art therapy program in Eastern Congo dedicated to providing war affected children in the region with hope, as well as diplomatically developing long-term change in the region.

As stated on the MOVE website, “The night will be full of color and excitement. MOVE will feature artists from all over the state, live music, interactive entertainment, and speakers including: the founders of Falling Whistles, Sean Carasso and Jonathan Carr, as well as Congolese native and Voice of the Congo founder, Dominique Diomi.

There is a suggested donation of $15 which will benefit Falling Whistles and include a number for the silent auction and a discount on Falling Whistles merchandise purchased at the event.

It is HIGHLY recommended that you Pre-register and Pre-donate due to limited space. Register to ensure your name gets on the guest list! When registering you have the option of donating the suggested $15 by clicking on the DONATE link.”

For more information, please go to: theMOVEevent.com and FallingWhistles.com.

I was introduced to Lindsay Branham’s photogrphy at an event for Falling Whistles a few months ago when I painted a piece of artwork live at an event here in Denver. Lindsay’s work is nothing short of stunning.

Using photography, writing, and documentary film, Lindsay works with both Food for the Hungry and Discover the Journey, speaking out against the war in Congo and speaking on behalf of child soldiers.

When asked about her social justice story, Lindsay compellingly wrote this story:

“’Where are all of our friends?’ said Francois. ‘Where are the parents of Heritier? I don’t know. Where are the parents of Maombi? I don’t know. Where are all of them?!’

One man’s broken voice filtering through the phone lines from Goma to Nairobi. And this is war.

I look back on the last few years, and know that my branches have grown strong yet still weep salty tears on the shores of Lake Kivu. My soul is different and nothing is as it was. And I can’t help but embrace the new with joy. All of the Todays.

I had come to Africa for the first time in 2005. That first summer I met my first Congolese friends, and heard whispers of a war that had become the deadliest in the world. I was haunted by their pain.

In 2007 I was offered the opportunity to live in Congo. To create. Months stretched into a year and a half journey in eastern Congo and throughout the Great Lakes Region as a writer and photographer for Food for the Hungry.

Along the road I met children. And these children had been killers in various rebel groups scattered across the Kivu region. I saw in front of me a dichotomy of innocence and evil embodied in a small frame with wounded eyes. Peace hinged on these kidogos (child soldiers).

Journalistic zeal turned to a commitment for peace, for peace making. In French it’s called artisan de la paix. Literally, a craftsperson of peace. This is what I am building. And I recognize that true peace can come neither from me nor through my hands but from the One who has already absolved the evil we protest against. I submit myself.

Art is prophetic, and in eastern DRC, where thousands of children are conscripted to fight in a war saturated with brutality, a prophetic voice of hope and possibility has and can make way for the New.

I celebrate the dignity of these child soldiers that I have gotten to know and love. I believe in their Ndotos (dreams) and I labour alongside them for a future marked by Love and not by hate.

Through a variety of story, photography and documentary film initiatives with Discover the Journey, I commit myself to elevating the voices of these children, so they can share their lives with others. I know people will be changed. And their potential to create and live and heal is not only possible, it is being realized.

I do not understand my financial, social, national privilege. But I refuse to let it blind me and I refuse to be a tool in what is causing this war to continue, in what is forcing these children to become killers instead of students. I make no claims about my love or hope healing theirs. It is more the other way around. But I do believe there is power in our relationships with each other – mostly in the celebration of our commonness, in light of our much greater God.

On my last night in Goma, in December, my Congolese friend Francois grabbed my hands, looked me in the eyes and pleaded with me, ‘Lindsay, don’t stop crying for peace.’

I won’t.

Let Peace Take Flight.”

Take a look at Lindsay’s take on the war in Congo more by checking out this video on CNN.com.

I also encourage you to watch this video on the Paix t-shirt by Discover the Journey. I particularly appreciate how it’s framed, in that it’s “their language, their voice,” as we so often seem to forget that they’re more than capable of speaking for themselves. You can see the video in a larger size here, as well.

Check out more on Food for the Hungry and Discover the Journey at these places online:
www.fhglobal.org
www.discoverthejourney.org
www.discoverthejourney.org/paix

You can also find more of Lindsay’s work by going to any of these links:
CNN.com
Discover the Journey
Discover the Journey-PAIX
Food for the Hungry
Eagles Vantage Point

The piece pictured here was painted by Brandi Stanley on 48″ x 24″ compressed wood with acrylic, spray paint, and Sharpie paint markers, at an event for Falling Whistles (http://www.fallingwhistles.com/). It has since sold, but I am offering commissioned pieces similar to it (at a price to be agreed upon), if you’d like to contact me directly to discuss sizing, changing the words on the sign, removing the whistles, or any other alterations.

Just write me if you’re interested!

Ty (also known as “samo4prez”) works in all mediums, primarily painting, but says his biggest passion lies in writing. Clay and bronzing are part of his roots, but he says, “I keep creative as much as possible; I am finishing two novels with two others in the beginning stages…Sometimes I have the inner argument about being an artist who writes or a writer who paints. Maybe I am both.”

He and his wife just moved back from China two years ago, and they’ve moved around 14 times in the 8 years they’ve been married. The couple now resides in Lewisville, Texas. But, as Ty claims, “I will go, live and create anywhere.”

When asked what issue he feels most passionate about, he responds with, “I don’t think there is one particular issue. There are many that I support in a number of different means. Anything involving children I will put everything I have towards if I feel strongly about it. I have traveled and worked in many orphanages, handicapped schools, and boys homes for abused kids all over the world. My heart breaks for kids who are in need.

“Right now I support Falling Whistles through my fashion company, Veritas. I have gotten to know Sean Carrasso, [founder of FW], over the last year and a half and I believe in his vision and him as an individual, which gives even more strength to the cause he is fighting for in DR Congo. I support Invisible Children. I have a lot of dear friends who work there; I have been able to observe them since day one become an amazing and successful organization. My wife and I buy TOMS Shoes like no tomorrow, so that is support. They blow me away…amazing people and amazing vision as well.

“We are in the process of raising money for an orphanage in Kenya right now, too, through Veritas, called Naomi’s Village that will house over 120 children upon completion. If I could, I would get involved in everything I could find, but I am worn out enough with what we are doing. I just hope that the people that we (Veritas) engage and build community with will see our hearts and vision and it will inspire them to act where they feel led.”

How Ty first got involved in social justice?
Here’s his story:

“My parents have been working in Uganda, Rwanda, Kenya and Mexico for over 13 years serving in refugee camps, orphanages, handicapped schools, and the slums. I first left the country with my dad in 1995 for Uganda, Rwanda and Kenya. We spent time with street kids and handicapped kids singing, playing soccer, netball, dancing, you name it we did it. It was a heart wrenching joy that I never felt. When we entered Rwanda it had only been a year since 800,000 to 1,000,000 Rwandans were killed in the Genocide attempt. It was my first encounter with child soldiers; I didn’t know what to do or how to react. Every border stop I had 10-12 year old children checking my passport with machine guns. My heart was non-existent, I had no beat left; it literally crushed my spirit.

“There was one particular orphanage that we spent time in. There were I believe 200 or so kids who had all witnessed the murder of their parents in a church service. After the Hutu rebels murdered the parents they locked these children in the church with the bodies, it was a week before anyone found them and let them out. I have never seen a completely hopeless, full of sorrow child before in my entire life. Kids I know smile and laugh even when they are down. Later that day I wept in my father’s arms in a way I never thought I could weep. When we left that orphanage, there were smiles and tears of joy on every child’s face. Our touch, our smiles, our love that we shared with these children was so real it gave them hope. I see those faces, both sides of them all the time. It pushes me, inspires me, and sanctifies me to build hope, to raise awareness and to engage culture through my creative abilities so that I can influence those to feel, and observe the emotions and cultures that I have experienced.”

That’s the stuff I love running across in doing this blog. Thanks to Ty for being so willing to share. I’m hoping his story inspires you to use your own creative abilities to make a difference. Check out more of his work below, and click on any of the links listed to find out more about Ty or the organizations he works with.

Other places to find Ty and Veritas:
Samo4Prez
MySpace
Veritas
Samo4Prez on WordPress
Veritas on WordPress
Samo4Prez on Twitter
Veritas on Twitter