West Coast Team

This is our buddy we found on the side of the road.

deserts. girl scout cookies. March

tour is flying by at lightning speed. we have gone to 17 different venues and showed Hiding over 25 times. we have been blessed to have large audiences at almost every screening. people are starting chapters left and right! it honestly blows my mind. especially to see everyday high school kids toss a $10 into the rescue bucket. last friday we did the tshirt challenge at a high school called John F Kennedy Middle College High School. haha what a ridiculous name for a school… but they raised over $120 just at their lunchtime! 

oh and btw.. next time you see a janitor someplace, thank them for doing what they do. they deserve it.

so.

i suppose ill recap a few happenings. we had a grand screening at a real nice private school. we met the surf PE teacher [yeah surf PE class] who invited us surfing the next day which would’ve been rad but our work ended up overtaking us. recounting all the merch in the entire van is not a great idea. never lose track of merch. 

the past chunk of days had its definite ups and downs. struggles, tensions, adventure, beauty. when everything seems to be going wrong and stress is high, it’s so important for me to take a step back. check my heart you know. what are my motives? asking ourselves questions. oh oh oh ah. and those people. the ones that just have fire burning hearts for this issue and talk to us and want to be involved, they refresh me more than they would ever know. some people are definite God sends.

HB and I did a screening in the podunk boonies of inland California. we got lost. the school, called NuView Bridge Early College High School, was literally on a dirt road by sheep fields. but the kids there asked some of the most compelling questions and wanted to dedicate a part of themselves to have a say in this. a lot of the kids were from underprivileged backgrounds and lived pretty sheltered lives, so it was incredible to bring something global into their hands and encourage them to take hold of something or anything or everything that they were passionate about! pash on.

a huge blessing came, when we had no place to stay one night and one of the high school teachers hooked us up with a room in the Embassy Suites for free. wahow. and they had free nachos! we looked like such grody hippies compared to al the businessmens. but it was so wonderful.

we got a free day on saturday and got to go to a terrible and tacky swap meet, climb a rock mountain, hang with a new friendly grasshopper named Kat, visited my best friend, it was a great day.

there was a screening at a Korean youth group on Sundae and our booking coordinator Bridget came to visit us! we stayed with the youth pastor and his wife and they cooked us theee BEST korean food. lettuce wraps included. a few college group cats came to hang and they’re really into what LiNK is doing which is rad to see.

we see the fruit to our labor so often on tour. and it refreshes and refuels us for sure. i cant imagine what it would be like to dedicate your life or a hearty portion of it, to a cause but see very little or no impact of your labor. and there are so many people out there that do just that. just a thought but a humbling one.

the drive to Las Vegas made us feel like we were actually on a sort of a roadtrip/tour since it lasted longer than 2 hours. the wind was insane however. almost blew our conestoga wagon clear off the trail a couple times. we stopped at a salt flat in the mojave desert at the zzyzx exit. coolest word ever: zzyzx. it was like a field of white salt. us and this redneck guy were the only humans there. i think i heard aliens in the distance. it was pretty eerie. i wish Daisy could do burnouts. we had our first house screening in Las Vegas. 7 sardines sprawled into a wood paneled brady bunch style apartment talking about North Korea. good beans. and Las Vegas is quite a place. 

got a good solid 2 hours o sleep. onward to salt lake city, UT!

Godspeedumz, 

kT, kaddy, dill

#1 sandy eggo

hola chiquitos! its kT on the track typing on behalf and bewhole of the west nomad team. san diego. i had no idea it looked like the land before time here. bright greens rolling hills with archaic rock formations all over the place. not to mention the ocean in our back yard. we stayed with Sarah Palmer and her roomies in a beach house the first 2 nights of tour. and had 6 showings of “Hiding” on our first day. we went to Hilltop High School for 6 periods and then Grossmount College. intense first day for sure.the teachers at Hilltop were real stoked on what LiNK is doing and want us to come back next week to share more with their classes.

we also went to a continuation high school all day our 2nd day where the principal and teachers were extremely surprised at how involved in our cause the students seemed to be. it was awesome to see kids that may have come from really underprivileged backgrounds, stepping into realization of their potential and doing something with their energy. never underestimate your audience.

we are five days into tour and now have talked to over 1,000 magnificent souls both young and old, apathetic, energetic, lovers, doubters, silly, serious. people. i love meeting them. so we had a free day saturday and got to explore a tad-pole around San Diego and Pacific Beach. HB got his first pair of skinny jeans at urban outfitters. he’s so stylish. 

one night we stayed in a room at a senior citizens center. it was cute.

so personally speaking, im learning a lot about communication. being more direct with my words. stepping into confidence. speaking with conviction. it is something that is incredibly important to grow in. especially on tour when you are speaking in front of crowds 5 times a day, working through things within the team, making sure we voice our gratitude and appeciation to every one, and learning how we each flow with each other the best. 

i wanted an extra spoonful of Sundae. it was lots of flavors of ice cream mixed with rainbow jimmies, chocolate sauce, a couple screenings, a completely scrumptralesent korean barbecue, sunsets, seals, La Jolla cliffs, and humongoose waves. the screenings at the churches we went to were grand. the Korean church was so so cool. there were lots o’ little grasshopper kids bouncing around us the whole time. the people donated and supported and bought shirts and asked so many great questions. kam sami da!

now we dive into a new week of adventure including a few more days in Sandy Eggo, maybe Mexico, and then up to Inland Empire, CA.

Godspeed gauchos!

bonjour from the 2011 spring tour nomads! HB from Atlanta, William from North Carolina, and Katie from Florida. carpe diem carpe nocturn!

charleysays:

Most of you are aware of Invisible Children and Love146 by now. Both awesome organizations. Some of you don’t know about LiNK though. And you should.

LiNK focuses on the current human rights crisis which is happening in North Korea right now under the dictatorship of Kim Jong II. The North Korean government prohibits freedom of speech. Not only wrong-doers, but “wrong-thinkers” are punished, the press is centrally controlled, and there is virtually no access to outside information.

These wrong doers are then put into Political Concentration camps. Crazy right? The world still has concentration camps. I don’t need to say what happens in concentrations camps. You then have the refugees that have fled to China and who are hiding in the underground. Over 80% of the women and children refugees then face human & sex trafficking when they finally get to China.

If that short paragraph isn’t enough to get you to click here or here, then i don’t really know what is. Buy a t-shirt, blog about the issues or help out by educating yourself about the situation.

The kids that work for LiNK risk their lives for what they believe in. Break the silence, even if its just for today.

(Source: chachacharley)

The End and Beginning of Something Beautiful.

The End of…

Living in a van

Driving long hours with little to no sleep

Smelling Bad

Caffeine addictions (hopefully)

Talking in front of 100’s regardless of how tired you are

Losing all of your personal belongings 

Being so close to 2 other people always you can sense when they aren’t there

Books on tape

Endless traffic that makes us late to screenings

Fast Food

The Beginning of…

16 beautiful journeys to freedom.

the homestretch

I woke up this morning to a brilliant blue sky and wisps of white clouds.   I woke up burrowed in the glorious satisfaction of knowing there was absolutely no rush to get up and I could roost in my cozy nest of borrowed blankets.  I woke up feeling at home. 

And then I was bowled over by transience.  I was blindsided by the melancholy of being aware of an inevitable, approaching end of a chapter. The end of tour is in sight and maybe that’s making me nostalgic for the present, but I was struck by the realization that, “This moment is absolutely unique.”  To survive the craziness of tour, I’ve been taking it screening by screening, day by day.  But this morning, myopia gave way and I glimpsed the colorful patchwork that’s been created by the landscape we’ve crossed, the individuals we’ve met, and the homes that have been opened to us. 

 Have a great rest of the day.

How to Save a Life (or six)

As of Sunday, November 28th 2010 at 11:59pm, the West Nomads have raised enough funds to rescue six North Korean refugees out of Hiding in China!

We are humbled by everyone who made the sacrifice to donate whatever they could in order to save the lives of these refugees.  Everything from the pennies to the dollar bills to the large checks has allowed for this to happen.

For this, we, the West Nomads, are forever grateful for what you have done for these people.  You have changed their lives.  Keep fighting the good fight.

Fill us up, send us out.

We began this beautiful journey 3 months ago, and what a joy it has been. It’s funny to be looking at it, and seeing that a huge portion of our time has gone by. It is like a book, you know the conclusion is coming by the page count, whether or not we want it to end, the end will surely find us. We have been going for what seems like such a long time, and at the same moment only a fraction of a second. 

We drive, from city to city, face to face, story to story. We survive on sacrifice, humility, and patience. None of which belong to us, but all to the people we have met. This is a thank you to the wonderful hosts who have taken us in, not as travelers, but as friends. We have seen the goodness of every man and woman through their eyes. 

As we press on, finishing the last chapters of this story, I have more joy and peace than I have in a while. The sun is shining, the clouds are a direct imitation of the beauty I have experienced these past few months, and I am sitting next to 2 incredible individuals who have given so much. I have seen something so sacred and beautiful, that even the grass looks different. I have seen true sacrifice. 

Sacrifice: surrender of something for the sake of something else

The good in all of us, will destroy the wicked. Peace will come, and when it does I will again have more joy.

Until then, these experiences and my hope will be enough. I listen to every story, remember ever city, and picture every face of those who have sent us out into the world, and I am forever grateful.

Godspeed, 

Sean

5 States, 1 Province, 1 Refugee Saved

Well, Utah was a fun & interesting place. We spent the greater part of our day off in Temple Square with Alex (one of many super awesome people we have met)… and learned about all sorts of interesting things! We saw a giant 15-foot statue of Jesus in space, toured the LDS Conference Center (that holds 21,000 people!), and saw a miniature model of the Temple.

When we first came into Utah, it was about 1am… We were going to camp in Kanab, but it was pretty sketchy. So instead, Sean drove for an additional 3 hours to get us to a random rest stop in the middle of nowhere, where we slept for about 4 hours in the van. We then woke up & continued on to Orem for a screening at Utah Valley University. We’ve had some great screenings here in Utah— the people were all so nice.

We had some crazy fun times here. Sleeping in the van is always an adventure— and it was raining the whole night— relaxing, but unfortunate for our original plan of camping. We have seen some beautiful sunsets (and sunrises), especially in Utah with all the mountains & lakes.

One of our contacts (Mike), also has a stuffed Pikachu, which was RATHER exciting. The West Nomads & Mike are clearly soul mates. That is all about that.

We then drove further north to Twin Falls, ID. Our introduction to this lovely town in the middle of nowhere was watching 14 crazies jump off of a perfectly good bridge into a 500 foot deep canyon… with parachutes, of course. It was pretty crazy & intense! We met up with Bryan, who took us to the farm house that would become our home for the next 2 nights… complete with stink bugs & spiders living in the basement (well, the whole house, really). But it was super fun & super nice! The people at The River Christian Fellowship were so receptive to our story, even though we were only able to show 1 story of hope (not the full documentary) during the service, but then the following evening, we showed the full doc to the young adult group & some other members of the congregation.

Then came Canada. It all started with the 13 hour overnight drive to even get there… then we got stopped for 2 1/2 hours at the border (Our big black van is sketchy? What?). We were a few minutes late for our first screening, but they were very understanding, and loved the documentary. The PRINCIPAL even commented on what great speakers we are. That was definitely something awesome to hear after a looooong drive. It made it very-much-so worth it.

After our 5 days in Canada, we as the West Coast team, have officially raised enough funds through donations to rescue ONE refugee! :) Thank you to San Diego, Phoenix/Tucson, Los Alamos, Orem/Provo/Logan/Salt Lake City, Twin Falls, and Vancouver for making that possible!

Washington was pretty cool. The people that we met were awesome! Our first night, we stayed with a fellow Nomad’s dad… and played some intense games of ping pong! Quite enjoyable :) The next day, we were shown around the delicious side of Seattle by Pastor John, who took us out to eat burgers, ice cream, and coffee. Also quite enjoyable :) We even stayed with Ms. Robb, who had a beautiful view at her house, overlooking the ocean, including a very short walk down to the beach, where we proceeded to see seals swimming & ate some brie and crackers. Yum. We also stayed with Sean’s brother’s family… with their cat that has thumbs, and their dog that just loves everyone (and Sean’s adorable niece… need I say more?)

We split up one day to spread the word to Thomas Jefferson High School and Whitworth U.  Wow. The students there rocked my socks off! Amy & Morgan were great hosts, and sent us off with goodies for the road. The students even stuck around for an hour after the screening to talk to Jane & Kelley about getting involved with LiNK :) Fun times.

Coming Soon: Oregon & then back to California!

Rain in Utah

Pikachu Friends

Beaches in Canada

Canadian Moose Canadian Sunrise Seattle Seals & Sunset Kitty! (Check out it’s paws!) Sean & Jane, eating Brie Mt. Rainier at Sunset