God's Provision Over the Bali Training

Between February 23-26 2016 FAAST co-hosted a Hands That Heal Training with PEARL, World Relief-Bali and Gerasa. At this training we taught 50 leaders from Indonesia, China, and the Philippines how to be trauma-informed caregivers who can provide holistic care for survivors of human trafficking. One of our partners from PEARL shared these thoughts after the conclusion of the training:

My heart is full and overflowing with the amazing blessings that God poured out during the four day Hands that Heal Curriculum Training of Trainers in Bali. God more than fulfilled all our hopes and expectations. The night before the event, Mandy (FAAST staff member and presenter), prayed for the event. I asked God, “What would You like to tell us about Your heart this week?” He showed me how He wanted to breathe His breath of Life - new, renew, and continuous - into all those there. I believe that this happened.

One of the word pictures I can think of to describe the effectiveness of last week is when individuals come to a pile of wood to start a large bonfire. Each carry a lit torch. Each torch is strategically placed to start the fire in it’s location. The fire grows and travels to meet in the center. 

Many qualified, active, effective people were present at the training. We had Americans and Australians working in the Philippines and China; a pastor from the Toraja area of Sumatra concerned with the victims of labor trafficking from his own congregation, a lady from a different Indonesian island who has gone undercover into a local brothel, a local Balinese team who is working in several nightclubs in addition to many other actions, representatives from about four safe houses on three different islands, and people who are doing preventive work with street children. Fifteen percent of the participants were male! This was amazing! We are so thankful.

Most of us present didn’t even know that each other existed. We were all like long lost families members so glad to meet up. At each HtH ToT I’ve attended (three now), someone acknowledges that they are a victim of Human Trafficking. Sometimes, while they are learning about the definition or other piece of information, they say to themselves, “They are talking about me. That’s my story.” This time, too, we had a beautiful lady speak up and share her personal story of being a sex slave, which touched us all.  

Thank you for your faithful prayers. This training was a monumental moment for the cause of freedom, prevention, and aftercare in the area of human trafficking. 

Community Leadership Model

Dr Sandra Morgan, head of our University Network, shares one of her favorite FAAST training stories: 

'One of my favorites is of an ongoing Hands That Heal training in Cordoba, Argentina. We first went in 2014 and trained 47 leaders in five days in conjunction with Ensure Justice. We provided a well-trained on the ground team to help survivors. Every year since we have gone back there and expanded each time -- we have more and more professionals and community leaders being trained and taking on leadership. This is such a good model for community leadership and development because we have a larger impact on the community each time with our on-the-ground team!' 

The University Network is currently applying for grants, building partnerships and redesigning it's structure to better accommodate individual memberships.