I have a confession to make…

I have a confession to make…I love auctions!  There is nothing like finding something that you really must have and then having someone else want it too.  In my mind I set a limit that is usually reached very quickly but I can’t let the other guy have it so I bid higher and higher and then sometimes win!  I was at a local auction a few years ago and stayed until the very end when most people have gone and only junk is left.  Anyway, they started to auction off an office chair that I hadn’t even seen.  It turned out that I actually needed an office chair so when no one bid and the auctioneer said that the first dollar gets it, I pounced on it.  An office chair for a buck.  What a deal!  Of course, I hadn’t yet actually seen the chair up close and when I did, I realized that there was no way my wife would let me bring the chair into our house (and no way I even wanted to sit in it), so I took it right to the dump where it cost me $3 to drop it off!  Not the brightest move, but lesson learned.  

Because I tend to buy stuff that I don’t really need at auctions, I rarely go anymore. BUT, I found some tv shows that show auctions and now I can see other people’s purchases!  Ever watch “Auction Kings”?  It’s very exciting to watch people bring stuff in and put a value on it and then see if the auction brings anything close to that!  Recently, I discovered the “Barrett-Jackson Auction” which is high end cars that are auctioned off.  Cars regularly get auctioned off for $100,000 to $200,000!!!  Can you imagine the “whoosh” (remember Jeff’s sermon), that those buyers must get?  Can you imagine spending that kind of money on a car that they are probably not going to drive?  Most of the cars are added to existing collections of cars that these people have! 

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Holly

I watched a DVD (not Blu-Ray, haven’t advanced that far yet!), the other night on the recommendation of a staff member with International Justice Mission (IJM).  It was one of the hardest movies to watch that I’ve ever experienced.  Here is the description from the DVD case…

”Holly”, shot on location in Cambodia, including many scenes in actual brothels in the notorious red light district of Phnom Penh, HOLLY is a captivating, touching and emotional experience. 

Patrick (Ron Livingston), an American card shark and dealer of stolen artifacts, has been “comfortably numb” in Cambodia for years, when he encounters Holly (Thuy Nguyen), a 12-year-old Vietnamese girl, in the K11 red light village.  The girl has been sold by her impoverished family and smuggled across the border to work as a prostitute.

Holly’s virginity makes her a lucrative prize, and when she is sold to a child trafficker, Patrick embarks on a frantic search through both the beautiful and sordid faces of the country, in an attempt to bring her to safety.

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Does Justice Matter?

A couple of nights ago, I attended a regional briefing of the ministry, International Justice Mission (ijm.org).  Once again, I was exposed to the realities of our world and how injustice prevails in so many places.  5 year old little girls being trafficked for sex? More slaves in the world now than at any other time in history? 

Women/girls being raped and “courts” finding the women guilty?  Widows being kicked off their land because their husbands have died?  Are you kidding?  Sadly, this is all true.  Then today on the news, I heard about the campaign to educate sex workers in Vancouver as they prepare for the world to visit for the 2010 Olympics.  Women in Vancouver will be taken advantage of, and sex workers from all over the world will come here to provide their “services”.  Some of those women will not be doing it because they want to.  Many are forced whether by pimps or circumstances where they feel they have no other choice. 

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