NeWSLeT TeR January 2015
in this issue: 2014 . . . . . . . 2 ethiopia: Closing Koshe. . . . . . . 3 India: pillalu & plans for the Future. . . . . . 5 In Other News!. . . . . . . 1 0
editorials: Liz Mannchen & ashley Davis Design: ashley Davis
2014 between then & now To say that an update for Pick A Pocket is long overdue would be a pretty big understatement, but sometimes you have to wait until things make enough sense to put into words... 2014 was a year of waiting, doubt, regrouping and total dependency on god to see the forest through the trees. a year of uncertainty, loss and confusion. But we have received new direction, vision for our future and are excited to be able to invite you all to be a part of where god is taking us and the new things he has in store. Before that though, we want to honor you as our lovely supporters, people actively invested in the work god has given us to do, and be transparent about what the last months have looked like for us as a ministry. as you may recall, the start of 2014 had us planning to spread our team out into three different locations: Herrnhut, Nürnberg and Florida. as we moved full throttle towards this change, we realized the Lord had different plans. Many members of our team began moving to Florida and Nürnberg in order to prepare the way for the others that were to follow, but it became apparent that something was changing. There was a large stirring in our team of people who felt that it was time to go on a different journey, calling them away from pick a pocket and (in most cases) YWaM Herrnhut/ Nürnberg/Sarasota as well. each situation was different and unique to the person it belonged to. On august 12th we prayed out and released over 25 of our members. Needless to say, this was an extremely heart breaking and difficult time for everyone involved. page : 2
Over the last five months, the remaining pick a pocket team (2 in Florida, 5 in Nürnberg and 1 in ethiopia) took time to mourn this loss, focus on the lord and wait until He released us again for future vision. all our plans were on hold. We released our venue, Wildnis, in Herrnhut due to the lack of manpower to run it and handed it over to our YWaM base to continue running. Our projects on the field were sustained in order to honor those dependent on us, but all our plans for how to move forward with them had to be put on pause because we simply didn’t have the capacity to do so. Both individually and as a ministry we were completely dried out, but we knew that god wasn’t done with us yet.
“DRY
BONES, HEAR THE WORD
OF THE
LORD! I
WILL MAKE
BREATH ENTER YOU, AND YOU WILL COME TO LIFE. I WILL
ATTACH TENDONS TO YOU AND MAKE FLESH COME UPON YOU AND COVER YOU WITH SKIN;
I
WILL PUT BREATH IN YOU,
AND YOU WILL COME TO LIFE.
THEN YOU WILL KNOW THAT I AM THE LORD.”
The start of 2015 brought our team the feeling of being released to start again. We had taken our time of reflection, learning from our mistakes, forgiving and letting go seriously. Now, it was time to prosper, move forward with authority and ownership of the ministry the Lord has entrusted us with, and dive right back into those deep big oceans. god gave this ministry life and He will not let it sink. We were filled with new vision for our field projects, god’s heart for the poor and our art. From ethiopia to India and back here to germany. The lord was speaking and we were listening. and now, we are able to share these things with you. •••
Ethiopia closing koshe
The last thing we brought to you about ethiopia were our plans to transition the Koshe project to Bloom addis, a profitable hostel that offered our girls job opportunities to prosper and support them for their future. We were completely committed to this vision. We started fund- raising, creating media works and artwork for the new project. However, like the rest of 2014, things changed. after constant conversations with our team member down in ethiopia, who has been leading this project the past years, we realized that our plans for Bloom addis were not going to happen. In order to protect the privacy and security of the girls, we think it best to not go into deep explanation of why. What we can
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say though, with great sorrow in our hearts but great certainty, is that the Koshe project needs to come to an end. after much prayer and deliberation, we see that this will be what is best for them. We believe god has future plans for our girls and we desire to continue to be in relationship and close communication with them, joining them and encouraging them in prayer as they seek what god has in store. However, the current project, as it stands, is not effective and healthy for the girls anymore. They need something new, and although we have dreams and ideas of our own, we know that it’s time for us to step back and allow room for god to give birth to whatever that ‘new’ thing might be. Our plan is to go down in the beginning of February and properly close this project out. We want to spend time with our teammate, the girls and the locals who have been helping us run this project the last 6 years. We want to give thanks to god, honor the country and the people and lay this project down in the most respectful way we can. after that, we are going to pray and seek the Lord for what he has for us, the girls and for pick a pocket in ethiopia. perhaps it’s something new. perhaps it’s not. But we feel called to go and find out.
We know that like us, many of you have taken a vested interest in praying for and financially supporting these young women and the way that god has allowed us into their lives. please know that our desire is in no way to “drop the girls.” We are still figuring out what it is the Lord wants us to do in order to support them, but for the time being, we honestly don’t know. Would you please continue to stand with us in prayer and believe with us in His beautiful future for them?
If you desire to continue showing your support for Pick A Pocket and being involved with the plans God has for these young women, would you consider standing with us financially in order to properly close this project out? As a team we are desiring to go down there and finish what we started… together. However, with the timing of everything being very short, we need huge things to happen financially in a very short amount of time. page : 4
FINANCIAL NEEDS FOR THIS OUTREACH: Total: $5,200 ( € 4.500) (for a team of 5) -Flights for the team : $3,500 (€ 3.030) -Visas for the team: $200 ( € 175) -Ground transportation & food for the team: $1,500 ( € 1.300)
India Pillalu & Plans for the future In our last update, we brought to you our excitement and involvement with the launching of The Pillalu House in Vijaywada, India and we are so happy to say that is still on track! Pillalu is a compassionate response to the needs of orphaned children denied the stability of a home and a family. We are partnering with our friend Raj in order to bring monthly support and a long term sustainable income for this orphanage. As a team, we want to go visit The Pillalu House at the end of April. We want to spend time with Raj and the children, as well as nail down a business plan for the future. Our hopes are to familiarize ourselves with Indian culture as a whole but also this specific village, in order to help Raj figure out how to sustain this project long-term. Artistically, we are approaching this trip in two ways. We want to use our practical skills in communication and design by using this time to make a media packet that will be used for future fund-raising and awareness of The Pillalu House. This will hopefully include a short film, brochure and online component. Creatively, we want to take this time to immerse ourselves in Gods heart for The Pillalu House, the children, Raj and his family, the village, all of it. From there, we are hoping to be able to take these experiences and the things that God opens our eyes to into our respective mediums, and create a dynamic, travelling exhibition that will help us promote this project. We want to spend time creating with and for the people of Vijaywada and teaching the Pillalu kids how to be musicians, fine artists, photographers, dancers or whatever else God has gifted them in!
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Upon our return, we will begin to create a game plan for how to move forward in supporting Raj’s ministry, and organizing all of the artwork plus the new Liz and the Lions album launch into a tour that will raise money and awareness for The pillalu House. (Stay tuned for more information on that front! )
In order to make this happen, we need to get the team to India. Investing in this short term outreach will be a seed that plants investment into impacting and blessing the future of these little lions. As we are a small team, and each fill many roles in the things that need to be done, it is crucial that all of us be there. Would you consider sowing into our involvement with The Pillalu House by financially supporting us in getting there?
FINANCIAL NEEDS FOR THIS OUTREACH: Total: $7,000 ( € 6.050) (for a team of 7) -Flights for the team : $4,200 ( € 3.635) -Visas for the team: $700 ( € 605) -Ground transportation & food for the team: $2,100 ( € 1.800) page : 8
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In other news: Like we spilled before, Liz and the Lions is coming out with a new album, hopefully released late this summer. They have been working hard at creating new songs and recording this album in Atlanta, Georgia this past December. We are very excited to hear what they came out with! More details on their release soon!
Uli & Liz were able to spend a few days praying, playing and dreaming with Josh, Ruth & Valor Elke before recording in Atlanta. Hi Elke’s!
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Once again, we would like to say thank you for walking with us through such a crazy time in our ministry. Thank you for believing in us. Thank you for being patient and having grace. For carrying us in times where we honestly didn’t know how to move forward. For interceding and praying on our behalf. For supporting us individually and as a team. And for always saying yes to God. Our ministry was created as a way to bring as many people as possible around the vision God had for arts and poverty. Thank you for joining us in that. We couldn’t do it with out you!
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