Drew's Thoughts on KONY 2012

Although I made it to the Kony 2012 party a little late, it was still plenty hopping with nearly 100 million views of Invisible Children's video on YouTube (see above). After watching the video I had simply one word - wowzers.

Invisible Children (hereafter, IC) has been around for a while now, despite not too many folks having heard of them. Their recent video, however, just opened the eyes of the globe not merely to IC, but more so, to what they're doing. This video is a game-changer as it pertains to how to make a cause known.

Certainly there are some things to be cautious of, but they are overshadowed by the things to be supportive of. I actually read many of the critiques before I watched the video hoping they may bend my opinion in favor of them and not IC's video. They failed.

Cautionary Tidbits:
- It's the Ugandan reaction we'll need to listen to, and the current Ugandan take on Kony. Kony has been around for years. And, mainstream news providers have reported on him for years. Yet, no one has done as well of a job as IC. Nevertheless, we need to ask "What's the nation of Uganda saying about all this?" We need to listen to this not for any correction on IC's part (because if you check out IC's staff, there's a lot of Ugandans on there), but more so how to properly relate and discuss the video with others and not to blur our vision of Uganda or even sub-Saharan Africa as a whole as some safe house for freakazoid demon warlords like Kony.
- What's the endgame? IC's raw video was stirring as all get out. And they did discuss their endgame - "to make Kony famous." But, what does this tactically look like on the ground there in sub-Saharan Africa? As of now, this video is all talk about action. We'll see what action actually comes from it.
- Follow-up. This one is directly related to last. IC has set themselves up for success or failure and the world is now watching. That is, they have until December to continue putting Kony out there. Nearing 100 millions views on Youtube, having news networks drooling with envy over their success, and with IC being passionate about this as it is their livelihood, I have little doubt they'll continue onward to success in their mission.

Things to heed and other compliments:
- The video magnifies the vital utilization in our day and age of technology and media usage. WOW, five stars!
- They've been there on the ground and have seen what they were talking about firsthand. Having firsthand exposure to an issue (as IC does) is crucial to initiating a seeming revolution like they just did.
- Being qualified is crucial in light of potential critics. If you read up on IC, their CEO, CFO, COO, and the rest of their team are not some bunch of hippies coming together for a cause. They're qualified. They would've been slammed beyond belief if they hadn't been. This doesn't mean we have to have a degree or experience to be used or to do something, it's just a point to recognize.
- You know you did something right and good when all hell breaks loose in jealously over what you just did. If you read any of the critiques by The Atlantic, you can't help but to smell envy. Not too mention many of the other mainstream media sources that have discussed it in recent days. I think Jon Stewart on "The Daily Show With Jon Stewart" properly captured this when they did a montage of all the media talking about and critiquing IC. Stewart's point was that much of mainstream media were terribly jealous that their years of talking about Kony off and on was just blown away by what IC did and how much attention they received.
- IC are some young guns. I love it. IC are young and lively; courageous and risk takers. They're not arrogant, but are willing to take a bullet for the cause they stand for.
- On top of that last point, they are wise in how they handle criticism. They responded to their critics and held their ground. In a kind yet candid way they seemingly said "Hey, you critics are a bunch of haters, get a life. Kony sucks and we're going to do something about this since you tried, but to no avail."
- Lastly, they showed the importance of being transparent in your financial statements. If you notice on most mainline global non-profits (World Vision, Compassion, IJM, Bill & Melinda Gates, KIVA, etc.) they all post their recent financial filings. Why? For one, it's simply a matter of integrity within corporate governance. Secondly, often times donors want to know exactly what percentage of what they give is going directly to the cause. IC did a great job of showing their finances. I personally dismissed The Atlantic's write up about IC's finances as weightless. Not because I'm more in alignment with IC, but because I didn't really know what the journalist was trying to say. It was as though they were just trying to throw envious dirt at IC which makes for poor journalism.

Other Articles:
By The Atlantic
http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2012/03/the-decline-of-american-nationalism-why-we-love-to-hate-kony-2012/254929/


http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2012/03/the-international-obsession-with-joseph-kony-is-already-ending/254510/


http://www.theatlanticwire.com/global/2012/03/ugandans-arent-thrilled-about-kony-2012-video-either/49867/


http://www.theatlanticwire.com/technology/2012/03/unlikely-viral-success-kony-2012/49730/

By Nick Kristof of The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/15/opinion/kristof-viral-video-vicious-warlord.html

By Jenna Arnold of The Huffington Post (This is a great article)
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jenna-arnold/kony-2012-social-change_b_1334770.html

Jon Stewart Video
http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/mon-march-12-2012/my-little-kony

*The views expressed in this post are soley those of Drew Hutcheson.

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What's So Important About a Car?

It's less than two months until we leave (<==== check out the new countdown we added!) and the excitement is mounting! We cannot wait to get to Uganda and serve the people there under International Justice Mission! What a privilege and an honor to do this work the Lord has called us to.

We are also excited that we have reached 100% of the monthly support we needed to raise with IJM! GOD IS GOOD!!

We have now begun raising money to help us with the purchase of a vehicle once we arrive in Uganda.

Unfortunately, IJM is unable to justify a car as a "business expense" and thus, we are unable to raise money for a vehicle through them. Thankfully, our home church in Florida provided a way for us to raise money for a vehicle while still allowing our donors to channel their funds through a trusted organization. This money will not be tax deductible.

For those of you who have already pledged to give to us monthly through IJM, please continue to send your donations in to them. We are considering your monthly donations when we calculate that we are at 100%. For others who have not given or pledged to give, would you consider giving towards our car fund? Vehicles are very expensive in Uganda, and we need to raise quite a bit before we leave.

Cash or check donations towards our car fund may be sent to:

First Baptist Church

124 W Ashley Street

Jacksonville, FL 32202

Please do not write our name anywhere on the check. Just include a separate piece of paper signifying your donation is for the Hutchesons (do not specify that it is for a car). Thank you!

We'd like to take minute to share with you some of the reasons a vehicle will be important for us while we are in Uganda:

1. As most of you know, we are planning to adopt soon after we arrive in Uganda! We do not yet know what orphanage we will be adopting from, but an orphanage we are looking in to is located in Jinja, Uganda. With traffic, Jinja can be more than two hours away from where we will be living in Kampala. Once we identify our child and begin the paperwork, we could wait months before we are awarded legal guardianship and are able to bring our child into our home with us. This means many many trips to the orphanage to visit our baby before we can bring her and/or him home. A car will make this travel an easier thing to accomplish.

2. Another reason a car is beneficial for us is because of our desire to use car seats for our children (although it is not the law in Uganda). Many interns and fellows that go to Uganda with IJM are either single and/or childless. Thus, they find that using public transportation suits their needs. Public transportation is cheap, easy, and EVERYWHERE in Uganda! However, with a family of (soon to be) four (or more?), public transportation is not the most ideal situation for us.

• This is a matatu - a Ugandan taxi. This is a great form of transportation but these taxis are usually packed full and not only would there be little room for car seats, it would be hard to constantly lug them in and out of the taxi (and there may be no seat belts to strap the car seat in with)! =)

  

• Another form of transportation common in Uganda is a boda boda. Boda bodas are also found almost everywhere. They work like a taxi. You flag one down, hop on, and pay at your destination. Boda boda's are fun to ride (you can see Drew enjoying himself in the picture below taken when we were in Uganda in Spring of 2009) and Drew will most likely use them often to get to work. However, they are not the best solution for a family outing (no car seats fitting on these babies)!

 

• Another form of transportation would be a special hire private taxi. These are also easy to find and easy to use in Uganda. However, the price is more expensive because you have the whole taxi to yourself. Also, again we would have the issue of lugging car seats in and out at our destination!

As you can see, a car will be an important asset to us as we serve the Lord in Uganda. Would you consider helping us raise the money that we need to purchase one? We would be greatly honored and appreciative!
Learn more at our Start-Up & Support page.

THANK YOU!

A Prayer: Be Our Primary Disease

Be our primary disease,

and infect us with your justice;

Be our night visitor,

and haunt us with your peace;

Be our moth that consumes,

and eat away at our unfreedom.

Be our primary disease,

our night visitor,

our moth

infect, haunt, eat away...

Until we are toward you and with you and for you,

away from our injustice,

our anti-peace

our unfreedom.

More like you and less like your resistance.

In the name of the one most like you,

most with you,

most for you ... even Jesus.

Amen.

This prayer is by Profesor, theologian, and pastor, Walter Brueggemann.

It was prayed in one of his courses, January 20, 1998 at Columbia Theological Seminary.

Immunizations!

Well, our immunizations are done! We didn't have to get as many shots as we thought so that was great! One step closer to getting to Uganda!! We didn't get pictures of us getting our shots but here's our brave little guys getting his done:

"I know something bad is about to happen...I just know it."

"Yup, this feeling is getting stronger and stronger. Get me outta here!"

Poor little guy! Here comes the evil needle!

One down and one to go!

All done with shots but still not too happy. He actually bounced back really well and was perfect the rest of the day! We have a brave tiny little super guy!

Our Video!

Take a few minutes to check out our video and learn more about what we'll be doing in Uganda with IJM!!

Our Smart Little Guy!

We're such proud parents of all our little guy can do! =)

IJMarch Madness!

It's that time of year again: The 2012 NCAA Men's College Basketball Tournament!

Some of us live for March Madness. Some of us look forward to March Madness more so than Christmas. Some of us could care less.

However you feel about March Madness, this year, you can fill out a bracket for fun, but also with a purpose. We have made an IJM NCAA Tournament Challenge Group on ESPN and want you to be part of it!

We are asking that, at the end of the tournament, you donate $1.00 to International Justice Mission (IJM.org) for each correctly chosen winning team on your bracket.

Here's the link to the group: IJMarch Madness

Group Password: IJM

The winner will receive a free IJM T-shirt so choose wisely!

May the best bracket and team win!

*Disclaimer: International Justice Mission (IJM) is a human rights agency that secures justice for victims of slavery, sexual exploitation and other forms of violent oppression. IJM lawyers, investigators and aftercare professionals work  with local officials to ensure immediate victim rescue and aftercare, to  prosecute perpetrators and to promote functioning public justice systems. IJM is not directly affiliated at all with ESPN and the idea discussed above is strictly that of Drew & Amber Hutcheson.*