DAY 1 (Saturday)
Just landed in Cebu, Philippines to spend a week with the IJM Philippines team and IJM Canadian supporters. Looking forward to a
week of getting up close to view the amazing work this team does protecting children from online sexual exploitation.
Encouraging worship at living Word Church this morning. https://linktr.ee/livingworditpark This afternoon we chilled togetheter back at the hotel
This morning we had an orientation time and met the IJM Cebu team. This afternoon it was sobering to travel through Lapu-Lapu and Cordova neighborhoods this afternoon where International Justice Mission has made numerous rescues of children being exploited online.
Day 3 (Tuesday)
Today we visited a floating restaurant for lunch and bumped into a group of football loving Filipinos who explained they are a "football for humanity" team using the beautiful game to raise awareness about online sexual exploitation of children in the Philippines. Very excitedly I said, "I Love football" and I pointed to our IJM Philippines team. I started to explain that we are fighting OSEC as well and it turned out they use our materials and have attended some of our trainings. A small world.
This afternoon we visited the Women & Children Protection Team WCPC and learned about how IJM work closely with this Police unit in investigation and preparing cases with them for putting on rescue and maiking arrests. We even got to pray together!!
Today we were taken to the Regional Trial Court in Lapu-Lapu by our IJM Philippines lawyers. This is a special families court for cases of abuse towards children including OSEC. it was great to meet and thank the Public Prosecter for bringing many perpetrators to Justice, working with our two wonderful IJM lawyers Atty Kaye and Atty Therese. We also got to see a special room which IJM transformed from a store room into a play area for children as they wait to be interviewed. I couldn't help noticing Winnie the Pooh and sharing about his connection to Winnipeg. So many demandside perpetrators who consume the abuse of children over the internet come from countries like Canada so it was good to see a Canadian Character, be it a bear who can be a source of comfort and help for vulnerable children. This evening we met with a number of Survivor leaders for dinner who had all been through or are still going through this court system. it was a privilege to meet these young brave female leaders whose heart was to help other children who are going through the torment and abuse they knew so well. One was training to be a social worker and another had just graduated as a psychologist
Day 5 (Thursday)
Today we visited an International Justice Mission partner about an hour and a half out of Cebu City. The partner NGO is a shelter and 
school for children rescued from Online sexual exploitation. (OSEC). Around 40 girls are housed there between 4 and 17 yrs. We were given a tour of the facility and spotted another Winnie-The-Pooh. It is a place of great hope and we were welcomed with a program of singing and dance. We got to introduce ourselves and hang out with the children ,singing, dancing and chatting about our names. families, favourite pets and the like.... The biggest encouragement was that these children for all they have been through were like any other children laughing, joking and giving lots of high fives. This is the beginning of the children's long road to recovery supported by social workers, Child psychologists, caring adults and proper trauma informed care. I know it works because of the survivor leaders we met yesterday for dinner who are graduates of this and other shelters that IJM works with.
This afternoon we had some time to relax before we return back to Canada. We saw some of the sites, Magellan's Cross, Fort San Pedro and a very nice resort on Lapu-Lapu. It was also a time to debrief and reflect on our week getting up close to IJM's work protecting children from Online sexual exploitation. My lasting memory from an incredibly inspiring week will be the dinner we had with the Survivor Leaders. Once they were trapped in a place of terror and abuse and now they have hope and a vision to use their experience to help others. If you are interested to know more check out Ruby's Podcast. https://lnkd.in/eiyXbe7M