Russ and Megumi Bermejo work for IJM in the Philippines to free young girls trapped in the sex-trade industry. Russ and Megumi focus on the aftercare of the girls once they are rescued from the heinous world of child prostitution.
Several months ago, Russ contacted me about his aftercare work with the girls. Russ had read Presence Centered Youth Ministry and felt that many things I wrote about in the creation of environments for transformation would help the young people he was working with experience spiritual healing and shape their Christian formation.
It has been cool to interact with Russ through the internet. Russ states, "I envision certain dots between youth ministry and our aftercare work here, and with some thoughtful design and enhancement, something very powerful could emerge that would help the aftercare community worldwide."
I really believe Russ and Megumi are on to something very important. Pray for them and the young victims whom they work with.
Check out this video
My Refuge House Prayer Room - Project Ideas from E Russ on Vimeo.
Beautiful. I've heard so many stories of God making beauty from ashes in the lives of sex trafficking survivors. Imagine how many more stories could come out of this!
Posted by: Sally | July 04, 2009 at 09:07 AM
Hi Mike,
Thanks for sharing this with your readers.
FYI: The aftercare shelter home where I'm working right now is My Refuge House - www.myrefugehouse.org - which is a shelter development project with IJM. It is run by New Heart Church from Southern California.
Hi Sally, I think this is our first time to correpond. I know you have a heart for justice and IJM's work. I would love to exchange thoughts some time, like I've done here with Mike.
Posted by: Russ | July 06, 2009 at 06:14 AM
Sally meet Russ
Russ meet Sally
You two were destined to meet each other.
Peace and Joy.
Posted by: Mike | July 06, 2009 at 07:46 AM
Hey Russ,
Yes, I'd love to exchange thoughts with you. I'm actually in DC right now volunteering with IJM for about 5 weeks, working on some student ministries projects. Shoot me an email sometime at: sally.rymer@gmail.com. I'd love to hear more about this project.
--Sally
Posted by: Sally | July 07, 2009 at 07:49 PM
Very cool...don't know if you know David Burchfield from JW, but he's doing an internship with IJM in Guatemala starting in September. I'll try to pass this on to him.
Posted by: moe | July 08, 2009 at 10:02 AM