Home from a Successful Trip! July 15-30, 2010

Our first official White Rainbow Project trip was a complete success! Joining us this first time were Pepperdine University students, Brianna, Austin and Sid and Palomar College student, Danielle. Cynthia was happy to greet us at the widow's shelter known as Ma Dham, as she had been there a few weeks in advance of our arrival. The weather was hot and there were lots of interesting bugs in our rooms at night, but we did not let that distract us from our main goal of ministering to the widows. We spent most of the mornings cleaning the rooms and bathrooms of the bedridden widows, gaining their trust and showing them kindness. Even though we could not speak their language, we were able to communicate with them perfectly as LOVE needs no translation. It was the best part of the trip!

We also visited the Bajan Ashrams (the temples where the widows chant) in Vrindavan. That was almost like watching a scene from the movie "White Rainbow". We saw thousands of widows there, chanting for hours. When some of the widows would fall asleep, the matrons of the ashram would hit them with a long stick. The men in charge were not happy when we wanted to interview some of them and let them know about Ma Dham. It is shocking to see how these women continue to be exploited. Some were so old, they could barely walk. We were also surprised to see many young widows, some with young children. One girl in particular had such a sad face. It really made an impression on us and we all vowed to help raise awareness and funds so that more of these women can come to Ma Dham and escape the cycle of abuse and neglect.

We are planing on making our next trip in November during Thanksgiving break. Won't you join us? It is definitely a life changing experience!

Cynthia Made it!

I am so thrilled! Cynthia Roberts just arrived in Vrindavan and is staying at the Shelter (Ma Dham) with the widows. Cynthia saw White Rainbow over 2 years ago and decided that some thing had to be done. She has volunteered to be the first White Rainbow Project team member staying full time with the widows at Ma Dham. She will be our liaison between the sponsors and the widows. She will also be looking for tangible ways that we can express God's Love for these women. The first thing she noticed was how they were suffering in the heat. Since the electricity goes off constantly and there is not enough funds to buy petrol for the generators to keep the fans running, Cynthia decided that that would be her first gift. She is going to buy enough petrol to keep the electricity on so that the widows do not have to suffer the sweltering heat without fans. Thank you Cynthia for truly being the Hands and Feet of Christ! You are amazing and I'm looking forward to joining you in service in July. I hope it cools down a little by then :)

Hello Everyone!

Thank you so much for your prayers! We had a great trip, with lots of excitement and lots of praying. I'm just getting around to filling you all in because as soon as I returned, I had to jump into running the Film Festival that I am the programming director for. Now that, that is over- I'm ready to dive full force into the White Rainbow Project!

Cissy and I had a good flight over to India- we met up in Newark and then flew non-stop to Delhi. It was a long flight (15 hours) but we used the time to talk, read, sleep and pray. When we arrived in Delhi, there was a driver from the Guild of Service to pick us up. He took us to the Guild's headquarters in Delhi, which also serves as a hostel for young professional women. They had a lovely (air conditioned) guest room for us on the roof- top with nice views overlooking a park. We met with Dr. Giri for breakfast the next morning in her living quarters. She was so inviting and happy to host us. She is still very grateful for the White Rainbow film, as it has helped her to raise funds for the work she does. She is such an amazing woman. Cissy really liked her and they hit-it off beautifully!

The next morning we visited a nearby hotel that Dr. Giri suggested that we use for our group trips. It was a very clean and charming hotel that was reasonably priced. Dr. Giri was even able to get us a good discounted rate!

We then visited a historic site- The Quatab Minar- the funniest thing was everyone wanted pictures of us- we turned out to be the attraction! Later that day, a new friend, who just started driving in India, took us on an adventure to find Asha James, the woman who exports fine embroidered linen to my friend in the States. Her office was on the opposite side of the city. We eventually found it after asking hundreds of people directions! Asha was amazing! Such a warm and caring person! The work she does it beautiful but more importantly is her heart to help others! She is willing to help train some of the widows to do work for her so they can make an income.

The next day we traveled with Dr. Giri, Meera Khana ( the vice chairman) and several others, to their widows shelter "Ma Dham" in Vrindavan. Dr. Giri was going there to prepare for a huge function they were hosting the following week to dedicate the Inter-Faith Pavilion she had constructed at Ma Dham. Many dignitaries were invited as well as the Governor of the State. Dr. Giri explained that this Inter-Faith Pavilion was a life long dream of hers. She is hoping for unity and peace among all peoples. In India, their is much blood shed over religion, so she felt this would help bring about tolerance.

Dr. Giri and others just stayed for the day and then left Cissy and I to stay at Ma Dham for a few days. She had arranged for a young woman named Nisha to take care of us and to bring us Chai Tea in the mornings and afternoons. Nisha, had been thrown out of her home by her husband, and she was seeking shelter. The Guild of Service was going to train her to be a nurse, but taking care of us was her first assignment.

Ma Dham is like an oasis in the desert. It is a brand new beautiful facility on nearly 5 acres. It is situated just off the main road to Vrindavan about 5 miles outside the city. It is completely fenced with 4 large buildings. The front building has a huge hall downstairs and 5 guest-rooms upstairs that has a separate kitchen and huge dining hall. It is a perfect place for us to stay. Cissy and I stayed in a large room which was nicely furnished. It is very clean and comfortable. Almost like a retreat center. We had the whole place to ourselves. There is a large terrace that surrounds the whole building looking out at the neighboring fields. Very relaxing!

The other buildings are the medical center and offices and 2 large dormitories where the widows stay. Currently 120 widows live at the shelter along with the staff. Most of the women are older, with some more outgoing than others. We spent time speaking with the few who could speak english. Most seemed friendly and curious about us. One of the dormitories has the kitchen and TV area. The other one houses the widows that are sick and immobile. The main observation that I have about Ma Dham is that it is currently under utilized. There is plenty of room for many more widows. The Guild just does not have the funds to care for more at this point, but they hope to be able to house 500 widows there.

The next morning one of the counselors that works at Ma Dham, took us into the heart of Vrindavan to see the thousands of widows chanting in the Ashrams (temples). It was quite a sight. Just like the White Rainbow movie. For me it was the end and begining of a long journey. I have been waiting for this day for years, to finally see the widows face to face. It was pretty overwhelming. The city itself is very crowded with all kinds of people. It was bizarre to say the least. It was interesting to see many foreigners dressed in Indian clothes coming to worship in the temples. I found out that most of them were from Russia. They are seekers, coming to follow Krishna and the Hare Krishna movement.

The counselor also took us on a tour of 5 neighboring villages where the Guild has established "Self Help" groups to help the poor women of the area. We met lots of friendly people and adorable children, living in deplorable conditions.

On Sunday, Cissy and I visited the Taj Mahal. It was so beautiful. The first glimpse, took my breath away! The following day we took the train back to Delhi. Remind me never to do that again! Let's just say God sent his angels to protect us.

After seeing all that we had, I was confused as to what God wanted us to do. We were going to meet with Meera Khana of the Guild to begin to organize the trips. I was feeling at a loss. It seemed to me that the task of helping these widows was too huge to handle. Cissy and I prayed and I had a good quiet time reading my Bible and calling out to God. He is amazing, he came to me just at my bleakest hour and revealed to me that He would do the work, all I needed to do was to step out in faith, one step at a time.

Our meeting with Meera went really well! We came up with the idea of having the WRP group host a lunch at Ma Dham for widows that were living in the Ashrams in Vrindavan. We would provide transportation for at least 100 widows to come to Ma Dham (most of the widows in Vrindavan don't even know that there is such a wonderful place). We would serve them lunch, entertain them with a play (something to share with them about God's Love for them) and then give them a gift bag of soap, lotion and footwear (flip-flops). We would also invite the ones that wanted to stay there a permanent home. That is where the White Rainbow Project would come in to pay for there up- keep, which runs about $50 a month. My goal is to be able to support at least 100 widows our first year.

Cissy left to go home and I flew down to Chennai to stay with Dharan for a few days, We worked on creating a short 3 minute promo to show at Churches. I'm going to post it on Youtube soon.I

I am just putting together the July trip. I hope that some of you will join me. I think it is important that the first few trips are mainly filled with WRP people! Sorry this is so long, but I wanted to give you all an overview on how God is working this whole adventure out!

Looking forward to hearing from you!

Just Courage

Seek justice,

rescue the oppressed,

defend the orphan,

plead for the widow. (Isaiah 1:17)

This is the expedition that brings freedom to both those who follow and those who are found.

If you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry

and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,

then your light will rise in darkness,

and your night will become like noonday.

The LORD will guide you always;

he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land

and will strengthen your frame.

You will be like a well-watered garden,

like a spring whose waters never fail. (Isaiah 58:10-11)

In preparation for my trip, I just finished reading Gary Haugen's book - "Just Courage- God's Great Expedition for the Restless Christian". Gary is the founder International Justice Mission-

www.IJM.org. Their mission is seek social justice for the oppressed, worldwide.

As I leave next week for Vrindavan- The City of Widow's" where so many women are oppressed, I pray that God will give me the courage to fight on their behalf!

More Angels on Board

So much has transpired since my last post.... God has brought more people to help me with this project. Brianna is a young energetic recent Pepperdine graduate who saw the screening of White Rainbow that we had at Pepperdine University last month. She was so moved by the film that she has volunteered to help us get the non-profit up and running and she is planning on joining us on our first service trip planned for July 15-30. This trip is for Pepperdine students and anyone else that wants to join us. We only have space for 12 people so if you are interested, email me right away!!!

The next Angel is Cissy Watson, a good friend from our Pepperdine days, who will be joining me for the exploratory trip that I am going on next week. Cissy has lots of experience in non-profit organizations as she has been involved with ministries in Honduras and Africa. Pray for us that God will reveal to us exactly what he would have us do.

The next and most exciting development is my new friend, Cynthia Roberts, from Arkansas. Cynthia saw White Rainbow over a year ago, and was moved to go to Vrindavan to check out the situation for herself. She found the Guild's Shelter- Ma Dham- and she feels led to stay and work there for at least 5 months. She is willing to help with the White Rainbow Project by being a permanent presence there. God is so Good! (Cynthia is standing with Dr. Mohini Giri of the Guild of Service in the picture above)

It Must Be A God Thing!

After starting the White Rainbow Project so many amazing things have been coming together that I know they have to be the work of God. There is really no other explanation for the way things just seem to be falling into place. I shouldn't be surprised though because I know that He loves these widows more that any of us could ever know!

I just want to document some of these incidents because as time progresses and more and more miracles keep happening I don't want to lose sight of the way God has been working behind the scenes, orchestrating this journey.

When I first felt led to start the White Rainbow Project, I was at a loss. I did not have the funds nor the expertise or time to start a non-profit. I prayed that if God really wanted me to do this he would have to provide others to come alongside me to get it going. No sooner had I prayed this prayer than he started providing the people and organizations to help me.

The first "angel" he sent my way was a friend of mine from church  Jon Slivester. Jon has always been interested in my film White Rainbow. His in-laws had been financial supporters of the film, so he had known about it for quite sometime. He has a passion for India, as one of his favorite Christian speakers was Ravi Zacharias, a renowned author and apologist who is originally from India, but now has a dynamic ministry in the U.S. Ravi's daughter Namoi had seen White Rainbow over a year ago and she was motivated to go to Vrindavan to help fund the Guild of Service. When I shared with Jon about my desire to start a non-profit to help the widows, he told me that he and his wife had just been praying about doing something to make a real difference in the lives of others, he told me that he felt certain that this was his calling. He told me that he would take care of the details of starting the non-profit and that I should just concentrate on making it happen!

The next amazing connection is that Ravi Zacharias'  other daughter, Sarah who works for my alma mater Pepperdine University mentioned to me that they have just started a whole new program called "The Waves of Service" whereby they partner with alumni that are doing service work to support them by promoting their work to students and fellow alumni. When I told them about the White Rainbow Project, they were all over it! They thought it was a wonderful project and  now they are working with me on many levels to support my efforts. They have arranged for me to screen White Rainbow on campus on Feb. 2. They are also including the service trips in their on going volunteer program and they have already helped me plan the first trip in May with their graduate students! 

Sarah has also agreed to help us with fundraising and marketing and to be another founding member of the board of the White Rainbow Project!

Then there is the unbelievable connection of how Suzanne came on board to help us. Believe it or not, a few weeks ago, Suzanne actually saw a real white rainbow in the sky when she was hiking on Point Dume in Malibu. She was on her way to a prayer meeting. She felt like it was some kind of sign from God. She had been praying on how she could help abused women. When she got home, she googled "White Rainbow" and you guessed it- up came my film, White Rainbow. She had already seen the movie Water which also depicts the deplorable fate that many Indian widows face, so when she read about White Rainbow she knew that she must get involved with helping Indian widows. She ordered the film from my website, and since I was out of DVDs, I called her to let her know that it would take a few more days before I could send her a copy. I just happened to ask her how she heard about White Rainbow- when she told me her story of seeing the white rainbow in the sky, and how her gift and passion is to help abused women, I could not believe what I was hearing. I had just been praying that day for a way that we could make the widows feel special, and here was the answer to that prayer- Suzanne has a ministry called "The Spiritual Spa" the main focus is how to make abused women feel loved!

I quickly told Suzanne about the White Rainbow Project and she said that she was ready to help!

She along with Jon, is coming with me in February on an exploratory trip to Vrindavan, so that we can set up the service trips. We need to find out how we can be of the most help to these women.

The journey is just begining!!!!

The White Rainbow Project is Born!

White Rainbow Project

The holy city of Vrindavan India, also known as the “City of Widows” harbors nearly 20,000 widows who flock there or are abandoned on the streets all in the hopes of finding “Moksha” – Salvation. In Indian society widows are stigmatized and maligned.

The White Rainbow Project (WRP) is a US faith based non-profit organization dedicated to caring for the widows of Vrindavan, and to allow Americans the opportunity to grow and mature spiritually by helping the poor and downtrodden in tangible ways through service trips, fundraising and widow sponsorship.

Using the feature film “White Rainbow” as a tool to educate, motivate and inspire others to get involved and help, the WRP plans to host screenings at universities, college campuses, churches, women’s groups and humanitarian group meetings. These events we will promote the service trips, raise funds for ongoing projects and sign up people to become sponsors.

The WRP is partnering with the Guild of Service a non-governmental organization based out of New Delhi India. The protagonist in the film “White Rainbow” is based on the work of the Guild’s founder, Dr. Mohini Giri. The Guild has already established a widow’s shelter in Vrindavan India which has room to house 500 widows. The Guild is active in rehabilitating the widows, giving them hope, and a safe place to live. They are training some for careers in nursing and have recently partnered with The Miracle Foundation to train widows to be certified caregivers in orphanages.

The 10 day service trips will be a journey that will be both educational and life changing. The participants are expected to learn about India, Hinduism and the stigma surrounding widowhood. They are expected to reach out to friends for support so as to get many others involved in their journey. Through their trip many others will come to know about the plight of the widows. The activities on the trip range from visiting the Taj Mahal to ministering to widows by cleaning, cooking and entertaining them. Showing them that someone cares, to be the hands and feet of Christ.

Other fundraising activities will include finding donors that will provide ongoing sponsorship for the care and maintenance of the widows and for providing funds for educational opportunities. The WRP also plans to host medical clinics and food and clothing distribution for the thousands of widows that are living on the streets of Vrindavan. It is our desire that the city of Vrindavan will be forever changed for the better and that it will no longer be a place of servitude and bondage for these women!