Beautiful Movie with Adoption Theme!

I had the opportunity to see the movie "Lion" this past weekend, and highly recommend it!  What a beautiful film and beautifully told true story about family and the mother/son relationship.  If you are adoptive parent, you will especially relate to many of the moments in this movie.

"8 DAYS" Trafficking Film at Willow Creek

You are invited to a showing of the film 

"8 Days" (rated PG-13)

Wednesday, July 20th, 2016

7:30 p.m.

Willow Creek Community Church 

(Room TBA, please check the monitors)

67 E. Algonquin Road, So. Barrington, IL

 

If you are a foster parent or if you have a teenager in your life, please come to see this amazing movie. Great discussions will follow.  Please share with your circle of friends. Human Trafficking is such an important topic and it exists in our own backyards. Become informed and take a stand!

WHAT IS THE LINK BETWEEN FOSTER CARE AND SEX TRAFFICKING?

Foster care children are targeted by traffickers because of their need for love, affirmation, and protection.

Victims are trained to call sex traffickers “daddies” andthemselves “wifies” – a perverted reflection of the family unit that these children are seeking.  These children long for a family…even if it means being subjected to extreme violence and abuse.

Selling America’s Foster Youth and Children

In 2012, studies estimate that between 50 and 80 percent of commercially sexually exploited children (CSEC) in California are or were formally involved with the child welfare system.

58% of 72 sexually trafficked girls in Los Angeles County’s STARS Court in 2012 were foster care kids.

In Alameda County, 41% of 267 victims in 2011-2012 were foster care kids

HOW CAN FOSTER PARENTS PREVENT HUMAN TRAFFICKING?

We can significantly reduce the volume of foster children falling into the hands of traffickers by giving them what they need and long for: healthy families who will parent and love them unconditionally. It’s the right thing to do for our children!

For more information visit CAS Research and Education.

Award Winning Film on Adoption

"Palms" is the story of a foster child in search of a forever family who is holding his heart in the palm of their hands. Winner of the 2013 International Family Film Festival - short drama category, Palms has been shown to various organizations, churches, and families to bring awareness to the plight of children and their experiences in foster care and adoption. Music selections were generously donated by various musical artists such as Moby, David Helping, John Torres, and Bela Fleck.

The story is a personal reflection of the filmmaker and his wife who adopted a little boy through DCFS (Department of Children and Family Services) in Los Angeles, CA . It was through their personal experiences that brought this small film to light.

The film stars Nathaniel Potvin from "Twist of Faith", Zondra Wilson, Regina Bryant, Jason Woods, and Steve Ward. Palms was written, produced, and directed by award winning filmmaker Deep Williams.

For more information visit http://www.palms-the-movie.com/.

Foster Care Documentary Showing this Sunday in Crystal Lake

 

What would you do without your family? Or if you had no place to live? From Place to Place is a documentary that follows the lives of six young adults who recently aged out of Montana’s foster care system and have had to cope with just that. Join CASA of McHenry County at a free screening of this documentary which uncovers one of America’s hidden tragedies and brings to light the challenges facing America’s foster care system. In the words of Raif, one of the six followed, “It’s raw and it’s cold and it’s harsh and it will hit you hard.” To reserve your spot, please e-mail CASAfilm@rauecenter.org or call 815.356.9212.

 

For more information about the film and to see a trailer click HERE.

 

To read a recent article in the Daily Herald about the film click HERE.

 

If you would like to meet and sit together please e-mail me at vcministry127@gmail.com.  You will still need to reserve your spot using the e-mail or phone number at the Raue Center.

 

If you would like to purchase and donate a copy of the film to our ministry library, please let me know.  The DVD is $19.95 plus $3.20 for shipping.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cinderella Moon was inspired by Richard and Jenny Bowan's Chinese daughters and is dedicated to Half the Sky, and organization founded by Jenny, that serves orphans in China. 

 

This gorgeous film – a fairytale for the whole family – brings to life the world's first telling of the Cinderella story.
The movie has played to sold-out film festival audiences and received ecstatic reviews..."Magical. Sheer entertainment. A richly told girl-power fantasy guaranteed to enchant tots and parents alike." – Variety

If you have adopted from China, you will want to experience this wonderful and little-known part of our children's heritage. 

For a limited time only, you can buy Cinderella Moon only in the Half the Sky store at a discounted price.

Watch the opening scene (in Chinese with subtitles) here:

Watch the English (dubbed) version here.

A Must-See Movie: October Baby

I had the opportunity to see a pre-screening of a new movie, October Baby, that opens next Saturday, March 23rd.  It is a moving, thought-provoking and beautifully made movie about a very sensitive subject.  I highly recommend supporting this film by attending, especially on opening night , March 23rd.  I understand that a portion of the proceeds will be donated to designated Pregnancy Crisis Centers and  Adoption Agencies.  For more information on the film go to http://www.octoberbabymovie.net/.

October Baby: Bringing Life to Theaters March 23
If you believe that every life is beautiful and that a beautifully told story can touch hearts—and even save lives—then you will be excited about the impact that OCTOBER BABY can have when it opens in theaters on March 23.

OCTOBER BABY tells the story of Hannah, a young woman who learns that her life is much different than what she's known up until now. After learning she was actually adopted—after a failed abortion attempt—Hannah embarks on an incredible journey to discover her hidden past and find hope for her unknown future. Check out a powerful scene featuring Hannah (Rachel Hendrix) and a woman who knows about Hannah's past (Jasmine Guy).

New Movie Coming: "Change of Plans"

The following movie review is taken from Jedd Medfield, President of the Christian Alliance for Orphans.

A new made-for-TV movie slated for showing on January 8 explores adoption, sacrifice and life priorities in a way very few films today do. “Change of Plans” tells the story of a young, jet-set couple whose all-too-perfect lives may be irreparably altered by four orphaned children. I had the chance to preview the director’s cut this week and came away inspired and thoughtfully challenged.


When Sally Danville’s (Brooke White of American Idol) best friend from college dies in tragic accident in Africa, she leaves behind four children—three of them adopted from countries around the world. Sally and husband Jason must now grapple with choices that will shape the rest of their lives. Step by step, the couple realizes that for every inch they open their hearts and home to the children, the plans they’ve mapped out for themselves will likely be lost forever.



The film gets its strength from the underlying story and real-world decisions it represents for each of us. The acting, music and script are not Oscar quality, but still solid. Many adoptive families and others involved with kids in the foster system will likely see parallels with their own stories as well. The widows the story offers into the potential challenges of adoption and foster care are perhaps understated, but not absent: it’s clear that to welcome a child into our home is not a cost-free choice.



Refreshingly, this movie earns its “family friendly” identity not merely by cutting out sex and violence, but by delivering a thoughtful challenge to some of the great lies of our era. Most narratives today, from commercials to movies, implicitly argue that fulfillment is found in getting what we want. “Change of Plans” points in the opposite direction, helping us see that real life is only found by embracing the inspiring-but-costly invitations God puts before us.



If your evening January 8 is not already booked, I’d encourage you to spend it enjoying “Change of Plans” with your kids or a few friends. Doing so sends a message to TV producers and advertisers that there is, after all, a market for quality programs. More importantly, the story just may provoke a change in your plans as well.

To see the trailer for the movie, go to the web site at http://www.changeofplansthemovie.com/change-of-plans/