IC Screening

Invisible Children: Discover the Unseen

This first part is an excerpt from the newsletter at Rochester Church of Christ that Ashley and I wrote.

"Take this, you have to watch it," said Josh Graves upon exiting his New Testament class. Looking at the cover of the DVD, it was hard to know what to expect. Living as a college student it seemed like just an extra assignment your Bible professor throws in your lap. Yet it is now March and this "assignment" has become an everyday part of life for us.
The assignment seemed simple: watch a DVD. The DVD was Invisible Children: The Rough Cut. So while it seemed simple it was watching that became the difficult part.

I first watched Invisible Children in October of last year. At first I couldn't stop saying, "I can't believe this." The next thing I did was go online and order my own copy of the DVD.

Within a week of watching the DVD Ashley had found out that we could hold a screening right here in Rochester and signed us up. I jumped on board with Ashley to start planning and Invisible Children quickly became a major part of our lives. We were both inspired by the courage of the children of Uganda and haunted by their cries for help. We knew we couldn't sit back and do nothing. Invisible Children gives people the resources they need to get involved. They seek to inspire our generation to "dare to be different, dare to change the world". I think in some way or another all of us feel the desire to do something about the problems in our world. But, we aren't really sure what we can do. Invisible Children has given the nation, and especially it's youth, a way to help make a difference.

After watching the documentary many times now I am still hit by the strong sobs of Jacob as he cries out for his dead brother. He speaks of how he would rather be dead, because he has nothing to live for. Today Jacob is in school and smiling. Every time I turn on my computer his beaming face reassures me I am helping a good cause. I am also hit each time I watch the DVD by the request by one of the young boys to not forget him. I can't get those words out of my head. Sometimes I want to yell across the ocean, "We haven't forgotten!"

It's so easy for us here in the "land of the free" to forget that freedoms are being stripped away from others everyday. The children of Uganda can't even stay in their homes without fear of abduction.

I would encourage everyone who wants to become involved to first simply pray. Ask God to show you how you can help. There are many ways to become involved with Invisible Children- some as simple as writing to your senators. Other ways are just telling others about the plight of the children. We need to spread awareness about this. One big way is to come join us in the Global Night Commute on April 29th. We will be walking into town as the children in Gulu do every night. We will be sleeping outside to raise awareness, especially with the media. With people all across the country doing this on one night the government is sure to feel the pressure.