Thousands become advocates @ Creation Fest!
My wife and I are currently driving in the middle of Nowhere, VA trying to stay awake long enough to get home. We spent this last week at Creation Music Festival in Pennsylvania with a team of 5 and 80,000 new friends.
One of the ways Project: AK-47 has chosen to raise capital to rescue and rehabilitate our child soldiers is through our merchandise program. These summer tours to music festivals have been an incredible platform to raise money for our projects, as well as create and rally advocates for the end of child soldiering. Creation Northeast was no exception.
With the best response to date, we had people lined up at our table for 4 sixteen hour days straight! We had over 2,000 people become advocates this last week by purchasing a set of child soldier dog tags! We had hundreds ask for more information on how they can help end child slavery in the world! Our team was consistently blown away by the hearts of people who, as soon as being informed about the epidemic of child soldiering, responded with immediate action.
One of the more memorable experiences we had as a team was meeting Jacob and Hannah. We were 2 days and 4,000 explanations (of what child soldiering is) into the week when they came to us. Jacob was 9, and his sister Hannah, 14. They had just seen our informative video play on the festival's screens and showed up at our table in uncontrollable tears. Jacob didn't stop crying for the next hour he spent with us. At the idea of kids their age being forced in to a life of slavery, they were instantly broken. We spent a good hour and a half talking and crying with them. They both have plans to visit us in Nashville to help us in our rescue and advocacy efforts.
It was an absolute gift to us to watch this week as peoples hearts connected with the plight of our kids and their need on the other side of the world. Thanks to all of our new friends in Pennsylvania! The way you guys opened your hearts to the marginalized kids of Southeast Asia and Latin America was significant. Thanks for encouraging us in the fight. Thanks for inspiring us in our vision. And most of all, thanks for giving your time, heart, and money to the the rescue. Stay in touch!