Southeast Team

From Portland, Oregon by way of Philadelphia,...

Mon, 23 Jan 2012 20:06:06 -0500

From Portland, Oregon by way of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

“We are not to simply bandage the wounds of victims beneath the wheels of injustice, we are to drive a spoke into the wheel itself.”
— Dietrich Bonhoeffer

What excites me most about heading out on The People’s Tour is my anticipation of seeing people’s reaction to the truth of the North Korea Crisis. Excited for the chance to incite passion and share knowledge; for passion and knowledge are the things needed to sustain change.

My name is Ben Flower and I’m a British dude from...

Mon, 23 Jan 2012 19:58:46 -0500

My name is Ben Flower and I’m a British dude from Washington State.

My favorite inspirational quote would have to be, “Nothing splendid has ever been achieved, except by those who dared believe that something inside of them was superior to circumstance”.

What excites me most about LiNK and the upcoming trip is that ill have the opportunity to see brand new places I’ve never been before and present to people I’ve never met, although these things are also a little intimidating too.

REPPIN’ FAYETTEVILLE, NORTH CAROLINA!What excites Jessica...

Mon, 23 Jan 2012 19:56:52 -0500

REPPIN’ FAYETTEVILLE, NORTH CAROLINA!

What excites Jessica most about tour is the chance to raise awareness of the North Korea crisis, raise the funds to rescue refugees and to get people involved in the cause!

Favorite Quote: “If there is no love in the world, we will make a new world, and we will give it walls, and we will furnish it with soft, red interiors, from the inside out, and give it a knocker that resonates like a diamond falling to a jeweller’s felt so that we should never hear it. Love me, because love doesn’t exist, and I have tried everything that does.”
― Jonathan Safran Foer, Everything is Illuminated

LovedTheRoad

Sun, 11 Dec 2011 00:55:00 -0500

It seems just like yesterday when we were driving out with the Northeast Team on I-40 but it wasn’t that was 11 weeks ago and my, we have made so memories, met so many people, seen many places, and have changed.

11 weeks ago we were driving out of California to our first screening in Clarkville, AK

10 weeks ago we were in Memphis, TN

9 weeks ago we were in Nashville, TN

8 weeks ago we were in Lynchburg, VA

7 weeks ago we were in Raleigh, NC

6 weeks ago we were in Ashville, NC

5 weeks ago we were in Rockhill, SC

4 weeks ago we were in Atlanta, GA

3 weeks ago we were in still in Atlanta, GA

2 weeks ago we were in Pembroke Pines, FL

1 week ago we were in Tallahassee, FL

3 days ago we were in Mobile, AL

2 days ago we were in Huntsville, AL

1 day ago we were in Jackson, MS

Yesterday we’re in New Mexico driving back

This morning we woke up in the Grand Canyon

At this moment we have arrived where we first started.

California!

It seems so surreal that we are heading back to California. After 11 weeks of being on the road. 11 weeks full of driving from place to place, stopping at many gas stations, eating so much junk food, eating yummy southern food, sleeping on floors, sofas, and sometimes beds, meeting up with people we knew on the road, meeting total strangers who later became our friends, trying new things, talking about North Korea and our passions, listening to the radio, hearing “moves like Jagger” by Maroon 5 more than we can count on one hand, singing our hearts out, eating tons of sour patch kids, not showering, sleeping very little, doing crazy fun stuff with people we met at the screening, telling stories, being inspired by people, crying, praying, team meetings, calls, emails, taking pictures, using dirty restrooms in lonely gas stations, drinking coffee and tea like no other, asking/encouraging people to join the Reliance. 11 weeks full of growth and getting to know each other better. 11 weeks of traveling with two other friends sharing with the world about North Korea and the change needed. 11 weeks of doing what we love and for people we love.

If you could describe tour in a few words, what would they be?

Zane: “Life changing”

Paloma “wild and growing”

Jenna “exciting, exhausting, worth it”

We want to see an end to this human rights crisis!

We want to thank every single soul that we met, talked with, and stayed with. You all made every sacrifice worth it. Thank for hearing us out. Thank you for giving us a place to sleep. Thank you for coming to our screening. Thank you for hosting a screening. Thank you for your hard work. Thank you for the positive vibes sent our way. Thank you for the laughs and smiles. Thank you for the food. Thank you for letting us use your internet. Thank you for coffee. Thank you for your encouraging words. Thank you for asking questions. Thank you for giving us tea. Thank you being part of our memorable journey. Thank you for talking with us. Thank you for joining the Reliance. Thank you for wanting to get involved. Thank you for caring for NK refugees. Thank you for your soul. It was a pleasure to meet you all. The southeast route, the people we met there, and this experience will forever have a special place in our hearts. Foreva!

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

Southeast last weekend in the EAST COAST

Sun, 04 Dec 2011 20:27:00 -0500

Saw the gulf of Mexico

Spotted a couple alligators!

St. Marks light house

And we got to hang out with Alison (and Macy)!! She’s so amazing. Thank you for letting us stay with you. You rock!

met up with some world changers!

Fri, 02 Dec 2011 14:28:07 -0500

while in Atlanta we go to meet up with the IC Deep South roadies! it was definitely love at first sight! haha They are super cool. We shared stories about the road. Had breakfast with them :)

Over the past 3- 4 weeks we have met incredible people. 18 days ago we were in North Carolina. We...

Sat, 19 Nov 2011 15:56:35 -0500

Over the past 3- 4 weeks we have met incredible people.

18 days ago we were in North Carolina.

We loved NC …. it’s so dang gorgeous. We also met up with family members of LiNK’s staff/ intern/ previous nomads :)

We have the wonderful chance to spend the weekend with Megan Rhodes’ parents. We had the chance to spend the night at Cal West Nomad Dani house, your parents are lovely! We got to hang out with Taylor Eldreth family, it was so much fun. Jenna got to try sushi for the first time. We got to hang out with with a previous nomad, William and his family. Oh man, they are so SWEEET and blessed us. We go to spend a sweet weekend RM Leah’s parents in lovely Hickory. They are so lovely. They baked a yummy cake for Paloma for her birthday. It was so much meeting all of them, we got to hear funny stories and see cute baby pictures :) THANK YOU.

We got to see Meghan Wallace! she is a sweet individual. That was fun. She loved us. We cooked food with her and it was delicious.

November 2, it was our last day in NC. It was an inspiring night. We got to spend the night with a family that is all for non-profit work. We got to meet a girl named Taylor who completely blew my mind. She has such a big heart and has partnered with IC. Her family is amazing. Taylor, you and your amazing family rock and definitely were a blessing to us.

South Carolina was fun too! We got to spend some time.. the weekend with a friend of a friend. DINH and JOHN, thankyouthankyouthankyou. Charleston, SC will forever be cherished in our memories because of how much we did that weekend! Dinh graciously along with Claire gave us a tour of Charleston and we got to see cool places like the Notebook house. We also got to experience the Atlantic ocean. It was a sweet view.

Another lovely soul we met in SC, was Keirstan Harris. She cares a lot about bringing awareness abt the human rights crisis going on in North Korea to her students. She made it a possibility to 800 students attending Ashley Ridge HS to be exposed to the crisis. FANTASTIC.

November 7 10:30pm, our first night in Atlanta. Also the night we got to see the beautiful face of our RM Bren-duh which we hadn’t seen for over 6 weeks. That night we also got to spend the night at some cool guy house, Will, he rocks! It runs in the family, I suppose.

We got to do crazy cool things and got to hang out with some of the coolest people on earth. From visiting the World of Coke for free to chilling with Will to bowling with previous nomads that drove miles to see our faces and with our RM to drinking yummy tomato juice to watching Crazy Stupid Love at $2 theater with HB to having a Korean BBQ feast with GTech chapter peeps. You get the point. HOTLANTA, you were so good to us. We met some freakingfantastichumanbeings. We wanna give a shout out to Berry College, UGA, St. Mark United Methodist Church, Georgia Tech, and University of West Georgia!!! you guys rock!

Photo

Thu, 17 Nov 2011 11:52:59 -0500

HOTLANTA!

Sat, 12 Nov 2011 13:49:47 -0500

We’re gonna explore D-town Atlanta!

any ideas?

hanging Berry college peep

Sat, 12 Nov 2011 00:51:23 -0500

hanging Berry college peep

awesome peeps!

Sat, 12 Nov 2011 00:46:50 -0500

free admission to World of Coca Cola

South Point High School,these girls rock

awesome peeps!

Hanging with Meghan Wallace after App State screening.

Sat, 12 Nov 2011 00:34:24 -0500

Hanging with Meghan Wallace after App State screening.

Photo

Mon, 31 Oct 2011 21:15:47 -0400

“Believe with all of your heart that you will do what you ...

Mon, 31 Oct 2011 21:13:36 -0400

“Believe with all of your heart that you will do what you were made to do.”
-Orison Swett Marden

Celebrating Paloma's birthday

Mon, 31 Oct 2011 21:11:30 -0400

Zane Yours Truly Southeast nomad

Fri, 28 Oct 2011 23:35:20 -0400

Name: Zane Martin

Hometown: Oklahoma City

Age: 20

Favorites: (Color, food, music, etc)

Green Rocks. I am partial to Hispanic and TexMex food, always down to chow down on a Burrito! I really enjoy music, being a musician (but who isn’t a musician these day). I feel like everyone connects to music on a personal level, and I find that beautiful. My favorite band of all time is mewithoutYou. But currently I am listening to a mix of Listener, As Cities Burn, John Mark McMillan, and Bad Veins. I love to read as well, and I am currently reading The irresistible Revolution by Shane Clairborne. Lastly, one of my favorite things is talking with people. Good conversation is something I can never get enough of, so please, if you do or don’t know me, strike up a conversation with me.

Hobbies: Playing and writing music, talking, reading, design. Learning above all things.

How you got involved with LiNK:

I actually saw a screening at IAO galleries in Oklahoma City, OK. My roommate and good friend Baylor Judd had set us up to play a small benefit show to go before the documentary. When I saw Hiding, I was blown away. I couldn’t believe that I had not heard about this issue. (Typical Story, I know). At the time I was living a very narrow and hoggish life, so at the time I felt like there was little I could do. To make a VERY long story short, the next three months were intensely powerful. Through a series of sometimes adverse events, I realized that I had to stop living to miserly and had to do something that was bigger than me. So yeah, LiNK kinda always stuck with me, and a friend and fellow nomad Sean Ferry kept on me about becoming a Nomad. It’s safe to say that this is the best decision I have ever made, and I have learned more in these 11 weeks, and with these people, then I have ever before.

Favorite place so far on tour and why:

I love every single place. I think back on every contact and see a different Unique memory, but if I had to pick I would say Richmond Virginia was awesome. I really also loved the people of Chattanooga TN and the beauty of The University of the South in TN.

Jenna Yours Truly Southeast Nomad

Fri, 28 Oct 2011 23:31:44 -0400

Name: Jenna Cullop

Hometown: Richmond, Virginia

Age: 19!

Education: Music Production and Recording Technology, Shenandoah Conservatory Class of 2014 (for now)

Favorites: (Color, food, music, book etc)

I think my favorite color would be purple!!! I could definitely eat Chipotle everyday of my life and be satisfied. I just tried Sushi while we were in Asheville and that was super good too! I’ve been listening to a lot of Thrice, Brand New, The Dangerous Summer, Conditions, The Morning Of, John Mark McMillan and J Cole lately. My favorite book is probably Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller, but I’m reading an AWESOME book called The Ragamuffin Gospel by Brennan Manning that is changing mah life fo reals.

Hobbies: I like to take pictures, read, hang out at coffee shops, travel, try to learn Korean, listen to music, make friends.

How you got involved with LiNK/why you’re a Nomad:

I got involved with LiNK in the summer of 2008 (I think) when I had the chance to meet a North Korean refugee named Joseph! For me, the fact that I didn’t learn about the atrocities that were going on in North Korea in school really bothered me. We learned about all of these things in history (the holocaust, soviet gulags) that “shouldn’t ever repeat itself” but it did. These thigns are going on TODAY. The story of Joseph and his life in North Korea really inspired me to do something about it. I finished my first year of college and didn’t know what I wanted to do with my life, so I decided to take a semester off to figure that out and do something I’m passionate about while I’m at it. Best.Decision.Ever.

Favorite place so far on tour and why: Raleigh, NC. We went to an AWESOME church called DuRaleigh Presbyterian and it rocked my world. That screening was probably my favorite. BUT my favorite city was Chattanooga, TN or Nashville.

Paloma Yours truly Southeast Nomad

Fri, 28 Oct 2011 23:27:43 -0400

Name: Paloma Franco

Hometown: Los Angeles, CA (LA baby!)

Age: 21 (soon to be 22).

Education: B.A. in Literature and Cultures emphasis in the Spanish speaking world, University of California Merced, Class of 2011

Favorites: (Color, food, music, book, etc)

My favorite color is yellow. Dear God I love sushi soo much oh man and also lasagna SO GOOD. I literally just love any type of food. Lately I’ve been listening to Gungor like a lot. It just always make me smile all the time. So calming oh great music. Brooke Fraser, Sara Bareilles, Chris Tomlin, any radio station. haha I listen to many different types of music. I don’t think I have a favorite book. I enjoyed reading Eat, Pray, Love and learned a lot from The feast of the Goat. I love surrealism and pop art, the art of creating and observing it.

Hobbies: photography, writing, reading, hanging out in coffee shops, talking about my passions to random strangers.

How you got involved with LiNK/why you’re a Nomad:

Throughout the years my passion towards helping others and bringing equality for others has grown. I have a burning passion to fight for the equal treatment of others and bring awareness about global issues around the world.

When I first heard about the North Korean crisis I was left in awe and changed, I couldn’t believe that this was happening with not many people knowing. I couldn’t even come close to imagening myself in their shoes. When I became aware of that seventy to ninety percent of North Korean women are being trafficked and sold as brides to Chinese men, I was devastated and it made me want to help even more. It was devastating because those women could be my sister, my mother, my best friend or my next door neighbor. I wasn’t aware of this until after the LiNK presentation and now I want more people to learn about it of others that were just like me; unaware. Being aware of this human rights issues breaks my heart to see how people are being mistreated and that having freedom is not an option. So that’s why I decided to become a Nomad to bring awareness and be a voice for the voiceless.

Favorite place so far on tour and why: CHATTANOOGA, TN! fresh fancy people tht chilled at coffee shops :) haha. loved meeting them.

HOPE

Sat, 22 Oct 2011 14:45:00 -0400

OMGOSH It has been amazing. It has been so eye-opening seeing how many people didn’t have an idea about what’s going on in North Korea. We are SO THANKFUL for the freedom to be able to spread awareness about this crisis and we are so committed to seeing EVERY North Korea refugee free.

If WE rely on each other to bring awareness, we will see Liberty in North Korea!!!

Join the RELIANCE

http://www.linkglobal.org/thereliance/

Seeds

Sat, 22 Oct 2011 14:41:03 -0400

We have been having a blast meeting so many so sweet people. Over the past couple weeks we have been in Knoxville, Chattanooga, Maryville in Tennessee and Lynchburg, Richmond, Charlottesville, Norfolk in Virginia. We met up with the Northeast team in Richmond, VA and it was amazing to see their beautiful faces and hear their stories.

University of the South, Sewanee!

Matt- Pasha Coffee and Tea in Chattanooga, TN

At Liberty!

NORTHEAST and SOUTHEAST! <3