Five local bands – including “7 or Breakfast,” “Back on Track” and “Ordinary People” – brought down the house at the Rock for Justice benefit concert in Sutherland Auditorium Friday night.
“This semester’s Rock for Justice event was a concert in order to raise awareness and funds against the sex trafficking of children in the Philippines,” said AmyEstelle Soldevilla, president of Biola University’s Maharlika club.
Organized by New Heart Community Church, Maharlika and the Social Justice Ministry, Rock for Justice served as a fundraiser for My Refuge House, a project of New Heart Community Church.
My Refuge House was established to provide a safe home for young women and children being rescued and to provide healing for abuse sustained as a result of harsh conditions forced upon victims, said New Heart church leader Dalila De Fiesta. New Heart Community Church has partnered with the International Justice Ministry (IJM) to rescue girls from brothels and place them into the facility.
“With love, care and professional help, the mental, emotional and physical healing can begin,” De Fiesta said.
There are numerous girls capable of being rescued from brothels in the Philippines, but law enforcement officials cannot do so because of full or inadequate houses. According to junior Shelley Choy, another member of the church, New Heart’s goal to build the refuge house resulted from needs like these.
“Leaders of New Heart Community Church had a vision to open a rehabilitation house about a year ago and the constructed house is scheduled to open February,” Choy said.
Since many Biola students and alumni attend New Heart, the church decided to organize a fundraising event that would involve the university. The Social Justice Ministry partnered with the church because of its human trafficking ministry, and Maharlika was interested in participating since the ministry would take place in the Philippines.
Planning for the event started as early as September, and what started out as a mere benefit concert turned into a larger project and stronger relationships between the participating ministries, said Soldevilla. Students promoted “Rock for Justice” by posting flyers around campus and making announcements at different events, like Afterdark chapels and a Coalition for Social Justice chapel. New Heart church member Dalia De Fiesta was an integral member of the promotion process, as she visited local churches, showing New Heart’s promotional video of the event and invited people to attend. This was the most important thing the church could do to promote their event, said Hancock.
“Not only did it [the video] get outside people to attend, but it also raised awareness about our project and the issue in general,” said Hancock. “We had a number of churches express interest in getting involved.”
With over 300 in attendance, including individuals from off campus, ministry leaders considered Rock for Justice a success. Highlights of the night included a presentation by Mark Kirchgestner, a California representative for IJM, and worship led by “Destination 7,” at the conclusion of the concert. Books, CDs and pamphlets were available to inform attendees of the realities of sex trafficking and what can be done to prevent it. Performances by the various Christian bands were interspersed with some thoughts from De Fiesta and a slideshow of pictures from the Philippines. Many of the artists spoke about supporting the cause and encouraged attendees to rally around the issue and project with prayer. This – the need for prayer – was the heart of the issue, said junior Manna Hancock, a member of New Heart.
“The need for people to care and pray is greater than the need for financial support,” she said. “Yes, we need money, but more importantly, we need people to realize the awful things being done to young girls and we need to start praying that God would do a mighty work in their lives.”
To see the Rock for Justice promotional video, visit YouTube. To learn more about the My Refuge House ministry project, visit www.myrefugehouse.org.
