Baby Step: Pray for Freedom

While I will not be attending IJM's Global Prayer Gathering, the fact that it is right around the corner is good timing for a reminder about one of the most important steps any of us can take to promote freedom and justice.



Since we can't all attend great prayer conferences, it helps to have practical ways for us to talk to God about things like this that matter to us. One way you can consistently remember to pray for those in bondage today is to sign up for IJM's prayer updates or download their prayer devotional.

Whether you use a resource or devotional or nothing, the main thing is to simply call out needs to God and listen for his heartbeat. I am "preaching" to myself here because having a superior prayer life is something I could never boast about. Taking time to converse with God is, embarrassingly, a constant work in progress for me. Fortunately, I always find God to be a gentle and forgiving Listener.

2 Corinthians says, "Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom." There may be many things in our lives that we wonder if they are a part of God's will. This subject is not one of them. We can be confident that setting people free is as close to the heart of Jesus as anything else we could ever pray about.

Priorities

By now, I have shared a lot about how we "do church" simply.

You can see our Mission in a Minute and our Plan on a Page.

You can start to read beliefs about Children and our Measures of Success.

Our theology, evangelism, and discipleship is entirely based on one question: Who is Jesus to you?

In addition, we do have some practices that we want to keep at the forefront of the way we "do church." These are priorities for us, and we do not declare that they should be priorities for any other churches or ministries. Here are a few:

• NO WALLS: Our ministries are not primarily based around buildings. The money, energy, property and personnel required to keep a church building running is not the wisest use of resources for our particular church network.

Scene from Patch Adams movie

• "PATCH ADAMS" APPROACH: The main character (played by Robin Williams) in the movie Patch Adams (based on a true story) is driven by his belief that every person is both a doctor and a patient. Likewise, we believe every person is a teacher and a learner. The expectation is that each follower of Christ can both give and receive ministry. We try to keep a participatory model that involves everyone (all ages) as much as possible so there are no passive spectators. There may be times when one person will teach a lesson or facilitate a series, but these are exceptions, not the rule.

• SOCIAL JUSTICE: In other places, I have reflected on growth barriers vs. impact barriers as a metric of effectiveness. I see a gauge of our community's spiritual health in how well we attempt to break through obstacles so that we can minister to more people in our communities and cities more effectively. Each person is encouraged to foster a cause or need that they are passionate about. One way we try to harness these interests is in meeting needs both Here (locally) and There (globally/internationally).

As I said, these are some of our priorities.

Baby Step: Know the Law

Another practical step you can take in understanding what is going on with slavery and human trafficking is to take a few minutes to read the summary of legislation that is now in place regarding these issues.

I tried reading the actual bills that became laws, but that was overwhelming and confusing to me. I prefer getting the highlights that help me make a little more sense of them. 

With that said, the baby step I recommend for today is to take about 3-5 minutes to skim over recent federal legislation as nicely summarized by the Polaris Project. I also suggest making the Polaris Project website one of your bookmarks or favorites. It is a wealth of great information and resources!

Somebody's "Emerson" (aka. Why I am Becoming a Modern-day Abolitionist")

Recently, my family and friends surprised me with a birthday celebration. Boy, they got me good! I never saw it coming!

In addition to the event itself, another surprise was the collection of donations toward a personal interest I had of trying to raise enough money for a slave rescue operation with International Justice Mission (IJM). Due to their generosity, I needed to find a way to organize these efforts so I could track funds and progress toward the $5000 goal. So, I went to the IJM website and started a FreedomMaker campaign called Somebody's "Emerson". (You can check it out here.)

My daughter was naturally curious about the name, "Somebody's 'Emerson'." So, I explained to her the reason I am becoming a modern-day abolitionist. Here is what I told her.

"Every night I get the honor of tucking you in at night and praying with you. Many times, we read together and talk about our day and laugh. I look around your room and I see stuffed animals that you can hold in a comfortable bed, a nightlight, a dresser full of clothes, and shelves covered with books.

Emerson with her daddy

"You are my Emerson. You have a lot of nice things and are protected in a home with a family that loves you. Your mommy and daddy get to kiss and hug you and tuck you in safely each night.

"But did you know there are children like you all over the world, and there are some of them that don't get to be in safe homes at night? Some of them don't get to sleep in comfortable beds. They don't have even one stuffed animal to hold on to. They are hurt by people stronger than them. They are told lies. And the worst part is that they don't have a mommy or daddy they can go to for help. Some of these precious kids don't have someone to hold them and love them and do what is best for them.

"If you, my Emerson, were ever in a situation like that, I sure do wish someone would do something to help you. And if that is what I would want someone else to do for my Emerson, then it is right and good for us to do something to help someone else's "Emerson".

Every hurting, exploited or trafficked child is "Somebody's Emerson"!

Baby Step: Become an "Ally"

I have already mentioned this organization in posts and tweets before, but I want to take a minute to really emphasize and promote a group here in the Austin area, Allies Against Slavery. 

(Note: Their website is currently being updated and should be unveiled this month. For now, I suggest just going to their site and subscribing to their monthly newsletter. That is the "baby step": just subscribe to the newsletter!)

The mission of Allies is to "develop community-based networks that build slave-free cities." I have been to four different events related to Allies, including the Free Austin Summit in October 2013 and a couple of their monthly meetings. Each event has been highly informative and inspiring. 

It is awesome to see the diversity of people that come together simply united by the common passion to end slavery in the world around us.

As someone fairly new to this abolition journey, I am finding that Allies is so beneficial to me, which is why I am so strongly recommending it to others in and around Austin. 

I see it as a practical way to be engaged with this movement.

Allies are connecting resources to real needs. 

They have relationships with local law enforcement. 

They are collaborating with a wide range of stakeholders in the community, including faith-based groups. 

They assist with after-care for survivors of human trafficking as they partner with Refugee Services of Texas (RST).

They are educating people to proactively stop harm to humans. 

Allies is working on growing and organizing their network. Upcoming opportunities soon to be available are "justice parties" (ways to engage small groups in human trafficking awareness) and book clubs. I will share more as I find out about these avenues.

The next meeting is Tuesday, March 18 at Space12.

What is More Romantic Than Freedom in February?

I am sorry that I really don't have a blog post about Valentine's Day at this time of year.

Truthfully, my title for this post is intentionally deceptive because I really don't have anything to say about romance at all. However, there is quite a bit to say about FREEDOM this month in the city of Austin!

And who knows? Maybe helping survivors of human trafficking can bring a sense of closeness and bonding like you've never had before with your loved one. Okay, enough of that mushy gobbley-gook. 

This month is the perfect time to check out the activities of an organization called Allies Against Slavery right here in Austin.

There is something for everyone, whether you like riding bikes, watching a movie, or learning things on a college campus. (See, these could all be romantic things. Just sayin'.)

Go to this page to find out about all the cool stuff going on in February and how you can be a part of it.

If you are interested in going to the next Allies meeting on Tuesday, February 25th, 6-7:30 pm at Space12, then let me know by commenting on this blog or sending me an e-mail at marcjscott@hotmail.com.

Going (Core Practice #2)

Intro Note: I have already written about our Plan on a Page, which lays out the four core practices that we consider the marks of discipleship according to the New Testament. In that document, we try to capture the "irreducible minimum standards" of our mission. 

Basically, I contend that there are many things you could not do and still be a Christian, or follower of Jesus. For example, you could not "go to church" or participate in a youth group or listen to Christian radio stations or become a missionary in a foreign land or tithe or...okay, you get it...and yet still be an authentic, sincere, passionate follower of Jesus. These examples may all be good things, but they are not the marks of true discipleship that Jesus gives us in the Bible. They are not the "make-or-break", non-negotiables of the Christian faith used to identify people as real believers.

Then, what are the non-negotiables?

The second one is GOING.

The idea here is to do good everywhere God sends us, individually and corporately. Although it's a little cliche, I like to say that our mandate is to choose what is right, and change what isn't.

The Great Commission tells all disciples to go and make disciples. Our identity in Christ is as a "sent" people. We are described in the Bible as ambassadors, reconcilers, and apostles.

The key is to see this practice as service in our everyday, real life contexts. We find ourselves in the mission field in our normal, daily lives in the marketplace, work, and home. This is one of the reasons the term "organic church" is used, because God plants us in all kinds of soil and we can organically respond to our natural surroundings. 

What is important to stress to children is that Jesus taught us to worship God by doing good everywhere we go. It is how we praise Him.


The guiding question for a disciple or church could be, Are we doing good works that help people and glorify God?

Ten Thousand Villages and Elephant Poop

My daughter and her friend on our trip to Ten Thousand Villages store in Austin earlier this month

Today, I am featuring Ten Thousand Villages, a fair trade retailer with stores all over, including Austin. I went there for the first time around New Year's, and the fact that I am sharing about this enjoyable shopping experience is more incredible that you can imagine because I hate shopping! 

But this place is about more than shopping. It is about a cause, which they put front and center. It is about a story, or more precisely, many stories. Stories of real lives affected by their business.

It was not merely a shopping experience, but a learning and giving experience.

Wow! You can get a deal on everything here!

My daughter's favorite part was learning about the paper products that are made from elephant poop! 

Did you know that elephants poop about 16 times a day?! See, that is just one of the life-changing facts we learned while in the store! I tried to move on to more serious lessons, but my middle school daughter was kind of stuck on this one. Okay, me too, a little.

Poop to paper process

The whole world of fair trade markets is still new to me. I am grateful to Allies for inviting Becca to share with ordinary people like me about the concept of fair trade and the mission of organizations like Ten Thousand Villages.

These non-profits alter the lives of individuals and slowly make systemic changes to the international marketplace.
All this work requires countless hours of donated time because stores like this one are completely volunteer-run.


Here is the blurb about Ten Thousand Villages from their website:

Ten Thousand Villages is an exceptional source for unique handmade gifts, jewelry, home decor, art and sculpture, textiles, serveware and personal accessories representing the diverse cultures of artisans in Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Middle East. One of the world's largest fair trade organizations and a founding member of the World Fair Trade Organization (WFTO), the company strives to improve the livelihood of tens of thousands of disadvantaged artisans in 38 countries. Ten Thousand Villages accomplishes this by establishing a sustainable market for handmade products in North America, and building long term buying relationships in places where skilled artisan partners lack opportunities for stable income. Product sales help pay for food, education, healthcare and housing for artisans who would otherwise be unemployed or underemployed.