Modern Day Slavery: What do you know?

I've blogged before about International Justice Mission and the work that they're doing around the world to fight injustice in the form of forced labor, human trafficking, violent land seizures and really, anywhere violence is used as the means to coerce someone into action.

But how much do we really know about slavery. Check this out:

Modern-Day Slavery: What do you know about it? from International Justice Mission on Vimeo.

I admit that I don't always know enough which translates to not always doing enough. Raising awareness is just the first step, but it's an important one. Without an awareness of a problem, or more importantly, a story of hope that has come out of that problem, these problems will remain just that...problems.

Get Moved.

I'm sort of a social media junkie. Sometimes, I get so wrapped up in discovering new online things, that I forget to check up on some of the more basic stuff I have. My computer has been acting up for the past month and conseuqently, all of my passwords and settings have been wiped repeatedly. This includes my iGoogle log-in. I've been falling back on just the classic Google. Well, today, I decided to go back to my handy-dandy, gadget-laden iGoogle and with it my wonderful YouTube gadget.

This was its offerring of the day. Get moved by it as much as I did:

This Saturday is 1010 Community Day!

We'll be at Bouton Street Park in South Norwalk all day. Our schedule is:

10:10am - 1pm: City Park Beautification at Bouton St. Park in partnership with Robidoux Landscaping and the City of Norwalk
1pm - 2:30pm: Community Lunch at Bouton Street Park
2:30pm - 5:30pm: Neghborhood Kids Celebration at Bouton St. Park
3pm-4pm: Street Side Salon
4pm: Mayor Moccia at Bouton Street Park to proclaim October 10, 2009 "1010 Community Day in Norwalk"
All Day: Handyperson Home Projects in Bouton St neighborhood
All Day: Coat and Winter Clothes Drive to Benefit Norwalk Emergency Shelter

Come down for some or all of it. It's going to be a day of neighboring. I can't wait.

Get on Your Boots. Yeah, you.

The past three weeks have marked a really special time at Northeast Community Church. We have been working through a new message series called, "Get On Your Boots." It's been our chance to talk biblically about what it means to be the church specifically to the poor and oppressed. Now, that's just a little bit of Christian-ese to say that we have been having a conversation about getting on our boots and doing_some_work. I wish there was a way to "shout" on here without ALL CAPS. ALL CAPS always seems so angry to me, but I don't want to shout this angrily, I want to shout it excitedly. To have, for the past four weeks, been taking time each week to talk about our scriptural mandate and examples of how to connect, care and love all members of our society gets me excited. When I get excited I shout. My voice also rises to wholly unpleasant shrill ranges, but that's a whole other story.

We still have one more week this upcoming Sunday, where we will be talking about the Actualization of it all -- the idea of "a full life in the emptiest of places." If you're around, check it out. We're at West Rocks Middle School and meet at 10:30am on Sundays. Don't worry, I promise not to shout too much. ;)

When you say it, you'd better mean it.

Warning: Reading this blog may be harmful to your sensitive spirits and to your tear ducts.

God, use me to do whatever it is that you'd have me do.

Yep, when you say it, you'd better mean it. That came through loud and clear today.

A little backstory. A coworker & I go weekly to a local park and do art & music & just build relationships with the neighborhood kids there. We've connected with probably hundreds of people since we started doing it -- some in big ways, others in very casual ways. When we started, we had no idea what to expect. We went to the park that very first day and prayed this prayer (and continue to pray it every single day):

God, use me to do whatever it is that you'd have me do.

This park is in various states of disrepair. There are swings that are broken, slides that have sections burned out, grafitti over all surfaces, broken bottles, remnants of drug use and trash that never seems to find its way into the trash can. No biggie. We bring our gloves and our trash bags and every time set out to clean up the park just like we did before. Lots of people stop and ask why we're cleaning. Some thank us for cleaning. Others just nod and smile.

This morning when we got there -- well, let's just say that Labor Day weekend must have been one wild time in this park. There was more garbage than normal. And one especially hearbreaking sight: a dead cat right at the entrance to the park. Now, this isn't CSI: Feline Edition, but this cat had been there for a few days at least. People had to have walked over it or around it to get in and out of the park. Kids must have seen it. We saw it and immediately knew "whatever it is that you'd have me do" was right here, right now.

Some friends in the neighborhood walked by and told us there was a cat that needed to be cleaned up. They mentioned it had been there for a while. They even joked that there was no way we would pick it up. We did. A local botega loaned us some trash bags; a local business donated some gloves and 10 minutes later, God had wrecked me again and brought me back to the place where I had needed to be all along -- knowing that I am His servant and ultimately called to do whatever it is that He needs done.

R.I.P.. Grey & White Kitty, R.I.P. :(

It's all about relationships.

It's all about relationships. I feel like this is what I've been hearing over and over again for the past few months. I can't deny that the phrase feels trite to me; I also can't deny that because it does, I don't fully "get" it. Because it is. On the most basic level, it comes down to relationships. But I'm trying. Day by day, I'm trying.

If you don't love someone, you don't hate him/her (or, at least, not necessarily). But you don't have an emotional investment, a vested interest, an out-and-out desperation to love. Is that apathy? Is that nonchalance? Is that spiritual laziness? Is that an inability to fully understand the position we all hold in Christ? Is that human nature?

Somedays, I know the answer is yes. I know it's yes to all of them at one time or another. I know that ultimately I have to admit, I haven't helped bring justice to this world with my resources, time and energy, not because I hate, but because I don't care enough. Because I don't love enough. There was a time where I would have tried to soften the blow of that for myself -- would have tried to put a twist to it to make myself come out looking better than I am. The smoke and mirrors treatment if you will, but those times are behind me for now. Seeing it in print and making it a public proclamation makes it that much more real and holds me that much more accountable.

It has to be now. It has to be love. It has to be relationships.

p.r.a.y.e.r.

Once upon a time, the President of International Justice Mission, Gary Haugen, was describing the culture that exists within their main offices day-to-day. He said that the staff as a whole comes together at a certain time to pray every day. He went further to say that they didn't necessarily do this because they liked to (I bet they did), they didn't do this because they had to (sometimes people were gone), they did this because they couldn't make it through their day -- and the incredibly weighty tasks they perform day in and day out -- without it.

Can I be honest and say, I want to get to that point. I want to be so desperate for prayer that my day seems impossible.

Northeast Community Church is hosting a prayer gathering tonight. It will be at 18 Knight Street in the community room. We'll be praying for NECC, our city, our state, our world, just people, just neighbors. No hard and fast rules to it, just a time to gather in prayer. If you're around, scoot in around 7:30pm. It's open to everyone.

Neighbor.

neigh·bor (nbr)
n.
1. One who lives near or next to another.
2. A person, place, or thing adjacent to or located near another.
3. A fellow human.
4. Used as a form of familiar address.
v. neigh·bored, neigh·bor·ing, neigh·bors

How often do I forget this? A neighbor is nothing more than a fellow human. Someone who might be in a completely different situation than me, but never removed from their humanity, just as I can never be removed from mine.

The thing I love best about using a definition as simple as that is that it breaks down any sort of walls you might try to put up. It can mean the person next door just as easily as it means the person across the globe. We are all fellow humans; all wanting...needing...desperate for love and desperate for justice.

A few years ago, a group of us were discussing our neighborhoods and one person asked us to write down the names of all the neighbors we knew. Not just first names - first and last. I could write down one. One name of one neighbor of one neighborhood that I had lived in for four years. My dissapointment in myself was palpable but my hope for moving forward was tangible.

Who are your neighbors? First and last name, of course.

ICDC

The Idea Camp is over yet again and, as expected, I am not the same. I blogged about the first Idea Camp held in California. Well, this past weekend, they picked up shop and moved it to Washington DC to discuss issues surrounding justice and global movement toward justice.

Unfortunately, we weren't able to attend in person (I'm still boohooing over it, but schedules were crazy), but the cool thing abotu Idea Camp is you can be there without really being there. Charles Lee, the ideator behind it, is committed to making it available to everyone through different avenues of communication.

We watched the live stream in the office on the big screen. After a few IT hiccups we were rocking and rolling. Ever been to one of those conferences where there are so many good ideas flowing that your pen or your typing fingers can't keep up with your head? Yep, that about sums it up.

I was espcially inspired by Leroy Barber (http://theideacamp.ning.com/forum/topics/new-neighbor-with-leroy-barber) and his talk on neighboring. Yeah, it's a verb. His sincerity in talking about living and being with people in the neighborhoods where you want to affect change and inject hope was spot on and just what I needed to hear. It's not just a quick fix and it's not just a one-day thing. It's building relationships and fostering it over time.

There are a million and two things needing to be blogged about, so in light of being un-overwhleming (is that a word?), they will be spaced out over the next few days. All I can say is: Mr. Rogers had it so right when he said: It's such a good feeling to know you're alive.

Snappy new days to all!

Are you about social justice?

Been having some interesting conversations in the past few weeks on the topic of social justice. A friend asked the question the other day, are you about social justice? At first, I thought it was a bit of a silly question, because how can you not be about social justice, but once I stopped to think about, I realized the question might be a little more complex than realized.

I've heard it said that deep down everyone cares about the plight of his fellow man and would want to help if they only knew how. I think there is a lot of truth in that statement. I know among friends and peers, this is a sentiment often expressed. So, if this is the case, you are about social justice, right? I also know, sadly, from personal experience, that sometimes you gain the knowledge and one of a few things happen:

1) You are overcame with laziness. As much as you want to do something about it (whatever it may be), you just don't.
2) You are overcome by fear or overwhelmedness. I've experienced this in small doses in my life. What if what I am doing is not helping? Something that just I can do will never be enough to solve or even help this problem.
3) You lose the inspiration. Something that had moved you to action or changes is missing, you no longer feel the drive to act. This can also take in a combo of #1 and #2, or sometimes it's something completely different.

There might be additional scenarios. These are the ones that spring to mind. So, back to the question at hand. Are you about social justice? If your heart or mind is saying you need to be, that there is no other choice for you, yet your body and soul are not following, what does that mean? What does that mean for me? And, more importantly and a scarier question is, what does that mean for the afflicted, the poor, the disenfranchised?

The stakes are high. The consequences are fierce. And I'm getting to a point in my life where failure, fear, laziness, or lack of gumption is not going to cut it anymore.

It's World Water Day

Drink a big, tall glass of water straight out of your tap. Maybe even add some ice cubes. And then when you're done, click on the link below and watch charity: water's video**.



**The little Twitter bird even told me that Brian Cooper [@bcoz], the CEO of Glimmer of Hope -- a Texas non-profit working toward poverty alleviation, agricultural sustainability and education, among other things, in African countries -- is donating a penny for every view. Crank up the volume and listen to what Beck has to say -- we've got a timebomb ticking.

Darfur Now

It seems especially pressing to be discussing this now, as the International Criminal Court just issued an arrest warrant for Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir. The charges of "war crimes" and "crimes against humanity" have sadly almost at times become commonspeak in our world, but the semantics are nothing compared to the atrocities that the Darfur region of the Sudan has suffered in the past six years.



This Sunday at 6pm, a group of us are gathering to watch the 2007 documentary Darfur Now and start a discussion on what we can do for Darfur and the people who have suffered within this region. If you're free and in the area, come and join us. We'll be meeting in the Northeast Community Church community room at 18 Knight Street in Norwalk, CT. Everyone's welcome. Pass this on if you are so inclined.

There's no pop quiz, there's no guilt-tripping, there's just honest and earnest conversation about Darfur what we can do for Darfur Now.

I Believe in Zero.

I saw one facet of UNICEF's new campaign yesterday, a 60 second commercial on national TV. Several film and tv actors, as well as musicians were some of the people teaming up together to let us know that they "believe in zero." The facts are this: everyday 25,000 kids die from preventable causes. We believe this number should be zero. We believe this number could be zero. You can head over to Unicef's site to find out more (you can click on the handy-dandy button at the top of this post). They also have it set up on the site that you can send an e-mail to President Obama if this is something that's on your radar and you want it to be on his and his administration's. UNICEF -- being an integral part of the United Nations -- obtains the majority of its funding through governments around the world, so it's always important to have the chance to have a voice in this.

We're not usually quite so serious on here -- the 10.10 blogosphere is for the most part a genuinely affable sort of place that's here to bring you information and ideas among other things -- but I was struck by something yesterday that I just needed to share. I had rushed through the workday and not taken time to eat lunch (something that happens about once a week or so).

Right after work, I am driving to the grocery store to pick up some groceries for my dinner. I had that sort of hunger that comes from not eating all day, and thought: good thing I'm going to the store so I can get some food! Then, I immediately remembered the UNICEF campaign ad I had seen earlier. This beginning feeling of hunger that I had in my stomach is something that (no joke) millions of kids feel every.single.day and to a much greater degree than what I was feeling. And just as easily as I can go to a building that has rows and rows and rows of all sorts of food to choose from, they, more often than not, have no other option than to just remain hungry.

I can't fully say what God was telling me right then (I'm still working through it and I admittedly suffer from self-selected hearing at times), but something just suddenly seemed so....odd....and heartbreaking...and poignant to me at that moment -- that I should be here in this situation, while someone else is in a completely different situation. Moments like these are what fuel my belief that not only do I believe in zero, but that I have no other choice to believe. I have to believe in the possiblity of zero in the middle of this sometimes mixed-up, upside down planet we call our home, otherwise I'd live in a hopeless place. And not only do I have to believe, I have to do something with that belief.

Like we said, we don't usually break it down to so seriously on here. I think of an honest line from another blogger I read, Eugene Cho, as he was introducing a recent post on homelessness:

"Let’s be honest. There are some posts you naturally want to read and there are others that just don’t interest you at all. "

These are tough topics, there's no doubt. These are serious topics, there's no doubt. But we have to ask ourselves, do we have enough love and compassion to tackle them? I think we do.

God Speaks.

Do we listen?

Do you ever run into this thing where when you first learn a concept or a new word, it starts to pop up everywhere? Like you'd never heard of The Melting Pot, and then all of a sudden, everyone and their bro is talking about fondue? Whether it's legit or your sense of awareness is just heightened to picking up on it, I dunno.

I think there's some spiritual significance to this sort of thing, though. Stay with me here -- I'm not relating God and fondue, that's another blog post :) -- but just recently, we've been thinking about this idea of God speaking to us and how he speaks to us. And ever since we've started this conversation, it seems as if God is coming through loud and clear with all sorts of things from all sorts of places.

Ever since The Idea Camp (I swear that's not all we'll post about!), this concept of seamless communication and just communication in general has seemed to be key. One of the speakers was talking about online and offline communication and how do we not just "use technology for technology's sake" but rather use it as a way for profound and purposeful communication. If you have a chance, watch the short video about technology and innovation. This, I think, will be key as we continue the conversation about the 1010 Project.


The Idea Camp - Dave Gibbons from The Idea Camp on Vimeo.

It's such a good feeling to know you're alive; It's such a happy feeling...

Ok, ok, enough Mr. Roger's Neighborhood, but seriously, do you ever have days where you just feel energized or excited to be here? That's the feeling coming off the (previously posted) Idea Camp. There was so much good information to be heard, but more than that, an over-arching feeling that we can make a difference.

I think I was most impacted by the message of Scott Harrison and charity: water. Listening to him talk about his passion to bring clean water to poverty-stricken people (did you know 1 in 6 people don't have access to clean water?), I realized my naivete was not just embarassing, but kind of shameful.

I'm so used to walking over to the tap and, voila, clean water comes out, but the reality for 1.1 billion people is the exact opposite. Not to say that charity: water was into guilting people into feeling bad about this. No, actually just the opposite -- they really just had an extraordinary vision to allow people to realize their good fortune in access to proper sanitation and then move that energy into helping someone without that access.

There's so much more to be said about The Idea Camp and all the things that came out of it. If you listened in to any or all, what did you get out of it? Love to hear.

In the meantime, check out Harrison and charity: water. You won't regret it.

The Idea Camp

Irvine, CA - and really all over the world - is host to some pretty amazing things yesterday and today. A group of people have gotten together to create "a free hybrid conference for idea makers." You can check on their group on ning (http://theideacamp.ning.com/) or just go straight over today and get in on the action: http://www.theideacamplive.com/. It is a gathering of artists, social justice leaders, musicians and really anyone interested in this idea of taking ideas and putting them into motion through God and His help.

Pretty cool stuff going over there with meebo rooms for all, live streaming video and real-time blogging and twittering. I strongly encourage you to check it out today if you have a chance.

Today in the morning session, we're going to hear from Zach Hunter (http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=2951434&page=1) a 15-year old modern-day abolitionist. Yes, you heard that right. Hunter has a heart for seeing people released from the bonds of modern-day slavery and has written two books about the ways he has already been working to combat it -- including collecting loose change from people and inspiring them to "Be the Change."

What are you waiting for - check it out! http://www.theideacamplive.com/

International Justice Mission

Last year, we attended an annual event called The Leadership Summit. It's a chance to hear talks from all sorts of dynamite leaders in different industries and within different organizations. Gary Haugen was one of the first speakers as President and CEO of the International Justice Mission. It's a non-profit organization that seeks to provide justice world-wide in severe cases of human-rights violations - including sex trafficking and forced slavery.

His talk really spoke to people. His need, not just desire but outright need, for justice was inspiring to all of us, I think. IJM is based out of Washington DC (http://www.ijm.org/) and they really do tireless work around the globe. IJM and Haugen recently appeared in a fantastic 13-page spread in The New Yorker and you can keep updated on them and their work through Twitter. (@IJMHQ on Twitter). If you haven't heard of them before, I encourage you to check 'em out. Just one more group of people working toward this idea of social justice for all and not just some.

End poverty.

Sounds straightforward, right? Or "make poverty history" is another phrase becoming a part of the common American vernacular as of late. Well, for such a complicated issue as global poverty, it is going to take a lot of hard work and determination to make it happen in our lifetimes. But I do earnestly believe it can happen.

In that vein, Sojourners -- who have already been working since the mid-90s on the problem of poverty (and beyond that in just their overall mission hearkening back to the 70s) -- is hosting a national event in DC this April called Mobilization to End Poverty http://www.sojo.net/index.cfm?action=events.m2ep&item=m2ep-home. We plan on being there to meet with thousands of other people who earnestly believe in this same vision -- that poverty can be removed from our world -- but with the understanding that it will take a mobilizing of a multitude of efforts from all sorts of people and institutions at all levels. Drop us a comment if you plan on being there, too. Or let us know if you want to go with us. Nothing like a road trip to bring people together, right?

Really, though, the task might seem daunting, but don't let it be -- we can do this. And we can do it TOGETHER.

Um, we took the long way back. ;)

Well, call us the prodigal blog, because we've returned. General busy-ness has kept us away, but we're back and hopefully, without such a long hiatus next time.

Thinking about the 10.10 Project this year and have some things on the plate, but as always, keeping mindful of different things that catch our interest and how they fit in with the heart and purpose of the 10.10 Project.

One such thing that caught our eye was a social justice movie that we showed a few weeks ago at the NECC offices in Norwalk: The Ordinary Radicals. http://www.theordinaryradicals.com/ It was an interesting take on a group of people striving to do "small things with great love." The documentary chronicled a group of 20 and 30-somethings as they travelled the US trying to spread this extraordinary message.

There was definitely some food for thought in this flick and led to a great discussion afterward. What's a good movie without a talk-back to follow, right? If you can get your mitts on a copy, I'd recommend giving it a watch and then letting us know what you think.