On Nigeria and Not Looking Away

I wasn't planning to post about slavery and justice and hard stuff that I don't know what to do about tonight.
I wasn't planning to talk about Nigeria and school girls and terrorist kidnappers and abductions.
I wasn't.

But I am.

Even though I do not know what to tell you to think or say or do about it. Even though I cannot think of any possible way we can help this specific situation right now. I am going to make sure I put it before your eyes. Because I have an all too familiar ache in my stomach.

As I read head lines and shared stories tonight and wished the world would wake up from its sleepy acceptance of horrors as far-away issues that have little to do with us, I realized that I had to speak in some way.

Because girls should be able to celebrate making it to the day they sit for their final exams in school with a Coke and shared giggles. They should not be kidnapped in a mass raid by terrorists that have long threatened their region. They should not sit at home afraid that an education may cost them the little freedom they have.

But that is happening, people. Tonight. In your world. In your global neighborhood.

I was going to share all the links here for you to click over and read. But you know what. I'm not. You do it. Google it. Read it. Educate yourself. I'm laying down a challenge. If you don't know what I am talking about, make it your responsibility to find out.

After that, I am not sure what to tell you to do next. Heck, I am typing red-faced fury into the keyboard because I don't know what else to do.

But you know what? I am tired of us ignoring injustice because we can't fix it, because we can't impose a comfortable solution and walk away, raise a little cash and throw it at a problem. And when we can't, squirming uncomfortably and shuffling our feet quietly over to the next conversation.

If we are going to be justice walkers and mercy lovers and freedom fighters, we've got to learn to sit and suffer in the hard stuff. The stuff for which there is no easy fix.

We have to acknowledge the gut-wrenching realities of rape and incest and trafficking and slavery and orphans and AIDS epidemics and tornadoes and floods and our ineptitude in it all and just sit in that brokenness, bleeding sweat if it is all that we can do. But caring passionately enough about the broken ugliness of our world that at the very least its sweat and tears and desperate prayers are worth are our company.

Let us not fall into lazy slumber at the world's agony. At a school girl's agony. At her mother's cries across the oceans of dark night. Please. Sit with them. Sit with me.

I don't know what to do. But I will not look away for my own comfort.

I can pray. I can keep company with the broken and the hurting of the world. I can light a candle and send a flicker of mercy across the oceans of pain.

If you light yours too, if we keep vigil together in the midst of the world's agony, then maybe, just maybe, we can light a path to freedom together. And maybe Spirit fire will blaze in a heart somewhere and someone will discover a calling that leads to a solution, that leads to freedom.

Let's keep company with the more than 230 families wondering where their daughters are right now. Let our legacy be that we refused to look away when there were no easy answers.

I can see your candle flickering from here.

Day 14 of Giving That Gives Back: Why I Am Not That Sorry I Bailed On You

So, in case you haven't noticed, I kind of bailed on you guys in the last couple of weeks. I wanted to start this post with an apology and an explanation, but when I began to think about the factors that explain my disappearance, the truth is, I really can't be all that sorry.

First of all, there was a practical factor involved. We had a short term mission to lead in one of our most remote outposts and were away from reliable internet. It was a wonderful week. And it made me realize a few things. I needed to unplug a bit and be present here. I was grasping at community in this wide internet world and ignoring very real relationships. I was pushing toward the future so hard, I was missing the joy of the present. I had lost the simple joy of just loving well and walking in mercy right here, right now. And on the inside, I was having a bit a soul melt down that needed immediate triage.

I can't say I know exactly why I found myself frazzled, feeling deeply broken and unfixable and unwilling to lean in to the one Answer I know is all I need. I know the instability and dependence required by this life I live had something to with it. I know some difficult personal griefs I was facing had a lot to do with it. And I know that getting caught up in how I wish things were instead of doing what I can with what I have was a lot of it. But there was also another component, and it has to do with the reason I started this series in the first place. It was to speak in to the injustice of modern day slavery. And I think I have not done that as well as I would have liked.

The reason is because sometimes I get caught up in talking about an ISSUE. I get fired up about INJUSTICE. I want to become an advocate for change for the WORLD AT LARGE. And then something happens to make me realize this is real. It is not metaphorical justice for an ambiguous world that we are advocating.

It is freedom from slavery. For real people. With names. And mothers who don't know what happened to their babies who were stolen. Who are locked away behind walls and can't even remember how long they've been there. Girls who are daily being ravaged mind, body and soul for the sake of another's perversion.

Last week, one of The Exodus Road's teams raided a "dance bar" in India. They were finally able to successfully execute the raid after a number of tip offs had thwarted their efforts. They raided, made the arrests, and began to process the victims on site. After seven hours of processing victims, they began to hear sounds coming from behind a wall. When they broke through a portion of that wall, they found 22 women and girls trapped there, in a confined space without food, water, or air to breathe. You can read the account for yourself here. And see real video footage of the space where these women were trapped here.

You guys. Not a day has passed that this reality has not stung me at my core. Real women, 18 of them minors, CHILDREN, walled up in a hole by slave traders. Clawing and scratching, desperate for release. Robbed of the very right to breathe the air around them. In utter, desolate darkness. And freedom came. Release came. And I am so, so grateful.

But I am stuck. I cannot figure out how I am supposed to make mashed potatoes for dinner and order sweet gifts for people knowing there are millions more still trapped. MILLIONS. If this is not rocking our humanity like an earthquake, friends, what will?

And then there is this aspect of my life that is breaking me wide open too. It is caring for moms. Real moms. Who have the same hopes and dreams that you and I do as we welcome a baby into the world. They want labor to go well. They want a safe delivery. Even though they will be alone, with no one at their side, they want access to medical care that will keep them and their baby alive in the case of an emergency. They hope they will make enough milk to breastfeed and that the baby is healthy. They hope that baby will grow up and be able to go to school and have opportunities for a good and productive future.

Moms watch their babies die at an alarming rate because of premature births that could be prevented. Because of a FREAKING MOSQUITO BITE. Because of Strep B infections that can be detected by a simple test. You all probably know that I am a mom who has held my child, not breathing, in my arms. Handed him over to paramedics. Placed him in the ground and had to figure out how to walk away. You may not know that I have suffered four subsequent miscarriages, two in the last six months. I cannot compartmentalize the reality that while there may have been nothing I could have done for my own son, there are moms who are holding dying babies in their arms who can be saved by our help. I can't pretend that it is not a really hard thing that God has chosen to redeem my suffering by asking me to love moms and help save their babies while my own have not been saved. I will not pretend that this is easy for me all the time. But I will not back away from the chance to keep one more mama's arms full, one more little one alive and well and with a hope for the future.

And I break sometimes under the weight of needing to figure this out. How do we fix these things? What is our Savior asking of me? of you? of us as the Body of Christ?

And so I find myself a bit quieter these days, because I have got to seek the voice of the only Answer. The only voice that saves. The only one who can heal this brokenness and bring light to the darkness, the one who sets captives free. And me, I am feeling a little bit broken, dark and held captive. And I need an advent. A new beginning. A waiting. A settling into the very real reality of darkness so I can hold fast to the Light when it breaks upon us at Christmas.

I need to read stories to my guys and spend the afternoons with my neighbors. I need to bump along dusty roads and watch a seventeen year old expectant mom change her plastic tarp roof out for a tin one thanks to generous friends. I need to rock baby orphans on my lap and deck the halls of their home and scoop rice and beans into their hungry mouths and love. I need to remember that love conquers all, my friends. And for that, I need to be here. Where I love and am loved.

So, I am going to go ahead and proceed here for what it's worth to those of you following along. But I am not going to force the happy holiday joy of the world. I am going to write the things that are pressing on my heart. And I am going to do so without much fanfare. Without hoping you'll see it as worthy of sharing or applauding or commenting. Just me. Real. In my space. With my heart open and broken and bleeding and waiting for the dawn of something new.

So, I bailed on you guys. But I am not sorry. And I hope you understand why.

Day 10 of Giving that Gives Back: Funding Freedom

So the initial impetus behind this series was a commitment to use Christmas and our consumer power to reduce our slavery footprint and fight the modern day human slavery and trafficking that is one of the greatest evils of our time.

Surely one of the best ways we can do that is to invest in freedom itself. One of the organizations I have supported in their efforts to free slaves is The Exodus Road . I love what they do for a number of reasons.

1. They are forming a a coalition of existing organizations to maximize the opportunities to free slaves and influence local police and power systems. At the root of the evil of slavery are its perpetrators. Getting to them and making their crimes dangerous and unprofitable is the fastest way to drive them out of the "industry". That takes collaborative efforts across the board. That is the philosophy The Exodus Road has espoused and their success is proof that it works.
2. They are a tireless voice for not only raising awareness but empowering advocacy among normal folks like us who want to do something. There are always opportunities to engage with what they are doing from where you are and they value that engagement. Their relationship with their supporters is unique and refreshing. 
3. They are transparent and honest about statistics, the logistics of their work, exactly what they can and cannot do for victims, and how very, very hard and brutal this work is. We need that kind of honesty if we are going to take a broader group of people from advocacy to action.
4. They maintain a near continuous presence on the ground. One part of the investigative coalition is their own team. In addition, you can follow founder Matt Parker on many of his trips to the field, hear from supporters they have taken with them on missions, follow raids in real time. You know that they know what the investigators they work with are doing. Because they are there with them often enough to know. If an organization seeks to empower a certain group of people, they need to know their work inside and out, listen to their struggles, hear their needs, and encourage them personally. This is something unique to The Exodus Road.

So what you can do RIGHT NOW to fund freedom as part of your living Christmas? There are a few things.

1. The Exodus Road is trying to fund a new camera for one of its investigative teams on Pure Charity right now. Can you help them reach their goal and fully fund that equipment? This is the state of the art answer that allows their investigators to gather the evidence they need to free slaves and persecute the criminals who buy and sell them.
2. Buy the book that tells their story. Laura Parker's writing is honest and inspiring at the same time. I learned about The Exodus Road following her blog. This is a read that will show you the realities of modern day slavery as well as inspire you as to how we can actively engage in the fight to end this evil.
3. Become part of a Search and Rescue team. It takes about $35 to fund one night of an investigator's work. By joining a team, you commit to monthly support that allows the team of your choice to send one of their investigators to work. You can read through the page and choose a team to support. There are two teams working in Asia, one in India and one newly formed team in States. 
4. Can't give at this time but love what they are doing? Why not write a note of encouragement to one of their investigators? This post contains a sample of a letter I wrote last Christmas. You can post the note in the comments or e-mail it to me and I will send it along to The Exodus Road staff. Also, you write them a message on Facebook and help share their work with your friends. 
5. 

All post in the series linked here.

Day 1 of 31 Days of Giving that Gives Back

I'm the kind of girl who would much rather address the proverbial elephant in the living room than skirt around an issue we all know is affecting what we are trying to talk about but we don't want to admit it. So as we begin to talk about how to change our consumer habits for the sake of others' freedom, can we just be real for today and say the hard thing we all know is true?

The best way for any of us to reduce our slavery footprint is for us to intentionally consume less. Whew. There I said it. This is the hardest part for us to tackle honestly. We all have our reasons why it just won't work to change the way we do Christmas...grandparents who will be angry, family who expects our participation, a husband who thinks we've gone a bit off the deep end. 

And I get that. This process is most effective if it is an opportunity to educate and thus affect those around us. If we alienate and anger everyone around us from our perceived soapbox, well, that's not exactly the point. Nor does it feel very much about the true spirit of Christmas.

And if our goal is renounce consumer craziness and reclaim some of Christmas' earliest message that love is born in humble places we have to be brave about making intentional changes, but we have to find ways to do it that are lavish in love and generous in grace. After all, shepherds and kings both showed up bearing their gifts for the Christ Child and they were all welcomed.

But if we are to begin, we have to begin somewhere. Here are my thoughts on how we can begin to address the hardest part of this process of giving freedom instead of consuming this Christmas.

1. Pray. I do believe that at its heart, this is a spiritual matter for all of us. Christmas and what it means. Our consumption habits and where they come from. Our expectations of ourselves and others. The way we respond to others' expectations of us. This all has to do with the state of our souls and the state of our sin and our relationship with the Lord whose coming we celebrate in the great feast of Christmas. 

When we begin to feel a stirring inside us to change, we can become just as manic about needing to get it right RIGHT NOW as we are tempted to be about consumption. We have to remember the goal here is to slow down and be more intentional about what we are doing. Not to raze Christmas to the ground with a moral wrecking ball. 

That balance is only going to come through prayer. Let's start there. Immerse ourselves in the Word and the mysteries of Christ's birth. Ask ourselves what it means to live those mysteries this season. Make room for the Holy Spirit to inspire and inform our consciences. Confess our consumer sins and willful ignorance of the past. Clean out our hearts with the same vigor we clean out the toy shelves and the kitchen cupboard to make room for Christmas' newness. 

Start living a spiritual advent now, before the consumer craziness hijacks your opportunity. Advent in its more secular form can mean a change or development. The birth of something new. Let's start now so we can make it so.

AND let's resist the temptation to turn Advent into its own consumer frenzy in order to get it right. You and I are both already thinking about just the books we can buy and the cute pinteresty things we can do to live Advent and get it right RIGHT NOW. Again. Sigh. See how insidious that urge to consume more is? 

Look, here's the November supply list:

1. a bag of fair trade coffee or tea

2. a Bible you already have

3. a pen you already have (dig it out from the couch cushions if you must and forget about whether it is colored gel ink in Christmas colors with glittery sparkles. Manger. Food trough. Barn cave. Any pen will do.)

4. Some type of paper bound together in one place. A half stack of Post It notes from the junk drawer will do. You DO NOT need a new prayer journal. Use the last twenty pages of one of the ten you already have.

(I say these things because I love you. And I get you. I am talking to myself. If you were not tempted to do any of those things above, props to you. You're one step ahead of me on this journey.)

Now. Here's where you can have a little fun. Make a space to pray and plan for this Christmas. Choose a space in your home, rearrange a bit, make it feel new and welcoming and waiting. Just like Christmas. Use things you already have as intentional visual reminders in the space about what your goal and purpose is here But your supplies from above there at there at the ready. 

And for the next 30 Days, let's go there together. Every day. And together let's seek the heart of Christmas. And ask God how He would have us change our practices. Let's ask His forgiveness for the ways our need to consume has enslaved His children. Let's beg for their freedom and for ours. Let's pray for those who fight this very real battle on the ground. And those who perpetrate this evil. Let's pray for change. And let us give Him permission to begin with us.

All posts will be linked in the introductory post for the series 
so you can follow along easily if you like

31 Days: Giving That Gives Back

Well, Halloween is over. Today, the world settles into a two month long stretch of utter Christmas mania. And we all begin to internalize it just a little. Gift giving, cookie baking, food shopping, all begin to buzz loudly in our heads, call to us in our sleep, and lure us into a retail frenzy.

It's been a while since I blogged about human trafficking here on the blog. I think as Christmas approaches time to take up the reminder again. The frenzy of Christmas, especially in America, can lull into a sort of coma about the justice issues in the world around us. There is just too much happy to be had. We begin feel the pressure to buy and to make and to gather and to sing. "What can we do about child sex slaves today? Forget about it. Grab another peppermint latte and sing 'Joy to the World'".

But the truth is, there is much we can do to reduce the demand for slaves around the world with our purchasing power. My friend Lisa Hendey ran a great post yesterday asking us to consider how our consumption contributes to slavery. It's important that we all realize that we do not have to be paying for sex create a market for modern day slavery. Much of our consumption of normal goods increases the market for cheap labor, and thus slavery, in developing nations. Want to know how much? Take the time to fine tune your slavery footprint here. It's disconcerting to know how much our purchases drive this evil. And it is a call to be more intentional about the way we use that power. Especially in the height of consumer craziness that is Christmas.

Why not add freedom to the list of gifts you'll give this Christmas? Slow down a bit and try to be intentional in the ways you spend, gift and celebrate this Christmas. There are ways to shop and give that are ethical and responsible and will drastically lower the demand for slavery around the world. And many of these options actually contribute to a better world. We can shop local, support social and micro-enterprises, give gifts of charity, and educate while we give. We can avoid the "no room at the inn" mentality of Christmas that tells us we have no time to be slow and intentional and make room for Christ-like love.

So I will be beginning starting today a series of  31 Days posts about shopping ethically and responsibly this Christmas season. About giving that gives back and giving that gives freedom. Join me, please? Not only will you learn more about the issue of modern day slavery and its implications for our lives, but you will be introduces to some lovely businesses and gifting opportunity that will inspire you and give you the gift of hope in the goodness of humanity.

I'll revisit many of the groups I discussed in the 31 Days of Action series about trafficking last year. And giving you more information about many of the groups listed in the Responsible Shopping links on the tab above. So today, why not read Lisa's post, assess your slavery footprint and set up a bookmarks folder for the links we'll visit over the next 31 days? Grab yourself a fair trade latte each morning and settle in to make a difference this Christmas.

Feel free to use the button below to share this series with your blog readers. Grab the image and link it back to this post. I will add the links to all 31 posts in the series here each day.

Day 1

Day 2: Orphan Sunday

Day 3: Lovely Linens
Day 4: How Not to Be the Grinch
Day 5: Connected in Hope
Day 6: Christmas Clothes
Day 7: The Philippines Disaster Response
Day 8: Meet Mercy Goods
Day 9: Mercy Covers for the Homeless
Day 10:Fund Freedom
Day 11: Old-Fashioned Fun
Day 12: Coffee Talk
Day 13: What She Said