Archives For International Justice Mission

Tomato Justice update and exciting new campaign from IJM

June 28, 2012 — Leave a comment

It’s been about two months since Tomato Justice came out, telling the stories of those who pick tomatoes in Immokalee, Florida, and what it has to do with us. Based on feedback, it was well-received by the Coalition of Immokalee Workers and their partners. And perhaps best of all, Wilson, the farmworker I interviewed, sent a copy to his family back in Guatemala.

It’s been encouraging to get this feedback and to see the story picked up in various places, like FoodFirst.org, the Campolo College of Graduate and Professional Studies blog, and the “Fair Food” section of the Presbyterian Church (USA) website.

Just the other day I heard that International Justice Mission has launched Recipe for Change, its own campaign for slave-free tomatoes. For those who don’t know, IJM is an innovative and inspiring Christian human rights organization that “brings rescue to victims of slavery, sexual exploitation and other forms of violent oppression.” Here’s their campaign blurb:

Slavery is not just happening overseas. While IJM has developed expertise through our casework to rescue families from forced labor slavery in South Asia, the U.S. Government and domestic anti-slavery organizations have developed strategies to combat slavery here at home. In the past 15 years, over 1,000 people have been freed from slavery in U.S. tomato fields. And there is a way to guarantee that all of Florida’s tomatoes are slave-free. This summer, we have a Recipe for Change. Join us as we campaign for slave-free tomatoes.

IJM was kind enough to include Tomato Justice in its list of resources for “connecting your faith to the issue.” I’m encouraged that more and more people and groups are considering this an issue worth knowing about and acting upon, and I’m especially pleased to see IJM getting involved, further amplifying the voices of our brothers and sisters in Immokalee.

As I said in my original blog post introducing the story, I believe this tragic story is slowly but surely turning into a hopeful one. But there’s still more to be done, so we can’t celebrate quite yet. For updates, you can follow the campaign on Facebook.

Please consider sharing Tomato Justice with anyone you think may be interested to learn more about this issue, and consider ways to support the farmworkers in Immokalee, especially by pressuring your preferred supermarket to continue to earn your loyalty by ensuring all workers in its supply chain are treated with dignity. If that doesn’t work, you might consider buying your tomatoes from a local provider like a farmers market, or from one of the two grocery store companies that have committed to slave-free tomatoes: Trader Joe’s (my favorite) or Whole Foods. Let’s reward those companies courageous and forward-thinking enough to be on the right side of this issue!

I’d love to hear what you do, and please keep spreading the word!

[Photo credit: Luis M. Alvarez/AP via iwatchnews.org]

In Justice , , , , , , , , , , ,
permalink

Fighting slavery with a phone number

January 17, 2012 — Leave a comment

On Saturday Katie and I attended the first (annual?) Abolition Conference in Tucson at the University of Arizona, focused on local and global efforts to fight human trafficking and slavery (learn more about the problem here). It was presented by some great local players in the fight against slavery: Streetlight Tucson, Southern Arizona Against Slavery, and the U of A Honors College, and several other organizations participated. In the main sessions, we heard from three unique perspectives:

  • Kaign Christy with International Justice Mission spoke about the global scope of slavery and what IJM is doing to combat it, largely by strengthening local law enforcement in countries around the world.
  • Bradley Myles, executive director and CEO of Polaris Project, told us a bit about his organization’s work, as well as a number of very practical resources and reasons for hope that the fight against slavery will be won.
  • Linda Smith, former member of US Congress and founder of Shared Hope International, emphasized the story of one girl named Lacy, reminding us all that the victims of slavery are real people, not just statistics.

The conference was fairly well-attended and really well-organized, and it was encouraging to see so much energy around the anti-trafficking cause. It was also great that so many of the speakers focused on practical action steps, rather than just giving us information or making us feel terrible about things (which would be easy to do at an anti-trafficking conference).

Of all the great practical action steps, the single most important take-away was learning about the 24/7/365 toll-free hotline, provided by the National Human Trafficking Resource Center. They are working on ramping up a nationwide network with information about law enforcement and social services in every city in the country so when someone calls with a tip or a request, they can be connected with those in a position to help in their own city. Here’s information on all the hotline is used for:

The number is 1-888-3737-888. I added the hotline’s number to my phone book, and I hope you’ll do the same. Please help spread the word so that those who buy and sell human beings, at least here in the US, would find that they can no longer get away with it.

But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream. (Amos 5:24)

[Photo credit: End Human Trafficking Now!]

In Justice , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
permalink

Why not every Christian should be a justice activist

January 9, 2012

I don’t need to tell you that in recent years there’s been an unprecedented surge in the number of evangelical Christians and churches seeking to integrate faith and justice. I also don’t need to tell you that those with competing visions of what that integration ought to look like can become quite contentious with each other.

The apostle Paul, in his first letter to the Corinthian church, taught that we Christians are one body with many parts. And Jesus said that unbelievers will be able to recognize that we are Christians by our love for each other. I’m concerned about our bickering.

In my reading of the Bible it seems clear that faith and justice are inseparably linked. But it also seems clear to me that there’s more to the Christian life than doing justice. It’s an essential part of the Christian life, and I’d say it’s an essential part of the work of the church, but it’s hardly the whole thing. Christian justice activists need to be reminded of that.

But I’m convinced that churches have a responsibility to justice activists, as well, a responsibility far too often neglected. Gary Haugen, president of International Justice Mission, writes in his book Just Courage:

In this era I believe many Christians are yearning to walk on a pathway to courage. They yearn for liberation from small and trivial things, and to experience the passion and power of God on the more jagged edges of faith, where true glory lies. And I believe God is providing a very specific answer to that yearning and a very concrete path for getting there: God is calling his people to a pathway out of fear and triviality through the struggle for justice in his world.

And perhaps more surprising, it is call to all his people. It’s not a call to the handful of social justice zealots or slightly odd issue advocates in our faith community. Many churches miss out on God’s transforming call by putting the handful of justice agitators in their congregation on some ministry subcommittee where they can do ‘their thing’ without, hopefully, doing any harm. This effectively inoculates the rest of the congregation and directs everyone else right back onto their Christian cul-de-sac, where round and round they go.

Spiritually healthy and dynamic churches, on the other hand, have learned to equip the whole community of faith to do the things that matter to God.

There’s much more to a “spiritually healthy and dynamic church” than justice, and it’s clearly not the only thing that matters to God. But Haugen is right that it’s an essential component, and that spiritually healthy and dynamic churches will indeed equip those called by God to faithful lives of justice activism.

Each of us is called to immerse ourselves in Scripture, though not everyone is called to teach. We’re all called to join other believers in corporate worship, but not all are called to serve as worship leaders. All of us are called to give the reason for the hope within us, but not all are called to be evangelists. In the same way, God calls all of us to do justice, to love kindness and to walk humbly with him, but that does not mean all of us are called to lives of justice activism.

Justice activists would do well to acknowledge the blessing it is to be part of a community of faith along with those who teach Scripture and lead them in worship and share the good news of Jesus. At the same time, teachers, worship leaders and evangelists would do well to embrace those uniquely in a position to reweave shalom in our world.

So how does your church relate to those members who are passionate about justice, who are called by God to be instruments of shalom in a world in desperate need of redemption? Are they given token nods of approval, but relegated to the sidelines where they hopefully won’t do too much damage or make too much noise? Or are they seen as essential members of the body of Christ to be nurtured and discipled just like everyone else?

Do our senior pastors and worship leaders and children’s ministry staff and small group leaders see how essential the justice people are to the well-being of the church? And vice versa? Do the justice people see that if everyone was just like them the church wouldn’t be all that God intended it to be? What might the consequences be if we disregard all of this and let the bickering run its course?

[Image credit: Merill Comeau]

In Justice , , , , , , , , ,
permalink