jonnybaker

truth isn't sexy pub crawl

if you are in london this saturday (tomorrow) there is a pub crawl being organised by the truth isn't sexy to visit pubs and persuade them to take the beer mast from the campaign. get involved here.

slavery 200 years on...

this coming sunday (25 march) is 200 years since the abolition of the slave trade bill was passed in uk law through the house of lords. i confess my knowledge of the history is pretty thin. but one of the groups heavily involved in the campaign were the clapham sect who also founded cms. william wilberforce is the best known member of that group. amazing grace the film that tells the story of the abolition through his life is out this coming weekend and the preview is tonight.

the current issue of yes magazine focuses on the issue of slavery (15mb pdf).

the irony is that there are more slaves today than 200 years ago with child soldiers, sex trafficking, and forced labour. this is tragic. lots of groups are making the most of the anniversary to focus attention on the issue of slavery today. these are a few things i am aware of. feel free to add any others in the comments and i'll paste them in...

african snow - a play that cms has sponsored
free for all - the cms youth team are undertaking a huge tour round the uk
ending slavery resource pack - education pack for cizitenship, RE, and history
the truth isn't sexy - i love this simple campaign to raise awareness of trafficking through some fairly full on beer mats in bars and pubs. there's a parliamentary launch tomorrow - well done guys!
stop the traffic - coalition of organisations,  with a particular campaign focused on chocolate.
chaste - churches alert to sex trafficking across europe
set all free - churches together site
anti-slavery
rowntree uk slavery report

all this can be a bit overwhelming. find something that touches you, or grabs you and get involved. an example of a group getting involved that inspired me is a youth group from st pauls and st barnabas in oldbury who are working on a production esther's story. as part of the promotion for it they put a video together and it got aired on channel 5 news - amazing! the play blurb is...

Shocked by the imprisonment of young women in a nearby brothel a group of teenagers from an Oldbury Church are actively and creatively highlighting the modern day evils of human trafficking and sex traffiking through a youth theatre production at Leasowes Community College Theatre, Kent Road, Halesowen, B62 8PJ.
The performance will be on 27th and 28th March at 7.30 p.m. with doors open at 7.00 p.m.  Tickets are reasonably priced at £2.00 for adults and £1.00 for under 16’s.
Tickets from Paul and Barnys 0121 4226700

the truth isn't sexy

si has been working hard along with others at protest4 to develop the truth isn't sexy - a campaign against human trafficking, an apt response to the 200th anniversary of the abolishing of slavery next year. a key part of the campaign is some beer mats to be placed in pubs and bars with the kinds of images you'd see stuck up in phone booths round london advertising prostitution which have true stories on the back. very edgy and a welcome campaign. there is a get together at greenbelt 2pm saturday - details are on the protest4 home page

good news

good news

progreso coffee and searching for faith

i'd not come across it before but it was wonderful to find a fabulous coffee shop in covent garden that serves great coffee, is stylish and is the antithesis of the global corporate coffee chain. progreso is run for the coffee growers who own a share of the business - their coffee sold in their cafe. oh and i forgot to mention... free wireless internet.

looks like they want to expand the business so try and get one in your area...

i also went to the book launch of brian draper's new book searching 4 faith. brian is an amazingly gifted writer. i think of him in the league of mike riddell when it comes to writing on spirituality. i've not actually read it yet but i'm sure it will be good. it's a book for spiritual seekers introducing them to jesus.

to celebrate new year chinese lanterns are hanging in oxford street (and of course in chinatown)...

protest 4

Protest4 is an open collective of individuals and groups in emerging culture responding to the issues of injustice in our world. the first issue being reflected on and campaigned about is human trafficking. si says:

Protest4 will hopefully simply act as a convergence point for anyone wanting to open source their knowledge, experience and projects tackling any and all issues of justice. While human trafficking is the first issue being looked at by various people, the court is wide open for people to converse and kick off conversation and action on a host of justice-related issues. So, if you're feeling so inclined, do register and add your voice, skills and passion.

the site drop down menus don't currently work in safari or explorer but do in firefox. this should be fixed shortly...

mission 4 justice

Mission 4 Justice April 15th, 7-9.30pm
Tom and Christine Sine are speaking on mission, justice, life and faith for students and young adults.
Venue: St Mary's Church, 57 Kennington Park Road, SE11 4JQ.
Nearest tube: Kennington or Elephant and Castle (10 minutes Walk).
Tickets are £5 available on the door.
They have been invited by SPEAK as part of the Trade Justice Global Week of Action

(click on the image for a full size version of the flyer)

act justly

went to a launch of act justly. christian aid have developed a team that is focusing on working with evangelical, pentecostal and charismatic churches. i guess this is a pretty smart move because historically i guess it has been more liberal or mainstream in the churches that it networks with. this launch was for this network to try and help charismatic churches move beyond aid to focusing on justice. act justly is a series of 6 sessions that you can download for free (pdf - 1.17mb) and are ideal for a cell/small group. there is also a video you can get. at a quick glance it looks like the themes covered tie in perfectly with the make poverty history campaign. there was also a launch of an appeal to raise money.

on the issue of justice and faith, i really liked this column don't hand religion to the religious right in today's guardian. it makes a refreshing change to have an article in the guardian that recognises that the christian faith has a history of activism and justice on behalf of the poor and rather than being cynical about christians the left would do well to make friends and work with christians. it suggests that the christian left...

...need to toughen up, get organised and invoke the spirit of millions of Christians, from St Francis to Donald Soper, who have fought against injustice throughout the ages. Twenty years ago, Faith in the City was a prophetic call to Britain: condemning the selfishness of Thatcherism and the greed of 1980s Britain. The current campaign, Make Poverty History, is a similarly significant moment.

But the present situation also demands a reassessment by the secular left of the religious left. Because only the religious left is capable of challenging the religious right with the language of faith. The secular left, in short, needs to stop sniping and start making new friends.

make poverty history

i went with si , debbie and phillipa to trafalgar square to hear nelson mandela address a huge crowd as part of the campaign to make poverty history. we bumped into several people we knew - lots of greenbelt faces in the crowd. the director of oxfam, bob geldof, jamlia, nelson mandela and others all joined their voices on the day before the G7 world leaders meet to consider their response(ibility). it was a wonderful occasion, moving speeches and a mood of optimism in the air. i'm sure it's a tough road ahead... bob geldof had some fantastic truns of phrase - i hope all the speeches will be online pretty soon... one of his that stuck in my mind was

the job of world leaders is not to manage the world as it exists but to enable a world that we want to create

i took a few snaps and have added a make poverty history photo album on the left hand side bar. get involved in the campaign...

bbc report | guardian report | mandela's speech

light a candle

following on from my post about the world wide ambient vigil, the following comment was left inviting people to light virtual candles with messages that will be used as part of a vigil in san fransisco. you'll need to be quick as the vigil is wednesday evening.... i thought i'd post it here for people who follow the blog via a newsreader and miss the comments

Help!

We need 3,000 virtual candles lit online at our website with your accompanying words and reflections by Wednesday in time for a giant 1,000 foot wide Candlelight Global Vigil for the Global Village.

Global Vigils were held on the two week anniversary, Jan 9th/10th, beginning and ending here in San Francisco. We spelled out H-O-P-E in giant letters using homemade lanterns on the beach.

Again, this Wednesday, on the one month anniversary of the Tsunami disaster, we plan to create a 1,000 foot wide outline of the Indian Ocean affected region, and light 3,000 candles at sunset. The outline will be made using plain paper with your messages hope and Tsunami related reflections.

Please light as many online candles and spread the word as far and wide as you can.

In a word, HELP. :-)

HiMY SYeD
GlobalVigil@gmail.com
http://www.GLobalVigil.TYO.ca