REJECT APATHY | ISSUE 1

SERVICE VS. FAITH | SHANE CLAIBORNE | ADVOCACY ON THE BIG SCREEN

SUSTAINABLE CHANGE. SACRIFICIAL LIVING. SPIRITUAL REVOLUTION.

FROM THE MAKERS OF RELEVANT / ISSUE 01

CONSUMER COMPASSION

IS BUYING SOMETHING REALLY THE BEST WAY TO SUPPORT A CAUSE?

HOW TO CHANGE THE WORLD (THE RIGHT WAY)

5 NONPROFIT LEADERS ON GLOBAL NEEDS, WHAT THEY’VE LEARNED AND WHAT THEY’D DO DIFFERENTLY

water changes everything. charitywater.org

We are not rock stars and we are not movie stars.

We are the underground honesty, the straight A's and drop-outs that believe one thing to be true: We have a responsibility to protect those who cannot protect themselves.

After 25 years of violence, there is a generation in Central East Africa that has known only war.

We are a creative collective dedicated to ending the injustice of Joseph Kony's rebel army, to stopping his use of child soldiers, and to help rebuild what has been lost.

If you want to join us, visit www.invisiblechildren.com/jobs to find out how you can go on the road and speak for a generation dedicated to peace.

Sustainable change.

Sacrificial living. Spiritual revolution.

REJECT APATHY magazine Spring 2011, Issue 01 PRINTED ON RECYCLED PAPER PUBLISHER & CEO Cameron Strang > cameron@relevantmediagroup.com

full line @ lightgivesheat.org/rejectapathy

Editorial Director | Roxanne Wieman > roxanne@relevantmediagroup.com Managing Editor | Ashley Emert > ashley@relevantmediagroup.com Managing Editor, RELEVANT | Ryan Hamm > ryan@relevantmediagroup.com Associate Editor | Alyce Gilligan > alyce@relevantmediagroup.com Contributing Editor | Josh Lujan Loveless > joshl@relevantmediagroup.com CONTRIBUTING WRITERS: Maggie Canty-Shafer, Shane Claiborne, Jeff Goins, Carl Kozlowski, Julian Lukins, Danielle Mayfield, Kelli Trujillo Senior Designer | Chaz Russo > chaz@relevantmediagroup.com Senior Marketing Designer | Jesse Penico > jesse@relevantmediagroup.com CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS: Angela Anderson, Jeremy Cowart, Kerstin Pless, Jon Warren, Glen Wilson Chief Operations Officer | Josh Babyar > josh@relevantmediagroup.com Account Director | Michael Romero > michael@relevantmediagroup.com Account Director | Philip Self > philip@relevantmediagroup.com Promotions and Campaigns Manager | Sarahbeth Wesley > sarahbeth@relevantmediagroup.com Circulation Coordinator | Rachel Gittens > rachel@relevantmediagroup.com Marketing Assistant | Richard Butcher > richard@relevantmediagroup.com Chief Innovation Officer | Chris Miyata > chris@relevantmediagroup.com Audio/Video Producer | Chad Michael Snavely > chad@relevantmediagroup.com Systems Administrator | Josh Strohm > joshs@relevantmediagroup.com Web Developer | David Barratt > david@relevantmediagroup.com Web Production Assistant | Lin Jackson > lin@relevantmediagroup.com Communications Manager | Theresa Dobritch > theresa@relevantmediagroup.com Project Manager | Austin Sailsbury > austin@relevantmediagroup.com Finance Manager | Maya Strang > mstrang@relevantmediagroup.com ADVERTISING INQUIRIES: CONTACT Michael Romero or Philip Self at (407) 660-1411

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SLICES WHAT MAKES SOMETHING FAIR TRADE ?

IT’S MORE THAN A TREND. HERE ARE THE METHODS OF THE MOVEMENT.

By now you’re familiar with the concept and the benefits of buying fair trade. With a bit of conscientious consumerism, it’s fairly easy to ensure your purchases support the people and places that need it most and sustain eco-friendly companies. But certifying fair trade products isn’t as simple as slapping on a label. To maintain the integrity of the fair trade market, each of its more than 1.2 million producers and workers are subject to a strict inspection and certification process.

Depending on the type of business and whether products are being manufactured or sold, different principles and processes apply—and they usually involve a lengthy, specific list. However, some general guidelines do blanket most of the industry. Trade companies must sign contracts with producers to foster long-term relationships, pay a Fairtrade minimum price (the cost of sustainable production) and pay an additional Fairtrade premium (to invest in development). Producer standards vary based on whether employees are contract workers, hired labor or small-scale producers, but all have rights to democratic, equitable treatment.

The big brother of the fair trade industry is FLO-CERT. Their certifiers determine standards and confirm a company’s compliance through on-site audits. A committee then approves or denies a company’s request for certification. Annual reviews and random inspections also preserve the consistency of the fair trade name. Stateside, organizations like TransFair USA work with FLO-CERT to monitor the import, production and sale of American fair trade. So, go ahead, this time it’s OK to flaunt that label. It’s earned.

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There are more than 1.2 million producers and workers in the fair trade industry.

Fairtrade International, formerly known as FLO, unveiled a new logo this January. The bright image is intended as a reminder of “global vibrancy.”

TAKING PICTURES, GIVING HOPE HOW HELP-PORTRAIT IS FINDING A NEW WAY TO CELEBRATE COMMUNITY

While most photographers are preoccupied with building a portfolio and asking themselves, “Who do I want to take pictures of?” celebrity photographer Jeremy Cowart challenges them to ask, “Who can I give a picture to?”

Cowart started Help-Portrait in 2009, an event that drew 10,000 photographers, makeup artists and volunteers. Altogether, they took approximately 42,000 portraits for homeless citizens, single mothers and their children, former inmates starting over and other members of the community who were lonely, needy or otherwise longing to feel special and celebrated. This past holiday season, nearly 600 groups around the world participated in the second annual Help-Portrait.

The event offers the opportunity to take pictures for those who have previously never been photographed. While it may seem trivial, Cowart can attest to the value of this service. At the Seattle location for the 2010 Help-Portrait, he was able to bond with the subjects of his photos—one of whom requested an image of her deceased husband be added into what would be their first family photo.

HOW TO SHOP FAIR 1

STOP TRAFFICK FASHION Shopping through Stop Traffick Fashion supports victims of sex trafficking.

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TRADE AS ONE Gifts, clothing, toys, coffee, chocolate—this fair trade retailer offers it all.

“I spent a big part of the day … sitting down with people and hearing their stories,” Cowart says. “It’s just powerful stuff. Help-Portrait goes way beyond photography.”

FROM C O F F E E T O C L O T H I N G , T H E R E A R E A N U M B E R O F R E T A I L E R S WHO C A N P R O V I D E T H E U N I Q U E F A I R T R A D E G O O D S Y O U N E E D

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DR. BRONNER’S This classic line of soaps is now certified fair trade as well as certified USDA organic.

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MARK. Funds from their “body care that cares” line of beauty products support farmers around the world.

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BEN & JERRY’S By the end of 2013, all Ben & Jerry’s ice cream ingredients will be fair trade certified.

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SLICES

VIO LE NCE

THE ANATOMY OF TERROR There are a lot of stereotypes associated with terrorism. It’s tempting to paint the issue black and white: terrorist and victim. But the truth, as in so many things, is not that simple. Terrorism is its own vicious cycle—and the victims are on both sides. The social, religious and medical implications of living in extreme poverty are largely responsible for terrorism in today’s world, and we can do something about it.

JAKE HARRIMAN

Before he founded Nuru International, an organization dedicated to ending extreme poverty, Jake Harriman spent seven years serving in the Middle East as a platoon commander, seeing the effects of terrorism firsthand. Here are some of his thoughts on how to stop the violence by ending poverty.

THE METHOD

“I could make more of a dent in the war on terrorism by attacking what I believe to be the biggest contributor of terrorism, which is extreme poverty.”

THE POOR

“We treat the poor as our clients, our customers, our peers. These are amazing people that are far more resourceful and intelligent and incredible than I’ll ever be.”

THE “ENEMY”

“You see a look of desperation in the faces of the people you are fighting. It’s not out of some kind of misplaced sense of hatred for the West; it’s actually out of desperate love for their 2-year-old daughter and 5-year-old son at home who are starving to death.”

UNEXPECTED FACTORS OF TERRORISM 1

DEPENDENCY IMPOVERISHED PEOPLE, SOME WHO LIVE ON LESS THAN $2 A

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RELIGIOUS INTOLERANCE RADICAL RELIGIOUS EXTREMISM IS THE MOST OFTEN PORTRAYED

3

RESOURCES MUCH TERRORIST ACTIVITY IS STIMULATED BY THE SCARCITY

HUMAN RIGHTS THE CORROSION OF HUMAN RIGHTS IS BOTH A CAUSE AND EFFECT

DAY, ARE OFTEN VULNERABLE TO

FACE OF TERRORISM. POORER

OR MISAPPROPRIATION OF

OF TERRORISM. INDIVIDUALS

SEIZURE OR RECRUITMENT BY

COMMUNITIES THAT LACK PROPER

NATURAL RESOURCES. LAND, OIL,

AND GROUPS WHO LACK DIGNITY

TERRORIST GROUPS THAT PROMISE

EDUCATION AND ARE INUNDATED BY

MINERALS OR CROPS CONSIDERED

AND SECURITY ARE EASILY

TO PROVIDE SOCIAL, WELFARE,

PROPAGANDA HAVE LITTLE DEFENSE

TO BE VALUABLE PRESENT A

MANIPULATED, AND THEIR

CULTURAL AND EDUCATIONAL

AGAINST SUCH THEORIES.

PERFECT OPPORTUNITY FOR

SEEMINGLY IRREVERSIBLE STATUS

SERVICES FOR THE COMMUNITY,

TERRORIST GROUPS TO ABUSE

FUELS THE GREED AND POWER OF

WHETHER OR NOT THEY DELIVER.

WORKERS, EXERCISE AUTOCRATIC

THE ELITE.

CONTROL AND REAP THE FINANCIAL BENEFITS.

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GENDERCIDE IN CHINA: THE DAMAGING EFFECTS OF THE ONE-CHILD POLICY We’ve all heard of China’s notorious one-child policy, but for those who live there, the effects are inescapable. Not only is there an average of 35,000 abortions per day, but the nation is facing a shortage of workers, a startlingly imbalanced sex ratio, the highest female suicide rate in the world and a growing child trafficking industry. Here’s a sobering look at how even the world’s largest population can be damaged by such injustice.

STARTLING STATS Gendercide is one of the injustices associated with China’s one-child policy. Female babies are aborted or abandoned as families would rather try again for a son. Such gender preference has had far-reaching effects on China’s women and children.

• 500 women in China commit suicide each day.

• 8 million women undergo abortions every year in China.

• 35.97 percent of women who have had an abortion have another shortly after.

• For $500-$1,500, a kidnapped boy can be purchased to preserve a family line.

• At least 70,000 stolen children are on China’s black market each year.

• Every day, 190 children are abducted in China.

1.2 MILLION

ANNUAL ABORTIONS

U.S.

185

THOUSAND U.K.

96

THOUSAND CANADA

84

THOUSAND

AUSTRALIA

2.7 MILLION

Regardless of a nation’s political or social standing, abortion rates around the world have reached staggering statistics.

RUSSIA

13 MILLION CHINA

Statistics from information available through AllGirlsAllowed.org

CHAI LING

Chai Ling is the founder of All Girls Allowed, an organization that restores dignity to China’s women and children in light of the one-child policy. She was also a student leader in the Tiananmen Square protest.

“I felt somebody should organize rescue efforts after [the] exposure of this crime taking place, [a] need to be some kind of help for women who start coming out to tell the world the trauma they go through. They need to have a place to turn to be counseled, to be protected, to be reconciled to God.”

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SLICES

THE COST OF ENVIRONMENTAL NEGLECT

“CREATION CARE” ISN’T LIMITED ONLY TO OUR ENVIRONMENT. THE EFFECTS OF ENVIRONMENTAL DAMAGE ARE VAST AND FAR-REACHING, TOUCHING EVERYTHING FROM DISASTER RECOVERY TO UNDER-5 DEATHS.

1 2 There were 10,000 schools damaged or destroyed

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in the 2010 Pakistan floods.

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UNDER- 5 DEATHS

Deforestation and poor water management are said to contribute to the spread of malaria, a disease that kills 2,000 children every night.

VIOLENCE The war between north and south Sudan began over opposing politics but has evolved into a battle over diminishing resources. Flooding and deforestation have led to mass displacement and heightened civil conflict.

NATURAL DISASTER Impoverished communities that are uneducated on the proper usage of energy and resources limit their potential to rise up out of poverty, and often have greater difficulty recovering from the environmental risks of natural disaster.

EDUCATION Environmental decline in impoverished regions increases the time women and young girls spend collecting water, fuel and other resources, meaning females have less time to spend pursuing an education or generating an income.

POVERT Y Poorer nations such as Haiti often misuse resources to survive, relying heavily on their forests and charcoal, a method often left unregulated by the government.

PREVENTABLE DISEASE Environmental factors such as air and water pollution, lack of sanitation and vector-borne illness are responsible for up to 25 percent of the world’s diseases.

ANOTHER SHADE OF GREEN We all know to recycle, carpool and switch to energysaving light bulbs. But here are a few unique, eco-friendly practices you may not have thought of: GET SHADY When taking a vacation, close your shades and set your thermostat to 85 degrees in the summer or 50 degrees in the winter.

REDUCE, REUSE …

Encourage your church to distribute coffee or communion elements in washable, reusable containers.

PUT A DAMPER ON IT

Close the fireplace when not in use. An open damper allows up to 8 percent of your home’s heating or cooling to escape.

BECOME A FAN

Use fans as much as possible. It costs up to 43 times more to run a central air conditioner.

ANYONE WHO BELIEVES

The fight against cancer isn’t up2 somebody else.

It’s up2 me. It’s up2 you. It’s up2 every single one of us.

Every time you give, you have the power to accelerate collaborative cancer research to save lives now. We can’t waste another minute.

We can’t lose another life. This is where the end of cancer begins.

DONATE NOW. Call 888-90-STAND or visit STANDUP2CANCER.ORG. 100% OF YOUR DONATION GOES TO COLLABORATIVE CANCER RESEARCH.

HOW BLOOD:WATER MISSION REACHED

1,000 WELLS

“We wanted to partner with 1,000 communities in sub-Saharan Africa, bringing clean water to the people in each community. It’s the most basic of needs. ... It’s the first counter-punch at poverty,” says Charlie Lowell of Jars of Clay, co-founder of Blood:Water Mission. As of this year, Blood:Water supporters have achieved their initial goal: digging 1,000 wells in sub-Saharan Africa. They’re celebrating with the Well:Done Celebration in Nashville this May. The celebration comes on the heels of a Lent campaign called Forty Days of Water, in which supporters were encouraged to drink only water and apply the money saved to building wells in Uganda.

Says lead singer Dan Haseltine, “Since 2005, people have seen how they can make an impact by using their creativity to address this complex issue.”

The simple act of

CLEANLINESS IS NEXT TO HEALTHINESS

hand-washing reduces deaths caused by diarrhea by 35 percent.

GOOD HYGIENE A little soap and clean, warm water can go a long way. Cholera, typhoid fever, salmonella, hepatitis and the common cold are but a few of the many diseases spread person to person—and which can be prevented by proper washing of hands, face and body.

CLEAN WATER Diarrheal diseases and the resulting dehydration remain the second-leading cause of childhood deaths. However, an overwhelming 88 percent of these cases could be prevented by uncontaminated water, sanitation and good hygiene.

SAFE FOOD Undercooked meat, poultry or eggs, and unwashed produce spread food-borne bacteria such as E. coli, salmonella and Campylobacter. Parasites and worms are also responsible for a number of water-borne and food-borne illnesses.

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SLICES

CELEB CHARIT Y GETS SOCIAL

As technology evolves, so does the way we support charity. Here are some of the ways social networking is connecting people, organizations and even celebrities.

BROOKE FRASER

Australian musician Brooke Fraser celebrated her 27th birthday generously: asking friends, family and fans to donate to the work of charity: water. The campaign met and exceeded her goal of $50,000. “It’s a basic need, it’s a human right, and it’s the greatest gift I can think of to give, or to receive, for my birthday this year,” Fraser said.

Brooke Fraser’s

EDWARD NORTON

birthday campaign

Founded by Edward Norton and a few friends, Crowdrise allows people to start personal fundraising projects online or donate to existing campaigns while “having the most fun in the world.” Recently, everyone from Barbra Streisand to Jonah Hill joined their Crowdrise Holiday Fundraiser Thing (yes, that’s what it was called), using their profiles to creatively promote causes.

ultimately raised $54,720 for charity: water.

EVA LONGORIA

GREEN RIVER ORDINANCE

Named Mashable’s Most Creative Social Good Campaign for 2010, TwitChange is a platform where celebrities like Eva Longoria auction off social networking interactions to raise money for a particular nonprofit. Started after the Haiti earthquake, now they raise money for a different campaign every month.

Green River Ordinance didn’t want to support a good cause—they wanted to support five. So each member of the folkrock band selected their favorite charity and set up TheHopeGROs.com, a site that gives proceeds from select song sales to the various organizations they support.

THINK BEFORE YOU TEXT 1

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COSTLY CAMPAIGNS Organizations have to pay $3,000-$10,000 to set up a mobile fundraising campaign.

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ISOLATED DONORS Texting limits the amount of money from donors, as well as their ability to communicate with a cause.

MOBILE DONATIONS ARE CONVENIENT, BUT IS IT AN EFFECTIVE FUNDRAISING METHOD?

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THREE’S A CROWD Relying on a thirdparty mobile fundraising company can hold up an organization’s time and money.

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DONATION DELAYS Depending on the cycle of cell phone bills, it can take up to 90 days for money to actually be credited to a cause.

A DocumentAry Film From liFe in AbunDAnce internAtionAl

This Is My Normal was filmed to catalyze a conversation about the complexities of poverty and bring awareness to some of the world’s forgotten places and people.

To learn more about Nairobi, Kenya’s “normal,” view the trailer, or buy the film, visit thisismynormal.com.

A Life In Abundance Film produced in association with Rule29 and Wonderkind Studios + www.liaint.org

night. The city did not dare stop a revival.

It was brilliant. I attended the revival one night. It began with great singing, worship and sharing, and transitioned around 10 p.m. to a 10-hour period of “silent prayer.”

We see this imagination in friends in Atlanta who were met with anti-homeless laws that made it illegal to urinate in public. (In fact, some homeless folks have been arrested and charged with public indecency and exposure, which makes them registered sex offenders.) So our friends launched a “Pee for Free with Dignity” campaign, which insisted people could not be arrested for public urination if there were no public restrooms. They

BY SHANE CLAIBORNE marched to City Hall carrying toilets and shown us that God’s people are holy troublemakers, laid them at the mayor’s door. Soon Atlanta had some rabble-rousers and mischief-makers. We are folks public restrooms. who refuse to accept the world as it is and insist on This imagination is seen in the growing movement moving it closer to what it should be. of urban farming. Vertical gardens tier food producIt’s time for fresh imagination. It’s tion with full-sun plants on top, working the way he world is desperately in need of time to reimagine the world. down to the bottom where there are fish cleaning the imagination.

Thankfully, God is good at dealing water that is then pumped back to the top to trickle I will never forget the words of an with a world in crisis—He has had a lot down. One of these urban farms in Wisconsin boasts Iraqi doctor I met while I was in Baghdad as of practice. of being able to produce food for more than 2,000 a peacemaker in 2003, protesting the “shock And the human imagination flour- families on two acres of vertical urban farming—and and awe” campaign. As the bombs fell on ishes when times get tough, because we much of it is done by the people in the neighborhood. the city, the doctor held a young girl with are forced to innovate.

I saw this imagination on a college campus that missile fragments in her body. He raised This is how I’ve seen it in my little had created a “green dorm” where they recycled the his head to the sky and said, with tears roll- world—the concrete jungle of Philadelphia. water from their showers and used this “greywater” ing down his cheeks, “This violence is for a Just this past year in Philadelphia, to flush their toilets, and where they had laundry world that has lost its imagination.” there was a congregation that was machines powered by stationary bikes. Not only was This is the country, world and global doing what Christians do—hospitality. it good for the creation, but it was good for their carneighborhood in which we live.

As many congregations do around the diovascular. After all, if you wanted clean undies, you Where the average North American con- world, they had begun opening their had to work for it. sumes the same amount as more than 400 church building to the homeless so they In Jesus, we see an invitation to join a movement Africans. could have a warm, safe place to sleep that preaches the Gospel with our lives as well as Where we have enough weapons in the overnight. The city government got with our mouths. For too long the Church has promU.S. alone to create more than 100,000 wind of it and began to crack down. ised the world life after death, while a dying world Hiroshimas.

The pastor was told they were not has been asking, “But is there life before death?” I Where 25,000 people die a day from pov- allowed to run a shelter as they did not am convinced the Kingdom of God is not just about erty. Nearly 16,000 of those are children, have proper permits, nor would they be going up when we die, but about bringing God’s which means every five seconds a child dies granted them because dream down to earth. It is time to of a preventable disease like malaria. the city did not want a reimagine the world. As Indian activSHANE CLAIBORNE Suffice to say, much of the death and suf- shelter there. So the conist Arundhati Roy has said: “Another is an author, fering of our world is fundamentally caused gregation prayed, and world is possible. Another world is speaker, activist by a lack of imagination. the Spirit moved. They necessary. Another world is already and recovering It’s time to take the words of Romans 12 announced that they here … on a quiet day I can hear her sinner. He wrote the best-selling memoir seriously, with the admonition: “Do not would not be running a breathing.”

The Irresistible conform to the patterns of the world, but be shelter, but they would The world is waiting, groaning, Revolution and is transformed by the renewing of your mind.” have a revival from 8 aching for another world—for the one of the compilers Historically, the prophetic imagination has p.m. to 8 a.m. every Kingdom of God to come on earth. of Common Prayer,

IMAGINE A NEW WORLD T

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a new resource to unite people in prayer and action for a better world.

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FOUR FIELD LEADERS DISCUSS THE CHRISTIAN RESPONSE TO A BROKEN WORLD

BY MAGGIE CANTY-SHAFER

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“WE KNOW HOW TO REDUCE POVERTY— IT’S JUST A MATTER OF RESOURCES.” —DR. RON SIDER

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“GOING TO KENYA ISN’T THE SOLUTION IF YOU CAN’T LIVE JUSTLY AT HOME.” —CHRIS HEUERTZ

THE COLLABORATION OF CALLINGS

One person whose life’s work is to care for the poor is Shane Claiborne. The Kingdom isn’t something Claiborne hopes for when he dies—it’s something he’s building now.

As a hands-on social justice activist, the author and Simple Way founder believes solutions must begin with relationship. Person-to-person contact is what will eventually lead toward reconciliation between the oppressor and the oppressed.

“It’s tempting to have virtual movements without roots on the ground,” he says of today’s society. “It’s often easier to care about the invisible children more than those right next to us. But without the relationship, it’s like eating virtual food: You end up starving.”

Acknowledging the call on each Christian’s life to be active in social justice, Claiborne believes much of the beauty of God’s plan is in the combined roles each individual can take, based on their own unique calling.

Claiborne references something the famous writer and theologian Frederick Buechner said about calling: “You have to ask yourself, ‘Where do my greatest gifts intersect with the world’s greatest need?’”

When each Christian is engaged and participating, the Church can better achieve its corporate responsibility and its members can collectively live out the Kingdom on earth. Claiborne points back to God forming a people throughout Scripture, and the inclusion of corporate

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patterns like acknowledging the sabbath.

“The good news is that we’re not alone,” Claiborne says. “We can do more together.”

But doing more will cost more.

More time, more money, more trust—both in the Lord and His Church.

“Churches are realizing their responsibility to their congregation with their money,” Claiborne says.

“Those that don’t will become irrelevant.”

SELLING YOURSELF SHORTTERM

Another responsibility churches are facing is their commitment to service around the world on mission trips. While participants go on these trips for varying reasons—wanting to see the world, gain numbers for Jesus or maybe add exotic photos to Facebook—Chris Heuertz didn’t

join the nonprofit Word Made Flesh for any of these reasons.

He joined because he wants to serve the most vulnerable of the world’s poor. And he wants to be their friend.

“Christians today pick issues and causes and forget there are people,” he says. “Everything is nurtured in relationships.”

Heuertz points to the shortterm mission mindset that permeates Christian activism as causal in many of the Church’s shortcomings.

“We have an addiction to short-term tourist missions,” he says. “You can’t really do good in two weeks or three months. We as a whole don’t want to commit to anything long-term, but the short-term mission industry is completely void of relationship.”

But building a relationship abroad isn’t the answer if character and conscience haven’t first been examined on the home front. Heuertz has too often seen Christians presume that relocating to a poverty-stricken country will be the answer to a lacking prayer life or deeper sense of nearness to God. Although occasionally this can be true, it’s the

exception, not the rule. If not addressed at home, lack of discipline will follow a believer to the field.

“We’re over-saturated with information, and this information has awakened a responsibility,” he says. “But who we are follows us. Going to Kenya isn’t the solution if you can’t live justly at home. You don’t change just because your context does.”

All hope is not lost, however, for those who don’t yet feel like they’re living the way they’re called. The first step, according to Heuertz, is learning to love locally.

“The best practice of learning to love the so-called ‘other’ is learning to love the person nearest you,” he says. “The consistency will follow us.”

PUTTING ASIDE PARTIES, PICKING UP THE CROSS

Living in a community that cares for those nearest them, prays together, eats together and shares a love for God’s people has given new monastics like Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove—an author, speaker and minister—a glimpse of what it looks like when people stop building walls and start building bridges.

He believes when justice is reduced to “issues,” political parties start to draw lines, activism is relegated to the voting booth and faith becomes the fuel for a political cause.

“Jesus doesn’t just fire us up for someone else’s agenda. Jesus has an agenda,” WilsonHartgrove says. “Social justice isn’t about figuring out the right position on a list of issues.

It’s not primarily about casting a vote for the right people or party. It’s about engaging a broken world with Jesus’ tactical imagination—learning to see that a whole new way of life is possible, then rolling our sleeves up and doing it.”

The Rutba House—where his community calls home—regularly practices hospitality toward neighbors and the homeless, striving to live out the Sermon on the Mount together as a church rather than solely on a personal basis.

The emphasis on community is key. Although it’s necessary at times, individual activism, Wilson-Hartgrove says, can sell Jesus’ original intentions for the Church short.

“The Church is Jesus’ plan for saving the world—which includes redeeming its broken social structures,” he says. “A conscientious objector to war is one thing, but a community of people who live peaceably together and do not return evil for evil is a more powerful witness, I think.”

In agreement with Sider, Wilson-Hartgrove believes social justice and structural justice cannot be separated when introducing God’s just order.

“Jesus doesn’t start a popular movement to take Jerusalem or Rome and institute God’s new order,” he says. “We’re practicing social justice when we invite friends into relationships of economic sharing. We’re practicing it when we live as communities of hospitality to those who are homeless. Jesus says the Kingdom is here—right here, right now—and you can begin living it.”

SERVICE AND FAITH HERE ARE A FEW ORGANIZATIONS COMBINING SERVICE AND THE GOSPEL: HABITAT FOR HUMANITY BUILDING HOMES FOR THOSE IN NEED SINCE 1976.

CONVOY OF HOPE SEEKS TO FEED THOSE AROUND THE WORLD THROUGH COMMUNITY OUTREACHES.

RICE BOWLS COLLECTS CHANGE IN PLASTIC RICE BOWLS TO HELP ALLEVIATE WORLD HUNGER.

MOCHA CLUB SUGGESTS DONATING $7 A MONTH (THE COST OF TWO MOCHAS) TO ONE OF MANY ONGOING PROJECTS IN AFRICA.

TAKE ACTION DON’T JUST GIVE SOMEONE ON THE STREET $5—GO WITH THEM TO GET SOMETHING TO

CHANGING HOW WE MAKE A CHANGE

If the Kingdom is indeed here and now, then so must be the effort to increase the effectiveness of the Christian response to social justice crimes in the world today.

The theologians, field workers and church leaders agree that our Kingdom vision must not only address those physically closest to us, but also those who have become close in this age of information. For significant and lasting change, the solution must address the structures, it must have a long-term goal and it must always be a face, not a number.

Whether giving shelter to people who need it, like those along the Underground Railroad years ago, or befriending the homeless in our city, that face must be His who called us in the first place.

EAT AND HAVE A CONVERSATION WITH THEM. INSTEAD OF VOLUNTEERING ONCE AT A SOUP KITCHEN, VISIT OFTEN AND GET TO KNOW THE REGULARS—AS FRIENDS. WHEN THE TIME IS RIGHT, TALK ABOUT JESUS. ENTERING INTO RELATIONSHIP IS A KEY ELEMENT TO BRING ABOUT CHANGE.

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TEACH A WO MAN TO FIS H . . .

PHOTOS BY KERSTIN PLESS

WHY EMPOWERING WOMEN IS THE KEY TO LASTING COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT sions for themselves and their families. And they’re trading the role of silent sufferer for one of vocal leader, tackling critical issues such as child diseases, AIDS and sex trafficking.

In the remote village of Tropaing Ansoung, death seemed to lurk behind every door. ChilHEN THOEUN WAS A LITTLE GIRL, a terrifying measles outbreak swept through her village dren died in their sleep—vicand there was no escape. Mothers clutched their dying children, powerless to act. “I remember tims of severe diarrhea, den[thinking] that I would die too,” Thoeun recalls. gue fever and tetanus. It wasn’t Mercifully, Thoeun survived the measles, yet she grew up with the understanding that the unusual for women to hemormeasles and other afflictions—including pneumonia and chronic diarrhea—were the work of rhage and bleed to death while evil spirits or bad karma. She prayed to her idols, anxiously petitioned her dead ancestors and giving birth. About a decade begged the witchdoctor to protect her. ago, 15 children a year died of It would have stayed that way if it wasn’t for the day when health teachers came to Kampong preventable diseases in TropaCham, Cambodia’s most populated province. It was the first time Thoeun and her neighbors ing Ansoung. But as the lohad heard of germs, viruses, the concept of preventing disease and the importance of early cal Care Group spread health medical intervention. teachings, the light came on.

Armed with this new knowledge, Thoeun began to share the teachings with other women Child deaths have been virtuin her community. Soon she was training women from other villages to teach their neighbors ally eliminated as women soak the warning signs of potentially deadly illnesses so they’d seek help before it was too late. Today up health knowledge and put it she’s a trainer for World Relief ’s Care Group project, spreading life-saving health messages in into practice. hundreds of villages the most effective way—woman to woman, mother to mother.

“I just absorbed everything,” Thoeun exemplifies the power of women to change their world. She’s proof that when you says Chrab, a 36-year-old empower one woman, you can transform a whole community. mother. “I kept asking myself: For generations, Cambodia’s rice-growing heartland has been a “man’s world,” one in which ‘Is this right? Can it be true?’ I women have been expected to take a subservient role. Not anymore. Women are growing in soon found that my whole famself-confidence and problem-solving capabilities. They’re seizing the initiative to make deci- ily was stronger and healthiBY JULIAN LUKINS

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er.” Thankful for the huge difference the Care Group has made in her life, Chrab volunteered to become a health instructor. Today she teaches other moms—women who, just like her, need to be empowered to change their world. As Chrab’s neighbors see the results, they’re embracing the changes, becoming enthusiastic teachers themselves and building a health movement that will stand. Because the movement originates within the local community, the teachings become widely accepted.

It’s hoped they’ll be passed down from generation to generation. Women no longer live in fear, instead making precious memories with their children.

Memories could soon be all that 9-year-old Matamando has left.

Seated next to her mom in a cornfield, she flicks through the Memory Book they’ve compiled together—a scrapbook titled “Nkhani Yanga” (“My Story”) and containing family snapshots and reminisces. Soon Matamando will be all alone. This simple book will be all she has left to remember happier moments before AIDS finally claimed her mother’s life. That is, if Matamando outlives her mother. She, too, contracted HIV when her mom breastfed her as a baby.

Once when Matamando fell sick, she whispered to her mom, “Mom, am I sick because of you?” Tears fill her mother Dorothy’s eyes as she recalls, “That broke my heart.”

For now, though, 39-year-old Dorothy, widowed by Malawi’s AIDS epidemic, is determined that she and her daughter will live life to the full. They love church, where they sing, dance and laugh together. Although the specter of AIDS looms over Dorothy’s life, she draws on her own experience to help others living with HIV. She trains church members to look after people living with AIDS and shows them how to treat opportunistic infections that are common among AIDS patients.

Dorothy is part of a growing faithbased movement in Africa’s AIDSravaged communities—a movement of HIV-positive women who refuse to

wallow in self-pity, instead choosing to use their experience to strengthen others.

Under the shade of a tree, women from St. Mathew’s Anglican Church meet for mutual encouragement. These volunteers have a difficult job, one that saps their emotional energy and draws deeply on their faith. They support 70 people living with AIDS in their village. It’s a ministry of compassion that’s touched the entire community, causing even those skeptical of religion to acknowledge there’s something different about these women. After all, most of those visited by the women aren’t members of St. Mathew’s and many don’t attend church at all.

“When we go into a home, we begin by praying and reading the Bible,” explains Lucy, the group leader. “We offer encouragement and help them with work around the house.”

As more women join the group, they’re trained to care for others. “We say to them, ‘Jesus healed people, so it can be the same for you if you have faith in Him,’” Lucy says. “When they hear that, they are so excited, and they have the faith that one day they will be healed.”

Even the most anxious souls find peace.

When her neighbors found out 28-year-old Judith was HIV-positive, they hurled insults at her. “I was lost in the dark,” she says, “and the worries were overwhelming.” But when everyone else shunned her, the women from St. Mathew’s opened their arms. “God is with me and I feel at peace here,” Judith says. “It’s a blessing beyond words.”

Because of the willingness of women to stand up to AIDS and the prejudices surrounding it, Joyce, an HIV-positive widow, has

WWO M EON M A AR ER C EH A L -C L LE N EG I N G G T TH E H O LE D WWA Y AS OY F S DDO I N OG I T TH I NH G SI . N

claimed a new beginning. She starts every day singing and working in her garden. “I used to feel like I was just waiting around to die,” she says, “but now I feel like I have a life to live.” Joyce also has a lot to give. “I am able to visit those who are sick and share my encouragement with them,” she says. “I know how important that is.”

In rural Malawi, where change happens at a crawl, women are challenging many of the old ways of doing things, in some cases ending harmful practices that have beset communities for centuries. In the village of Chipolwa, for example, 27-year-old Kafulesi showed the women how to remove the toxic shell from the soybeans before mixing corn flour to make porridge. “The mothers didn’t realize the shells were hurting their children,” Kafulesi says. “They’d been preparing porridge like that for generations … and their children [were] vomiting.”

Around the world, women are driving change in their communities, women are rising to the fore, women are braving rejection and ridicule to go against the tide. Increasingly, as we grapple with the great problems of our age, women show the grit that’s needed to come up with the answers.

TAKE ACTION FIND A WOMEN’S SHELTER IN YOUR AREA WHERE YOU CAN VOLUNTEER. SEE IF ANYONE IN YOUR CHURCH OR AMONG YOUR FRIENDS WOULD LIKE TO VISIT TOGETHER AS A GROUP.

JULIAN LUKINS

is a dual U.K.-U.S.

citizen who has traveled the world to report on social justice issues and Christian persecution.

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E H I O N G

about what it means to create evidence and to document trafficking—where someone can go to get a court record and where they can pull an ownership title on a house. A woman survivor talks about what she went through in the neighborhood where the academy’s taking place. We then give them field exercises where we go out [and] say, “How would you go about investigating a garment factory or a brothel [that] looks very suspicious?” We’re training people that are citizen investigators [on] how they could trade the evidence and the tips that can be passed along to law enforcement to close the place down in that community.

What are some of the challenges of being an organization that fights something so prevalent yet still so hidden?

One of the biggest challenges is that global slavery [involves] over 30 million people around the world. So how do we make decisions about what we should do first? You get smarter and smarter over time. Our mantra at Not For Sale is, “Are we smarter this week than we were last week?”

So we say, “We may not have figured this out yet, but we feel we’re smarter than we were last week.” It’s really important that you [become] a learning culture.

Successful enterprises [and] social ventures are those that are able to … get to the next stage. It’s kind of like you make three steps, take a breath [and think], “OK, we made it this far, but now let’s re-think, re-strategize.”

What are some mistakes you’ve made and learned from?

We’re very technology-driven in terms of a lot of our strategies, but I feel that early on we wanted [a product] to be perfect before we released it—we invested a lot of money into it, and it slowed us down in a certain respect because we kept waiting to unleash programs [until we had it] exactly where we wanted it. The bigger we grow and the more resources we have, the quicker we throw things up there that we’re even kind of embarrassed about. Our first Free2Work app, I wished it did a lot more. So now we’re preparing version 2.0, and that’s really cool. Version 3.0 is going to be even cooler. I think part of it is for us to get over ourselves. We take ourselves too seriously at times, so I think by getting over ourselves we learn a lot.

Is there a particular person who stands out to you as far as personifying your goals?

Yeah, very much so. It’s a woman in Peru named Lucy Borja. Lucy was working with street kids in Lima, and she ran into a young girl. When I met Lucy in my year-long investigation [into trafficking], Lucy said: “These kids are being exploited, a lot of them are brought into the sex trafficking. I want to get a home for them.” I told her, “Let me help you build this house as a shelter—Not For Sale will commit ourselves to that.” So [while we were raising the money], a young girl named Veronica came to Lucy.

She was a 13-year-old girl from outside of Lima who had

“IF YOU’RE A BELIEVER, [YOUR] FIRST CALLING IS TO THE KINGDOM.” been [trafficked] there. Veronica said: “Lucy, I’ve got to get away from my traffickers—anything you can do. I need a place to stay.”

Lucy said, “Hold on, we’re going to build a shelter and you’re going to be the first person in it, so just hold on.” Two weeks later Veronica was found strangled in a hotel room, killed by a john. So today we have Veronica’s House, and Lucy runs it. It’s a place of refuge and shelter for young teens who are trafficked in Lima. Naming it Veronica’s House reminds us why we do what we do.

What skills do you utilize on a regular basis?

Curiosity and humility, because just when you think you’ve figured everything out, just when you think you’ve got the right set of answers, you find out it’s more complex than you thought. Being entrepreneurial is important. The

programs we need to solve the world’s problems don’t exist, otherwise we wouldn’t have [the problems]. For the last 30 years, this has been on our radar, and we came up with traditional answers and they don’t work. Being entrepreneurial means being willing to step outside the rules of what works.

How do you remain hopeful while facing these problems and helping these victims?

These problems can be so overwhelming. If you don’t set attainable goals and then celebrate them, you get burned out. At Not For Sale, we’re very buoyant, we’re a very happy place. Sometimes [people think]: “Who wants to work for a justice group—they’re so boring and so deadly earnest. They’re so serious and they’re so down.” [People] think if you smile, you’re betraying the cause. We should be living in the world of hope. We should be promoting hope, and we do that by achieving significant results that then scale into even larger impact. The more we do, it’s intoxicating because you see where it’s headed. You’re moving in the right direction. You’re seeing, yeah, the problem’s huge, but there are solutions, and our solution is providing hope for people who have no hope.

What advice would you give someone who wants to start their own nonprofit?

A lot of [recent graduates] think: “Jeez, what a lousy time to graduate—I’m in the worst job market. I wish I had graduated 20 years ago when there was a boom market.” My challenge is it’s not a better time to graduate. I really think, particularly if you’re a believer, [your] first calling is to the Kingdom. This is a great opportunity for me to use my gifts [for] a world that’s really ready for it. We’ve got climate change, we’ve got HIV/AIDS, we’ve

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“DO WHAT GOD IS CALLING YOU TO DO, EVEN IF IT MAKES NO SENSE— ESPECIALLY IF IT MAKES NO SENSE.” portant change we made is that we made sure we are really honoring the Sabbath—that that was the day when everything came to a stop. We close the computer on Saturday night and it becomes a day when time truly does stop.

We couldn’t survive as a family without that.

PHOTO BY ANGELA ANDERSON PHOTOGRAPHY

What would you tell someone who joins a family-run organization, or starts one with their family?

I think the main advice I have is that you need to set boundaries. Your first role is as a husband and a wife, or as the parents, or as the son or as daughter, and that work has to come to an end at certain times. There has to be some kind of rhythm to your life. For us, the most im-

The topic of caring for the environment is still somewhat taboo for some people. What unique pressures do you face as a leader of a creation care organization?

The biggest pressure is unlinking creation care from politics.

What our challenge is [is] to help people not see this as a liberal cause or a conservative issue, but as a scriptural issue. [And to help people] understand we all drink the same water, we all breathe the same air—the acid rain falls on the just and the unjust.

And this is something God has called us to do in Genesis 2:15.

It’s one of the first commandments He gave to humanity—to tend and protect the Garden. If

you read the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, it’s filled with passages that tell us God is revealing Himself through nature, God is calling us to care for nature, God is asking us to be stewards of His creation. It’s not a choice we have, it’s a commandment.

How do you stay on course to work toward your goals?

What we found is that any time we let someone steer us away from the core of what our mission is or who we are as individuals, then things did not go very well. My advice is to be true to who you are. And check in frequently with yourself, with God, with other people you trust [to make sure] you’re staying true to who you are [and] what your gifts are.

Describe a moment when you felt like Blessed Earth was truly making an impact in the world.

Organizationally I would say one of the highlights was last spring. We were releasing the new curricula and it grew into a simulcast that we broadcast from Northland [Church] in Orlando. We thought it was just going to be a small event, but God had other plans—it ended up having 2,200 groups from around the world with groups in all 50 states and 45 different countries participating. So when we went up onstage, knowing all those different people around the world were sharing this passion about caring for God’s creation at the same moment really was a highlight for me.

What advice would you give people who want to start their own nonprofit?

First and foremost, I would say to do what God is calling you to do, even if it makes no sense—especially if it makes no sense.

The second thing is that [you] need to honor God’s timing. You might have this great passion, and you’re feeling really frustrated because God’s not opening the door and nothing is working out. Be patient because God’s probably preparing new ways that you just can’t understand and the timing isn’t ready.

The third advice I would give is to invest in relationships. We have found over and over again, if we only invest in those relationships that the best things happen for our organization and for us as a couple and as individuals.

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RO G E R SANDBE R G MEDAIR SOMETIMES A PERSON STUMBLES INTO FATE—AND OTHER TIMES FATE STUMBLES INTO THEM. IN ROGER SANDBERG’S CASE, FATE CAME IN THE FORM OF A COUPLE MEDAIR STAFFERS WHO, HE SAYS, “SEEMINGLY STUMBLED OUT OF THE JUNGLE” WHILE HE WAS WORKING FOR ANOTHER NONPROFIT IN THE CONGO. SEVERAL YEARS AFTER JOINING THE FAITH-BASED DISASTER RELIEF ORGANIZATION, HE BECAME THEIR FIRST U.S. NATIONAL DIRECTOR AND IS NOW THE COUNTRY DIRECTOR IN HAITI. HERE, HE TALKS ABOUT THE IMPORTANCE OF CARING FOR INDIVIDUALS AND COMBINING SERVICE WITH THE GOSPEL.

W

hat were your thoughts on disaster relief before joining Medair?

I thought anyone could do it and it just took common sense. I quickly learned that good intentions could have negative effects.

Common sense is needed, but so is a humble spirit that is willing to learn from others and to listen to beneficiaries. I believe it is our job to let their voices be heard. My favorite painting is Edward Munch’s The Scream. I have a copy at home and at the office. You can see and feel the anguish in the painting. I have felt and seen that—I want the scream to be heard. away (which we used to fill in potholes in the roads) and an engineer to provide Who has taught you the most? safe demolition expertise. Money and food were not asked for in those first days.

I have learned the most by sitting down and talking with Listening goes a long way. Those in need still have a voice. beneficiaries. It is amazing how many times in disasters and conflicts we rush and do what we think is needed, What unique pressures do you face as a director of a relief organization, particuwhere we should be quick to act after we talk to the ben- larly one that helps victims of unjust war? eficiary. In the first days [after the Haiti earthquake] ,the As a country director of a relief organization, you are constantly on-call. There is World Food Programme said food was the biggest need the pressure of looking after the physical, mental and spiritual well-being of the and any program should be a food-for-work program (i.e., team. There is the pressure of securing funding for projects which will employ people remove rubble from their plots and are “paid” with sometimes hundreds of national staff and provide assistance to those in need. There a certain food ration). The mayor’s office said the people are security concerns, whether it is being targeted directly, being in the wrong place would only work for money. I walked the streets and saw at the wrong time, landmines, etc. There is the pressure of not becoming disheartpeople sorting and sifting through rubble in shorts and ened and losing hope where war continues to ravage the same people (south Sudan flip-flops, trying hard to salvage any of their possessions. was in a 23-year-long civil war with the north). There can be times of great depresI talked with them and asked what they wanted and need- sion where you question if you are doing the right thing, if you are doing enough, ed. They asked for tools to assist in rubble removal and if you are doing too much or if you should be doing anything. some expertise and knowledge in proper and safe demolition. The next day we showed up with gloves, shovels, When did you feel you’d discovered your reason for doing this work? wheel-barrows, pick-axes and a truck to haul the rubble I had not been prepared for the suffering and for the injustice I encountered [in

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Sudan], How could I relate? I kept dwelling on that question and the answer soon came to me. I had been working on the primary health care clinic with some Sudanese men, and I had become friends with our Sudanese translator. On this particular day my translator, Diktor, asked me questions. Basic questions first, like how many cows I had or how many wives I had. But then Diktor asked me: “Why did you come here? We do not want to be here. Why are you here?” Wham!

There it was, the door was open. I spent the rest of that lunch presenting the Gospel to Diktor and the rest of the men I was working with. Relief and development work had suddenly provided a way for me to build a relationship and a friendship with people and then be able to share the Gospel. As I spent more time with these men and learned about their culture, I learned how important storytelling was. They told so many sorts of stories and parables. They then asked me for some stories, [and] again the door was opened and I was able to tell them story after story and parable after parable from the Bible.

It was this aspect of relief work which has captivated me. Relief work allows and creates opportunities for

the Gospel to be preached through our words and our actions. As we know, both are important and both are needed, and one should not and cannot replace the other.

What are the problems you face when trying to make people in the U.S. care about natural disasters or conflict victims?

I feel as if the gap and the differences between us in the West (America specifically) and people in conflicts in Sudan, Somalia and natural disasters like the earthquake in Haiti is getting bigger. It is very hard to relate to a single mother in Sudan who has lost her husband to war, two children to starvation and a third who has lost an arm and a leg to a landmine.

One has to learn to listen and empathize with the poor, even if they have never had similar experiences. Another huge hurdle is to not get lost in the numbers. Our goal in the southeast of Haiti was to construct 4,500 transitional shelters. It is easy to track that number and to try to create formulas that allow for 10 more to be constructed in a week. It is important to track how many have [been completed] and to know where shelter number 137 is located. But it is just as important to know who lives in shelter number 137.

What would you consider your “emergency kit”—literally and figuratively?

We use something called a run-bag. My run-bag contains three liters of water, passport, ID card, money, Leatherman, flashlight, medicines, basic

“I HAVE LEARNED THE MOST BY TALKING WITH BENEFICIARIES. …

THOSE IN NEED STILL HAVE A VOICE.” first-aid kit, fishing line and hook, rope, mosquito net, phone (sometimes satellite phone, sometimes cell phone) and some other items.

I need to draw on patience, flexibility, stamina and common sense. In the beginning of a rapid onset emergency, we work 18- to 20-hour days, week upon week. The needs are massive and the work that needs to be completed is absolutely huge. I need to make sure I am talking and coordinating with the local government, the U.N., other NGOs and government donors.

What advice would you give someone who’s thinking about starting a nonprofit?

First, figure out what sector or area you are interested in. Second, get experience in that area by working with an organization already working in that area. While gaining experience, keep an ongoing list of what you like, what you don’t like, what could be done better. When you are nearing the end of your time with that organization, sit down with your lists and ask yourself, “If someone gave me a blank check, what would my organization look like?” Now that you know what your ideal is, search to see if an organization like that already exists. If it does, join them. If not, it might be time to start your own.

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drink, let alone to cook with or bathe with.

I think I misunderstood the dimensions of poverty and the symptoms of poverty that people struggle with.

I think another misunderstanding I had was the scope of global poverty—that in a

world of over 6 billion people, more than a third of the world’s population live on less than $2 a day. I’d [also] never really thought about the multiple dimensions of the causes of poverty—everything from government corruption to the effects of colonialism 100 years later, the lack of education, the lack of natural resources or access to capital. It was much more complex than I gave it credit for being.

What taught you the most in your early years?

I did a lot of listening. It was pretty easy for me to play dumb in the early months and first couple of years because I was pretty dumb about the work we did. So I asked a lot of stupid questions. And then there was no substitute for just getting on an airplane and visiting lots and lots of projects in lots and lots of countries and seeing with my own eyes.

What’s one way you’ve made a difference in your position?

I came in with very little knowledge and I had to listen and learn a lot, but I also noticed [things] people at World Vision seemed to

not be able to see because they were too close to the problem. My very first trip with World Vision in 1998 was to Uganda. We worked pretty much at ground zero in the AIDS pandemic, and I visited child-headed households and was confronted with the orphan problem.

“EVERY ONE OF US IS THE ANSWER TO SOMEONE ELSE’S PRAYER.” For the first time ever, I saw what the AIDS pandemic was doing in Africa. I was just totally shocked by what I saw. I was unprepared for it.

When I came back, I started to ask some of these stupid questions like, “What are we doing about HIV and AIDS?” And people were saying: “What do you mean ‘what are we doing’? It’s another disease. A lot of people are dying and we’re working with those communities to try to help people with food and water and those kinds of things.” Then I said, “But the AIDS pandemic is a big deal.”

It took a few years before I could really get other leaders in World Vision to fully listen.

That was probably one of the main things

that became kind of a turnaround situation within World Vision that I was able to add some value—mostly because I was a fresh pair of eyes.

What kind of pressures do you face as a president of one the largest humanitarian organizations?

One of the constant pressures is the need for fundraising. We have to raise roughly $3-$4 million a day, 365 days a year, in World Vision United States to hit our goals and our budget.

One of the [other] things we all worry about today with our workers around the world is security. Last February, seven World Vision staff were killed in Pakistan with automatic weapons. Increasingly, being a humanitarian worker means there’s a target on your back.

What is one event that has deeply affected you so far?

One story that profoundly impacted me early on was [in] 1999. I’d been at World Vision just a year and I went to Peru.

We went 14,000 feet up in the Andes Mountains near Cusco—we have a project area there where we work with people up in the mountains who are very poor. We met a widow named Octaviana, and she had three children living with her.

Here is this widow, probably in her 40s with three young children, no husband, living in this harsh climate, having to fend for herself and grow her own food. I asked her, “Octaviana, when you pray, what do you pray for?”

She said: “I had been praying that God would send help. That God would not forget us here on this mountain with my children, and He would send us the help we need because I don’t know how we’re going to survive.”

I realized that here I was, the president of World Vision, one of the largest humanitarian organizations in the world. I was 10,000 miles from Seattle where our headquarters are, I was 14,000 feet up in the Andes Mountains and I was sitting in her mud hut. I had this chill up my spine, and I realized that in a very real way, every one of us is the answer to someone else’s prayer—right now, today, all around the world, desperate people are praying.

And what a privilege it is to be able to be the answer to someone’s prayers, someone who desperately needs something.

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BY JEFF GOINS

INSERT CAUSE HERE IS THE RISE OF CONSUMER COMPASSION A GOOD THING?

Something happened in the past 10 years—between the time college students were reading hard copies of The New York Times and when they started skimming social justice blogs, reading about new and inventive ways to do good in the world.

Charity became cool.

One doesn’t have to look far today to find someone doing good—whether it’s movie stars or a next-door neighbor. From someone wearing the ONE Campaign on his wrist to watching charity: water commercials on Hulu, this new trend is hard to miss: philanthropy is “in.”

This fad has also made an entrance into the business world.

Charitable causes are no longer monopolized by nonprofits; now they’re embraced by the white-collar CEO and the techsavvy twentysomething alike. In this uber-connected world of smart phones and social media, businesspeople are realizing consumer conscientiousness is at an all-time high and people want to feel good about the products they buy—whether it’s by

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purchasing a bag of fair-trade coffee or a handmade purse from Africa.

Businesses like TOMS Shoes and Warby Parker are able to legitimately give back to the world in an impactful way and, at the same time, make a profit. From a business perspective, this idea of infusing products with meaningful causes makes sense—people can relate to it and want to tell others about it. It’s free marketing and, because they’re making a profit, sustainable philanthropy.

But is it necessarily a good idea? What are the potential long-term effects of consumer-driven compassion?

Think back to before PRODUCT(RED). Back when clothes represented favorite bands and sports teams, and making a difference in the world used to be its own reward. A decade ago it wasn’t cool to care about the conflict between north and south Sudan; the burden of proof for why someone should care about geopolitical issues, unless he or she was a political science major, was clearly on the one doing the convincing.

It’s hard to imagine a time when cause-oriented attire wasn’t all the rage of college campuses and the local mall.

But times have changed.

As Brett McCracken wrote in a RELEVANT article last September, this is not necessarily bad: “[Hipsters] are, in general, quite concerned about issues of justice—whether it be sweatshops or sex trafficking, water wells or finance reform. ... They almost always side with the underdogs (immigrants, the poor, minorities) over those with power and privilege.”

So the question becomes: As social enterprise gets more popular, does it risk becoming entirely commoditized?

It’s normal nowadays for someone’s email inbox to be inundated with messages of people giving away their birthdays for well-building projects in Africa.

Nobody thinks twice about a movie star wearing a ONE Tshirt or sporting a pair of TOMS shoes in the pages of a popular fashion magazine.

Social enterprise—the practice of using business to support social causes—is hard to miss.

Popularized by organizations like TOMS that have taken for-profit business models and turned them into vehicles for promoting social good in the world, it’s especially hard to ignore the effectiveness of combining compassion with commerce.

But is it without negative consequence?

The good news of social enterprise is that the economics of it work. As many once-stable economies are now struggling or even toppling, nonprofits around the world are scrambling to find sustainable means of revenue to keep going.

Since the American recession in 2008, nonprofit giving has been down—and not just in the United States. An article in the Toronto Sun described an online study that found a third of Canadians surveyed had reduced their giving since the prior year due to economic constraint. Incidentally, a poor economy has led to greater participation in social causes.

Many charities are now seeing an inverse relationship between volunteer hours and donated dollars, according to an article by Dan Kadlec in Time magazine from March 2009. Since people were able to give less of their money, they were giving more of their time. While on one hand this is certainly progress, it still leaves a significant financial gap

for many nonprofits who rely on the generosity of individual donors to keep the doors open. “[T]he time-money swap, which is washing over the charity world like a tidal wave during this recession, poses stiff challenges for nonprofits,” Kadlec says. “They can’t pay the rent with volunteer hours.”

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN COMPASSION IS NO LONGER COOL? Enter an opportunity for globally minded entrepreneurs to make a difference. In a down economy, most people aren’t looking for reasons to give their money away; however, they do continue to buy services and still consider more existential questions such as making a difference in the world. “People want to see results of their donation or purchase,” says Wayne Elsey, founder and CEO of Nashville nonprofit Soles4Souls. “Strong, engaging strategies with the consumer will draw them to see where the difference their donation or purchase has made.”

When times are tough, people are looking for more than just a bargain. They want meaning, to be caught up in a larger story.

This is where social enterprise really is a “win-win”: it offers con-

REJECTAPATHY.COM

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sumers an opportunity to do more than just consume, while still buying goods. As TOMS Shoes founder Blake Mycoskie recently wrote in a blog post: “You are now as much a part of the TOMS story as I am. When you buy a pair of TOMS, it’s you that’s helping to put a pair of new shoes on a child’s feet. You aren’t just a customer, but a storyteller.”

With this new model, organizations are no longer selling a commodity; instead, they are selling an ideal. They aren’t asking for money; they are, in turn, giving the consumer purpose. They are providing an opportunity for the purchaser to make a difference. If the product embodies a universal concept like hope, consumers are not only willing to pay money for it; they’re willing to tell the story, because, as Mycoskie indicated, it is their story, too.

Jamie Finch, a consultant for an anti-human trafficking organization called the Nomi Network, sees social entrepreneurship as a far more effective and sustainable business model than that of a typical nonprofit. Finch believes social enterprise is a “fantastic idea” and even alludes to the added bonus of having “built-in marketing” for the product.

THE GOOD NEWS OF SOCIAL ENTERPRISE IS THAT THE ECONOMICS OF IT WORK. Finch admits she was initially skeptical of the faddishness of social enterprise, but she eventually saw the ultimate good. “Fads come and go,” she says, “but the causes that are attached to them really do deeply affect and touch the people who are buying into the fads.” Pragmatically, she adds: “You have to fight for the attention of the general public in order to get them to look at uncomfortable things. If you can catch them with a shiny fad, they’ll be more apt to continue to listen.”

Maybe in some cases—at least in that of child trafficking—the end does justify the means. This does, however, raise a new concern: Even if the end justifies the means, will this trend last? The “bad” of social enterprise is the questionable longevity of it. Fads by definition are short-lived, so what happens when compassion is no longer cool or when T-shirts and rubber wristbands go out of style?

“Compassionism,” as some have called it, is a quid pro quo service. It is the mixture of doing good while consuming goods. But at the heart of it is a consumption mentality, and one can’t help but wonder if motive shouldn’t at least play some small part in philanthropy.

Lastly, there is an ugly side to this issue that goes beyond a short lifespan. What happens if this model of social enterprise is actually successful? What long-term effect might that have on philanthropy in general?

One concern is that it may hurt more than help. If we relegate our compassion to a consumption mentality, we could end up reframing philanthropy in less healthy ways, leading to a more narcissistic approach to charitable giving. Moreover, compassionism could ultimately divert necessary funds from good causes to mere products. What happens when the uninformed teenager has to choose between donating $20 to the Salvation Army and buying a T-shirt that endorses a cause? If “cool” takes the place of charity, then the cause with the greater marketing may win.

Another concern is that social enterprise doesn’t provide long-term, sustainable help. In some cases, gifts in kind can actually hurt the local economy. The overused

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BUY GOOD, DO GOOD HERE ARE A FEW SOCIAL ENTERPRISE COMPANIES WORTH LOOKING INTO: TOMS SHOES FOR EACH PAIR OF SHOES SOLD, A PAIR IS GIVEN TO A CHILD IN NEED. WWW.TOMS.COM

cliché of teaching someone to fish may be applicable here. Depending on how the gifts are distributed, this type of philanthropy can propagate the “white knight” stereotype and exacerbate Western dependency instead of empowering locals.

Ultimately, there are two ways to look at term, people in need are receiving help. It is, this issue. One is from the perspective of the however, difficult to not be nostalgic. Being businessperson. Without a doubt, it’s a smart socially conscious used to be an intentional move on the entrepreneur’s part to tie a prod- discipline. In some cases, it even made you uct to a worthy cause. It empowers the cus- unpopular. The issues were easy to ignore, tomers to tell a story, while at the same time and many chose the road less traveled. If peoproviding an opportunity for them to legiti- ple were concerned about global poverty, they mately help people. really had to fight for their convictions. Not The other is from the perspective of the Bono. Not their T-shirt. Just them. And perconscientious consumer. A T-shirt, wrist- haps as fads run their natural courses, those band or even DVD that raises awareness for days may return soon. an issue is great, but at some point, motive has In the meantime, people should consider to matter. For Christians—people whose ac- the long-term effects of charity—being contions are in and of themselves supposed to be scientious in the process and wary of potenacts of worship—not only does what they do tial downsides to consumer-driven compasmatter, but also why they do it. Not to men- sion. At the end of the day, change is still up tion, there ought to be a point of maturity at to each person, and whatever you do—be it which Christians don’t need to be incentiv- buying a pair of TOMS or giving to a nonized to give, when they grasp the importance profit—do something. of charity for charity’s sake.

Social enterprise is a complicated issue that JEFF GOINS works for Adventures In is, undoubtedly, doing a lot of good in the Missions, mobilizing people to follow world. The questions of longevity and susJesus into areas of the world where some of the poorest of the poor live. tainability are certainly worth asking, but it’s hard to argue with the fact that in the short

PROJECT 7 PROJECT 7 MAKES AND SELLS EVERYDAY ITEMS—LIKE GUM, MINTS AND COFFEE— AND DONATES MORE THAN 50 PERCENT OF THE PROFITS TO ONE OF SEVEN AREAS OF NEED. WWW.PROJECT7.COM

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TAKE ACTION DON’T JUST BUY THE T-SHIRT OR ACCESSORIES—LOOK FOR OPPORTUNITIES TO ENGAGE WITH PEOPLE AND EXPLAIN WHAT IT REPRESENTS. THEN GO ONE STEP FURTHER AND VOLUNTEER AT A LOCAL ORGANIZATION SEEKING TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN THE AREA OF NEED THAT SUCH PURCHASES REPRESENT.

REJECTAPATHY.COM

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SCREENING ADVOCACY

HOW A NEW GENERATION OF ACTIVISTS IS USING FILM TO RAISE AWARENESS

PHOTOS COURTESY OF DTJ © 2011

42

case with Laura Waters Hinson, the filmmaker behind As We Forgive, a documentary about the road to recovery and forgiveness in Rwanda after the massive genocide in 1994. Waters Hinson has in turn become an advocate for the people of Rwanda.

The ability for a video to become viral in just a few hours also encourages this trend, as social justice filmmakers can get their message out to hundreds of thousands of viewers.

This growing movement strives to vividly portray the world’s troubles and spur improvements.

“I would call myself a follower of Jesus, and my belief in Jesus as a man PHOTO COURTESY OF DEIDOX who loved peace and justice is the ethos behind what I do,” Branham explains. “Discover the Journey isn’t necessarily a Christian organization, but for me personally, I find hope in believing there is something greater than humans at work in this sin-filled world.”

“I would say it certainly informs our work, and I certainly would identify myself as one who follows Jesus,” Olinger adds. “After you see so much suffering in the world and so much pain that affects children, it’s really magnetizing to imagine a Kingdom in which there is no more suffering and no more pain and dedicate my life in the same mission as Jesus to set captives free and bring freedom to those who are in oppression. That definitely drives what we do.”

The New York-based Olinger founded the nonprofit DTJ in 2004 after finishing a trip around the world, during which he sought to document suffering in some of the most troubled areas. He found children often suffer the most, but he knew many organizations already exist to provide food, shelter and vaccinations for them. He found his calling in trying to discover and explore the deeper root causes of the problems, in the hopes that other individuals or groups would step in to help upon seeing the footage.

While Olinger grew up “incredibly sheltered in a small ski resort town” and used his 2004 trip to educate himself, Branham studied journalism at the University of Southern California. During her studies there, she landed an internship at The New York Times, working on a video-news

44

“AWARENESS FOR AWARENESS’ SAKE IS BANKRUPT.” —JONATHAN OLINGER team that collaborated with print reporters on a Pulitzer Prizewinning story about the U.S. railroad industry covering up deaths at railroad crossings.

Branham and Olinger’s most harrowing experience so far was a

trip to Africa. There, they tried to earn the trust of child soldiers fighting in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Branham had previously lived there for 18 months before bringing Olinger back with her to meet with the young soldiers.

“We’ve found more often than not that they’re eager to share. We’ve become really good friends with them and developed a bond of trust—that’s a big change in them,” she says.

“The longevity of the relationship is proof of our trustworthiness. The first day it took us an hour and a half to say what we’re doing, and we didn’t know if we’d get their trust. Often people come in, take their image and story and do nothing for them. We return to these communities and do it in a way we feel honors people.”

Olinger and Branham took their findings to congressional staffers in Washington, D.C., in January, presenting, alongside Human Rights Watch and Resolve, the problem of the DRC’s civil war and child soldiers. Their goal was to gain American support to end the conflict, which has also spurred some of the worst genocidal fighting in Sudan. But they acknowledge one of the biggest frustrations—and motivations—is to get regular people involved beyond just buying a fundraising T-shirt.

“We really believe awareness is the first step, and people can’t act unless they know,” Olinger

says. “Most of the injustices we expose, people have never heard of in their entire life, so it’s important to bridge that first barrier—a lack of awareness and knowledge. Awareness for awareness’ sake is bankrupt, and it does these kids no good.

“We make clear, actionable goals in which people can take action and change the situation for children. We also want people to wrestle with these stories and find ways they can take action. We don’t want to spoon-feed people or say, ‘Buy a T-shirt and you’ve done your part.’ True change can take decades, but nothing engages people like a story.”

Brent Gudgel is another young Christian filmmaker who would agree wholeheartedly with that statement. As the founder of Deidox, he is also at the forefront of spotlighting some of the world’s biggest issues, such as the AIDS epidemic in Africa, which he documented for a Showtime special. He started Deidox after working with other nonprofit groups on documentary shoots around the world and finding that while they were highlighting the issues, there were many human stories going untold—of both the suffering and the heroic people working to alleviate the suffering.

“We wanted to share their stories with our friends and also remember them. In faith we’re told what to do, we’re told there’s a problem and something we need to do about it,” Gudgel says. “We were going all over the place and experiencing how people’s lives are different and how what they do daily is different because of God. We realized that these are the stories we want to tell all the time, so we started Deidox to document how people live their lives because of their faith—everyday people, not big speakers or nonprofit founders.”

Surprisingly, Deidox is not a nonprofit like many other Christian-based ventures. That was a conscious decision by Gudgel, who didn’t want to garner grant funding that other Christian groups could use. He sells his group’s films to churches for their use in services, but he also enables small groups and individuals to download the films from their website for $5 per film.

They also currently offer churches a $100 one-time fee, allowing them to download all of Deidox’s films so far, as well as all their future films.

Among Deidox’s projects is an ongoing series of monthly short films for the Union Rescue Mission homeless shelter in downtown Los Angeles. Their past film subjects include a reforestation project in Africa and profiles of a Burmese refugee in Thailand, as well as a man who runs a secret home church in China and a Tennessee doctor who left his thriving private practice to create a clinic for the uninsured. The filmmaking team finds interesting individuals to shoot and then follows them for a week of their lives.

Gudgel believes a big difference in the documentary filmmaking done by Deidox and other Christian groups is the sense of hope they offer by showing people can get involved and make a difference.

“With what typically gets out in media, we don’t really see how people can make a difference. Even an Oscar-winning film like Born into Brothels [about children born to and raised by prostitutes in brothels in India] offers no hope,” Gudgel says. “The filmmaker impacted their lives for a short time but didn’t show how an audience could help. One of our goals is to show people how to help, as we show faith impacting people’s decisions in lives the more we help. We make decisions based on the shows we watch, and if Friends can impact people and their viewpoint on life, why can’t we? That’s how communication works.”

REEL COMPASSION SOCIAL JUSTICE-MINDED DOCUMENTARIES HAVE BEEN ON THE RISE IN RECENT YEARS. HERE ARE A FEW TO CHECK OUT:

DISCOVER THE JOURNEY LOOK AROUND THE ORGANIZATION’S WEBSITE TO SEE SOME OF THEIR VIDEOS AND BLOGS. WWW.DISCOVERTHEJOURNEY.ORG

KASHA A DEIDOX SHORT FILM ABOUT A FORMER DRUG ADDICT PUTTING HER LIFE BACK TOGETHER. GOOGLE: “KASHA: STORIES FROM SKID ROW”

INVISIBLE CHILDREN EXPOSES THE PLIGHT OF CHILD SOLDIERS FORCED TO FIGHT IN UGANDA. GOOGLE: “INVISIBLE CHILDREN: THE FEATURE FILM TEASER”

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WON’T YOU BE

MY NEIGHBOR? A T R U E STORY ABOUT THE LONG-TERM BENEFITS—AND CHALLENGES— O F I N T E NTIONAL COMMUNITY

BY DANIELLE MAYFIELD

PHOTOS BY JEREMY COWART

46

INTENTIONAL COMMUNITY

YOU COME TO MY HOUSE,” Jamuna, my Bhutanese neighbor, said as she pulled my arm toward the door.

“I have to go home and cook dinner,” I tried to explain.

“No,” she said sternly. “You come to my house, eat.”

We had just finished a community English class, to which she usually came. People from Bhutan, Somalia, Burma and Mexico were all helping put up chairs and tables.

“Why didn’t you come to English class?” I asked her, rather hurt.

“You know it is every Thursday night at 6 o’clock. You can come and learn English.”

“No, no” she said, pulling harder on my arm. “I stay home, make food for you. You come, eat.”

It was then I realized what was most important to Jamuna: friendship. My husband, Krispin, and I had been trying to serve people of the international community we live in, most recently through teaching an English class. Here, our friend denied the help we were offering just to have time to sit down with us across her table, to eat and to laugh our way through language and cultural differences, to be in a position of mutual sharing. Eating dinner with Jamuna and her family met more felt needs than any grammar class we could ever construct, a reality I was still slow to understand.

Working and living with refugees are two very different things.

For five years I volunteered with Somali refugees in Portland, Ore. Most of them had arrived in America without any concept of a “PLEASE,

Western style of life—including stairs, light switches and running water. There was so much need and so much to experience, that for the first couple of years I ran around helping out in any practical way I could: setting up bank accounts, negotiating with welfare, going grocery shopping, even cleaning up cockroach infestations.

As time went on, it became clear that education was a priority for the Somali community, especially for the women and children. I ended up starting various homework clubs and English classes at an apartment complex where many of the Somali families lived.

These classes and clubs all started out great. Fresh-faced kids from a local Bible college became homework helpers. Churches sponsored harvest parties and basketball camps. Brave souls volunteered to teach English to people who had never held a pencil in their life. But whenever I would start to feel confident in the success of a particular endeavor, all of my carefully chosen volunteers would start calling in sick. Or the neighbors would complain that our events made too much noise. Or the intended beneficiaries would simply stop showing up.

A couple of years ago, my husband and I moved into this particular apartment complex where we have kept up our relationships with many of the Somali families. When we first moved in, we eagerly looked forward to a rosy future of intentional (and international) community. We were tired of starting all sorts of programs—we wanted to live in relationship with our friends.

As anyone who lives in community knows, this type of relational living does not come easy. While we were closer in proximity to our Somali friends, culturally we were still worlds away. Not to mention the rest of the people who make up government-subsidized housing: single mothers, the mentally disabled, the post-homeless and various other refugee groups from faraway places like Bhutan and Guatemala (and let’s not forget bedbugs). We were still the privileged—the ones who spoke English, who had jobs (no matter how lowpaying they were), who had education. And we are American through and through. We love our life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, and of course privacy and individuality. Which is to say we locked our apartment doors and wondered when people would stop coming by and barging in.

In a land of extremes, we like concrete plans and actions. Growing up in families that revolved around the church, both my husband and I had the view that you either lived a life of ministry or you didn’t. By moving into a low-income apartment complex filled with refugees, I assumed we would be living a life of full-time ministry: teaching English classes, running citizenship programs, coaching soccer teams. This turned out to not only be impossible for us (working full- and part-time, both in school for master’s degrees), but would almost certainly have been detrimental to our relationship with each other.

What we have learned most in the past two years is really about balancing our time and living in the tension of creating space for both our marriage and our friends and neighbors. Learning to love each other has become a vital

part of our attempt at intentional community.

Something as simple as Krispin washing the dishes leads to a conversation about gender roles and the need for mutual respect in a healthy relationship.

We recently had a baby, and we counted on this helping build cultural bridges with our refugee neighbors. Due to a severe medical complication, we ended up having our baby seven weeks early. As soon as we felt comfortable, we invited several Somali families over to meet the baby and tried not to panic as she was passed around. Like many premature babies, ours was a classic colic— crying inconsolably for hours at a time. Our friends urged us to get the baby to stop crying, and finally left. On her way toward the door, one friend turned and, with a sullen look, said: “Now we know why you no call us. It is good for you to stay at home with your crying baby.”

We felt rather crushed at our failed attempt to socialize (and secretly annoyed they didn’t have any ancient secrets for getting a baby to stop crying). But we realize this is a short phase both in the life of our daughter and our life lived in community. Soon our daughter will be running around, learning the African version of Duck, Duck, Goose (which is more like “lion, lion, little-kid-gets-eaten-bylion”) and eating rice with her fingers like her Bhutanese friends.

We have learned to view intentional community through a long-range lens. With a baby, we can’t chase 70-plus kids who are covered in puffy paint around a community room in an effort to assemble a “found materials” art project (something we have actually attempted in the past). In seven years I have gone through several phases of life: marriage, graduate school, having a baby. And no matter what phase of life we may be in at the moment, we know we are in this for the long term.

And as amazing as planning and executing events can be, I have found that some of the best conversations I have ever had have come from the most mundane of tasks: taking people grocery shopping, baking cookies, drinking tea

LE WE WERE CLOSER IN XIMITY, CULTURALLY WE E WORLDS AWAY.

WHILE WE WERE CLOSER IN PROXIMITY, CULTURALLY WE WERE WORLDS AWAY.

TAKE ACTION THERE ARE WAYS TO ENGAGE WITH YOUR COMMUNITY THAT DON’T NECESSARILY REQUIRE MOVING INTO AN APARTMENT BUILDING OCCUPIED MOSTLY BY REFUGEES. SIMPLY SEEK OUT AN ORGANIZATION IN YOUR AREA THAT HELPS REFUGEES ACCLIMATE TO A NEW PLACE, OR LOOK INTO VOLUNTEERING AT A LOCAL AFTERSCHOOL PROGRAM TO HELP MENTOR AND TEACH CHILDREN.

and chatting about the weather. In the midst of these everyday situations, we have been asked the most profound theological questions: Who is Jesus?

Why did He have to die? How do you know He is real? Who came first, Jesus or Muhammad? Is Santa Claus a god? (OK, maybe they aren’t all so profound. But they are thought-provoking).

When you have a long-term view of building community, your relationships don’t have to decrease due to the inevitable life changes—they just change and adapt. Both Krispin and I plan to be working on our relationship with each other for a very, very long time. We also plan on living in community for the rest of our days, no matter where we might be. So, for now, I look for ways to make friends in the laundry room, rather than focusing on a classroom. If someone skips English class in order to extend friendship to me and my family, I feel immensely blessed. And this teaches me to make more time for the quiet relational moments that happen in our apartment when we invite our international friends over. More often than not these days that is where I am: sitting and drinking a cup of chai in my apartment, watching kids chase my cat as their mom insults my husband’s beard.

DANIELLE MAYFIELD

lives with

her husband, Krispin, and their baby, Ramona, in Portland. Danielle teaches literacy at the local community college.

REJECTAPATHY.COM

47

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HOW TO SAVE THE WORLD WITHOUT LOSING YOUR SOUL

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THE IMPORTANCE OF EMPOWERING WOMEN

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SCREENING ADVOCACY

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WON’T YOU BE MY NEIGHBOR?

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