Feeling Overwhelmed ...

Things are still wild for me. Somehow I forget each year that the Christmas holidays merge with work deadlines and travel to create the perfect storm of busyness. I am back in my hometown this week, enjoying the bliss of doing nothing or next to nothing with my family. My dad has the week off and that makes it even better. I'm observing my strict, self-imposed rule that when I am here, I act like I am here by disconnecting from the online world and my cell phone. These visits are precious and rare and all the other stuff will still be there when I fly home. Speaking of which ...

When I get back home next week, a flurry of work will be waiting. But by the second week of January, I ought to be back to a slightly saner pace and more regular blogging.

Here's one item of note:

The movie Amazing Grace is now available on DVD. Go rent it, or better yet—buy it, and enjoy the movie that opened my eyes to the modern issue of slavery.

Mostly Back to Normal ...

This is my first attempt to act like I am back on semi-regular basis. Had a work trip, which went very well, but then I was swamped with work more or less straight from Tuesday morning to Thursday night. Fortunately, some time to recover was offered in return, and I am working on that recovery presently. The wind is returning to my sails, thanks to some rest and encouragement. Being back at church after 3 Sundays away also helped.

Now that I am starting to feel like I live in this time zone, I'll try to appear here more often. We have a meeting of the Clapham Carolina Circle this week, and I hope that we'll hear good reports as some of our members have been able to get some ideas up and running. Perhaps we can put our heads together for a few more. ... And, of course, we'll pray that God will free slaves and use us to do it.

How Do You Keep Going?

This post doesn't really mean that I'm back. It means I am in the country again, but I have writer's block and am struggling to write what my publication needs right now. Not posting for so long has made me a little uncomfortable, too, as if I might begin to let this issue slip off the radar.

I've been wrestling with this thought: How do you keep going? When you're involved in a cause, how do you keep fighting for it passionately when the initial outrage wears off? When you're in the thick of things at home, at work, at church? How do you stay engaged?

Think about the amazing work that the Clapham Society accomplished. How did people like William Wilberforce keep it up year after year? Certainly they were all busy in politics, in church work, in their families and professions. Yet they fought seemingly unflaggingly for decades to see slavery abolished. When you read books such as Amazing Grace, you could get the impression that it was all abolition, all the time. But no one lives like that. What did they do to maintain that passion during the lulls of life?

So here's a question for the 10 readers out there: How do you keep the important things in your life from getting buried under deadlines from work, events at church and maintaining some sort of personal life? What brings you back to the most important things? And for those in the Carolina Clapham Circle, what can we do in our group to keep the fire burning when there's little action to take or we're pulled away by life's other demands?

Talk amongst yourselves. It could be a few days before I resurface again ...

Short Hiatus

Life and work being what they are these days, there probably will not be many posts for the next two or three weeks. Work is a cycle of lulls and madness. Add that to Thanksgiving and Christmas, and, well, life gets out of control if I don't cut back somewhere.

Please check out the links at right in my absence. Really, you should just read them anyway. : )

Thanks and have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

-Burkinator

Go Ahead—Get Angry at God!

The other day I started writing a post about having a major argument with God during the past year or so. It was a struggle, so decided to set it aside for a bit. Then a friend of mine sent me a link to an audio clip from her church. Sara Groves spoke to their women's group recently about her own argument with God as well as how and why she is involved with ending slavery in the world.

You're probably tired of reading my references to Sara, but these days she's right on the money. Bear with me! Her introduction is aimed toward women, but hang in there because the stories she tells after that are powerful. She makes essentially the same point I was fighting to make about being angry at God about what we see in the world. Then she sings, so really, this is better than my post. I promise you I will never sing.

If you've ever been ticked off at the horrible things you've seen, I challenge you to listen to this audio clip. Then go have your own fight with God and see what He says. If you listen closely, He will answer.

Minnesota Nice

I once lived in Minneapolis, MN. It's a beautiful city for about five months of the year. Then the arctic winds blow in and make you think the whole earth is a barren, frozen tundra. Yet hidden away inside warm buildings, hiding from the bitter cold and stinging wind, are some of the warmest hearts I've ever come across. Minnesota nice is not just a cliché.

People there are pretty sympathetic and politically involved. Minneapolis is a fairly Democratic and liberal-leaning city, which sometimes drove me batty, but the upside is that most people root for the little guy, the disadvantaged and the oppressed and expect the state government to do the same. Nowhere is that better demonstrated than in the recent thrust to stop human trafficking in the state. U.S. Attorney Rachel Paulose is my new hero.

Please click on this link to see what one inspired person can accomplish. Pray for this brave woman—I'd guess a lot of people don't like her much these days. Find out if there are any similar initiatives in your state. If not, start bugging your elected officials to find out why not.

Another Tale

A newspaper in the Philippines, The Inquirer, tells the story of two Filipinas lured to Singapore by the promise of a good job. They were deceived and then exploited. This tragedy is repeated on every continent. Yet I am encouraged that a national newspaper highlighted these cases and warned of the danger lurking behind these "too good to be true" job offers.

May more people hear these warnings and be rescued from the desperate circumstances that have made them so vulnerable in the first place.

Will This Matter in 10 Years?

"In the light of 100 years, will that little thing that annoyed you in traffic this morning matter? Will you even remember it in a month?" asked the speaker in chapel here at work today. One benefit of working for a Christian organization is hearing someone speak each morning about a Scripture passage. Our speaker today was looking at James 1:2.

His comment made me smile, because it was a close paraphrase of something my friend Jamie frequently said when we shared an apartment with a perennial kitchen disaster-making friend. Said roomie was rarely home, but occasionally she would appear, make a very involved meal for her fiancé, then disappear again. The resulting kitchen disaster would sit untouched for days. More than once Jamie and I gave in and did the dishes.

This irritated me to no end, but Jamie has a tolerance for people and their foibles that I can only aspire to. She'd sigh and say, "Will this matter in 10 years?"

I'd grind my teeth and say, "No. But it will matter in the morning when I still haven't read the six chapters of missions history for Dr. Smeeton's class!" Then we'd laugh, and I'd wash all the silverware that Jamie's OCD tendencies prevented her from touching, and she'd dry the dishes and put them away. The only aspect of that situation that still matters now—nearly 10 years later—is the friendship with Jamie that grew out of cleaning up multiple apartment disasters.

How many things do I get worked up about each day that will not matter in ten minutes, not to mention in 10 years and certainly in 100 years? There are plenty. The irritation that rises each Monday when I arrive home from work and see that once again the garbage man left my trash can in the middle of my driveway so I can't pull in. Little quirks we all have at home and work and church. The obsessive tendencies that everyone but me seems to have. The people who drive in the exit lane all the way to the end, then drive in the shoulder and cut in front of 500 cars in bumper-to-bumper traffic, who seem to think the rules of the road are for other people.

I could go on for years ... yet what do I want to be remembered for? For getting a barricade put in the end of the exit lane to make people obey traffic laws? Or for doing something that will matter in 100 years? Fighting something that makes God angry?

A lot of things vie for time and attention these days, but I am asking God to help me focus on 100 years from now. Some of these things are simple. I can stop complaining. I can express my gratitude for the life I have. I can find new ways to demonstrate God's love to the people in my life, which may sound small but is probably one of my biggest struggles.

Beyond that, I want to discover how to demonstrate God's love to the oppressed, the enslaved, the abused. I want to tell them that God hasn't forgotten them. That this wasn't His plan for the world. That He has a better plan, and in the meantime, He wants to take our pain, our brokenness, our weakness and turn them into something beautiful.

I am so thankful for the local Clapham crew, for people who have this same heart to reach out and do something that will matter in 10 years—or 100.

(Sorry if there are typos here. This was in my head, so I punched it out during a break before it ran away from me ... )

Sounds Like Good News ...

Sounds like the U.S. government is still taking trafficking seriously. I haven't taken time to look over this thoroughly, but I'm happy to read that the visa program for victims of trafficking is being strengthened.

Can you imagine what it would feel like to finally be free from your oppressors, only to be treated as a criminal yourself and be deported to your home country and treated as a leper by your family and friends? Or be snatched up again by other traffickers because your financial situation is even more dire than it was the first time around? This bill is important because it makes a distinction between people who are brought to this country against their will and those who are merely entering illegally.

Who Are the People in Your Neighborhood?

If you live in the Carolinas and want to fight slavery, join us this week for the third gathering of the Carolina Clapham Circle. Visit my friend Bob's blog and fill out the information box on the left side of the page. He'll send you details about the meeting. We are eager to discover what we can do in our own neighborhood to fight this evil.

Talk About Crafty!

In case this isn't already obvious, slave traffickers are extremely slippery, deceitful people. This blog post is just one example of their wiles.

Lord, give us even more creative ways to stop the evil!

Great New Song for Free

Each week, iTunes posts one free song on their "Discovery Download" page. This week they are featuring a great song by Sara Groves, who I've mentioned recently. The song is called, "When the Saints." It's her response to the continuing problem of slavery.

The song won't be available long, so go to the iTunes store and find the "FREE on iTunes" section at the bottom of the home page and click on Sara's picture.

The entire album will be released next week. I've already ordered my copy.

Sara is one of few Christian singers who can talk about life without being preachy or trite. Even if Christian music isn't your thing, try this song. You won't be sorry.

"Uncoordinated and Inefficient"

"The fact that slavery—in the form of human trafficking—still exists in the 21st century shames us all. Governments, international organizations and civil society are devoting considerable efforts to counter it, but there is still an information deficit about the extent of this tragedy. Only by understanding its depth, breadth and scope can we design policies to fight it. This understanding still eludes us: efforts to counter trafficking have so far been uncoordinated and inefficient. This Report by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime is our first attempt to close the knowledge gap."

—From the Foreword by Executive Director Antonio Maria Costa Report, UN report on Trafficking in human beings: Global Patterns

A commenter on my previous post directed me to the UN site about human trafficking. It looks as though there is some good information. (Thanks, Tushar!)

Just looking at the introduction to the UN report on global patterns in trafficking, a phrase jumped out: "Efforts to counter trafficking have so far been uncoordinated and inefficient."

Today my prayer is that God will help each person fighting this evil to recognize ways to cooperate with other fighters.

Lord, prevent us from duplicating our efforts, fighting one another, wasting time and resources and ignoring the efforts of other people of good conscience. Open our eyes to new ideas and new allies as we seek to save the oppressed.

Another interesting point in the introduction is that there is an "information deficit." Within our local group, many of us are involved in some type of communications, mostly writing. This is probably not a coincidence ...

Some day, some print will come ...

This week has been busy. And this weekend will be just as busy. But perhaps early next week I will be back with something worth writing about.

In the meantime, did you know that in Google's blog reader application, you can set up a search for blog topics? Right now, I have one set to catch posts on human trafficking. It pulls articles from sources all over the world. They're usually heartbreaking, but it drives home the scope of the problem.

It's Everywhere

Slavery, especially in conjunction with the sex trade, is pretty much everywhere. I already knew this, but then this headline popped up the other day. Plovdiv, Bulgaria is one of the cities I visited on a trip to Bulgaria in college. Life is rough there, and there are plenty of vulnerable, financially desperate young women for traffickers to exploit.

Somehow, it's sadder when the location is familiar to you.

For Those in the Buffalo Area

The University of Buffalo has an exhibit. Wish I still lived in the area so I could check it out. Maybe one of ya'll will go and lemme know what you think? You know who you are ...

And I know how full your calendar is ... but come to think of it, I'll be there before it ends. How does Thanksgiving sound? Or Christmas? : )

Another Voice

Singer Natalie Grant is taking matters into her own hands when it comes to slavery.

Yay, Natalie!

Every person who joins this fight encourages me. I liked Natalie's music before, but I'm gonna have to get my hands on a CD now.

Deliver Us!

This past Sunday, my pastor talked about Moses and the burning bush. His message was definitely meant for me. I won't go into all the details, because that's not what this blog is about. The reason for mentioning it here is because the pastor pointed out that the Israelites, the people God chose to be His people, were in slavery for 350 years. And He allowed it, because He wanted to get their attention, to teach them to rely on Him, and to do something that only He would get credit for.

This may sound dumb, but my roommate and I came home and watched "The Prince of Egypt" (the animated story of Moses and how God freed the Israelites from the Egyptians) to give us more time to think about the pastor's message. As the movie rolled, I actually had a few original thoughts about a story I've known for years.

So much of the Bible deals with oppression and enslaved people. In several instances, it's God's people who are enslaved. When God spoke to Moses from the burning bush, He said that He heard the cries of His people, and now He was asking Moses, the murderer-fugitive, to rescue them.

So no matter how long it seems to be before He acts in these stories, He always acts and He always does something amazing.

It's not any different today.

There Are No Words

I had a Friday evening free and the house to myself, so I decided to watch a movie called "Human Trafficking". There are really no words for what this movie did to me. The brutality of the sex trade and its insidious nature are portrayed so well that it literally made me sick. When the film ended, I was curled up on the couch, crying (which I had been doing for at least 2/3 of the movie). The idea that human beings could do this to other human beings is difficult for me to grasp, but I know it happens. It makes me want to do three things:

1. Vomit. It really is that upsetting. As a woman, all I could think was What if this happened to me or my sister or my friend? And how would you even begin to put your life back together?

2. Go find a place where this happening and bust out all the women. (I know that I am not equipped to do this, but if I ever got a chance ...) Actually, it does make me consider finding out if there are any local groups who reach out to women trapped in prostitution or help them deal with the issues afterward. On the way home from work tonight, I must have passed half a dozen strip joints--so sad.

3. Pray, pray, pray! This is a world wide evil, and we are all kidding ourselves if we think we are smart enough to bring it down ourselves. Only God can stop something this evil. Then there are the victims. How do you ever live a normal life after being exploited like this?! It seems that healing in these situations really comes by miracle only.

For the time being, I think I am done watching any kind of dramas about modern-day slavery. Another one might push me over the edge. If you want to get a feel for the real evil of slavery, especially the sex trade, this movie does that. But be careful; it is explicit and hard to watch.

Things That Make Me Angry

... and then reduce me to tears.

Tonight our local Clapham Circle met to pray, watch a short movie and brainstorm about things that our group could do.

The movie we watched is the sort of thing that fills me with rage and then tears. Even after reading a few books about the sex trade and what happens to women and girls all over the world, I wasn't prepared for how angry a dramatization could make me. The film was called Fields of Mudan If you're interested in this topic at all, find a way to watch this film.

And now for the post I've been trying to write for weeks.

Working as a writer for a Christian organization, I've been sent all over the world. Often, I go to third world countries and meet some of the poorest people in the world. I've been in sweat shops, orphanages, slums, homeless centers and soup kitchens. I've seen defenseless people firsthand. Some are defenseless because they have no opportunity to go to school or find a job. Some are defenseless because their families died or abandoned them. Some are defenseless because of the economic realities of our world that allow corporations to pay people pennies for hours of toil, all in the name of profits. I don't know for sure that I've seen enslaved people, but I probably have, as I have seen hundreds of street children and women doing whatever they could to survive.

After a few years of this, I got tired of doing nothing, of feeling helpless, of feeling guilty for not using my own resources and buying power to do something. But the problem always felt too big for me to make a difference. I've prayed about these situations and given some money, but it never felt like a complete response.

When modern-day slavery came to my attention, I had the same feeling. But I told God that if He showed me what to do, I would act. For months, this was just a thought in my mind. Eventually, I came across people who were also concerned. They were everywhere, even at work! Over the past few months, we've been putting our heads together and some ideas have come to the surface. There are local people for us to support. There are some ventures for us to consider. God is moving to do something and I can't wait to see what comes next.