thoughts on Networking

Thoughts from a counter human trafficking network strategy "bridgebuilder"  
(written on my iphone en rout from Boston to San Jose CA) 

Networking: 

1. It is about Building relationships!

2. The Process/journey is more important than the outcome

3. Listen and learn!!!

4. Sometimes you need something to offer before someone will talk to you. "how do I benefit personally?" perhaps wait on talking to those people for a while.
(Though, you will be surprised how easy it is to find a "value add" in what you do. Helping spread the word about an event they have coming up to your network, or introducing a valuable volunteer to them when you have learned of a need. Note: be extremely careful with introductions and information sharing once you have gathered someones info and are working to gain trust. )

5. Sometimes when you meet with someone you can get going on just one small shared passion... And the relationship takes off. Learn and listen.
Write things down! It's amazing how quickly information will leave your mind when you walk away from a meeting. Pay attention to other people's contact info. Other organizations to follow up with. Upcoming events to go to or pass the word about.

6. Ask good questions - but to know what questions to ask, first you need to listen to the needs. Start picking up on bits and pieces of the story- then press in deeper.
Where are they excited? What frustrates them? What do they love? What could be better about... (be specific whenever possible)

7. Sometimes you need to convince an organization of the ways they benefit before they join into any sort of relationship... Bonus that it benefits everyone and the greater mission! (shhh don't tell)

8. This is why I tend to start on a personal relationship level- not organizational. People change jobs, but their core passions remain and if this is connected into the network and the larger vision, in the end you will last longer and influence the systems more holistically. People will draw others along in what they are passionate about. If they see how the vision helps them and others, they will want to join.
Then those organizations who just care about their own mission won't want to be left out! That would hurt them.

9. Go to them. People are at ease and the most themselves and willing to share when they are in their comfort zone. Their space. Their territory. Don't just stand there and call everyone to you. Get out into the community. Get your hands dirty. Volunteer. Help out at things. Go to people's events. Care about what they care about and begin to learn the gaps and needs.
No, you don't do this only to get them to come to your events and meetings in the future... But it does help :)

10. Diversity is important! Don't just hang out with people who think and act and shop like you! Gather a diverse leadership team around you. Listen to them. Learn from them. Your perspective is just one small piece of the whole.
Think about factors of meeting time and space:

• location (public transit available? Parking? Off the beaten path? Downtown?)
• time of day - durning work, after work, on weekends?
• dress code?
• food? Price point?
• some feel comfortable in a board room, some in a basement of a bar. Who is your target Audience? Everyone? Maybe pick and chose for particular events, then have some with the express point of building bridges... Will take extra effort.
• Be aware of language, vocabulary, religious rhetoric, alcohol... Listen to Where people are coming from.
• Pay attention to Gender balance and diverse racial and ethnic communities.
• Is translation available? Sign language? Wheelchair accessible!?

11. As things start taking shape work together in casting vision. Be willing to shift and adjust. But do set some goals. Work out a mission and vision for the network. Answer the question "why should I connect in and participate with my time and resources?"

12. How do you store and track contact information?

• google docs are awesome. I have a master list that I keep updating, then I have it broken down by categories of job title, relationship to the network and events where I met people.
• input business cards into the google doc (or excel spreadsheet) as soon as possible. Those cards are just looking for the first opportunity to get lost!
• Create a google doc for meetings you have. Record information that you can easily search and go back to later.
• store notes from meetings in a central location/file that you can easily search.
• spend time processing information from meetings and find ways to share what you are learning to benefit others (I'm still working on this)

13. Tips on setting up meetings:

• set aside times in your week for meetings- both to learn from, and those looking to learn from you. Don't be afraid to give specific days and times you are available. Your schedule is just as valid as theirs. (so don't schedule over times of rest and self care!! (me))
• Be sure to then set aside time for follow up. A meeting is only as helpful to you and the network as the information you are able to capture and share, and the extent to which you can maintain the relationship.
• go to where they are... But when possible, sometimes it works to set up meetings one after the other at the same cafe or office and have people come to you (I haven't had much success with this, but my co-director Audrey was a pro!)
• This works best for meetings with folks who are requesting time with you. They are looking for information on how to get involved, or research for a school project. In these meetings you have more say in when and where to meet, and it's ok to utilize that for making the most of your time. Traveling between Meetings can take up your whole day! So be strategic! But, again, it is extremely valuable to take the extra time and make the effort to go to those who you are seeking to learn from.

So recap- "when you request, acquiesce, when they request it's ok to rest" (haha, I just made that up)

14. Always be ready for surprises!

Remember, as a networker, or "bridgebuilder" you are not responsible to fix the whole problem! You are just one piece. A very important piece - helping listen intently to the system's needs and help interpret the landscape in ways people in different communities can understand and find their place. You help plug people into the movement using their unique gifts and talents and applying their passions. You help to create spaces for people and organizations to come together, learn from eachother and improve their strategies and effectiveness.
I believe there is One who is at work beyond the brokenness we see now, that there is a Hope that goes deeper than the darkness, and God, this Hope, is weaving together an enormous tapestry that we can't even imagine. God has the master, brautiful plan- We are but one thread, and have been invited into the process of creating alongside God. Amazingly wonderful mystery isn't it?!

Let's continue to press on in building these bridges! Trusting the master weaver to bring it all together. In the end light will shine in the darkness and the darkness will not overcome it.


Sent from my iPhone

bound as givers

As followers of Jesus we give up ownership of this world
of stuff
of our requirements,
our measures of success.
accomplishments.
making it.
We give this all up. We are not bound to this world as "getters" but as "givers". We will lay down our lives - give all - for another.
We are not disconnected and merely waiting for heaven - No! we surrender all we have and all we are to be used as God leads us - our heart's blood intricately connected to the pain and sorrow of this world,  committed to living out the hope and joy we have in Jesus- even to following him to the cross.
So it is a burden, yet a release of a burden.
We release the pressure of success for this world, recognizing that our purpose is about something so much bigger than us. It is about God and what he is doing, not merely our own lives and personal happiness.

"We will not give up. And when we die, then we die pure and peaceful, resigned to God in our hearts." - Maximilian Kolbe
 Maximilian volunteered to die in the place of another prisoner at his concentration camp in Germany, and led the other prisoners who had been randomly selected to be shot in singing hymns and praise while they waited for their death)

I want to live like this. Ready to lay down my life, purposeful and excited to live it for the days i have.

perhaps more on this later... but thats it for now. feel free to leave comments/ questions/ thoughts

I matter

Im ready. we're going to make some money.
everybody thinks im so young. that i can't do anything. But He believes in me.
Im fast, and despite the fact that most of the big stores recognize me and kick me out when i come close, i still do pretty well shop lifting.
He doesn't have to worry. I'll follow through.
My cousin has the job set up, and she sticks to what she says. she aint on drugs or anything like that.
He reminds me to smile - gosh, of course i know that. Im no spring chicken. Yeah im 15, but i know the ropes now.
I can contribute my fair share. He doesn't have to work so hard tomorrow if we pull this off. If i can please this guy. well, hopefully just one. I hate it when im surprised by a whole group of them.
but im strong.
He says he just wants a real job again. I don't remember, but he tells me he used to work for a Taxi company in Quincy. They hate his guts now, and owe him $300.00. bummer.
Geeze he's talking so loud, and we're on the T.
This girl next to us has her buds in, but i wonder if she's hearing him joking about lifting the widescreen TV? Oh well. who cares. Play it cool. Its not like she would do anything about it anyway. What could she do?
Im sick and tired of caring what other people think.
Can't I be treated like everyone else? I just want to matter. I want to belong. I want to be seen as worth something.
But tonight i guess i am worth something. I'll be making him some money. maybe it will help out my family too.
Here's our stop. I guess we'll see what happens.

I overheard a young girl talking with an older guy on the T the other day... i don't know the story, but without a lot of imagination, this is my interpretation of what may have been going on in her head. Sad how many girls are in this same place. 
How are we going to respond?!

Who's loving..?

Hear the cry of the broken

Even when “they” are hurting the other

Perpetrators, deemed evil, they cry out against the status quo. The molds they are put in as troublemakers.. juvies.. inmates. Dropouts

What choice do they have?

Who hears them?

Who loves them?

Trapped in a world where the weak link is gunned down. Resisting the violence is cowardice.

Money is power and power is survival. It’s a game. A very real and present game.

“Im tired of bein’ poor and even worse im black. 

My stomach hurts, so im lookin’ for a purse to snatch”

Their instinct is to protect the ones they care about

They’d die

They’d kill

But who is it they care about protecting?

Who’s their family? Who cares for them?

Where are they accepted?

The drug lord listened to me

He gave me a purpose

I mattered – to someone

This gang - I was part of a family who stood up for me. Who relied on me.

Our lives were intertwined – living, dying, revenging, life is short.

Get what you can, while you can. Im in the game. I can prove my worth. But there’s more than this!

Im trapped in a web of promises, threats, deals and fears.

No backing out – but going where?

We are family but no trust

Manipulation

Lies

What do words mean? Emotions?

What is love?

Im tired!

Listen to the cry 2pac cries- 

“ohhh… tired of the strain and the pain! There’s so much pain!”

“Even as a youngster causin- ruckus on the back of the bus

I was a fool all through high school kickin’ up dust

Bust now im labeled as a trouble maker who can you blame?

Smoking weed helped me take away the pain

So im hopeless rollin’ down the freeway swerving, don’t worry

Im about to crash up on the crub cause my visions blurry

Maybe if they tried to understand me, what should I do?

 Had to feed my f***n’ family, what else could I do

but be a thug”

2Pac gives voice to our youths' heart cries.

Church are we listening?

God’s heart breaks to see his kids forced into these cages of violence and despair

Maybe if we tried to understand them?

Truly see the pain they are in

Just stop and listen

Listen past the four letter words

The drugs and tattoos that mask, the weapons that blockade

Listen through the tough skin of hopelessness

I long to see freedom from this bondage

Reconciliation with those used and exploited, to a life lived for justice, mercy, and joy in hope!

Life valued – in themselves and others

Named

Given place and belonging in community

Loved and loving

cry and sing of Hope

Hope

Race, privilege - authenticity? Belonging? Permission to grieve?
Who am I who has so much, who am I to cry?
 I cry hearing the pain of my sister
 I have not lived it
 I chose to give up what I can easily choose to take back. Rankism.
My education, my family network opens many doors others cannot access.
But I cry for that reality to change.
Can my cry be a trumpet blast in halls of complacency?

Can the cry of a middle class white girl on behalf of the sad broken state of our justice system, our schools, our neighborhoods and families, be heard and deemed lagitament?
 Does it matter of they are?
I think so, but then I wonder, by who?

My friend is being sold. Abused. Exploited!!
No, I am not.
I have never been raped or molested, but my friend, my sister, has and is and This Must Stop!
I carry so many stories in my heart and they are heavy.

I cry out with a cry of empathy
No, I will never fully understand
So I will not try to be your voice but rather sound the trumpet, shake the ground,
open the cages of systems holding you back,
usher you into the doors I can, and then You cry out Your song of lament,
of truth,
and together we proclaim the song of hope.

"injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere"

If I see the injustice done against you and say nothing, what is that?
If I weep, not on my own behalf but for what is happening to you, am I not showing you I care? That I wish there was some other reality? That I wonder why you and not me and I am sorry for my privilege?

And I do weep on my own behalf in sorrow, regret, appology for what I - my race, my religion and my country have done.
 What my government has done and fails to do, what my Church has done and fails to do.
I am part of the problem.
I am so sorry.

But I hear the rumblings of another way possible- in the cry and lament, imagining there must be something better
Do you hear it?
The low, steady heartbeats of hope reverberating in my spirit and yours, calling towards harmony!?
It rises
And I know I must not keep silence!
I invite you to join me in my weeping and my obstinate hope.
Let me not tell your story for you, label or forget you in my rush to sound the trumpet.
You and I together - we will cry and sing of hope.

cry

John Perkins was with us for a few days at the Center For Reconciliation Summer Institute at Duke Divinity. His last night, he shared at evening worship. I wrote this later that night, reflecting back to why i was overwhelmed with a deep sadness and crying as he finished and stepped off the stage. It was a powerful moment in a powerful, challenging, inspiring week.
here are my reflections:

Cry
Tears welled up in my eyes as he, choking back tears quoted "...i'll fly away!"
A life lived for Justice
sold out for all God would do in and through him
nearing the end and excited, sad, thankful, tearful
leaving us.
Passing the baton...
But can we carry this on?
A spark reignited
strengthened
My heart leaps to the call
is hungry for more
Don't go!
The brokenness is so vast
so dark
the weight is crushing and tears flow down my cheeks
I am willing to be used
I long to be used
but i feel i am pressed down
blown out
wet blankets come flying from... where?
damp
dark
heavy
why?
I know I've been called, but i feel numb

But then slow and steady, low and gravely, "I know why the caged bird sings..."
A life lived to the fullness of God's glorious, challenging, painful calling to beloved community speaks fire into my heart and awakens my soul again.
The pain crushes but i feel.
I weep.
The hope we are striving towards is real
It can hurt
and cost our lives
But this is the Hope
Surprised by reconciliation
an interruption
an inconvenience?!
Struck by beauty
by sacrifice
by inspiration and a flame restored.
I cry but i rejoice to know
Reconciliation to what end?
Dancing in hope together against injustice.
"The caged bird sings... of freedom."

Release

The invitation into the extraordinary is extended to everyone! that hit me this weekend in a new way.
So i am called, but so are others... really there is nothing special there - and everything is special.

I was on a retreat at Still Harbor this weekend, and there are many many thoughts to share, but his poem came this morning, as we were reflecting on the the weekend and what we came in as "knowing to be true"and what we are taking away.
my last on a list of things i "knew to be true"i wrote down on friday was "I am called to speak up for those who are not heard" But i was realizing saying "Be a voice for the voiceless" is very different from the call in Isaiah 42:6-7 that i connect with my calling in many ways.

So, here goes:

Release

Before, I heard a call to be a voice
   to speak
   to yell
No one is listening
   to those on the fringes, the margins.
They do have a voice but it is not heard and I pound my fists
     Hello?!!
Truth is in love of others, in life, in community
What do i know?
    Know for certain to be true
God is. Love.
Yes, and truth is, alive.
    breathing.
Seek in wonder
   open your eyes and see
       the gift that is
let go of what should be better
   as if I know
      truth
   for her?
Her voice may no be heard, but she is.
  what is her truth?
  vital = life giving, dreams and hopes
     and yes, fears?
Perhaps I heard the call and jumped to the wrong conclusion
    I am not to speak for her - Release!
"Open eyes that are blind"
          so they can see
    the gift that is
"Free captives from prison"
          so they can walk, explore, speak
    in freedom, themselves free
"and release from the dungeon
           those who sit in darkness"
    to light.
Truth is alive, and I don't know what it is
     she is trying to say
           so step out into the light
     open your eyes
           listen
Release.


Isaiah 42:6-7

Sing for the glory of the living and the loving

sometimes i wish i could blog and write in a world where no one knows me, no one knows the people i know, and i could be just an anonymous storyteller, writing about the lovely, the challenging, the hurtful and the joys. But, doesn't that defeat the purpose of community and fellowship? of communicating to people who exist, as a person who exists and is known in community? I guess, in the end, im glad to communicate my thoughts with people who i may run into, or maybe live with, or call family... and i can talk things out over a cup of coffee. Maybe no one will bring it up, but i do appreciate your comments and thoughts on the things i wrestle with here in this space of words on a page somewhere in the tangled "Small world network"of the internet.

We live in such a crazy world! I am so thankful for the beauty, and so amazed at God's mercy, and yet my heart is heavy with the sorrows of so many - so many i know, and millions more stories i don't know. There are sorrows in life, and wounds that go deep, and its not all gonna get better. at least not now, not here, not in this age. But i think im beginning to let that burden go- to lift that off my shoulders and lay in at the cross. Today summer hit Boston and all the trees started blooming, and flowers are springing up everywhere. The commons was like a beach - everyone out in their bathing suits sun tanning on towels! The city was buzzing with warm happy people. Yet there was also tragedy. A friend is missing and last she was heard from she is being exploited by her "husband" pimping her out and beating her up. I know this lady well, and it hurts to think she has been dragged back into this life. (i think she is in her 40s? maybe late 30s?) also, a friend of my dad's was killed by thugs in Nairobi - someone he was looking forward to seeing when he was there. Her two boys are now orphaned. I think i remember her, when we lived in Boston back in 93, she was a classmate of my dad's.
A star has been silenced. her singing has stopped.
at least for now, here. where we can touch and hear her.

Lord have mercy! be with her sons, and her family, and community. Bring repentance and redemption to her murderers Lord! in your mercy, hear our prayer!

"...and all of the wickedness in the world that man might work or think is no more to the mercy of God than a live coal dropped in the sea."
W. Langland c. 1400 


I love this quote, on the wall in my friend's house i was staying at in CT. 
Really, only because of this do i have hope to keep pressing on. I have been called, i know this. But the exact acting out of this calling is still in the works, and i think will continue to be a journey step by step.
Im praying about going back to the middle east, and what doors may open there. Exciting! a bit intimidating to think of picking up and moving completely - maybe i'll just go for a few months? Im not sure.

I recently read "a wind in the door" and it was so very timely with things going on in my life. Naming, loving, being! not X-ing or annihilating anyone!

This painting i did last week was partly inspired by this quote:

"sing for the glory of the living and the loving, the flaming of creation, sing with us, dance with us, be with us, Be!" M. L'Engle

spare change

Thoughts flow, grand ideas i want to be sure i remember to write down pass through my mind, and then are gone. I've been learning a lot these days, and i wish to capture the lessons in words to remember and share, but the words don't seem to come when i sit to write them down.
well, here are a few short snap shots of life:

The importance of rest: im building rest into my schedule.  yep - scheduling to do nothing. I have had many wonderful people encourage me strongly to look at my days and weeks, and examine my times of rest. of refreshment, of health for mind and body. Athletes take care of their bodies. Is what im doing, as important as competing well in a tournament? Doesn't my mind, spirit and body then need care also? Yeah, i know its different, but its an example. I created a time map of my week and im working on building in rest, that will be held as important as any other meeting or activity. I do want to stay healthy, and able to run this race to the fullest. To press into all that God has for me to do, in His work of bringing hope to the hopeless, and light into the darkness. I need to take care of my voice if im going to be a voice for those whose voice has been silenced by oppression for the long term!

The beauty, challenge and relief of forgiveness and restoration of friendships.
 Conflict is never fun, and i would rather smooth things over and hope it all works out, then dig into the depths of conflict. But sometimes that is needed, to pull out roots of hurt and frustration that color the rest of the relationship. Sometimes it is impossible to do on your own, and i think always, it takes time and patience and radical abundant love beyond my strength.

The sun was shining brightly as i walked to a meeting in Beacon Hill. I was early, so i took my time, watching people criss cross across the city streets, and through the Public Garden. As I climbed up to cross the bridge, a man 'busking' said hello, then "hey, i remember you! from the summer! how've you been? where are you coming from?" I smiled and did sort of remember his face, so i said hello and that i was coming from the south end. He introduced me to the guy in running clothes leaning against the pillar of the bridge across from us, as his friend Teddy who is running from North Eastern. "oh dear, are they running after you?" we all laughed. The conversation quickly ended up around what i do for a living, and as I shared a bit about human trafficking my friend said "oh yeah, in my country organ trafficking is really bad!" Wow, i have hardly ever heard anyone who knows what organ trafficking is! I ask him where he is from, and he says Argentina. We talk for a while about the situation there, and he says there are underground hospitals that take out the organs and sell them on the black market. rich people buy them. We don't really know who puts them back into people? hmm. But the money is all connected to drugs of course. And People are just killed for their organs! He also shares how things are bad in China, and Vietnam, Cambodia, Eastern Europe and especially Russia. He has daughters, and if anything happened to them - "ah, i don't know what i'd do! I would find a gun. I wish i were a secret agent then. you know, Secret agents do go and find these people sometimes?"
"yes, i know- I work with some of them. And, if anything happened to your daughters, give me a call - i could try to get help for you - and Teddy will run after them!" we all laugh.
People are walking between us across the bridge this whole time. My argentinian busker is just holding his guitar, case open by his feet. He is thinking, his face serious.
Im going to have to go pretty soon. I give him a card with info about NFS. He says he has seen that on facebook! And, he gives me a fist bump "keep up the good work!" I tell him to do the same, and keep filing the streets with music. Its needed!
We say our good byes, and part ways. I never did learn his name. I hope i'll run into him again soon so i can ask.

As i cross the Garden i hear a familiar sound. A deep husky voice rhythmically sining "does aaanyone have any spare chaaange? Does Aaaanyone have any spare chaaaange?" as I walk closer I smile as i hear him add "does anyone have any long legs?" into the song. That is what he does. He sings his request for money, and adds bits about passers by, and the weather, and sports news, and also today i heard him sing an old Spiritual.
I walk up and smile " hello! its good to see you! do you remember me? from down on the commons, and my friend andrew?"
"Ohhh yeah, the really tall fellow?" and he puts his hands way up.
"yep, him. how are you?"
"oh yeah, i remember. doing alright. Does anyone have any spare chaaaange?"
"would you like some coffee?"
"does anyone have any spare chaaange? Does anyone... yeah, thanks! something cold. Aaaanyone have any spare chaaaange?"
"how bout an iced coffee? do you want milk in it?"
"yeah please and 4 or 5 splenda or equal. Thanks. Does anyone have any spare chaaaange?"
So, i go inside starbucks where i'll be meeting someone in a few minutes, and order an iced coffee. I put some whole milk, give it a stir, and grab 4 splenda and tear them all across the top at the same time (a trick i learned from my friend Tasha - she would always put at last 10!!) and then I grabbed an extra one in case he needed it. I think the lady sitting at the table was giving me a weird look. oh well.
I went back out and gave it to him. He stopped his sing-songy-song for a moment to say thanks. I asked him where he's been, since i hadn't seen him in a while. He said he's been around. He winks at me, as he says "Wherever I think there will be money" and ive been let in on his little secret.
I go sit on the steps a little ways down the street to wait for the person im meeting with, and after a few more requests for money i hear him start singing "If I help Somebody who has lost their way, then my livin' shall not be in vain. My livin' shall not be in vain..." 

Im thankful for George, and for my argentinian busking friend who wants to see an end to organ trafficking. And for so many other folks out on the streets struggling to get by, but have the time and space to put a smile on your face, to listen, to laugh, and to sing.

Later that day i picked up my housemate Levi from school and we ran and romped and explored our way through the garden, and along the esplanade. Leaves thrown, thornbushes attacking, skipping rocks and exploring under bridges. It was a beautiful day! and as we walked home we both agreed "the best adventures are the ones where you get all dirty"

update: Feb 2012

Hello friends! 

Thank you so much for your support and prayers and care for me!! and thank you for your patience in my lack of updates! I have been working on an update/ newsletter with awesome formatting and cool pictures since the beginning of January - but it just never seemed to come together. I will complete it, as an overview of 2011, and hopefully will send it out soon via email and snail mail... but for now, I wanted to just check in and give a bit of an update on life and work, rest, play, craziness and adventures! 

A lesson i am learning these days is how to fully live in the here and now, without first and foremost trying to "fix" what is broken or hurting or in need. To just be. My friend shared an image with me the other day, that has really stuck: we are to lay down our hopes and fears and burdens of wanting to see change... to lay everything down at the feet of Jesus, and then ask what we are to pick up and carry as we follow him. What is ours to carry? (see how it is backwards?)

For me this comes into focus when i think about my desire and passion to see change in our communities and systems so that life is valued, cared for, respected and can thrive! So that people are not buying and selling others for profit. So that little kids don't go "missing" but no one looks for them. no one cares. My heart aches for those who are held in abusive situations, whose identity is stripped from them- yes i want to see change!!! But, how am i to respond in living out my life day by day? how do i love my neighbors well, invest in my community and daily live out this change, when "results" are not clear and tangible? Things are complicated and confusing! relationships are challenging, but so good - because ultimately that is where what we say and do matters. I'm not sure exactly where the place for campaigns and large scale awareness efforts come in - though i see they are important on some level. I am cautious of the motivations for "making a splash" and being known...because maybe that comes and goes, and as it fades into history, what has been made better? what has healed? where has creative reconciliation permeated the brokenness to bring new life? 

In today's reading in "Common Prayer: a liturgy for ordinary radicals" : "Mother Teresa of Calcutta said, "To show great love for God and our neighbor we need not do great things. It is how much love we put in the doing that makes our offering something beautiful for God." 

Today, Lord, help us make our lives an offering of quiet commitment to thread love through the torn garments of society. Amen." 

 yes! This is how i want to live my life! This is what i want to be motivated by! And i am so thankful for the many friends here and Boston and around the world I've gotten to know on this journey who are living this out!! 

So, onto updates: 

Abolitionist Network 

(web page is a work in progress)

I have officially been an employee of the Emmanuel Gospel Center, as director of the Abolitionist Network for 8 months! Many lessons learned, amazing connections with people locally and across the country. Conversations around systemic engagement, technology support, and Counter-network strategy to break the networks of trafficking globally. William Wilberforce had a group of friends around him- they would meet for dinner, they built relationships of trust, humor and love in their own way... and each had some role of influence in their networks across the system. In some ways i feel like that is what I have the privilege of doing! Building friendships with other Abolitionists - doing what they can to build networks, to engage the systems of trafficking - and have these "off line" conversations, which build to global ripples of influence! 

I love helping connect people to the movement, where they best fit, and are passionate to engage. Every week I have several meetings or phone calls with people locally or across the country, and through our conversation about what they are interested in, i can point them to organizations or people in their area to talk with or join with in fighting trafficking. A few recent locations being Portland OR, Chicago IL, Richmond VA, GA, TN, FL, CA, Iowa, NY, DC, CO, RI. Fun to see the movement growing, and especially to see the various group and networks come together slowly but surely, with website resources in development, and circles of trusting relationships of NGO's and various networks increasingly overlapping. 

Locally, it seems Boston and MA may be a great case study of how we can create an effective state coalition - involving Law Enforcement, gov. agencies, service providers and other community voices! (seems we need 3 different networks, closely connected and moving forward with a common strategy) 

The MA legislation against human trafficking was signed into law in November, and took affect last week. The first task force meeting is this Wednesday, chaired by the Attorney General's office. We have a ways to go in strategy and bringing together the movement - but this is a great first step! 

recent news

interview with Survivor/ mentor at My Life My Choice

Happenings with NFS MA: 

I am still one of the state-directors (CAN leaders) for NFS MA. I see it as an amazing space to build cooperation and engage the community in the movement - everyone has a voice to add, and a role to play in ending slavery. So, that is our mission with NFS MA. Every month we have at least 10 new volunteers come to our volunteer meetings, and they we are constantly expanding our team for projects and engaging the community. We now have a volunteer coordinator, an awesome communications team, a Central MA director, a director of trainings, a Free2Create director, a point person for church engagement and prayer, an events team and many more projects in the works. Hopefully we can be a support to the community coalition/ voice in the new task force that is forming.

 We had a spa day last weekend with some of the survivors with My Life My Choice- so fun to hang out, do nails and hair and just pamper these teens who are just like any other teenager, except different. The pain and hurt is there, just under the surface. But they can laugh and look forward to brighter futures. They need love and support from folks like you! :) 

Amirah:

I am still on the board for Amirah - and it has not opened its doors yet, but we are getting very close! I am now taking the lead on referral networks and structures. Helping to build the bridges between folks in and around Boston who may be first responders to survivors, and Amirah as a resource for them. 

I continue to be blessed by my friends who are on the streets, and who are in recovery -who have been or currently are still struggling with "the life" of prostitution. It has been so wonderful to see many of these woman come to a place of wanting to help with Amirah in some way - whether to offer their input on the program plan, to help with referrals, or to support the girls we will eventually be working with. I love how my church community of South End Neighborhood Church is filled with amazing wisdom along these lines, and such a heart to support this home! 

We have found the house- and will be signing the lease soon. it is such an amazingly perfect fit!! I am so thankful for God's provision of this property, and everything surrounding it! We have amazing room sponsors who are going to help fund the decorating of rooms, we have filled up two storage spaces with furniture and other donations. We are just overflowing with volunteer support, and prayers, and I just step back and say "wow!" It is now so far beyond me, or any of us on the initial planning board. It is both exciting and scary!! haha. A lot of money is needed for the doors to open. We know its easy for God to provide it, and we believe he will - as he has been providing already all this time! Please keep Amirah in your prayers - and check out their site, if you'd like to donate, or invite them (us) to come speak. 

As I move forward into 2012, I am looking forward to continuing to build connections, to equip leaders with tools for strategic engagement and rest and refreshment, and of course lots of learning to do!!! Im still living in community in the South End of Boston, and I love it! There is much to do in Boston, but Im also excited to see where God might be opening doors to go back to the Middle East - and continue learning about the landscape of trafficking and exploitation there. No set plans - but please keep that in prayer! Relationships have continued from our trip to India last year as well. God is doing exciting things there! Human Trafficking is a global issue, and I see it as vital to develop a global counter-trafficking network! Not sure exactly what my role will be - but I'm excited to press into that! 

Thank you all SO much for your prayers if you pray, and for your financial support and words of encouragement! Though my needs are met, currently i am still short of what i hope to reach for monthly supporters. I would really love to bring that amount up so i can participate in, and support other abolitionists with retreats and trainings and other ministry costs. I am hoping to reach $1,400 coming in each month so that I can help support the movement further beyond just my salary. Right now I think I have about $800 committed support monthly, and then many generous one time gifts.  I am so blessed and humbled by each one of you, as you see what God is doing, and join in! Every gift is a blessing!

If you are interested in continuing to joining with me in this crazy adventure, the best way to give is at http://egc.org/donate and select "Abolitionist Network". 

you can also mail a check made out to The Emmanuel Gospel Center with "Abolitionist Network" in the memo line. and mail to 2 San Juan St. Boston MA 02118.

Also, if you are around the Boston area - come to EGC's Annual Fundraiser on March 17th!!! It will be at Jubilee Christian Church in Dorchester. It is a wonderful time to come together with Christians from across the Boston area, and to learn more about what the Emmanuel Gospel Center has been up to, and to join with them in ministry to the city of Boston and our churches. 

Thank you again! Many more stories and adventures to tell - but hopefully more updates will be coming along soon! 

Blessings,

sarah

Wood and Nails and Colored Eggs

by: Martin Bell


WOOD
Something like an eternity ago, human beings got all caught up in the illusion that being human is a relatively unimportant sort of proposition. Here today – gone tomorrow. A vale of tears – that sort of foolishness.

What’s more tragic, of course, is that in the wake of this basic error there quickly followed that human beings are expendable, which easily degenerated into the proposition that some human beings are expendable. Really bad guys are expendable. Guys with low I.Q.’s are expendable. Anyone who disagrees with me is expendable. A long time ago, human beings got all caught up in the illusion that being human is a relatively unimportant sort of proposition.

Well, that’s not true. It’s wrong. All wrong. And it has always been wrong. From the creation of the heavens and the earth, it has been – wrong. There is nothing more important then being human. Our lives have eternal significance. And no one – absolutely no one – is expendable.


NAILS 
Jesus was dead. He was dead and buried. It was expedient that he should be dead and buried. Caiaphas had explained that to himself and to the others over and over again. It is expedient, he said, that one man should die for the sake of the people. Jesus is expendable. Caiaphas suffered from the illusion that being human is relatively unimportant. And so Jesus was dead.

What happened then wasn’t so remarkable, really. God simply raised Jesus from the dead. He merely walked into the tomb that we call insignificance and absurdity, and meaninglessness, and other such names as that – he merely walked into the tomb and raised Jesus from the dead.

There was nothing very spectacular or remarkable about this. God revealed himself to be the same God who created the heavens and the earth and called his creation good; the same God who led his people out of Egypt to be a light to the nations; the same God who affirmed David in his weakness; who called forth the prophets; who kindled the heart of John the Baptist; and who reached out to touch his tiny children in the person of Jesus Christ.

God raised Jesus from the dead to the end that we should be clear – once and for all – that there is nothing more important than being human. Our lives have eternal significance. And no one – absolutely no one – is expendable.


COLORED EGGS 
Some human beings are fortunate enough to be able to color eggs on Easter. If you have a pair of hands to hold the eggs, or if you are fortunate enough to be able to see the brilliant colors, then you are twice blessed.

This Easter some of us cannot hold the eggs, others of us cannot see the colors, many of us are unable to move at all – and so it will be necessary to color eggs in our hearts.

This Easter there is a hydrocephalic child lying very still in a hospital bed nearby with a head the size of a pillow and vacant, unmoving eyes, and he will not be able to color Easter eggs, and he will not be able to color Easter eggs in his heart, and so God will have to color eggs for him.

And God will color eggs for him. You can bet your life and the life of the created universe on that.

At the cross of Calvary God reconsecrated and sanctified wood and nails and absurdity and helplessness to be continuing vehicles of his love. And then he simply raised Jesus from the dead. And they both went home and colored eggs.

purpose.

more thoughts written on my phone...Jan. 8, 2012. sitting in a coffee shop in Boston.

I sit and watch out the window- the city go by. 

Where is this thing called purpose? An arm to hold? Somewhere to go faster then the others on the sidewalk? Handsfree headsets, texting, music blaring, checking the weather, stocks or what's for dinner. 

When you stop does it stop? If you sit and rest what happens? Has purpose flown away? Do you lose your grip? Or is it in the pause, in the quiet that you catch a glimpse of meaning? Deeper than the spinning pace of the sidewalk journeys- more than another person or what newsfeeds feed you through your phone.  

What is it? This reason for being this motivation, this passion? 

Created. Called. 

Purpose. 

thoughts come slowly

wrote this on my phone about a week ago... still feeling similarly these days. tired, stuffy, hard to process...

Thoughts come slowly
Haltingly
A mixture of determination and resigning- tired. Done. But knowing there is so much yet to do.
Can I curl up and cry?! There is no end to the dark, twisted, evil - the death, abuse and destruction of all that is beautiful. Sometimes it seems hope is lost. Shriveled. Minds are too busy with their gadgets and games. Work is too stressful, life has no room for...living.
For seeing the other- reaching out a hand to touch. To care. To help.
So the darkness spreads and what can be done?
One small blade of grass pushes up through the asphalt towards the sun.

I feel like I'm choking on passion to see things change.
To what? How? Where do we go from here?!

I feel like theres so much dark and so much hopeless so much sickness so much tired so much scared. Where is the life? Where is hope? Where is light?! If it's not in the church, where is it!? If it's not us, who is it?!

thoughts from Christmas eve 2011

catching up on some thoughts and writings... here's some notes i wrote out on my phone Christmas Eve:

The word, the light, the hope the joy comes among us. 

Quietly, secretly, to nowhere and nobodys

Light shines in the darkness. Do we know this light? What are we doing with it? Through it? Do we hide it?

All over the world people are gathering to remember the birth if this baby son of God. Is it understood? Has the darkness understood? Out on the streets people are cold. Where is there heart ache? Where is there brokenness? Where is there cold, sick and despair? 

The way to God is by going low. Get down and see him. He came down. 

Where does he call home?