Is it for a Good Cause?

Hi Rachel,
When you choose to buy "justly" do you always order from Christian organizations or any organization as long as they have a good cause? Just curious. My mind has been thinking on those things since talking about stewardship at church in the Fall.
-Emily

What a great question! And thanks to my friend Emily for bringing it up. 

I think there are a couple of facets to this question, so let me get started breaking it down. 

1. What determinates a Christian organization?  

         a. Is it stated in their core beliefs or purpose statement that the organization is Christian?

         b. Is it that it is run by Christians? But if this, then how can you know unless personally affiliated with the organization?

         c. Must this organization be a gospel-sharing organization?

         d. Is it an organization that cares for the things Christ cares about, but might not outright say it?

If the consensus answer is D, then I buy a lot more from Christian organizations than if the answer is A. The truth is, most businesses don't outright say, "Hey! We are Christians over here!!" I mean, that would be kinda weird. But it can be pretty obvious by looking at their name, purpose statement and where they are working. Most people not affiliated with Christ wouldn't go into Indian brothels and employ ex-slave prostitutes as seamstresses in order to give them a new life and a new hope. (thanks Punjammies and International Princess Project!)

And I won't buy something just because the organization is Christian either. For me it is a definite mix of my need at the moment and which organization has the best business and community development model. Some of the best models may or may not be Christian organizations. Take one of my favorite shoe companies, Chooze shoes. Both Adeline and I love these shoes for her. They are cute, whimsical, playground and everyday wearable, and best of all she can get them on all by herself. Their anti-poverty program is FAR superior to any other shoe options, which are all basically handout programs. Now, I have absolutely NO IDEA if Chooze is run by a bunch of nature-worshiping pagans or a bunch or God-fearing Christians. I do know that I am helping lift women out of poverty. And I feel better about that than buying another pair of TOMS which perpetuates the cycle of dependency on the West. 

2. What is a "good cause"?  

Wow. This one is even trickier. What is good? A strict theological interpretation of good would take us to something along the lines of "whatever brings God the most glory".

What about a definition of cause?  Living in Austin I know all too well that pretty much anything can be a "cause." Is reforestation a cause? Sure. What about people? Are they really causes? I don't like to relate to my fellow brothers and sisters like that. Lets call people community. 

So, we have community building organizations and cause organizations. Now for combining the "good" with the "cause."

Can a non-Christian organization working on creating fair working conditions for laborers in the garment industry in China bring God glory?

What about a an organization run by Christians although not outright Christian, working on fair trade products and subsequent poverty relief, but not engaged in any sort of gospel sharing mission? 

What about a Christian stated organization focusing its efforts on something completely off the wall? Rescuing Atalantic Sea Slugs or something? (I do believe that environmental efforts are good cause worthy, by the way, just trying to think of something zaney). Is that organization bringing glory to God? They are not focusing on the least of these (well, now, maybe the Atlantic Sea Slug really is the least of the least...), but they are doing it in God's name. 

Is the cause of Christ the only one you consider good? 

Shopping justly is a mixed bag of a whole lot of different ethos swirled together. I have found, though, that the majority, have the heart of Christ at the center. It is, however, your money. Spend it how you will. 

So there you go Emily, everything you ever wanted in an answer. Short, succinct and to the point. 

New Life, Africa style

When I was a sophomore in high school I went to a Third Day concert with my friends from youth group. Our youth leader drove us there and we totally rocked it out. Yes. That is what happened. At some point during the concert Third Day guy stopped singing and started talking about sponsoring a kid through Compassion International. He really sold it. So much so that a couple of my friends and I went in together and sponsored a kid. That was my first ever experience with sponsorship.

I don't quite think my friends and I were Third Day guy's target demographic that night. Or Compassion's for that matter. We never wrote our kid, or sent care packages, and I'm pretty sure we missed sending in our check some months. We were high school kids after all. But that early exposure to sponsoring a child has stuck with me.

And now I have the joy of getting to sponsor a child through the BEST organization out there. Hands down. Africa New Life, while not the biggest or the best known (but we're going to fix that!), is growing and giving the children of Rwanda a new future. They are doing it through national leadership, education, the gospel, health care, community development, food, and you and me.

When you sponsor a child you completely change the trajectory of that child's life forever. When you sponsor a child through Africa New Life, you give her access to the BEST school in Rwanda, you give her government medical coverage, regular meals every day, spiritual mentorship, and best of all, she gets to stay in her home country, with her family, so when she grows up she can become one of its educated future leaders.

Sponsorship is an amazing way to carry out God's heart for caring for the fatherless. Many of the children in the sponsorship program live in extended family or single parent households. For most, sponsorship is their only hope for education. I love that the little boy we sponsor wants to be the president of Rwanda when he grows up. I LOVE that he dreams big!

I am dreaming big right along with him. Dreaming big dreams for Rwanda, a country I love so much. Dreaming big dreams for Africa New Life, an organization that has already done so much in that country and that will surely do so much more.

This video shows you more than I could ever tell you how much sponsorship means to a child. It captures the moment that Grace was told she was getting a sponsor. I dare you not to cry...

It's Not a Wave, It's an Ocean

Today I trudged down to my old stomping grounds and had a MEETING. It was a MEETING because I had to put on my serious face and talk about serious topics. Pastors (plural! with an s!) were there, and we all got the chance to sit around and talk about orphan care. Which kinda happens to be one of my fave topics, so at least there was that.

It's funny. One of the guys there said something that really struck me. At the time I was suffering from profuse sweating, hyper active heart beating, shallow breathing, stomach churning, light headed-ness, and overall nervous discomfort mixed with high anxiety,  so when he said it I knew I wanted to say something in response, but my thoughts were disjointed and well, the meeting really wasn't about me.

But I haven't been able to get his statement out of my head, and the more I think about it, the more I think it says something about how a lot of churches view orphan care ministries and perhaps why resources  - financial, as well as human - are slow to be deployed to adoption and orphan care centered ministries.

They see it as a wave. Or as an extra. A bonus ministry, if you will. Something that is happening right now, but in a couple of years will be over.

We were talking about "waves" and wanting to go where God is working. They were applying this concept to missions and other areas of ministry - as in, we would want to go where the Spirit of God is already at work. That seems pretty typical of what we all would seek out as believers. If the Spirit is moving - go there!

But when applying it to orphan care, the wave thing, it doesn't, um, hold water? There is an orphan care movement happening, yes. God's people are responding to His word. God's people are acting out His heart, reflecting His character. But God's heart, God's character, these never change. These are not waves to be caught. These always stay the same and have always been clear. Defend the cause of the fatherless. Protect the least of these. Care for the orphan.

Orphan care is a non-negotiable. Not an add-on, also-ran. Though it has been relegated to the side aisle and the back door, it is not a fad. It is not a wave to ride out that will then end and everyone can say, "phew, glad that caring for orphans thing is over now."

It is not a trending topic on twitter.

Orphan care is the very heart of God.

Over and over and over again God identifies himself with the orphan. The very least of these. The vulnerable. The unprotected, discarded, and forgotten.

Orphan care is the heart of God, and for that we can all be thankful. For if God did not care for orphans, then where would we all be? Without an Abba? Orphan care is not something that some hipsters came up with to have a worthy cause to promote, it is something that God came up with, and He came up with it before creation (Romans 8:29).

And it will always be a battle, and it will never be easy. It is one of the toughest spiritual battles because it is one of the most important matters of God. Winning back life, winning back children, winning back babies. Reuniting across racial lines. Love trumping flesh heritage and DNA. It's everything the enemy hates and that the Church should be about. But its hard. And sometimes the wave is really small. And sometimes, like right now, the wave swells and it gets a little more surfable. But its always there.

Adoption. Orphan Care. God's Plan A.

Strategies grow and change, but the heart, it stays the same.

Zu Cute

I joined Zulily maybe a year and a half ago after constantly hearing my friends brag about the good deals they were getting on there.

Example Conversation:

 "Gosh, Erin, that dress Kate is wearing is super cute - where did you find it?"

 "Oh, I got it for like negative $5.00 on Zulily."

 Huh.

 After enough conversations like that took place, I finally joined the site, which runs "daily deals for moms, babies, and kids." Part of what took me so long is that I am not one of those moms that buys the matchy-matchy outfit sets and the super fru-fru dresses (not that Adeline wouldn't wear frilly skirts and dresses constantly...). I am just way too practical. My kids go to school - where they get messy. Then they play outside - a lot - where they get even messier. They also play with each other and with friends, and most of the time they end up in some sort of ridiculous costume, or, um, getting into a mess. Then once a week on Saturday I give them a REALLY good scrub down, as in not in the backyard hose or in a swimming pool, and attempt to dress them in clothes fit, are clean, have no holes, AND are appropriate for church. This sometimes happens. Sometimes it doesn't and Adeline shows up in a princess t-shirt, plastic dress-up heels and some sort of velour leggings that have pockets that she swears are fancy. (Thanks MOM!) And then sometimes, rarely, miraculously, the boys show up in pants that go all the way down to their feet, do not have holes in the knees, and in shirts that smell good. On those days I look like super mom. To prove that it can actually happen, here's a picture of me with all the kids on Mother's Day.

But as I am writing this, I am watching Darth Obi (that is a make believe character that Simon created by merging Obi Wan Kenobi and Darth Maul) wrestle Adeline on the trampoline. In full costume of course. That's how we usually roll.

But once I joined Zulily, I was pleasantly surprised. More than I can count on my two hands, they have featured fairly traded clothes. And almost daily there are organic options to chose from. And guess what? BONUS! They are cute!! As in, super duper cute - dare I say, Zu-cute??

 Just this past week they featured one of my FAVORITE designer companies, Kate Quinn organics. Kate Quinn organics is also the umbrella company for the smaller lines Plum Bunny and Violet + Moss. Another organic and fair trade kid's line featured this week was Mad Sky, whose creator was determined to create a clothing line produced in the USA in sweat-shop free conditions. And, she did it! And, its cute!

 So the bottom line here is that the bottom line of your pocket book is compatible with ethical shopping. You just have to be creative in how you shop. Stewardship intersecting justice? Yes, please.

You Can't Spell Women Without Me

I attended my first ever women's conference over the weekend. It was actually a conference I got to be a part of planning. I am a woman. I enjoy being around my women friends. So why does women's ministry scare the skin off me???

Well,if there is one thing I CAN NOT stand, it is letting fear get the best of me. So, back in January when I brought up that perhaps incorporating a service project into the conference would be a good idea and the response was, "yes...and thank you for volunteering to head that up as the service coordinator," I was simultaneously terrified and excited. Terrified that I would working in a realm - women's ministry!eek!- that I had no experience in; but excited for the challenge.

Women's ministry has become a paradox for me. On the one hand I strongly dislike a lot of the material, curriculum, and teaching that is out there. I often find myself disagreeing with the entire idea of the need for genderized study material. Not the need for separate spaces for men and women to gather within the body to share fellowship, but the need for actual bible study curriculum to be tailored for women or for men. It is, after all, the same bible, the same word of God we are all studying. The knowledge seeking, theology-driven part of me huffs and puffs and stomps around and makes a big scene about it all. She acts VERY childish and unforgiving especially about the Bibles printed for women. VERY. Publishers (patriarchal run companies) are now exploiting the gender gap that they themselves, along with a Christian patriarchal system, have created and are running all the way to the bank with it. And most of my sisters are helping them! Willingly! Whole-heartedly! Buying those study Bibles for women (because a regular old study Bible, well, it might not make them a good enough Christian lady). Flocking towards the study materials for women in lieu of the good old inductive studies. Why? I don't know. I really don't. Please tell me. I want to understand.

So while one part of me wants to throw my arms up in frustration at the whole system, the other part of me, the bigger part, the growing part, the more part, desperately aches to minister to these same women. To encourage them to be more. To want more. And yet at the same time to know that they are enough. To know that they are, independent of ANY other earthly relationship, important, valuable, gifted, able. To be whole in themselves once in Christ. To tell these women about all of our sisters living in oppression around the world, facing injustices around the world, suffering solely because of their womanhood. To tell them about all the mothers who die while giving birth simply because of the lack of medical supplies, and then about all the sweet babies, all the hungry children left behind orphaned. To tell them about all the women who are dying of AIDS, and about all the children they are leaving behind in abject poverty. To speak to them about the kids down the street who were taken away in the middle of the night; that those kids are only three of the two million kids in foster care who need families to love them forever. To tell these women that if we are truly ezers, truly man's greatest ally, than man is our greatest ally as well. A team. We are not here simply to serve men, but to serve God. And serving God sometimes means leading men.

So I can't walk away.

Because if I walk away, will the word gentle continue to be used to describe the ideal Christian woman? I spent YEARS of my early walk agonizing over the fact that I couldn't discipline my spirit enough, tame it down, to be gentle. To be quiet and meek. To be that pretty, good Christian girl who didn't form opinions (that's for my husband to do, after all) that all the boys would want to date and then marry, etc... I had never heard of another kind of way to be an acceptable Christian woman. It was only after EXCESSIVE failures that I gave the non-opinion thing up :) Then, years later, I started learning all about Eve and her calling as an ezer kenego; how this meant that God was calling her a mighty battle warrior, equipped in every way for front line duty, and I wept and cried through this affirmation. I have Eve in me after all! It was glorious news. And I want all those years back I wasted not living in the fullness of my calling. Trying to fit into a mold the church had prescribed for me, for us, that though might work for some, certainly doesn't work for all of us. My dream is that gentleness would fade and warrior would be our new ideal. Sure, we have prayer warriors. But I dream of mission warriors. And warrior moms. Warrior girls. Warrior pastors! Worship warriors. Warrior wives.

And while it was nice to be away from the kiddos and the hubs for a couple of hours over the weekend, the thing with a women's conference is that you are constantly reminded about your husband and children. In every talk. Wife. Mother. Daughter. I really really wanted to be constantly reminded about God this weekend. Defined in relation to Him. Saved. Child of God. Adopted.

So, you see, I can't walk away. There is a battle up ahead, and I am a warrior girl.

Real or Fake

I love the Hunger Games book series. There is so much packed into to those three teen novels - if you have not read them yet, I highly recommend you read them, especially before the movie comes out. To avoid spoilers, I'll speak in general terms.

In the third book they start playing this game called "real or fake" to deal with the excessive propaganda and brain-washing campaigns waged against them. Its a handy game. One character will say a memory, or a feeling, and the others will say "real" if it actually happened, or "fake" if it was an implanted or manipulated thought or event placed in his head by the Capital.

Sort of similar to the "real or fake" game, another character comes up with another coping mechanism to determine reality. She starts with the very basics. Her name. Then her place of birth. Then as she is sure of more information, she adds it to her list.

Sometimes life can be confusing. Not Capital-style brain-washing confusing, but we do live in a world full of media and noise and influences in every which direction. My best friend Erin even reminded me today on the phone that the enemy loves this, relishes this confusion. He even causes it in some cases, purposely pitting people against one another.

Today is my birthday - real.

I had a really bad day - real.

My kids made me feel like the most special person in the world today, and that made my day infinitely better - real.

I am a child of God, and He loves me, is for me, and nothing can separate me from His love - real.

On days like today, when affirmation and condemnation are all wrapped up together; when beautiful homemade cards filled with love and presents wrapped by small hands in paper towels are offered up after phone calls filled with tears, I choose to remember the real.

God has formed our family - real.

Even when I am alone, I am not alone - real.

I remember back when I was a freshman in college and I went to work at a Young Life camp up in New York for a summer. I happen to be there for "urban" month, which was kind of fun until a huge brawl broke out in the dining hall between the kids from inner city DC and inner city Philadelphia. That was actually terrifying. But the music was all gospel choir inspired, and the whole feel of the camp was very different than times I had spent at other YL camps. At the back of the small, campy, club building was taped a piece of construction paper that someone had written on in permanent marker. It simply said "Audience of 1" on it. I loved that. The speaker or whoever was doing a skit could look directly at that sign and remember that no matter who was actually physically in attendance that night, that the real audience is always just one person, and that is God.

I will try my best to live my life not for others approval, or disapproval, but for God and to fulfill the call He has given me - real.



"Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ." Galatians 1:10

Lent

I grew up in the Catholic church where Lent was an annual time of fasting, meditation, reflection, and quietness before Easter. It was a time when people often gave something up in order to more fully understand sacrifice, to bring us closer to Christ up on the cross.

This year I wanted to spend the Lenten season in an extended time of meditation and prayer, a season to be broken for the things in my life that break God's heart. I spend most of my time outward focused, either on my family or on ministry, and I wanted Lent to be about just me and God. Sin, weakness, direction, beauty, I wanted God to show me all of it.

The thing about those kinds of prayers, though, the really deep refining ones, is that those are the ones God is 100% of the time going to answer. I swear. He never doesn't show up for those.

I started with an old litany - the litany of humility. Guided prayers aren't usually my thing, but I find that they can be helpful to lead my heart where I want it to go when it is not fully ready to go there on its own. They also keep me focused and on track. I tend to wander.

Here it is:

"O Jesus! meek and humble of heart, Hear me.
From the desire of being esteemed, Deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being loved, Deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being extolled, Deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being honored, Deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being praised, Deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being preferred to others, Deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being consulted, Deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being approved, Deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being humiliated, Deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being despised, Deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of suffering rebukes, Deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being calumniated, Deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being forgotten, Deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being ridiculed, Deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being wronged, Deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being suspected, Deliver me, Jesus.
That others may be loved more than I, Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may be esteemed more than I, Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That, in the opinion of the world, others may increase and I may decrease, Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may be chosen and I set aside, Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may be praised and I unnoticed, Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may be preferred to me in everything, Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may become holier than I, provided that I may become as holy as I should, Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it."

It is slow progress, and God is gracious to reveal my strongholds slowly to me.

Got anything going on for Lent this year? Want to share? Have you been following Gavin Rogers? He gave up his house for Lent. I kind want to go down to SA and talk to him :)