One of the first reasons I enjoy Wright is that his scholarly work is impeccable. He has embarked on what will be a six-volume series called “Christian Origins and the Question of God.” His deep histori-cal work and his attention to the biblical texts forces scholars around the world to familiarize themselves with and address the conclusions of his work. He has a massive tome on the life and death of Jesus that demolishes the popularized myths about Jesus that are often featured in American newsweeklies and television news magazines. His most recent, 800-page volume on the historical and theological truth of Jesus’ resurrection alone has sent shock waves through the academy. I really enjoy reading Wright – a good writer who is both bold and self-deprecating.

Secondly, though, Wright is a bold preacher and wonderfully pastoral. That is to say, Wright doesn’t merely write works for the sake of ivory tower dis-cussion. Whenever Wright publishes a scholarly work, he releases a few more readable books on the same topic for discussion in the church. He deeply cares about the church and the character of Christian Faith in the public square – hence his recent work as a bishop and, accordingly, a member of the House of Lords. He has released a number of commentaries on various books of the New Testament with titles like “Matthew For Every-one” or “Romans for Everyone.” Quite a number of pastors I talk with enjoy these books immensely and recommend them to their churches. We’ve shown a few videos of Wright here

at the church over the years as well.

Lastly, I appreciate Wright for taking upon himself a mantle that I’ve always associated with C. S. Lewis – namely, a hum-ble yet straightforward apologist for the Christian Faith in a world of skeptics. He just released a third book in a recent series attempting to explain and clarify the Christian Faith. The first book, entitled “Simply Christian” is much like Lewis’ “Mere Chris-tianity.” The difference, here though, is that Wright is a New Testament scholar and offers quite a bit more NT reflection and Jewish background to Lewis’ philosophical deductions. The second book, entitled “Surprised by Hope” (again playing off of Lewis’ title “Surprised by Joy”) is a wonderful discus-sion of the resurrection of Jesus Christ (again, a popular book derived from the larger scholarly vol-ume), the end of the world and the life everlasting. The most recent book, “After You Believe” is a dis-cussion of Christian ethics (hence the sub-title “Why Christian Character Matters”). The beauty of this third volume is its emphasis on Christian living, when often most scholars, or teachers for that mat-ter, stop at simply what you know or believe. Wright is intent on describing a Christian “life” that corresponds to a Christian “faith.”

I do not agree with every point Wright makes, though, in his shadow, I am far from confident in my counter-arguments. Yet, if you happen to see Dr. Wright on television, responding to a question of Christian Origins or the New Testament, know that he is a stalwart defender of the Christian Faith and a humble and gracious apologist. I also couldn’t rec-ommend more highly these three most recent works for your shelves. The Gidden’s found Wright’s “Surprised By Hope” to be immensely helpful for them in Zimbabwe. I share their sentiment and pray for the work and ministry of N. T. Wright.

There are a few links for you to follow, that I hope can be of help to you. 

The first is a quick link to a few recommended books by topics on our website: 

• Recommended Reading 

Click on any of the titles listed there to be taken to a more detailed view at Amazon.com. 

The second is a link to the books of my own library: 

• Pastor’s Library

This link is to a new program called “Google Books.”  It lists all the books of my library by category.  To begin with, it lists some of my favorites, what I’m reading now, and what I’m hoping to read soon.  Then, as you scroll down the page, books are listed by category (alphabetically).  You can also jump to the appropriate category on the menu on the left hand side of the screen.  There are typically many books in each category – click on the arror on the right of each line to move through all of them.  Click on the book itself to be moved to a more detailed description and (potentiall) a limited preview of the books contents.

The hope in listing this is that if you are searching for a book on a particular topic or subject, this could help navigate through the mass of books available.  Usually the book of my library are ones that I would recommend, but there are a number that I have on my shelves that I am not necessarily endorsing – just books that I need to be familiar with and engage with.  I hope to be able, when I have time, to rate the books, so to speak – but until then, just ask me if you have a question.

The Call To Go, Listen and Partner – Pastor Troy

Two years ago, when we prayed for Josh and Virginia on their last Sunday with us – many of you came up to me after the service and said, ―if it were ever possible for our church to partner with them on a mission trip to Africa, we would heartily support it.

Well, half a year later, Josh and Virginia, moved by the poverty and the starvation in particular villages surrounding the capital, were moved to begin using their tithe money to feed hungry people. A connection was established with a village and conversations began with their small group bible study here at the church concerning support. This blossomed into a church-wide effort to send mon-ey monthly to the Giddens’, who would, in turn, purchase food-packs and deliver them to the church. We called this mission: First Fruits Zimbabwe.

A year later, one of the mission elders, Dick Nelson, approached Jeff Jarchow (who has facilitated the First Fruit ministry from the beginning) and myself and encouraged us to take a trip to Zimbabwe, to see how the mission was working on the ground, to encourage and support the Giddens (who have had difficulty connecting with a local church), to explore new opportunities to serve and to see if a future mission trip there would be feasible and helpful.

Jeff had been desiring to go to Africa for some time now (you can read this in his article inside) and I had been deeply desiring such an opportunity after the years of exposure to the need in Africa that I learned about through the Global Church Con-ference we partner with at First Presbyterian Church of Berkeley. In fact, the former senior pastor

of FPCB, Mark Labberton had encouraged me early on during my time in Escalon to do what he has done – to make a yearly habit of getting oversees to visit the poorest and the most troubled regions of the world and to enter into their struggle. He said I would not be an effective Christian pastor otherwise.

At this year‘s Global Church Conference, entitled ―Overflowing Joy and Generosity in a World of Pain and Scarcity, Greg Foulke was able to join our mission team in attendance. At the closing Question and Answer session, we both listened to the power-ful appeal of Mr. David Zac Nringiye Assistant Bishop, Diocese of Kampala, Uganda, who, when asked the question about what idols he sees in the American Church, responded:

Safety and security. This is the antithesis of the Gospel. . .following Jesus is not safe!

I sometimes find prayer as a cop out when you actually could get on with it. I know that this church [FPC Berkeley] organizes trips to the Congo. Stop praying about it. Go. Just stop praying. Why do you need to pray about it? Your brothers are experiencing it. Go and see them. Make the choice to go to the risky places – you will meet Jesus in a way you have never known him.

God is speaking, how else do you want God to speak? I have a struggle with prayer, prayer, prayer, when God is speaking. Get out of here. Save money. If you have it, just take the next flight.

His words floored us and Greg leaned over to me and said: ―I know you and Jeff are going to Zimbabwe in the spring. If you‘re willing to have one more, please let me go. Realizing that God was speaking to Greg, (how else do you want God to speak?), and knowing that Greg‘s organizational skills facilitating many mission trips through Habitat for Humanity (see his article inside) would be of essential value for us in considering a future mission trip to a country with very few mission organizations presently on the ground – well, the decision, quite frankly, was easy. Now, a year and a half after the Giddens left, we‘re sending three to Zimbabwe.

One of the caveats the good bishop gave us was that the church in America needs to move beyond its inability to listen. Putting it all together, this is what we learned at this conference: the church in Africa doesn‘t just want resources (though they desperately need them), they want partnerships, and they want churches who are willing to listen to them, to enter into their struggle, rather than simply prescribe for them what we think is best. In many ways, on this trip, we will be going to enter into their struggle and listen to them.

To be clear to our church—the funds used for this reconnaissance trip are not from the monies you have donated to the First Fruits Ministry to Zimbabwe. We also have not requested permission from Session to engage in extensive fund-raising from the trip – the majority of it will be raised personally from key mission partners here and elsewhere. If God opens the door for a future mission trip to Zimbabwe, then at that point we will ask for your partnership – for it will be an extension of First Fruits, our partnership in ministry with the people of Zimbabwe.

What we do ask of you is that you pray for us now as we prepare for this trip and as we go on this trip. Pray for the Giddens. Pray for the people of Zimbabwe. Continue your support of First Fruits. As for the three of us – well, we‘re just taking the next flight.

The Purpose of this Trip – Jeff Jarchow

We leave for Zimbabwe in a couple of weeks. Zimbabwe, Africa? Am I nuts? Possibly. However, I am excited!

Ever since I became a Christian 14 years ago, I have sensed God’s call in my life to bridge the “work world” and the church. This is how I was created to serve God and the church in my skills, gifts, and passions.

In today’s world, there are a lot of exciting developments in the areas of technology, entertainment, and mak-ing life easier for us. But, while we are sipping our $4 lattes and surfing the Web at Starbucks, there is a different reality in Zimbabwe and Sub-Saharan Africa. There and around the globe, the wealth gap between the rich and the poor grows at an alarm-ing rate. The wealthy are getting richer and the impoverished are get-ting poorer. This is true in Zimbabwe, where more than 83% of people live on less than $2 per day. Life expectancy is only 37 years. Everybody in the country has been affected by the AIDS epidemic in a personal way, with over one million children orphaned. Unemployment is over 80%. 1.5 million Zimbabweans will not eat today. To say the least, Zimbabwe is different from our comfortable Starbucks culture.

Flashback to 1996 – In college, I worked as a summer camp counselor in the second poorest county in the U.S. Campers built outhouses, painted houses, fixed roofs, and helped the poorest of Grundy County, Tennessee. The verse our team chose as our charge was 1 Timothy 6:17-19:

Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with eve-rything for our enjoyment. Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life.

Zimbabwe is an extension of that de-sire to “take hold of the life that is truly life”. Escalon Presbyterian is taking hold of that life in making a difference in Zimbabwe, and, God willing, we will continue.

Thanks to Josh and Virginia, we have “feet on the ground” in Zimbabwe, delivering food to a village in East Zimbabwe and teaching people how to grow crops themselves through the partnership with Farming God’s Way. In our upcoming trip, we hope to expand our ministry.

Our goals for this trip are to determine how we can help with sustenance (food & safe drinking water availability), AIDS (many children have lost parents to AIDS and need God’s love shown to them), and empowerment (microloans – typically $50 to $100 – to help women start small businesses to sustain their families.) Our “take home final exam” for this trip is to have a plan developed for a mission trip to Zimbabwe for our church in 2011. You are invited to join us on this mission through prayer, financial support, and seeking God. Will he call you to take a huge step of faith? Will you be one to step out of your comfortable life in our wealthy nation to serve the people of Zimbabwe, one of the poorest countries in the world?

I am excited for this trip and to help lead EPC to continue learning to take hold of the life that is truly LIFE!

Planning for the Future – Greg Foulke

It‘s not hard to find concurrence that there is significant poverty and sig-nificant need in this world. It‘s also not controversial to say that this great need lies largely and primarily outside the United States. Sure, we cer-tainly have pain and misery right here at home, but not on the scale of Haiti…India…Africa. Most of us in the states have seen the videos and heard the stories of people in the farthest corners of the earth living in abject poverty, famine and disease. These images evoke in me feelings of guilt. I feel guilt for being as blessed as I am, guilt for not doing more (or any-thing) to help, and guilt for not appre-ciating just how blessed I am.

A ticket to for one person to fly round trip to Zimbabwe is $1,800. The first question that comes to mind is: Surely this money is better spent if we sent the money, rather than a person…the money must be able to do more good in Zimbabwe than a visit? I struggled with this while I was on a Habitat for Humanity trip to South Africa to build homes with the Zulu people to help put AIDS orphans in homes. While I was working one afternoon on a cinder block home, I calculated in my head how many more homes could be built if my team of 18 Americans would have simply sent the money they spent on hotels and airfare and hired local workers to build the houses instead.

I asked this very question to Pastor David Majola, a local Zulu (Lutheran pastor) who lived in the village where we were building. Pastor Majola (who has since died, in the service of these orphans) told me that money sent from America would build houses, but would only build houses. People coming, however, would build life-long friendships, and carry the plight of these fellow children of God back to the states, to pass the passion and the mission on to more people, who would come, build even more houses, and share their lives in the process.

I later learned that my team was the 12th team to come build in this South African Zulu village because one man in Arizona felt the calling, and decided to recruit a team to go build, rather than simply send money. Since my trip, over 31 teams have been to this Tshongwheni Valley (land of a thousand hills) in rural South Africa, and they are still com-ing! We have built an eternal spiritu-al connection with these Zulu people as we built homes with them, ate with them, sang with them, cried with them, and worshipped the one true God with them.

My role on this ‘advance team‘ to Zimbabwe is to coordinate the logistical side of sending a team of our congregation 10,210 miles away to Sub-Saharan Africa and one of the poorest countries in the world. Where do we stay? What are the safety/security risks? What work will we do? How does the team get trans-ported around in country? How long should the trip last? What time of year is best? What skills are needed? How much will all the airfare, trans-portation, lodging and food cost? What immunizations are needed? What are passport/visa/immigration issues? These are some of the ques-tions I am tasked with discerning while in Zimbabwe.

Sometimes sending money is appropriate (relief for Haiti is a good example of this). Sometimes putting on the sandals of the gospel of peace and loving our neighbor face to face is what God is calling us to do. I am convinced the latter is the case in regards to the gifts of our congregation and the need in Zimbabwe. I am going because God calls me to.

 Our annual budget gives around $10,000 to the work of mission in our Presbytery – for ethnic congregations, for outreach, and for our children’s sake in the mission and ministry of Calvin Crest

• This year we started a home-grown outreach to help feed a hungry village in Zimbabwe in partnership with former members of ours who we love dearly.  We started the project in March – to date we have raised, outside of our budgetary giving, over $11,000 dollars in less than a year to directly purchase food packs that are delivered to a village in Zimbabwe
• We donated over $1500 for our denomination’s One Great Hour of Sharing offering, which is an annual donation given to hunger programs and disaster assistance relief.
• Our congregation has given financially to C.A.R.E. our local food bank.  Our church has also facilitated a monthly donation of food items to C.A.R.E. which has grown considerably over the year.  It has grown to such an extent that other partner churches in the Ministerial Association are going to join our church in monthly giving of food items to accommodate for cutbacks that are occurring in our local distributors of food.
• Our congregation has donated thousands to our Deacons – who helps people in need in our church and community, and who have organized three separate trips to the Salvation Army facility in downtown Modesto, to feed over 125 people on three separate occasions.
• Our Deacons facilitated the giving of gifts to a number of local families, notably this year’s Christmas gift drive, which helped 27 children and 19 adults.
• Members of our church have partnered with other members of our community to donate to the Ministerial Association’s Christmas Fund.  We were able to disburse over $17,000 worth of vouchers to local food markets to needy families in our community, with even more money pouring in.  This is the most that we’ve disbursed since I’ve been a part of the Ministerial Association.  And it happened this year, in all of years?
• All of these examples do not even include that variety of other ways in which members of our church have given of themselves compassionately – when I hear stories of members visiting other members in the hospital or in their homes, when I hear of them gathering together for dinner and praying over each other through difficult circumstances – I cannot help but believe that we are blessed by God to bless others.

 In thinking about this I was reminded of Paul’s words in 2 Corinthians 8:

 ¹ And now, brothers and sisters, we want you to know about the grace that God has given the Macedonian churches. ² In the midst of a very severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity. ³ For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability. Entirely on their own, ⁴ they urgently pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing in this service to the Lord’s people. ⁵ And they went beyond our expectations; having given themselves first of all to the Lord, they gave themselves by the will of God also to us.

 Think of that, a church who having given themselves first of all to the Lord – they gave themselves to others who were in need.  This may or may not be the legacy of this church for the duration of its existence.  All I know is that I, as your pastor, am amazed by 2009 – the grace of God has been poured out on this church.  My prayer is that it continues.

What God Ordains Is Always Good

By: Samuel Rodigast

What God ordains is always good: His will is just and holy.
As he directs my life for me, I follow meek and lowly.
My God indeed, In every need,
Knows well how he will shield me; To him, then, I will yield me.

What God ordains is always good: He never will deceive me;
He leads me in his own right way, And never will he leave me.
I take content, What he has sent;
His hand that sends me sadness, Will turn my tears to gladness.

What God ordains is always good: His loving thought attends me;
No poison can be in the cup, That my physician sends me.
My God is true; Each morning new
I trust his grace unending, My life to him commending.

What God ordains is always good: He is my friend and father;
He suffers naught to do me harm, Though many storms may gather.
Now I may know, Both joy and woe;
Someday I shall see clearly, That he has loved me dearly.

What God ordains is always good: Though I the cup am drinking
Which savors now of bitterness, I take it without shrinking.
For after grief, God gives relief,
My heart with comfort filling, And all my sorrow stilling.

What God ordains is always good: This truth remains unshaken.
Though sorrow, need, or death be mine, I shall not be forsaken.
I fear no harm, For with his arm
He shall embrace and shield me; So to my God I yield me.

Hymn # 422
Lutheran Worship
Author: Severus Gastorius
Tune: Was Gott Tut
1st Published in: 1674

• Dallas Willard on the Tough Questions

Dallas has written some tremendously important Christian books, the most impactful for me is his award winning book “The Divine Conspiracy.”  The Divine Conspiracy is Dallas’ walk through the Sermon on the Mount.  It was in this book that Dallas showed me the brilliance of Jesus the teacher, where the internal coherence and consistency of all that he said and did began to fall together for me in a way I had never experienced.  Get to know Dallas Willard in your walk with Jesus Christ.

Click here to view Dallas Willard’s Christian book at Amazon.com:

• Dallas Willard’s Amazon Page

Join us this Christmas season for some special worship services together. On December 13, the children will be sharing the Christmas story with us. On December 20, the Choir will bring us the annual Christmas Cantata. On Christmas Eve, December 24 at 5:30 pm, we will have our candlelight service of Lessons and Carols. (see back page for details)

The Church Celebrates

Our church is holding its annual Christmas Dinner at the Escalon Community Center for the second straight year. Last year’s event was a tremendous event for our church, with well over 200 people in attendance and we hope to have another wonderful evening together. We gather together at four o’clock in the afternoon on Sunday, December 13. During the evening we celebrate together with a wonderful meal, reflect on the ministry of our church and sing Christmas songs together. The event is open to any who would like to attend – and we en-courage you to invite friends and visitors as well. Please let the office know the number of people that will be with you on this wonderful evening – we will be expecting you as we can-not imagine this evening without you there!

The Church Expands

Escalon Presbyterian Church voted in favor of the recommendation given by Session to pur-chase the property to the South of the church on First Street. For those of you who have been a part of this church for some time, you may remember that this property and the house used to be the church manse (housing for the pastor). The property purchase was suc-cessful and we are now in the process of evalu-

ating the property for future use for the mission and ministry of Escalon Presbyterian Church. The Presbytery of Stockton enthusias-tically voted to approve the purchase of the property and agreed to a short-term, 6-month loan of $30,000. As you consider end-of-the-year giving, please pray about giving to the “property acquisition” fund, enabling us to pay back the Presbytery in short-order.

The Church Supports Zimbabwe

The Session of EPC has given approval to a short-term reconnaissance trip to Zimbabwe to visit some dear friends of ours, who are working there and participating in the mission project of First Fruits. First Fruits is a joint effort between them and our church which provides food-packs to hungry people in a village in Zimbabwe. Pas-tor Troy Onsager, Jeff Jarchow (who has been facilitating the First Fruits ministry from its in-ception) and Greg Foulke (who has mission trip planning experience through his work with Habitat for Humanity) will be traveling to Zim-babwe in February for a visit, to observe the work of the ministry first-hand, and to con-sider options for a subsequent mission trip the following year from our church. We are re-questing some donations towards the cost of plane tickets, which will run a little more than $1,500 a-piece. If you’d like to give to this scouting trip, just write a check to EPC with “Zimbabwe Trip” in the memo line.

Thank you EPC for all your prayers and support – we look forward to celebrating with you.

O Come, O Come, Emmanuel! November 29th marks the beginning of Advent. In this season we await the incarnation of God. In our world of “NOW”, there is no reason to wait or anticipate anything. Let’s just have it all right now! Forget the depth and contemplation…let’s just skip to the joy and celebration! Why would we wait or spend any time praying, singing, or pleading for His arri-val? He already came, lived, died, and rose again.

As I contemplate the music of the Church, I find answers! As I sing and meditate on the words of Ad-vent music, I am connected with a world with no savior. Even more so, I am reminded of who I am without Christ. Of course, the music of Advent is founded and taken straight from Holy Scriptures. The messages of hope, love, peace, joy, and anticipation are messages from above. Similar to Lent, Advent has a deep and transformational purpose. Those in darkness, sad-ness, and despair finally have hope in Christ. If we are honest with ourselves, we are similar to those from ages past! We are reminded of the people who were wandering without hope and how Christ en-tered their lives, entered our world! We often get

caught up in the good things of our lives, forgetting what we have been rescued from. There is a rea-son for our Church Year and the music that accom-panies. In the midst of our lives we are reminded of the journey and life of Christ. Is His life signifi-cant? Is His life worthy to spark introspection within our own lives? How can this Advent time of year transform me?

Let us dive into the richness of Advent! Let the awe and wonder of God fill your homes. Fill your homes with sacred music that will point to the coming Christ. I encourage you to read the Advent hymns as prayers in your home. I will gladly provide you a hymnal if your home is lacking one. Spend time remembering your past and how it relates to those who lived prior to the incarnation. Let those memories provide a stark contrast to your life with the living Christ today. Rejoice in the Lord, who will never leave you, and what He has carried you through.

I challenge you not to treat this entire season as one big holiday! Enjoy the depth and wonder of what the HOLY – DAYS are all about. God is coming to earth… “Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silent!”

There is a great movie out called “Amazing Grace,” which describes the life of William Wilberforce, who headed the effort to abolish slavery in England. He endured ridicule, yet ultimately won the begrudging respect of many of his political rivals for his perseverance as well as his efforts to reform the public morals of his country.  In this country, the issue was settled by the Civil War in which over 600,000 men were killed. The 13^th Amendment outlawed slavery.   The trafficking of men, women and children, for the purpose of sexual exploitation, or labor is a world-wide phenomenon. We live in a small town in the Central Valley where it is difficult to identify with the issue of human trafficking in remote places of Eastern Europe, or impoverished Bolivian villages, or Indian salt mines.  The very nature of the subject is sordid. Yet as Wilberforce was a voice in his time, so evangelicals today are called to be both a voice of justice and a voice of mercy.

Indeed the problem is larger today than in the day of Wilberforce. Captive Diaries, a blog of Captive Daughters, a California group headed by a woman whose intention is to eliminate trafficking, quotes Cardinal Renato Martino, Vatican emissary to the UN, “Today’s trafficking  in women and children for commercial sex work, and forced labor is worse than the historic African slave trade” (Nov 20, 2006).

What is human trafficking?

Human trafficking is defined in The Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act 2000 as:

The recruitment, transportation, harboring, or receipt of persons by means of threat or force, or other forms of coercion, abduction, of fraud, deception, abuse of power or of position of vulnerability or giving or receiving payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person ,having control over another person for purpose of exploitation of the prostitution of others, forced labor or services, slavery, or practices similar to slavery, servitude , or the removal of organs.

Trafficking is not the same as illegal immigration, nor does it necessarily involve movement of a person from one place to another.

A brief survey of Captive Daughters, California Watch, provides references to numerous links highlighting California trafficking:

1. Dec 5 , 2006 – “Stemming the Sex Trade in San Francisco.”

2. Nov 7, 2006 – San Francisco Chronicle – Sex Trafficking which chronicled the importation of Chinese and Korean women who were forced to work in the sex trade throughout the city to pay off debts. (This was a large four part series).

3. June 23 ,2008 – Richmond Man Sentenced for Sex  Trafficking, SF Gate.

4. Jan 4 2007 – Agencies Battle Child Sex Trafficking- Inside Bay Area News.

5. March 25, 2006 – Program Paints Grim Picture of Human Trafficking- North County Times.

Trafficking in women, and children, and men, is a massively lucrative criminal enterprise, tied with illegal arms sale for profitability. This is a little different issue from illegal migration, though illegal’s are vulnerable to being trafficked. There are many markets for trafficking. Women are trafficked for prostitution, children for sex and cheap labor, men for labor.

Historically numbers for slavery worldwide in the 16th to 19th centuries range upwards of 15 million Africans.  Today according to UN estimates, “27 million men, women, and children held in modern day slavery,” (John Sniffen: “Proclaim Freedom,” Presbyterians Today, June-July 2008). Conservative estimates of trafficking within this country range from 12,000 – 17000 people. Worldwide estimates of trafficking across international borders range from 600,000 to 800,000 people (U.S.  Dept of Justice- www.usdoj.crt/crime/trafficking_report2006.pdf).

Within our own denomination efforts have been made to publicize the problem of human  trafficking in Overture 062 which was presented to the General Assembly Council in April 2008.  It is ironic that conservatives should find common cause with both liberals and feminists on these issues because they are issues which are close to the heart of God.  Micah 6:8, “do justice and love mercy.”  True religion has feet, hands, ears which hear. 

What is being done in response to this?

I would like to touch on two diverse approaches to trafficking, from both legal and economic angles, and mention some groups which are involved in this.

International Justice Mission (www.ijm.org) is headed by Gary Haugen.   He grew up in Sacramento, went to Harvard, and University of Chicago Law School, and worked for the Justice Department. He is profiled in a Jan 19, 2009 article in New Yorker, “Attorney for the World’s Poor,” written by Samantha Power, professor at JFK School of Government. Haugen’s mission was to provide top quality legal representation to poor people in Third World countries.  Though not exclusively concerned with trafficking, IJM has freed over 200 people in one area of India who were given certificates of release by the government as well as some compensation, to restart their lives. 

IJM  is also an advocacy group, providing testimony to US agencies as well as foreign governments, training legal groups to recognize trafficking, as well as investigating complaints of trafficking which are helpful in prosecuting perpetrators.   This is not a group for well intentioned neophytes according to Haugen. IJM has over 200 lawyers and investigators who work overseas, the majority of whom have extensive trial experience.

The problem of trafficking is overwhelming and intimidating. I will probably not be the person involved in the rescue of trafficked people from San Francisco massage parlors, nor will I be re writing a Bill of Rights in Guatemala or India. However there is one thing that I could do, one small step to counter this massive problem.  I can direct some of my purchases of things towards groups and efforts directly affected in trafficking areas, realizing that economic vulnerability, lack of jobs, poverty, corruption all increase the vulnerability of people to a trafficker’s pitch. I would like to present a positive model for combat, Trade as One.

Trade as One (www.tradeasone.com) Nathan George, founder of Trade as One, was a former software salesman in the Silicon Valley. In an address to local Monterey, CA businessmen in 2006, he said:

Mother Teresa named poverty as the worst evil in the world.  When you see the dehumanization that it causes you understand why. If you barely have enough to survive on, you can at least have sex. You can create assets which can be liquidized. And the train in human beings is bigger now than it ever was in Wilberforce’s day. There are whole villages in Cambodia turned over to sex tourism where a child virgin sells for over $3000. The precipice that poverty holds over people brings out the darkest side of human beings.

George quoted several facts:

1. 1 billion people in the world live on less than $1 a day.

2. Americans spend more on cosmetics, and Europeans more on ice cream than it would cost to provide schooling and sanitation for the billion people who have neither.

George saw the necessity prescribed in the gospel that God is vitally interested in poor people, their needs and concerns, which a self-absorbed overly consumptive US often chooses to ignore.

Trade as One is a bridge, helping market goods from sustainable operations which employ previously destitute people.  This such trade is a powerful conduit between rich and poor.   He sources goods of high quality from 62 different businesses throughout the world which are categorized and certified as Fair Trade, i.e. workers are paid above minimum scale and work in decent conditions.

Hagar Ministries (www.hagarcambodia.org) is one of these groups partnering with Trade as One, and is active in Cambodia. It employs women from all sorts of backgrounds, and has set up several larger operations in Cambodia:  Hagar Soya, the largest soy milk processor in Cambodia; Hot Apparel which manufactures beautiful hand bags and accessories; and Hagar Catering, which employs 156 people.

Trade by countering the economic vulnerability of destitute people creates jobs, provides consistent income, and trains people often with tools to create their own businesses.

Listen again to Nathan George, (Nov 14, 2007, “Subverting Consumerism”):

What better time than Christmas, when so much gift buying is meaningless, to buy a gift that gives a job to someone with HIV in Kenya, to a woman taken from human trafficking in Thailand, or to an genocide orphan in Rwanda. Churches around the country are starting to wake up to their role as thought and practice leaders in subverting consumerism to bring hope and positive change to some of these dark places. With Trade as One, we harness and subvert a very powerful engine of change- commerce.”

Amazing Grace Evening

On June 7 we will be having what we call an “Amazing Grace Evening” where we will discuss these important issues close to the heart of God.  We invite everyone to attend. If you have a chance before June 7, watch the movie “Amazing Grace” and be prepared to confront some of the contemporary issues which exist in this day and time.

Amazing Grace Flyer

 I recently returned from a short vacation with Leslie and Andrew.  The vacation wasn’t one that was particularly planned in advance – it was admittedly odd timing.  I realized that I hadn’t taken a break since July.  I was exhausted, not handling stress particularly well, and becoming impatient – not a good combination for a pastor at all.  So, we took a break and the timing turned out to be a blessing.

 It got me thinking about the ways in which stress affects our attitudes, our decisions, and our relationships.  Stress tests in the medical field are intended to see how the body will respond to being pushed.  Similarly, in the realm of our Christian walk with the Lord, life-situation stress tests are being administered all the time. 

 Invariably, everybody in our church is going through stressful circumstances of a number of varieties.  The question is not if stress is present, but the degree of intensity and the variable of timing.  Stress in job situations is strong right now for quite a number of people, particularly with concerns about the future.  Family stress in the midst of strained relationships is quite frustrating and discouraging for many.  Health problems from minor though consistent ailments to the all-out chemotherapy fight has been and will continue to be a constant reality in the midst of a community of human people. 

 How does our faith in Jesus Christ inform and guide how we respond to these varying degrees of stress?  How do we treat others in the midst of these times of stress?

 If we’re honest with ourselves, we must admit that we don’t handle stress as well as we should.   More troubling, is that on negative side of these results we usually allow stressful circumstances to justify or excuse any behavior on our part.  We get short with each other, our anger surfaces more easily, hurtful words fly out of our mouths without consideration.  We even are tempted to run others down, criticizing them in a subconscious hope that this will make us feel better.  Yet, biblically, there’s no exempt clause for allowable sinful behavior in times of great stress.  And, on top of that, it’s not as if the damage done in times of stress can be simply forgotten.  As if we can say, “oh, don’t pay attention to that – I was just stressed.”  Rarely is damage ever done when our emotions are under control.

 If we believe our faith in Jesus Christ cannot help with “real life” stress tests, if we become cynical about the way in which God’s word is actually intended to be of help in the midst of stress – then we ignore our greatest hope in our times of greatest need.

 Sometimes getting away is necessary, though rarely is it a cure-all.  For many of you, the stress you are dealing with will be present for months if not years.  Most importantly, is the need for self-examination, to diligently pay attention to how stress affects us and understand the points at which we are most vulnerable to break.  This can only happen through diligent times of prayer and study.  Prayer is needed so that God will open our eyes to ourselves, to a real knowledge of not only our strengths but our weaknesses.  Bible study is needed so that God will open our eyes to Him, a real knowledge of who God is and the help that He intends to offer those who come to Him.

 When Jesus said, “Come to me all you who are weary and heavy-burdened – I will give you rest,” it assumes both of what was just said.  It assumes a knowledge and understanding of ourselves as those who are weary, who are heavy-burdened.  And it assumes a knowledge of a God who in Jesus Christ desires to give us rest, to lift the burden, to see us through.