For the past year, I have been studying about the issue of global poverty and how our government's economic policies are enslaving the world's poor. The things that I have studied have led me to give my heartfelt support to the One campaign, the only bipartisan movement that I know of that has people like Pat Robertson, Billy Graham, the Pope, the Dalai Llhama, and Madonna all supporting the same side. Concentrating on this issue has led me to believe that the issue of global poverty is the greatest moral issue of our generation.
I was wrong.
If you haven't seen the film Amazing Grace yet, you need to. William Wilberforce was a man who read his Bible and came to the conclusion that Jesus wanted His followers to rescue the oppressed (Luke 4). His passion ended slavery.
Or did it?
In my studies, I was shocked to find out that over the hundreds of years that the British African slave trade was legal, approximately 11 million slaves were shipped overseas.
Guess how many people there are in the world right now who are victims of human trafficking? 27 million!
For a generous kick in the rear, read this article about a 15 year old named Zach Hunter who is leading the charge to end modern day slavery.
As a Christian evangelist, I feel it is my responsibility to pick up the baton and speak out on these two moral tragedies of our generation. I would like to incorporate advocacy for these issues, the issues of global poverty and human trafficking, in my festival events, including Riverfest, an event I am hosting at Keener Plaza in downtown St. Louis on September 8th.
I would like to ask you, my readers, for advice on how to best go about advocating for the poor and the oppressed during my evangelism campaigns. I believe that, together, we can make a difference.
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3 comments:
Aaron,
Those are both great causes and I have little knowledge/experience on how to help you with this. The one thing I would say is that in order to be effective you will need to have some sort of action point ready for your audience. In other words, it's good to move them to want to do something, but it is just as important to give them a way to. Having an organization that people can contribute to, and/or materials that they can take with them to tell them what they and their friends can do, really does a lot to capitalize on the momentum.
Pete
Thank you for your advice Pete. Point well taken. Rhiannon suggested that I contact Zach Hunter and ask for materials and updates. Good idea.
raising awareness might be a good place to start. a lot of people probably don't know about the human trafficking issue.
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