Don’t Call Me.

So my mobile phone died last week, and I’ve been feeling a combination of things. Unconnected. And, liberated. Weird!

The conclusion is that I’ll have to buy a new phone, which seems like a silly idea knowing how little I’ve really used it recently. It really has become more of an ‘emergency-use-only’ type appendage anyway.

Having said all that; in the mean time on a Fair-Trade bent, have you ever thought about the ethics of your mobile phone?

Someone alerted me to the fact today, that there have been some recent issues in the news of child-labour-exploitation in regards to production of a certain chemical that is used in mobile phone production.

Now, ever since I’ve had my eyes open to Ethical Trade (clothes, coffee, chocolate etc.) I’ve known that at nearly every level of every manufacturing process of every product I buy, or use, people are affected. It may be oppressively, it may be positively – but my actions have an effect. (See also, The Story of Stuff)

Until now, it hasn’t even been in my mind that my phone is part of this chain.

So, now I’m thinking that it might not be such a bad thing that my phone is dead… even though Nokia seems to come out OK in the comparisons (as you’ll see below, OK is relative). Maybe I’ll see how long I can go before it becomes ridiculous to not have one.

(Anyway.. for anyone in the Training College community who is reading this.. call my extension or come and find me – I love visitors! SMS’s flying through the building have always seemed a little silly to me!)

Some facts:

My Nokia Phone comes with this unethical baggage (and more..);

• Lead poisoning in Thailand
• Unsustainable mining of Coltan
• Operations in 11 oppressive regimes
• Workers’ Rights abuse criticisms
• Workers’ Rights abuses at Chinese supplier factories
• Worst ECRA (Ethical Consumer Research Association) rating for supply chain policy
• Operations in 4 tax havens
• Operations in questionable Social Economic Zones, India.

Don’t even get me started on the other brands. I’ll let you see for yourself. Ethiscore.org – Mobile Phones

Elevator Pitch

A guest speaker at the training college a few weeks ago talked about developing an ‘Elevator Pitch’ as an evangelism tool. The idea to figure out, perhaps, how to succinctly explain the basics of the gospel in the time it would take to get from the ground floor to the floor of choice (the amount of time certainly depends on the quality of the elevator – at training college, maybe 2 mins from G->10?)

So, I’ve been thinking a little about that lately. What would you say if you only had 30 seconds? (I’m going to have to think about this one a little longer..)

THEN, I signed up for a “Build a Better Blog Challenge”,  and the #1 task is to ‘Write an Elevator Pitch for Your Blog’. Fancy that! It seems that business and self improvement type courses have been teaching students to develop an elevator pitch for their business or themselves, and so an extension of that is to use it to improve your blogging.

The question that I have to ask I suppose is; Why do I do this? What is it about?

Maybe it’s this; (eek! I still don’t know..)

To uniquely and passionately share the things I’ve experienced, the thoughts I’d had and the things I’ve seen, so that readers will be spurred on in value, faith and life.

10 Most Thought-Provoking Quotes of the Day.

(…in no particular order…)

1. “Prayer was like breath”
   Tracey English, personal testimony about Prayer&Struggle.
2. “There are two types of people; those who struggle with life, and those who lie about it.”
   In regards to doubt and struggle.
3. “The value of doubt is to keep you open to God’s revelations.”
   Questions assume answers.
4. “You can’t be frustrated with someone who doesn’t exist.”
   For example – you have to believe in God to be frustrated with Him.
5. “We don’t live or become real if nothing ever happens to us.”
   In regards to doubt and struggle.
6. “Faith is not reasonable”
   If it was reasonable, it wouldn’t be faith.
7. “Something can be true without being factual.”
   For example – The log in the eye in Jesus Parable.
8. “Doubt is the ants in the pants of faith”
   Frederick Buechner – Doubt points us towards seeking truth. Doubt is good as long as it doesn’t lead us to despair.
9. “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.”
   Hebrews 11:1
10. “While trafficked women weep, as they do now,
        I’ll fight;
    While little children are orphaned by Aids, as they
        are now, I’ll fight;
    While men die because their government spends
        more on weapons than healthcare, I’ll fight;
    While there is a drug addict left,
    While there is justice only for those who
        can pay,
    While there are Christians who see evangelism as
        ‘somebody else’s job’,
    I’ll fight – I’ll fight to the very end!”
    Kevin Sims – Adapted from William Booth

..Except for that one about being eaten by the Giant Spider..

Have you ever heard Danielle Strickland’s dream? She thought that it must have been satanic – it was after all about her being eaten alive by spiders. But then, she woke up to the reality that God was wanting her to see. And it changed everything about the way that she looked at the world. I’ve heard her talk about it a couple of times now, but if you haven’t yet, here’s the quick-talking-vod-cast-version for your ease of viewing. The whole vid is great, but Danielle’s bit starts about 2 mins in. Thanks to Adam at Youth Specialties for producing it and making it public. Great stuff.

 

ps. have you ever wondered what this whole blogging thing is about? Why the heck do we do it? Who reads this stuff anyway? Have a look here (I blog your pardon?) for ACTNOW’s take on the whys and wherefores.

Constance

Constance is a story about a girl in the Philippines who is victimized by Human Trafficking. It was directed by Sam Sanchez of Stick Productions in 2006. Special thanks to Nakeism Labs. It has spread like wildfire via YouTube, and inspired an international human rights movement called the "Constance Campaign." Mr. J Medeiros spearheaded the movement and partnered with Non-Profit’s like IamComing.org, XXXChurch, and HumanTrafficking.org. In May 2007, Constance was also featured on CBS Evening News in an expose’ on internet pornography.

I can’t seem to find anything current about this campaign, it may have morphed into something else or aligned with StopTheTraffik. In any case, it’s a good video, and the lyrics are just a little heart wrenching.

the sound of rain is her backdrop laying there/
like she’s waiting for somebody to say they care/
while the tears of God fall down the window pane/
she feels unholy like her Father doesn’t know her name/
Mary Magdalene and the woman at the well/
He knows everything that happened and in His arms she fell./

You prepare a table for me.

With the opportunity on the weekend to special at a Corps in SA, the team and I ran a Sensory Worship time on Maundy Thursday evening, with the title “You prepare a table for me”. It was a beautiful time where people had the opportunity to pray (healing, confession, repentance, peace, strength, love, etc.) with the aid of some rich food and fruit juice. In preparation, I ran across the following illustration.

Following the link to its original location, you’ll find people have asked in the comment section “How is Psalm 23 relevant to the children in the photographs?” I ask, How is Psalm 23 not relevant to these children?

Does this give us a sense of how far away from God’s Kingdom Come we really are, and how much work there is yet to do?

—–

The LORD is my Shepherd, I shall not want.

He makes me lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside still waters.
He restores my soul.
He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil, for you are with me;
your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies
you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life,
and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

(Originally at http://servant-of-jc.blogspot.com/2008/09/psalm-23.html)

Ever-Increasing Glory.

From General Eva Burrows to the Ambassadors of Holiness session – “If I could give you any scripture verse it would be this one” (23 March 09);

“And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the spirit.” – 2 Corinthians 3:18

Praise Jesus!

Alphafont 3.0

The most colourful part of my day… (Source Link)

 

The low-neck.

A serious warning against attempting a fashion-shift back to the good-ol’ days of the high-neck uniform…

“I should like to talk about the care of your health and physical powers. There is no time for that; but remember that I want you to take care of your throats. Do not sacrifice your throats for too prim a military appearance. Remember the alternative of the low collar. When I see you singing solos, with high collars hooked tightly, i cannot tell you how badly I feel. The only really bad throat I have had during forty years of Officership was about six months after the high collar came in, when the doctor said I had a clergy man’s sore throat. I went back to the low collar, and have not known throat trouble since.”

- p. 38 Florence Booth The Powers of Salvation Army Officers (1914)