The Plight of the Nassars and Me

I take my blog's name, "2GC@PDX", from an expression coined by my friend Stephanie Mathis. In this blog, I write about how I should live out the "2GC" (her expression for both the two Greatest Commandments and the Great Commission) in my own back yard, Portland, Oregon, or PDX. As always, whether in Waco Texas, Xi'an China, or PDX, my desire is to think globally while acting locally. And sometimes that also means acting globally as in aiding the ongoing work in China, helping a friend in Africa, or supporting my sister in Crimea or my nephew in Panama.

So what should I do with this request from my friend, Paul Alexander, a founder of the Pentecostals and Charismatics for Peace and Justice? I have great affinity for PCPJ and its passion for peace and justice. PCPJ has returned the favor by carrying my blog on their website. Paul and I have both extensively researched the rich and now mostly forgotten heritage of Pentecostal pacifism.

Two weeks ago Paul forwarded me an appeal from Reverend Alex Awad, a pastor living and serving in Israel's West Bank. Tony Nassar, a Palestinian Christian and a former student of Bethlehem Bible College, had just called to say that the Israeli Military Authorities were challenging Tony's family over their right to use their land as a camping and retreat center for international peacemakers. The Military Authorities were threatening to raze the buildings in a matter of days.

Pastor Awad says the Military Authorities are "doing this to support the Jewish settlers in their bid to ethnically cleanse the land from its Palestinian inhabitants," including these Palestinian Christians. Such Palestinians are not allowed, apparently, "the most basic developments on his or her land if the land happens to be in a zone that is coveted by Jewish settlers." According to Pastor Awad, Tony's family land, which has belonged to the Nassar family from before 1924, has been coveted by Israeli settlers for many years.

Pastor Awad is asking me through my friend Paul to "stand against this injustice" by sending emails, faxes and phone calls to the appropriate Israeli diplomatic personnel in my country, to show that Tony and his family are not alone. So, my question is, how do you think I should respond to this appeal? And on what basis should I choose to respond or not respond?

First, I believe that to take no action is to take action of some sort, as the Scriptures do not excuse me for negligence or omission when it comes to acts of righteousness and justice. So the next question, if this is a matter of justice, is whether I personally am obligated to help.

I do not know Tony Nassar and have never met him. But I have agreed to stand with Paul Alexander and, though I don't respond to every request, I am obligated through that agreement to seriously consider his appeals. Aside from the fact that through such extended relationships I am linked with Tony Nassar, he is also a brother, a fellow Believer and in much danger.

My obligations aside, what of Tony's plight? Is Pastor Awad correct in saying that a serious injustice is being perpetrated on the Nassar family? Maybe we should tell the Nassars to act out their peacemaking by just lying down and letting the Israeli soldiers take their land. But the Nassars stand for other Palestinians – and their own plight, while paling in comparison, is linked. If their land is taken, where do they go?

Even if I choose to do nothing, and I do not feel guilty if I don't respond to every appeal, what am I to think of this situation? How am I to react to the plight of Palestinians, Christian or otherwise, who are being removed from lands they have owned for generations? What is my "final solution" for the Palestinian problem as reflected in the story of the Nassars?

The Palestinian "problem" is complex, but complexity does not excuse me from thinking thoughts of peace and justice about this situation any more than distance does. For if I have the means to act and I see a brother in need, I must consider two things: 1) What should be done in this situation? and 2) What is God calling me to do, if anything? [I do not have the right to say "it is inconvenient" or out of hand to say "it is not my concern", so "therefore I will ignore it."]

People who base what they do on the Bible or the Holy Spirit or the Community of Faith (the Church) are often called naïve in the "real" world. Be that as it may, if I do not base my daily actions on this trinity of guides, what do I base them on and of what value are these guides to me otherwise? So what does the Word, or the Spirit, or the Church have to say on such matters?

What do you think I should do about Tony Nassar's plight? And why?

Rooms with a View

Funny, these potheads are some of the friendliest, most courteous people I've encountered in my door-knocking U.S. Census enumerating. I call them potheads for lack of a better term. Being thoroughgoing libertarians, they have a live-and-let-live approach to life, including their roommates.

"Is this person male or female?"

I hate asking that question, especially when asking directly to the person who has answered the door, as in "are you male or female?" One can never presume, especially when said interviewee is 90, wears her/his white hair short, wears nondescript slacks, has a sunken chest, and speaks with a gravelly voice. I usually brush through that question in a mumble or pose it with a twist of humor. 90-somethings tend to be hard-of-hearing anyway. Why do parents give their children gender-neutral names? It only frustrates census enumerators every ten years.

These potheads are closer to 19 than 90 and they are definitely guys. The unseen roommate is another matter.

"[Roommate] was a he, then changed to a she." Pothead One is speaking.

"Or was it the other way around?" Pothead Two is speaking.

I calmly reply, "What I need to write down is how this person self-identifies now."

I'm answering the friendly potheads who are deliberating over the gender identification of one of their roommates. But they are gracious and engaged with me and I am grateful that they do not seem the gun-wielding type. Gender angst is not near as threatening to my doorbell ringing as Second Amendment angst.

Apartment complexes are different than sprawling neighborhoods mostly in that you can cover a lot of Narfus (non-response follow up) in one stop. This complex seems to be full of 20- and 30-something males footloose and fancy free on a midweek afternoon. They tend to work – and party – at night, so daytime is a good time to find them home and somewhat coherent.

Whoever laid out this complex had his own to deal with – complex, that is. It is a sprawling non-sequential mess that must make every pizza stone cold upon delivery.

Ah, but the view. Three massive Cascade mountain beauties on the clearest of days and a front row view of the prevailing rains otherwise.

But do they know their neighbors? Not any less than the more secluded (and wealthier) types higher up in the West Hills who work days and sleep nights while these footloose guys lower down the hill clean and guard the office buildings of the upper-crested people.

Potheads One and Two are firm. They don't know anybody, not even their gender-angsted roommate, but especially not the condo next door. Suspicious-acting clean-cut kid verifies his neighbor moved out months ago – and good riddance. He agrees to be a proxy, as if that act could somehow wield vengeance. Maintenance man with a funny European accent won't give me his name to put down for proxy – besides, he suddenly can't remember what he just told me about those tenants.

Proxy is when you stand in for someone else.

As in this apartment is vacant and I, Census Guy, can't vouch for it even though it's obvious through the windows that there's not a stick of furniture in the place. You see, I am the enumerator. I report. I don't verify. I can't be a proxy on my own report.

Neighbors verify. As in we live in community and we care about our neighbors. As in we're willing to take risks and stand in for our neighbors. Nice theory that doesn't work uphill or down.

Guy-in-B2 is quick to tell me his neighbors are there only once a year and otherwise they are in Mexico, or so he says with a where-they-belong sneer.

"Can I put you down as proxy to verify this Mexico place is vacant?"

"No, I don't know anything about the place."

Like a good neighbor.

I try to reassure B2 that any information I take down is strictly confidential for 72 years and I and any of the hundred other people who will handle this apartment information have sworn on oath and turning over of first-born (tempting sometimes) not to divulge. Not that anyone cares except maybe your descendants 72 years from now – if you have any descendants, that is.

Supervisor (later): "Put B2's name down as proxy for his neighbor anyway." He won't know for 72 years.

G4 has big dog, live-in fiancé, no kids. When I left a notice of intended visit yesterday, he told his fiancé he would pull a Saturday Night Live gig on me about census takers. ("80 people live here.") Thus the friendly smirk when he opens the door.

I tell him he can say anything about me as long as he doesn't divulge my actual ID information for at least 72 years. (No such rule applies to my ID, but what does he know?) I'm returning the favor to him as I write. Nice guy. Big dog. Great view. I can't vouch for the fiancé. She wasn't home.

Maintenance guy: "We have 20 illegals in the basement." He doesn't know anything about SNL, but he does know he doesn't want to be proxy. He's pulling the humor-evasion #27 technique.

Funny how few of us in this modern day are willing to proxy for our neighbor. Would make a great parable. Samaritan, anyone?

 

The road to a comprehensive HT bill – Part III

This afternoon the Human Trafficking Legislative Planning Group will convene once again. This team, tasked with developing comprehensive human trafficking legislation proposals for the 2011 Oregon state legislative session, is a diverse body of key government and non-profit personnel. They will be working through the summer to come up with proposals by September when more legally minded hands will begin molding the material into billable form. Stephanie Mathis, Executive Director for the Oregon Center for Christian Values, is coordinating this team.

More is required than just preparing legislation. At the state level, bills do not move through the Legislature unless citizens speak up. This is where advocacy kicks in and OCCV is ready. OCCV's Human Trafficking Advisory Committee will launch next month (June) its HT Point Leader Plan of Action with a Point Leader training workshop. We are calling it "10 x '10" – ten leaders for 10 groups of 10 persons each to be recruited and trained in advocacy by the end of 2010.

The HT Advisory Committee is currently recruiting 10 Oregonians as these point leaders. We are looking for 10 people from 10 different congregations, particularly from Washington, Multnomah and Marion/Polk Counties, though other parts of the state are also welcome to participate. These point leaders will attend our training workshop in June. They will then work between June and October to find 10 other people each (from their congregation and otherwise) who will be willing to train and work with their point leaders to advocate on behalf of the HT legislation endorsed by OCCV.

In October and November, these point leaders will each sponsor a training session with their team members in preparation for the 2011 legislative session. The goal is that by the time the legislative session opens in January 2011, we will have over 100 citizen advocates to help push through the HT legislation and have it signed into law by June 2011.

Bryan Colbourne, Stacy Bellavia and I will be serving as coaches for these 10 point leaders and their teams. And we are making the following commitments to each of these point leaders:

1. We will pray for them in their work.
   
2. We will keep them abreast of all developments in the HT legislation and process.
   
3. We will maintain regular contact with them, encouraging them and helping them in their process of developing their point teams.
   
4. We will work to connect them with the key legislative players and also with their own legislators during the months leading up to the 2011 legislative session.
   
5. We will help point leaders arrange experts from the legislative planning group as guest speakers for their training sessions.
   
6. We will coordinate a rapid communication system with these point leaders to mobilize their point persons as advocates as needed.
   
7. We (coaches and point leaders) will meet regularly as a group during the fall season and during the months the legislature is in session for prayer, reporting and encouragement.
   

In addition, I am personally looking for 100 other people who will commit to pray for these point leaders and personnel and for this legislative process.

As Psalm 68:5 says, God is "father to the fatherless." There are thousands of such fatherless children, our brothers and sisters, who are in desperate need of God's protection and deliverance from the bondage and exploitation of human trafficking. The verse that follows says that "God sets the lonely in families." I can't think of anything more lonely in our day and time than being trapped in slavery and trafficking. I like to think that each of these point teams will become families, who through their advocacy will be sheltering these lonely and fatherless modern-day slaves, who have no one else to advocate for them.

We want to do more than rescue those who are currently trapped. We want to shut off the demand and trafficking channels themselves. This legislative process will move us a giant step forward toward that goal and we are looking for 10 good citizens of Oregon to join us by signing up as 10x'10 Point Leaders.

If you want to be a point leader or you know someone who could serve in this role, I'd like to hear from you. If you want to be one of the 100 to commit to praying for this team over the next 12 months, I'd like to hear from you, too. You can go to my website, http://hnkconnect.com, to send me your name and contact information. Please let me hear from you today.

Aunt and Uncle for a Weekend

No real names have been used for the kids in this article

Dana, a pint-sized whirlwind of energy and bubbly emotion, doesn't slip in the door; she invades our house, commanding even the walls to open their hearts to her. Sam comes in quietly, slides into a cushioned chair without ruffling the air molecules.

We've been doing respite foster care for Morrison Child and Family Services the past few months, giving our hearts to each kid passing through our home. Some come time after time, some only once. Some live with a biological parent on the edge, others have stable foster homes or live with extended family. Some have no idea where or what "home" is.

Yvonne stayed for a week with us last summer before transitioning back to her biological mother, who after a couple years of working through issues was deemed capable of having her children back. We've had no communication with her since, but we cannot forget her ever-frantic pace and her hungry, pensive feel about returning home.

Two kinds of kids are assigned to us. Jill is in therapeutic care with Morrison, a program for kids who've suffered extensive abuse – physical, sexual, emotional – and who require special year-round education and intensive care. Bob is in regular foster care in the state's Department of Human Services. All have "issues" – the stuff that's been shoved into them comes out in all forms of acting out and garbled, porcupine-prickly cries of "love me!"

The needs of these kids, all who have experienced trauma in one form or another in their short lives, can overwhelm all care givers, so we provide much needed respite for those who do the caring – and for the kids a fun visit to the Kenyons. We share our home, our own kids, our chickens and our cats, our garden, our membership at the Community Center swimming pool – and our love.

Kim and I are not experts. We have been through many hours of training for this assignment and are required to complete ongoing training. We also attend a monthly gathering with fellow respite care providers led by our fearless leader, Buddy-with-the-Boston-accent. Mostly we just know how to open our homes to kids who don't have one.

At three, Billy lost his father in an accident. He never knew his bio-mother who was just a passing interest on the part of his dad. From infancy, he's been raised by his devoted grandparents, who at their advanced age cannot keep up with his special educational and emotional needs. The regular respite care we and others provide helps keep Billy at home with them. Their greatest concern is whether they will live long enough to make sure he reaches adulthood intact.

Jana, who doesn't remember her parents either, has been in many foster and group homes since the age of four. Yvonne hurts herself trying to deal with the pains and anger inside. Bob passed through our lives on his way back to a mother he had mixed feelings about. We watched Dana's world fall apart and felt her anger at a mother she clings to even as she knows her mother struggles to love her.

They come in all ages until they age out of the system at 18. The kids I've described are between 8 and 14, often emotionally and academically three or so years behind their peers. The majority are white, though other races are represented. We pray for these kids, whether or not we see them again. And we turn our worries about their futures into prayers that God will somehow give them a miracle – a successful entry into adulthood.

Friends ask if any of these kids can be adopted. As a society we put limits on what the state can force parents to do. And separation from biological parents, even abusive ones, is trauma that experts are only beginning to fathom. Even though these may be lovable kids, loving them full time is a stretch for most families. So much pain has been poured into these kids, it takes a village to raise them and love all that junk out of them through therapy, education, medical care, and just plain wholesome family warmth. Obviously stability is a priority concern and as respite foster parents we can help maintain that stability by being an occasional oasis.

Commonly as these kids pass through our home, we say to each other, "Maybe we should keep this one." They've been separated from their real mom (where are the dads?) or they're having to be transitioned out of their foster family. But we know our mission for each of these kids is to be the respite foster parents whom they visit monthly or occasionally or for a week in the summer or maybe even just once. We take them swimming, play board games with them, shoot some hoops in our driveway, let them feed the chickens and pet the cats, eat our food and talk with us. We let them experience "normal" for just a few, short hours and pray they'll come to know the Father's love that will never fail them.

Since our program started a year ago, Buddy reports that respite care nights per month have shot up to over 100. We are among a small but growing number of respite foster parents, a mere handful for a metro area of a million, and more are desperately needed. If you or someone you know in the Portland area can get involved in either the fulltime Therapeutic or the Crisis Respite programs, call Buddy Cushman or Roxy Wendland at 503-736-6699 and tell them Howard & Kim sent you. And Roxy would love to come speak at your church's mission groups, small groups, or community organizations. After years of being Mom to such kids, does she ever have a story to tell that will crush your heart!

Listening to Perkins Ramble

Listening to Perkins ramble is like sitting under a cool waterfall on a blistering hot day. I'd heard of John M. Perkins for years, read his Let Justice Roll Down ages ago, but had never heard him in person until recently. Just shy of being 80, he has led a long life as a Believer and a Civil Rights Activist.

Representing the Oregon Center for Christian Values, I attended a forum sponsored by Multnomah University's "New Wine, New Wineskins" where Perkins was one of the featured guests. The topic was something along the lines of justice and microenterprise, two concerns of great interest to me. But I was really there just to listen to Perkins.

"The American church has lost its prophetic witness," he started as if winding up a baseball pitch on a muggy Mississippi day. "We who are people of Christian faith are so fragmented. The world has wrapped us up into little ideological bundles. So many pieces cannot make a collective witness." Moreover, he added, there is a lot of bad ideology going around and the bad ideology consolidates hate. With this bad ideology, you don't have to hate an individual, just have to hate a group.

Perkins is glad we are starting to welcome justice back into the church. That's what Jesus intended, that the church become a catalyst by which he could speak through them, and in Perkins' understanding that is what is the meaning of the signs and wonders that shall follow them. I think about the signs in speaking truth, love and justice to the powers of this world, the wonders of seeing people freed from political, economic, cultural, relational and spiritual bondage.

I watch Perkins slowly shift back and forth in his seat, less uncomfortable with the chair than stirred by inner thoughts and passions. The issue of justice is at once collective and individual. He quotes Booker T. Washington who said, "Let your bucket down wherever you find yourself." But if anything his sense of justice is deeply rooted in his faith and in the Word, not in mere pragmatism or secular theory.

Perkins' voice begins to rise in volume. He's sitting down and he's no longer young, but the preacher is oozing out in him. "Kadesh-barnea," he says. The way he carefully pronounces the place name "Kadesh-barnea," it is as if he is handling an ancient artifact, a priceless family heirloom.

"Kadesh-barnea." He may be addressing a room full of preachers and professors, but he's really talking to no one in particular, only intoning a name that conjures meaning and context for him – and he assumes for his listeners. He continues. God equipped the people over about a two year period to prepare them to go into the Promised Land and they got to Kadesh-barnea. "The greatest failure in the Bible…" His voice trails off as if images were projecting before his eyes, mesmorizing him into silence, as if that failure were being played out again in that conference room. You can see a generation of Israelites dying off right there on that hotel carpet.

"Don't receive God's Grace in vain."

"They came back the second time [to Kadesh-barnea]. We [I assume he means America or the Church today] have failed like the nation of Israel has failed. We are at Kadesh-barnea the second time. God is molding a new group of people – a post-racist group of people." You sense that there is a lot of meaning and depth between each period and the start of the next sentence.

Suddenly Perkins jabs with his verbal right hook. "The poor white cracker has nothing but his meth and sex. No Jesse Jackson. No Al Sharpton. He doesn't even have the Pentecostal Church because it has gotten rich."

Eventually he winds down and the next (young, Caucasian) panelist speaks more succinctly. Has good things to say. The conversation opens into Q&A. Humble thinkers and doers rise to raise a point or pose a question. Some of the Puppies (Pompous Upwardly Pushing Professionals) speak out as well.

"Justice is a stewardship issue … an economic issue." I don't recall the question that gets Perkins rolling again. God called mankind to subdue the earth. Jesus. Luke 4:18-19. Good news to the poor. Like reading from Cliff notes, Perkins reels off Scriptural high points. "Matthew 25 – did we do it?" He's referring to the sheep and the goats. The Old Testament Jubilee set the poor free. That's the wholistic approach. Jesus came proclaiming healing and salvation.

Perkins responds to a question from a participant who has noted two streams of thought in Perkin's reflections: poverty eradication and evangelism. The man wants to address the former for a moment, but Perkins doesn't let him go there. "This reflects a dichotomy. That's a theological misuse." You can't separate them.

There's another theme that runs through much of Perkins life and writings. Community. "We need to decide how high we want to go on the economic ladder." We need to create community and not worry about going up the ladder. His focus is on how we treat others when he says we are to pay people a living wage and not a minimum wage and my mind goes to so many people who live in my area who cannot keep body, soul and family together on minimum wage. I know I can't.

"We can't leave mad capitalism mad – it's drunk!" He verbally punches the air with that last word. This former share cropper is no socialist. "Capitalism is the best production method in the world. But it needs help. Without checks and balances, our system is getting drunk. Legislators are becoming lobbyists and inside traders."

His concern is not just about politics. He's speaking to a room full of pastors, professors and non-profit heads. He's afraid of the way we raise money these days, that we might have shut off the prophetic voice. You can't raise money and then speak truth to those who gave you that money. You have to see that your source is God.

We (meaning humanity) have always suffered from greed. But now that suffering from greed that has led to addiction. What's the solution? It's back to values. Life is not in what you possess, but is in people.

The theme of the conference is on owning the pond together. Perkins retells the familiar line. "Give people a fish and you'll feed them for a day. Teach people how to fish and you'll feed them for a lifetime.

"It's a lie!" His tone has punched the air again, drawn blood. "Who eats the fish depends on who owns the pond." The Church has to come up with collective action, has to teach the people and help them get control of some of the resources. Otherwise this poverty will turn people into terrorists if we don't do something about it. The terrorists now are those who are rich and disillusioned with their parents. He's alluding to the Detroit terrorist from Nigeria who had planned to blow up that passenger plane. The next wave, he says, will be those who feel trapped and no way out, who, I assume he means, can't get near the water to stick in their fishing pole. I understand in some small way. I know what it is like to hunt for work and not find it, to be in depression and unable to hold down a job that could cover the cost of raising a family. "The pond has a fence around it."

He returns to his thoughts about community. The solution is in community. The modern church is so weak because it is a commuter church with no place. It is a place, alright, a place of worship, not of community. The ideal is to plant churches with a parish concept. We live in community in parish. But we today do not live in community. We are commuters who live as individuals.

Perkins is winding down this two-hour session, the first in a weekend of conference. Later the same day he will address a multiracial reconciliation service as Portland attempts to find healing after several fatal shootings by police, including the one most recently of a mentally disturbed and unarmed man.

"I'm not talking about the church conquering the secular world," he concludes. "We should live at peace with all people. Becoming the prophetic voice to society."

The road to a comprehensive bill – Part II

2010.04.15

This coming Monday, April 19, we convene for the first stuffing at the Oregon Liquor Control Commission (OLCC) in Milwaukie (OR). We need 30 volunteers to be at 9079 SE McLoughlin Blvd. Portland, OR from 10 am until noon. A press conference with State Representative Bruce Barton is scheduled for 10:30 am. If you cannot attend, we ask you to lift up this time in prayer.

This event is one small, but critical step in raising awareness of our goal to end human trafficking in Oregon. How achievable that goal is we haven't stopped to ask. We simply work toward total abolition because not one human being, created by God, should be treated like property. Freeing these modern slaves will take all kinds of endeavors, including rescue and long-term recovery, and ending the economic, legal and social conditions that breed enslavement, trafficking, and slave marketing.

In regards to fighting human trafficking, our role in the Oregon Center for Christian Values (OCCV) is to advocate for changes in state law. These changes are needed in order to provide sentencing, prosecution and treatment of perpetrators; close legal loopholes; treat the slaves as victims instead of victimizing them all over again; provide needed funding to make all this happen; and make slavery in Oregon totally unprofitable and undesirable.

We achieved a significant step this past February when the state legislature passed HB3623, requiring "the Oregon Liquor Control Commission to include informational materials regarding human trafficking with certain license renewal notices, if materials are supplied by nonprofit organization." Funds have come in for the materials and the Polaris Project already sponsors the hotline (1-888-373-7888).

Four times a year, the OLCC sends out license renewal notices to a fourth of the 11,000 businesses in the state that sell alcohol. We will be stuffing an informative cover letter and a sticker with the national human trafficking hotline number in each of those envelopes, this time about 2,500.

By passing this highly symbolic bill unanimously, the 2010 legislative session has set the stage for a bipartisan and much more comprehensive bill in the 2011 session. Between now and next January, three important processes will be underway. One is the preparation of comprehensive legislation, a task which has already begun. Two is the distribution of these hotline stickers to 11,000 businesses throughout the state which starts with Monday's stuffing. And three is the education of the state's population to this crying need, the press conference on Monday being a key step in that direction.

So please pray with us for the following:

1. That we will have an abundance of volunteers (30+) at each of the four "stuffings" in the coming year.
   
2. That all 11,000 businesses will post these stickers in prominent places (the mailing is required, the posting is voluntary).
   
3. That the Christians of this state will galvanize behind this important cause and work with us to raise awareness of the plight of thousands of those among us trapped in human slavery and trafficking.
   
4. That starting with Monday's press conference, our efforts will capture of the attention of the media, officials, and the residents of this state so we can generate strong awareness of the plight of trafficked and enslaved victims.
   
5. That the OCCV's human trafficking advisory committee will find 10 point leaders from 10 different congregations and 10 point persons for each leader willing to be trained over the coming months for advocating for this legislation next year.
   
6. That we will see the needed groundswell develop between now and January 1 to make comprehensive human trafficking legislation and funding (what we call a "Cadillac" bill) top priority in the 2011 session.
   
7. That 100 people will commit to praying for these priorities from now until the legislation is passed into law next spring.
   

This last point, finding 100 people to commit to prayer, is my personal request. Regardless of where you live in this wide world, if you want to join that prayer effort and be notified of developments as they happen, write me at howard@hnkconnect.com. I'll make sure the OCCV office puts your name and email address on our human trafficking mailing list and I'll personally notify you whenever specific prayer is needed.

The road to a comprehensive bill – Part I

2010.04.08

What can compare with the misery of those going through hell on earth as modern slaves, trafficked victims, whether 12 year old kids sold for sex or adults trapped in forced labor? But I have a sense of great hope. There is a building momentum in Oregon at this very moment over ending human trafficking in our state.

Oregon got its first law defining human trafficking as a crime on the books in 2007. In '09, the State Legislature passed a bill granting confidentiality to victims in shelter. This year they unanimously passed a Polaris Project hotline-posting bill that is moving ahead with an army of volunteers and the full cooperation of the Oregon Liquor Commission Control (OLCC). The bill was a "heat and light" generating act that is already proving its worth. Meanwhile, our own state's U.S. Senator, Ron Wyden, has been leading the push for much needed Federal funding for victim shelters.

Deputy Keith Bickford of the Oregon Task Force has been a tireless advocate in moving us as a state forward on this issue. Multnomah County, thanks to the leadership of Commissioner Diane McKeel, is developing a "John school." Local agencies and various nonprofits such as "Door to Grace" are gearing up for rescue and recovery operations. The Oregon Anti-Crime Alliance is pulling together much needed hard data on the whole trafficking picture. And other groups such as Oregonians Against Trafficking Humans are streaming out a nonstop education campaign.

Now key players are beginning a bipartisan push to pass a much more comprehensive and desperately needed bill in the 2011 state legislative session. The legislative effort is already advancing on multiple fronts.

1. We are working with Legislative Aide James Barta of State Representative Brent Barton's office to line up a major press event and "stuffing brigade" as volunteers convene to assist the Oregon Liquor Control Commission in placing hotline stickers in 2,500 license renewal packets. The first of four such "stuffings" scheduled for the next twelve months will occur sometime in the week of April 19.
   

   
    

2. The first Human Trafficking Legislative Planning Meeting was convened March 24 at the Northwest Health Foundation. The meeting, convened by Stephanie Mathis, Executive Director of the Oregon Center for Christian Values (OCCV), included 15 government and nonprofit sector personnel. The group laid out plans to introduce comprehensive legislation in time for the 2011 Oregon Legislative session. This bipartisan group included legislative aides to three state representatives (Carolyn Tomei, Jefferson Smith and Brent Barton) and one state senator (Bruce Starr).
   

   
    

   Drew Olson of Commissioner McKeel's office pointed out that Washington State passed a bill the week prior, spearheaded by Shared Hope International, that 1) creates mandatory diversion for first time offenders, 2) allows for exploited children to be detained for up to 15 days without charging them (and treats them as victims), 3) increases sentencing and fines for Johns and Pimps; 4) impounds the cars of offenders with a $2,500 charge to get the vehicles back; 5) provides for such revenue to go for shelter and recovery for victims; 6) disallows offenders to claim they did not know the victim was underage; and 7) requires law enforcement to come up with a model and training before January 2011.
   

   
    

   It was agreed that, while one thing this new law leaves out is money for the D.A.s, all this is much better than anything we have in Oregon. California is working on a ballot initiative that will include money for D.A.s. The money factor for these initiatives is important and is the primary concern in whether comprehensive legislation can pass in Oregon next year.
   

   
    

   This group will work together over the coming months to prepare the comprehensive legislation, giving priority consideration to meeting or exceeding the level of enforcement and service provided in California and Washington, our neighboring states.
   

   
    

3. Meanwhile, the leadership of OCCV's Human Trafficking Advisory Committee is gearing up on the grassroots level for an intense advocacy push. Bryan Colbourne of Salem, Stacy Bellavia of Portland, and I met this past Monday to tool out plans for the coming year to present to OCCV's Executive Committee for approval. Plans include recruiting ten point leaders from local congregations who will in turn recruit ten point persons each. The HT Committee will provide the training and logistical coordination to prepare these point persons for advocacy work with the advent of the legislative season next January. We anticipate we'll have our kickoff training session for the point leaders on Monday, June 7.
   

It is no exaggeration to say that lives are at stake. Scripture is adamant that we as Believers have an obligation to rescue those in bondage among us. Reminding the Israelites that God had redeemed them from slavery, Moses commanded the people, "Do not deprive the alien or the fatherless of justice, or take the cloak of the widow as a pledge." (Deut. 24:17) Doing justice, according to Jeremiah (21:12), means rescuing "from the hand of his oppressor the one who has been robbed," in this case rescuing those who have been robbed of their humanity, their dignity and so much more.

Anyone having questions, needing information or wanting to help can contact the OCCV office at info@occv.org or call 503-222-2072.

Why I believe in Social Justice – Part III

[If you missed Part I or Part II…]

I think I understand where Glenn Beck and others are coming from who don't like the term "social justice" and who think that churches and websites (like mine) that mention this term are (perhaps unknowing) foils for Communism and Socialism. In their minds, I am guessing, social justice speaks of radical restructuring of society and the Big Brother type of government that freedom-loving people everywhere abhor. On top of the usual suspicion of government, the current economic times engender a pervasive edginess among everyone, even Believers who talk about the Rock of Ages being their "cleft." Seriously.

For me the question is not, Who is the enemy (as in big government or Communism)? It is not which party to join or what cause to fight. It is not even trying to figure out which catch phrases and sound bites should be treated with suspicion.

The questions that need to be asked, the concerns we need to be concerned about, have all to do with what the Word says, regardless of what someone else is saying. And as I've written before, the concept of "justice" is a very, very good one, being one of the most pervasive in the Bible.

Buried in the heart of a Mosaic passage about good governance is this gem of a verse: "Follow justice and justice alone, so that you may live and possess the land the LORD your God is giving you." (Deuteronomy 16:20) Look all around that verse and what you see is a mix of instructions about properly structuring worship (religion) and government (politics). They go hand in hand more than we sometimes care to admit, for the expression of God's rule in our lives is as much about how we relate to each other as it is how we relate to God. Thus, Jesus says, the two greatest commandments are to "love God with your whole being" and to "love your neighbor as much as you love yourself." (Matthew 22:37-40; Deuteronomy 6:5; Leviticus 19:18).

Loving one's neighbor as much as one's self is all about relating to parents, children, siblings and friends. It is also all about how nations get along and how people get along within nations. Justice is part and parcel to how we express our love toward God and toward each other. Let me explain.

Many languages have word couplets. Chinese has a zillion of them. English has its share as well. Like "sound and fury" – each word has meaning; put them together with the "and" in the middle and the two-for-one phrase as a whole takes on a special meaning of its own. As with English and Chinese, Hebrew has its share of these coupled terms, what is called by techies a parallelism. One of the most striking in the Scriptures is "Justice and Righteousness" (sometimes written in the reverse).

I don't want to get too technical here because the goal is not to impress you (or to embarrass myself). So let me state it simply. The words we translate "justice" and "righteousness" are really a two-for-one that defines our understanding of God's justice, which is, by the way, central to God's vision for all that He created and called good. The word we usually translate as "righteousness" has at its root the meaning for norm or standard, in other words, "what is right". Makes sense, doesn't it? So you could say righteousness is what God intends for us. The word we usually translate as "justice" means governing or judging and has to do with judicial or governing activity at every level – or the actual act of doing righteousness or doing right. When you see justice in light of these two words coupled together, what you get is the idea that God's justice is all about putting things right according to God's way.

So, as Stephanie Mathis says, "Justice is love in action." For God is love (can't get more basic than that with God), and God's way (righteousness) of expressing that love is doing justice, or making sure that God's righteousness gets carried out properly. So justice is God's expression of love towards us.

Now I have a feeling that so far we have everyone on the same train, Beckies and anti-Beckies alike. So where does the train tend to get derailed? We'll save it for next week. [Tune in next Tuesday to "Part IV" at my "Ethics for the 21^st Century" blog or find me on Facebook.]

Meanwhile, in all soberness and thanksgiving, let's all commemorate our Lord's death and resurrection this weekend by pondering what it means to give due honor in our nation and world to what our Lord has done in bringing God's justice to earth just "as it is in heaven."

[Thanks to two great resources that anyone can check out: Kingdom Ethics: Following Jesus in Contemporary Context by Glen H. Stassen and David P. Gushee (IVP, 2003) and Old Testament Ethics for the People of God by Christopher J. H. Wright
(IVP, 2004).]

To be continued…

Evaluating our State Legislators - Part II

A reader's comment earlier today provides the perfect segway to this week's posting:

"I agree--we do have a duty to evaluate our leaders and ensure they are accountable.… With the increasing complexity of lawmaking and politics, finding time to do a thorough evaluation that gains a fair understanding of what is really going on is next to impossible."

You're right, Brian, it can be a daunting task, which is why so few people even start or, if they do, they rely on sound bites and dubious cheat sheets (political parties or PACs being the most dubious). So let's take this one step at a time. As I said last post, we are not in this process alone.

No one evaluates legislative decisions with a blank slate. To make any assessment, you have to have some a priori foundation or point of view from which you begin. For example, a state-level advocacy organization such as the Oregon Center for Christian Values (OCCV) has already narrowed its task considerably to only legislation at the state and local level in Oregon.

Furthermore, OCCV is a Christian organization. Whatever does that mean? (I say that emphatically because Christian as a defining term these days defines very little.) But at least it serves as a starting point.

The challenge before us is to make certain we choose the right reference points to help us. Some people rely on particular columnists or TV personalities or even religious publications to do the work for them, but while we can rely somewhat on others, we have to know where they are coming from. Proven Christian scholars (whether biblical, ethical, or public policy experts) can be helpful. Determining where these reference points line up on the usual left-right political spectrum is not the way to start, however, for the political spectrum itself has to be evaluated and it is an unreliable reference when it comes to Christian concerns.

For all of these references and experts, the questions that must be asked (always) are: 1) What are the criteria by which they make their assessments? And, How do their criteria line up with what I believe is right?

As an ethicist I like to say that "Ethics is living out what you believe." The writer of James puts it this way: "I will show you my faith by what I do." (James 2:18) In other words, how we live and act springs from what we hold to be true in life. We cannot really live differently than we believe. We may say we believe something, but if we act differently, we don't really believe it.

So ethics, whether personal in action or public in policy, has to be grounded in a belief system. For me as a Christian, that belief system has a triple foundation: the Christian Scriptures (the Bible), the Community of Faith (the Church), and the Holy Spirit – all (hopefully) working in tandem. I doubt the Holy Spirit can make a mistake, though I can misunderstand what the Spirit is saying to me. And the same is true for the Bible, which I take (by faith) to be a reliable authority as long as I interpret it correctly (2 Timothy 2:15). The Community of Faith, well, that is trickier, but I do believe that at some level the Spirit speaks through God's people, and I consider OCCV in that category (meaning "community of faith" and "God's people").

All this is very basic, no doubt too basic for you, Brian, but as I have a mixed audience, I want to make sure everyone stays on the same page. So, to use a phrase from the OCCV's vision statement, we will work on these state and local issues as "Christian citizens" who are "rooted in the word". I'll capitalize Word, if you don't mind, so that our readers know we are talking about the specific written Word of God, as opposed to scriptures or texts from other religious or non-religious traditions.

But what does what the Bible say about issues from thousands of years ago have to do with whether Oregon bans plastic bags in grocery stores or provides health care for foster kids who age out of the system at 18 but are in legal limbo until they are 21? In The Scandal of Evangelical Politics (2008), Ron Sider states, "Every political decision should be grounded in fundamental beliefs about morality and the nature of persons."
Every political decision, which certainly includes decisions about shopping bags and health care for aging-out foster kids.

He adds, on the same page (41), that Christians "derive their normative vision from biblical revelation." We're not talking about proof-texting here or relying only on key justice or pro-life passages. For Sider, a biblical view of the world as a whole and persons specifically comes from the whole biblical story. He talks about "Biblical Paradigms", which are "comprehensive summaries of biblical teaching related to many concrete issues." And we apply these biblical paradigms and use particular Scriptural cases to illustrate a general principle, basically the same process a good sermon uses.

Now, fortunately, we don't have to go through this every time a legislative bill comes up as these paradigms apply to a broad range of issues. But we do want to start with these paradigms, making sure that we actually do base our actions and decisions on the Bible.

We'll pick this up again next week...

Evaluating our State Legislators - Part I

The Oregon State Special Legislative Session ends today. As the session winds down, various media spokespersons, experts, and citizen groups will be discussing the merits of the legislators' work. But I wonder how I as a Believer in Jesus Christ am to evaluate their month of concerted effort on behalf of Oregonians.

The intention of the legislators to go home early has been hampered by some minor controversy over a plan to make these sessions an annual affair. Constitutionally they are to convene every other year, but can if need be also meet in the off-year, which they have done regularly in the immediate past. In a time when significant events such as our current Great Recession can impact so many lives so suddenly, a more regular if not full-time presence of the Legislature makes sense. But what they do with those sessions is another matter, one that cannot so easily be written into the State Constitution or evaluated in media sound bites.

From a Christian perspective, the role of government is at minimum found in the words of the Apostle Paul in Romans 13:1-7. Our authorities, which certainly include our 30 State Senators and 60 State Representatives, have been established by God, according to Paul, to do us good, which includes but is not limited to making sure that wrongdoers are properly punished. For this reason we pay them our taxes and revenue, Paul says, as well our honor. One could proof text from verse 6 that they are be working full time, but be that as it may, they are, whether they know it or not, God's servants, for "there is no authority except that which God has established."

Obviously these 90 public servants are but one segment of the civic authorities in our lives, but how are we -- and they -- to account for the past month? How have they done as far as doing us good?

In recent weeks I have been working on an assignment for the Oregon Center for Christian Values (OCCV), helping to delineate the theological foundations for their advocacy work on the state and local level. The Scriptures do have much to say about good governance and the role of Believers in helping to shape that good governance. Paul's brief admonitions in Romans 13 are but the tip of the biblical "iceberg."

Ron Sider, in The Scandal of Evangelical Political Engagement (2008), writes that "Evangelical pronouncements on the role of government are often contradictory" and he calls for a commonly embraced, biblically grounded framework for doing politics." He proceeds to articulate in the erudite fashion we have come to expect from him how that framework should proceed. In so doing, he delineates how "every careful political decision requires four different yet interrelated components of a normative framework, a broad study of society and the world, a political philosophy, and a detailed social analysis on specific issues."

OCCV has already determined what it believes to be a political philosophy founded on the Scriptures and out of that has given much focus and effort to three specific bills in this legislative session which it believes fulfill Paul's teachings concerning "doing us good." Two of these bills it has endorsed and testified concerning: HB 3623 and HB 3664. On a third, HB 3703, it has given careful consideration. These three bills concern themselves with public safety and public health, specifically fighting human trafficking, promoting the welfare of children in the care of the state, and providing food safety for small children. For more information on OCCV's positions on these issues, you are welcome to go to www.occv.org.

On each of these bills, OCCV followed its usual pattern of careful research and analysis, evaluation, and effective advocacy, all with its political philosophy clearly in focus. That focus is threefold:

1. Our vision for Oregon is rooted in the Word and its understanding of Christ's vision for humanity.
   
2. We as a community of faith are called to shape public policy for the common good.
   
3. We shape public policy by advocating for biblical justice at a structural level in society.
   

OCCV's concerted efforts had a significant impact on getting HB 3623 and HB 3664 passed, which it determined according to this vision statement clearly warranted such an endeavor of faith.

But what of all the other bills that the State Legislature has wrestled with? What of the bills it has passed into law or rejected? How do these laws and actions line up with the biblical mandate to do us good?

As an individual citizen, I am to do my civic (and biblical) duty in closely examining and evaluating the work of the Legislature. As a Believer, I am to do so according to the Word and its mandate that government is instituted by God to serve the common good. In fulfilling these obligations, I pay due honor to my authorities. Fortunately, I don't have to do this work alone, for I am part of a great Community of Faith with which I can fulfill my supreme obligations to my God and to my neighbors (Luke 10:27).

To be continued...

HB3623 – On to the State Senate

The human trafficking hotline bill passed the Oregon State House unanimously last week as reported in the OCCV news release that follows. This past Tuesday I picked up my son, Stephen, from college and we drove once again to the state capital in Salem where I presented testimony on behalf of OCCV to the Senate Human Services Committee. After hearing several testimonies – including from the legislative sponsors, and two people who have been spearheading this fight against human trafficking in Oregon, Sherriff Deputy Keith Bickford and County Commissioner Diane McKeel – the Committee unanimously passed the bill.

Stephen and I then helped Stephanie Mathis, the OCCV Executive Director, visit every one of the 30 State Senators' offices and ask them to vote for the bill when it comes to the Senate Floor later this session. Stephen and I dropped in on to see our own legislators, Senator Mark Hass and Representative Tobias Read, and their great Aides Ryan and Eva. I also introduced Stephen to Legislative Aide James Barta. James works with Representative Brent Barton, one of the chief sponsors for HB 3623. James and Stephen both have something in common, as James was previously a high school math teacher, a career to which Stephen aspires.

Hopefully, the bill will come up for a vote on the Senate Floor sometime today or tomorrow, but for sure before this brief session ends later next week. We are hoping for another unanimous vote, believing that this bill can serve as "heat and light" for an issue in our state that demands even far greater attention from the legislators in next year's full session.

Most people have no idea human trafficking is a significant issue in our own state. Human Trafficking was written into the state's law books only as recently as 2007. Last year, the State Legislature passed SB 839 which among other things granted "confidentiality status" to victims of human trafficking. This year it is HB 3623 which promotes a human trafficking hotline number and sticker through the Oregon Liquor Licensing Control Commission's license renewal mailings to 12,000 retail centers. Next year we are praying for legislation to be passed that will be much more comprehensive.

What more needs to be done? Human Trafficking is on the law books, but are there any teeth to the law? What kind of sentencing provisions are provided, if any? What can we learn from New York's Safe Harbor Act and similar laws in California? What can we learn from the example of how Dallas, Texas, treats victims as victims and goes after the pimps and traffickers as well as the johns? Laws need funding to function, a point New York's Safe Harbor Act has made painfully clear.

In our own state, Bickford, McKeel and others are leading the way in changing the way human trafficking is understood and dealt with, particularly in Multnomah County. But with the I-5 and I-84 corridors, HT is a statewide problem. And it is not just a concern of rescue and recovery, but finding ways to shut the door on the entry end of human trafficking. Most crucially, human trafficking is all about supply and demand. Cut off the demand, make human trafficking unprofitable and painful even to the perpetrators and the supply will dry up.

Already plans are being laid to work toward the 2011 legislative session as soon as this session closes next week. There is a whole year to get ready. Unfortunately, for those enslaved or about to be, a year is a long time to waste in the life of even one victim.

For now, we are grateful for all who are helping HB 3623 become law. If you are a resident of Oregon, please contact your State Senator and urge her or him to make it a unanimous vote in the next few days. Send a message that Oregon cares about all of its citizens, even the "least of these" among us (Matthew 25:45).

***

Two other bills in this legislative session are also of concern. HB 3703 bans the use of Bisphenol A, a ubiquitous toxic chemical, which disproportionally affects the most vulnerable among us, namely our children. Since the 1960s, BPA has been used to make hard plastic polycarbonate bottles, like Nalgene, sippy cups for toddlers, and the linings of food and beverage cans, including the cans used to hold infant formula and soda. HB 3703 basically bans BPA from being used in containers intended primarily for consumption by children under three years of age. The bill is currently in the House Rules Committee, where Dr. Andy Harris has presented written testimony on behalf of OCCV in support of this bill.

HB 3664 is a bill that would extend health care benefits to foster children who age out of foster care, but who have not yet reached age 21. I wrote a member of the Ways and Means Committee this morning: "As an individual voter, I am very much in favor of our state extending health care to foster children who have aged out of foster care until they reach age 21.  I believe that we as a State have a responsibility to these children to help them achieve full adulthood.  As the father of four children ages 14 to 21, I well understand that none of them are ready to be on their own by age 18.  As a Christian, I believe that we as a society have a responsibility to care for the fatherless and orphans.  As a citizen, I am concerned that when we do not fulfill our responsibility towards the weak and the vulnerable, we pass on one generation's injustices to the next and we as a society pay for these injustices one way or another.  In that an ounce of prevention is always cheaper than a pound of cure, I urge Representative Barker to vote for HB 3664 extending health care to age 21 for foster children who have aged out of foster care."

***

OCCV News Release:

Human Trafficking Bill Unanimously Passes House and Senate Human Services Committee

The Oregon Center for Christian Values mobilizes advocates to support State Anti-trafficking bill.

The Oregon State House and Senate Human Services Committee unanimously passed HB 3623 which allows the Oregon Liquor Control Commission (OLCC) to include informational stickers with the National Trafficking Hotline Number to all 11,000 licensees across the state.

The estimated average age for a victim's first encounter with forced prostitution is thirteen. Because of the I-5 corridor, Oregon has become a hub for traffickers moving victims along the West Coast.

The bill's sponsors, Representatives Barton and Smith, praised the help of Multnomah County Commissioner Diane McKeel who launched the anti-trafficking campaign, the Polaris Project, which sponsors the hotline, Representative Tim Freeman (R-Roseburg), and the Oregon Center for Christian Values (OCCV). "This bill is a small first step to begin the fight against this problem," said Representative Smith on passage of the bill.

A months-long anti-trafficking advocacy effort by OCCV culminated last week with a hearing before the House Human Services Committee. At the hearing, Stacy Bellavia, member of OCCV's Human Trafficking Advisory Committee, presented testimony and introduced more than 20 OCCV members and friends from other organizations in attendance. These volunteer advocates then fanned out to visit the offices of all 90 of Oregon's state legislators, urging them to vote for the bill that could save trafficking victim's lives.

OCCV returned to the Capitol to testify before the Senate Human Services Committee with local anti-trafficking advocates and governmental officials. Senate Committee member, Senator Winters profoundly noted that trafficking is another word for modern day slavery.

"I have a lot of passion for justice," said Amy McDonald, one of four George Fox University students in the OCCV delegation. "Being able to go to the capitol and shake hands with people who have a direct impact on making changes in the vein of what I'm passionate about is incredibly encouraging to be a part of."

"It was so powerful when we all stood up in the hearing to show our support for the bill," said Lexie Woodward, Not for Sale's Co-Director of Oregon. "I feel there was and is a direct link between our organizations and the Capitol.  I feel very encouraged by this and that my input was and will be heard." 

OCCV's Human Trafficking Advisory Committee has served as a legislative facilitator for a host of other groups fighting human trafficking. This organizational network will coordinate efforts to recruit volunteers to help with the first mailing of the hotline stickers later this spring.

"While some bills are solutions in search of a problem," said Representative Barton, "this bill will save the life of at least one girl who would otherwise become the victim of human trafficking."

 

 

 

 

HB3623 – Before the Committee

There we were outside of the House Human Services Committee hearing room, praying together that God would bless our efforts that day on behalf of thousands of human trafficking victims in our state. We filled about a third of the room as James Barta and Stacy Bellavia testified briefly and then asked all of us with OCCV to stand.

James is the very capable Legislative Aide to Representative Brent Barton, who is sponsoring HB 3623, the "HT Hotline" bill we are advocating. Stacy, who served for two years in India with the International Justice Mission (IJM) and now works for the DHS hotline, is a very active member of our Human Trafficking Committee.

Only one member of the committee had a question, a good one, in fact, asking if the Department of Agriculture could become involved. The bill authorizes that hotline stickers be sent to all businesses authorized to sell alcohol (posting them is optional), but the agricultural department can help with gas stations and truck stops. Already the state's rest stops are being covered.

In all we had 22 in our number, filling a third of the hearing room and looking very impressive, especially when we all stood. All were there in response to our appeal from the Oregon Center for Christian Values, several representing other organizations also fighting HT, including OATH, Door to Grace, Not for Sale, along with some students from the IJM chapter at George Fox University.

After the hearing we connected with Representative Barton as well as Representative Jefferson Smith, the other avid sponsor of this bill, and then fanned out to visit every single office of Oregon's 90 State Senators and Representatives. I went to visit my own Senator Mark Hass and Representative Tobias Read, and also dropped in on the office of Representative Jeff Barker, the other representative sharing Senator Hass' district.

We'll keep close track of this bill as it winds its way through the Assembly and on to the Senate in the next few days. Meanwhile we are gearing up for making this bill effective once it is passed. There is no opposition to the bill. At most, some legislators are not familiar with the issue. The greater concern we have is that while this is a legislative bill, it depends entirely on private funds and the work of volunteers to implement.

In the next few months we trust we can find printers willing to donate their time and effort and individuals willing to fund the printing of 11,000 hotline stickers (Polaris Project, which runs the hotline, provides the initial batch of stickers). We already have lots of interest from friends wanting to volunteer to stuff the envelopes at the OLCC. ("What did you do over spring break?" "Oh, I worked at the Oregon Liquor Control Commission!") The first of four annual mailings gets prepared in April. Meanwhile over this next year, we will talk with businesses who sell alcohol to make sure they are posting the sticker.

The sticker itself is currently being designed, with input from Polaris Project, Representative Barton's office and Stephanie Mathis, OCCV's Executive Director. The sticker is about the size of a dollar bill. Hopefully very soon, people will be noticing it showing up all over Oregon.

Oregon is affected by this problem more than most states. With our location on the I-5 corridor, Oregon has become a hub for the smugglers and pimps who are forcing these victims into prostitution and other forms of modern slavery and moving them north and south to cities all along the West Coast. If you want to read through more of our OCCV talking points, check the post from this past Tuesday for the link.

As I wrote my legislators, "As a Christian, I am keen to head the call of Psalm 82:3, which says, 'Defend the cause of the weak and fatherless; maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed.' Not all human trafficking victims start out poor, but they all end up that way and all are greatly oppressed with no way out, their minds and bodies raped for the financial and power gain of others. I am compelled as a Believer to do all I can to speak out for biblical justice and to set the oppressed free."

If you live in Oregon and want to help, write your state legislator today, or for more information contact us at info@occv.org. If you live outside of Oregon, find out how you can make a difference in the lives of the world's 27 million human trafficking victims. Let's commit ourselves to releasing the oppressed (Luke 4:18) and making this world HT-Free!

 

 

HB3623 - Preparing for Tomorrow's Rally at the Capital

There are many steps we have to take to make Oregon HT-Free. While HT (human trafficking) is very alive and all too well in our state, concerned citizens of all theological and political persuasions are coming together to fight this endemic problem on every level. While other organizations are working to develop much needed rescue and recovery operations, our own Oregon Center for Christian Values (OCCV) is leading the way in advocating with our state legislature.


 
Last Wednesday, January 27 our OCCV Human Trafficking Advisory Committee convened a meeting at George Fox Seminary here in Portland and invited Legislative Aide James Barta to speak to us about HB 3623 and the reasons Representative Brent Barton has chosen to sponsor this bill with Representative Jefferson Smith. Our own executive director, Stephanie Mathis then walked us through the advocacy process. Bryan Colbourne, who co-chairs the HT committee with me, MC'd the meeting.


 
The Oregon Legislature meets for only a short month during its off year. That brief session started this week. The hearing in the House Human Services committee is scheduled for tomorrow, Wednesday, February 3, in Hearing Room D at 8:00 am. Since we met last week, we have been getting the word out for everyone we know to come to that hearing. Stacy Bellavia will be testifying for OCCV on behalf of HB3623 if there is time, but at the least we hope to fill that hearing room to let our representatives know that we as citizens of Oregon are deeply concerned about this issue.


 
In the January 27 meeting, several key anti-HT entities were represented. These included Oregonians Against Trafficking Humans (OATH), Door to Grace, Women of Vision (World Vision), International Justice Mission (IJM), OAASIS (Oregon Abuse Advocates and Survivors in Service), local churches, George Fox Evangelical Seminary, and OCCV.


 
The next night I represented OCCV at the IJM chapter at George Fox University in Newberg, Oregon. This chapter, led by students Amy McDonald and my son, Stephen, is affiliated with IJM which fights trafficking on an international level. On state and local issues, the Fox chapter partners with OCCV. About 20 students and faculty attended as I shared with them about HB3623 and encouraged them to write their representatives. As a result of that meeting, Amy is bringing a carload of students to the state capital tomorrow.


 
Over the weekend, the OCCV board held its annual retreat. Among other matters, Bryan reported for our committee on the progress we have been making against human trafficking this past year, starting with SB 839 last spring, which passed in part because OCCV advocated on its behalf. That bill protects Oregon's youth by defining and including "Victims of Human Trafficking" as a person eligible for the Address Confidentiality Program. Senator Bruce Starr thanked OCCV, "We couldn't have done it without you! OCCV is a true representation of God's mercy and love and the positive impact we can have on our cities and state when we work for the good of his plan."


 
In this weekend's retreat, we also took a look at our task to develop OCCV's theological foundation, a project that I have been assigned to coordinate as a theological consultant for OCCV. Our organization has had several key successes in recent legislative sessions on issues dealing with health care and poverty as well as human trafficking. It was great meeting with the board to which I was elected only late in 2009. OCCV is a wonderful place for me to call home missionally, a place I can work with great people fulfilling God's vision in our society for the common good.


 
So now we are preparing for tomorrow's hearing, writing letters to each of our Assemblymen as well as to our State Senators and scheduling appointments with them. If the House Human Services Committee votes to send HB2623 to the Assembly, a vote by that larger body will likely come up by this coming weekend. Then it is on to the Senate where we pray it will also move quickly through committee there, and on to be passed by the Senate and then to the governor for signing.


 
HB3623 should pass because it requires no state funds - and who would be FOR human trafficking? But we need much heat and light to come out of this bill so that we can generate private funds to pay for the needed 10,000 hotline stickers and to generate concern for a more substantial bill next year.


 
What does HB3623 do besides plaster a Polaris Project human trafficking hotline number wherever alcohol is sold in this State? It begins to let the people of Oregon know that there are thousands , yes, thousands of victims in this state who are trafficked in prostitution and other forms of forced labor. And it tells people that we as concerned citizens want to end oppression in any form in Oregon. One step at a time we march toward making Oregon HT Free!


For OCCV's "Talking Points" on HB3623, see: http://www.occv.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/hb3623-talking-points.pdf

HB3623 - The Groundswell Begins

Last week Stacy Bellavia and I represented the Oregon Center for Christian Values (OCCV) at a hearing of the Human Services Committee of the Oregon State Legislature. The Committee was accepting testimony on HB3623, known as the "Trafficking Hotline Bill" in anticipation of the bill being introduced in the State Legislature's upcoming Special Session in February.

Stacy was able to present written testimony along with verbal testimony from Keith Bickford, head of the Oregonian Human Trafficking Task Force (OHTTF), and Multnomah County Commissioner Diane McKeel. They were introduced by the two sponsors of the bill, Representative Brent Barton and Representative Jefferson Smith.

The bill is likely to pass as there is little perceived opposition to it and no funding is attached, but OCCV and its Human Trafficking Advisory Committee that Bryan Colbourne and I co-chair are intent on generating a groundswell of support for this bill as we see it as a great opportunity to shed some high visibility on a problem that has gone unnoticed for far too long in our state.

At the hearing, Representative Carolyn Tomei, the Human Services Committee Chair, called HB 3623 "the first legislative step in Oregon's extended fight against sex and human trafficking." In actuality the bill really is just a first and partly symbolic step, as it is strictly voluntary and requires no funding, a key to getting it passed in this year of severe revenue shortage. What the bill does is to authorize the Polaris Project to distribute, through the Oregon Liquor Control Commission, stickers that carry Polaris' human trafficking hotline number along with a letter asking businesses to post the sticker in a prominent location. Over the course of this next year, the sticker will be mailed to almost all 10,000 alcohol license holders, with the cost of the sticker and the cover letter defrayed by Polaris and volunteer groups.

We want to shine as much light and heat on this bill as possible, hoping to make Oregonians aware of this severe problem in our own back yard. Moreover we hope to change the image of "prostitute" to that of "victim" and by doing so start to treat these individuals as people in need of rescuing and rehabilitating from their life of physical and emotional bondage. Oregon and especially Portland are on a major West Coast sex trafficking circuit and there are other forms of human trafficking in our state as well.

As was discussed at the hearing, we are intent on seeing much more legislation and coordinated effort unfold in the next several years. Such extended effort hopefully will include a future bill modeled after the New York Safe Harbor Act. Our own U.S. Senator Ron Wyden is introducing legislation at the Federal level (SB2925) to fund safe houses, which are critical to rescue and recovery operations. While OCCV does not do advocacy at the Federal level, we will be watching to see what we can support on the state and local level. At the same time, we want to focus on the front end of this trafficking problem, finding ways to stop the intake of victims through education, fighting poverty, and improving the state's foster care program. But all this is down the road at this moment.

Last night we had a meeting of our HT committee. With Stacy Bellavia (who formerly worked with the International Justice Mission in India), Wynne Wakkila, Executive Director for Oregonians Against Trafficking Humans (OATH), Jill Sherman of Women of Vision, and Shelea Molerstuen, we developed an advocacy plan for helping pass HB3623.

The next step is a meeting we are convening at the George Fox Evangelical Seminary (Portland Campus) on Wednesday, January 27, at 7:30 pm. Among the speakers will be James Barta, Legislative Aide to Representative Brent Barton, one of the bill's sponsors. We will also be explaining the legislative process, how advocacy works and what Biblical Justice is all about. Representatives from various organizations advocating against human trafficking as well as other groups, agencies and local churches will also be participating. Stephanie Mathis, OCCV's Executive Director, calls this meeting "a great opportunity to learn about and mobilize support for this important bill," to be introduced in the upcoming Special Legislative Session in February. 

We have had some great colleagues on this committee, including Jim and Paula Wesphal who are stepping down to establish the nonprofit "Door To Grace" with the goal of establishing a safe house for victims of sex trafficking. Wynne is our link with the OATH campaign which is the volunteer, public awareness, education and outreach branch of OHTTF. The OHTTF represents frontline law enforcement, federal, state, and local government agencies, investigating bodies and other organizations that are actively involved in combating human trafficking in our state of Oregon. Women of Vision (related to World Vision), represented by Jill Sherman, is also a key player in the fight against human trafficking.

These and many other organizations are working on many fronts to combat human trafficking in Oregon. Our organization, OCCV, which focuses on issues such as poverty, health care and creation care, is primarily an education and advocacy group. While other organizations will focus on tasks such as rescue and recovery for trafficking victims, OCCV's primary role is in advocating at the state and local level for changes in laws and for funding for improved public security, victim shelters and other resources to combat HT.

Not all of these organizations we work with are religious in nature, obviously, but they all have a commitment to do whatever can be done to stop a very sinister form of human slavery in our own midst. OCCV, which is a Christian organization, takes on this advocacy, education and coordination assignment with the clear sense that God has called us to this task of Biblical Justice. We heed the call of Psalm 82:3, which says, "Defend the cause of the weak and fatherless; maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed."

National Human Trafficking Awareness Day

Today is National Human Trafficking Awareness Day. Stop and think, just for one moment: what does this mean to me?

Biblical Justice & HT - Part III

 

January has been declared National Slavery and Human Trafficking Month. How fitting that it coincides with the national birthday celebration of Martin Luther King. How tragic that a century and a half after Lincoln liberated our African-American slaves and 50 years after the U.S. Supreme Court began forcing society to accept the advances of the Civil Rights movement, slavery still exists in the United States of America. And right in my own back yard.

 

I hear of a nearby pastor friend who counseled a worker from India here on assignment, a virtual slave with his every move controlled. Somehow this kind of shadow slavery in our midst doesn't seem as critical as pubescent girls trapped in sex trafficking. But I think of what I read in my devotions yesterday morning in Isaiah 3:15. The prophet's imagery haunts me: "What do you mean by grinding the faces of the poor?"

 

Really, the Indian worker used for his labor and the girl sold for her body are victims of the same grievous sins - greed, lust and idolatry. I hear it in the words of Isaiah when he proclaims, "Their land is full of silver and gold, there is no end to their treasures. Their land is full of horses; there is no end to their chariots. Their land is full of idols; they bow down to the work of their hands; to what their fingers have made." Isaiah concludes by saying that "man will be brought down low and mankind humbled" as a result (2:7-8). And he counsels God not to forgive such proud and materialistic people, whom he adds increase their properties, joining house to house and field to field, until they "live alone in the land," (5:8) in direct disobedience to the Mosaic laws of Jubilee.

 

But do we really "grind the faces of the poor"? It is a grotesque description. I doubt I have ever met anyone that would deliberately grind a poor person's face. Ok, I've met a few now that I think about it, their souls as ugly as their deeds. Then I read the Scriptures talking about the sins of omission, and I realize we share their guilt by not rising to rescue the poor who are losing face -- who are made to feel like just another cheap commodity on the market.

 

And yet there is something even deeper at work here. Most every Christian I know would deplore the sex trade and its exploitation of young kids, whether in the USA or in Uganda. Just as they are inclined to cry out against the worship of the human body in modern society, also a form of idolatry. But what happens to that trafficked girl and that Indian worker are really the same, whether sex is involved or not.

 

What makes sex trafficking or human trafficking or worker exploitation of any sort detestable in God's sight is what it does to the crown of His creative energy -- humankind. Like the loving Father He is, God made man and woman in His own image so that He could delight in them, cherish every last one of them as His own sons and daughters. As with the shepherd in the parable of the one lost sheep, God goes to extreme lengths to rescue even just one of His own children.

 

So when we exploit our fellow man for financial gain, when we put down a woman for the sense of power it gives us, when we trade a child for sex, what we are doing is treating God's own as just another commodity, something to be bought, sold, discarded at will -- our will.

 

It is so easy in our modern, fast-paced world to see people as robots, never relating to that person who is bagging our groceries or handling our customer service call or waiting at the light in front of us. When we do not see people as God sees them, we treat them no differently than the pimp or john who uses human beings only to a different degree, not a different kind. When we understand that God has provided all we need, we do not need to use people to get what we think we need.

 

So in this month in which the plight of the slave and the trafficked is spotlighted, I hear the words of Isaiah when he declares, "Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow." (1:18) And he continues that Zion will be redeemed with justice. We are, he says, to seek justice and rebuke the oppressor (1:27, 17). Let freedom ring!