Saw this at the Justice Conference earlier this year. Gets me angry, yet hopeful. Excited to go to Cambodia in 2 weeks and then in August to see some of these horrors come to an end.
Archive for the ‘Steps Of Justice’ Category
Mar
19
2012
19
2012
Thursday March 22 is world water day. Over 1 billion people (1,000,000,000) on our planet do not have access to clean, life giving water. This is not right, in fact it needs to stop. Are you willing to give up your rights and share your voice this year for those billion? Here is how we are going to do it.
On Thursday March 22 we are going go 22 hours without water. What does that look like? Well, we are asking you not to drink it, not to shower in it, not to use it while brushing your teeth, not to take it to wash down your pills and not to use it for anything else you would normally use water for during the day. Then, when you get thirsty, feel dirty or just are plain frustrated we are asking that you turn that into prayers for the 1 billion who live like that each and every day.
We are also asking that you go to http://water.org/post/
Please join us for 22 hours on March 22nd as we go without water and take a stand for justice.
Sign up for the event here.
Photo by Ashely Perlberg
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Tags: facebook, matt damon, mission, twitter, waterMar
08
2012
08
2012
WOW, this Kony initiative with the Invisible Children people has gone crazy. When I look on Facebook and Twitter it is flooding my feed. I was super excited about it at first because I love what the Invisible Children are doing and I love that it has gone crazy in the sense that it is everywhere. Then, I started to see criticism on it, people talking about their money spending and the fact that they are mostly bringing awareness and not doing much to bring Kony to Justice. I was confused as I was seeing both sides from people who I respect and am very close to.
As the day has gone on I am going to go with my gut and my head on how I see the Kony initiative. My thoughts, I am psyched that it is happening. Seriously, they may only be spending 30% or so on initiatives on the ground in Uganda, but they are at least doing that. I see organizations like Charity Water and One Days Wages and even our organization Steps of Justice who give 100% (minus credit card fees for the later 2) to causes. This is not the normal way to do things, but I see that many people now want the same from organizations that they give to. The Invisible Children staff get paid. It costs money to do the video, promo, and all the other things they put out. It costs money to fly to Africa and across the world to talk and share about what they are doing, I will give to that. In addition, they are giving their lives to this, I would happily give them money to support themselves and their families and apprehend Kony.
The critics are right, awareness doesn’t do justice in any way. That is where we come in, we have to do more. What sacrifices or hard decisions will we make to see this apprehension of Kony happen? Or even more, what will we do with our passion and excitement of this whole Justice thing that is more than just clicking Like or Share on Facebook? We can vote with our fingers on a computer/phone in our bedrooms, but what would it look like to get out of our rooms, go outside and do something, instead of just clicking the Like button? Let this inspire you to do something. Yes give to Kony 2012, and also figure out what you are passionate about and start your own initiative to see change happen out of an unjust sitiation.
Cheers
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Tags: invisible children, justice, kony, ugandaFeb
27
2012
27
2012
Today we gathered together as a Steps of Justice crew at our place. We were getting together to pray for the upcoming Spring tour, or more like the lack of Spring tour. This fall we went to 22 locations in 2 months and shared God’s deep heart for Justice
“Do you think you are a king because you compete in cedar? Did not your father eat and drink and do justice and righteousness? Then it was well with him. He judged the cause of the poor and needy; then it was well. Is not this to know me? declares the Lord.” Jeremiah 22: 15-16
We are supposed to head out in March for a spring tour, but things are looking a bit different. Instead of 22 events, we only have a few. This has not been for a lack of trying, that is for sure. We have emailed 100’s of churches, pastors and communities and have only heard back from a hand full and of those most of the dates didn’t line up. Many of these emails went to friends and people who believe in this call, but even then we didn’t hear back (no bitterness I promise). This has been super frustrating and confusing, so today we gathered together to ask God what He thinks.
I have to be honest, we have only done this a few times, but each time I see God showing up and communicating clearly to us. We believe He has called us to do the tour, but we are not sure why events are not panning out. So, we sat down to pray and almost immediately a section of scripture came into my mind. The scripture was from Genesis 12, where God called Abram to leave everything he knew and head to a place God would show him.
I immediately knew that I had heard something, I heard God say “go.” So, we talked about it as a group and we all agreed that we need to step out in faith and go. So, on Monday, March 4 we will leave S. California and head east. Our first scheduled event is in April so we will spend March doing justice by connecting with ministries, churches, non-profits, etc. We will be taking each day to serve and ask Jesus what His next step is for us.
OK, I understand that this is FREAKING CRAZY. We are leaving a place that we know for a place that we don’t. Since we only have a few events we only have a small amount of the tour budgeted. We also have 3 kids and the Wilsons have one on the way. Yep, I am beginning to see that when God called Abraham it probably didn’t seem that romantic to him either, I mean he packed up the place that he and generations before him had been living and headed out.
Ya know the main reason we are doing this though? It’s because God spoke and we walk in obedience. Also, I want people to write books about this stuff, I expect to see miracles, divine meetings and blessings beyond reason for us and for others though our obedience. So there you go, that is what the Cunningham’s are up to as we continue to pioneer Steps of Justice. We are a year and a half in and we see this as one of the most significant steps that we have taken yet.
How can you be involved? Well it is simple, here are 4 ways.
1. Pray for us
2. Write us with your prayers, encouragement, ideas, thoughts, and friendship
3. Come with (serious, wanna come)? We leave in a week
4. Give. OK, trying to be practical, we need cash to do this so you can give here. We estimate he tour will cost approx. $6000 for gas and housing. (all gifts are tax deductible).
That is it, we will for sure be writing lots, so stay tuned.
Peace
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Jan
02
2012
02
2012
Good afternoon friends. I hope you had a great holiday season and that your new years was epic. It is exciting to get into a new year. The thought of starting new, whether that be on a new project, a new goal or new inspiration it is all cause for excitement as we see and aspire to positive change.
One of the main things I am excited about is getting version 2.0 of the Prayer & Action guide out by Steps of Justice, a non-profit I helped start. In the last year and a half we have sold and given away over 4600 guides to churches all over the USA, Canada, Europe, Australia and NZ. The guide is a way that helps people engage with these overwhelming issues of injustice that we hear about every day. Issues of extreme poverty (1.25 billion living on less than $1.25/day), issues of slavery (30 million slaves live in our world today), or issues of preventative disease (every 30 seconds a child dies from malaria). The Prayer & Action guide give practical ways that you and I can be involved in being the change in some of these issues.
As we put out version 2.0 in the next couple of months we are needing something from you. That something is a photo. Our current issue has an amazing cover photo taken by our good friend Vanessa Hadford. We love this photo, and it will remain in the guide, but we are looking at a bit of a redesign and want to use a different cover photo. This is where you come in.
If you have a photo that you have taken or know of a friend who is a photographer and has some epic and moving pictures we would love you to submit them. We are looking for a photo that is strong. One that tells a story. One that moves you to compassion, anger and action. A photo they depicts how messed up and unjust our world is, but one that also shows there is hope.
The person whose photo the we pick will get the following:
1. 10 copies of the Prayer & Action guide
2. Credit for taking the photo
3. Links to their Flickr, Facebook and Twitter stream.
Please have your photos submitted no later than Monday January 16 at 5:pm west coast time. .
You can submit your photos to Phil at phil@stepsofjustice.org
