speak up. reach out.

(image found here)

sometimes i feel a little cynical. it's hard for me to pass places that i know have sweatshop tendencies and not feel uneasy. it's hard for me to go on a cruise once i hear that the workers don't have fair wages. it's hard for me to eat Tyson chicken when i know they don't treat their chickens well. it's hard for me to consume so very much when my brothers and sisters around the world have so little. it's hard for me to watch SO much food be thrown away every.single.day. And sometimes this worldview can lead to guilt, frustration, and bitterness. I expressed my struggles with this to a friend the other day and this was her response:

"I know it would be easier to be ignorant, and I will be honest with you: i think that i would prefer ignorance over awareness, but we have both been given hearts of compassion and sympathy and minds that seek justice and love for all, and when i look at it in that way, I realize if even in that moment...that these harsh truths I have about the world are not intended to be crippling, but they are intended to allow me a taste into what our God has when he looks at us. I truly think our viewpoint of the world..as bitter as it makes us, as negative as it is, is a gift. Because after you identify a problem, you can give a solution. So this problem identifying is a gift because from that we offer our solution of hope, peace, and most of all joy. Do not be discouraged; though you are few, you are needed."

....and that 4 page text message refreshed my soul so very much. i want to be broken in the way that God breaks for those who are hurting. I want to be aware so i can act. I want to view the harsh realities as not paralyzing but fuel for a passionate fire. I want to know the pain, the hurt, the heartache because even though it may not lead to a life of bliss, it will certainly lead to a life of meaning. and that, that, is what i desire. And in deep in my heart, i really beleive we all desire this. We all desire this meaning, justice, this love. And when presented with an injustice clearly, most folks will cry out. but the problem is--so many times we don't know of the injustice. it's swept under the rug. or it's taboo and propaganda has warped our view of it. it's whispered about, not yelled about. but my dream is that my voice will speak out and make someone aware who will use their voice. and then they will use theirs. and then the voices will echo. and as they echo all will notice, and all will realize that equality, love, peace, and hope are really the best options in this thing called life.

here's to seeking truth even when it hurts.
here's to looking in the eyes of pain and letting it break you.
here's to a better world.
here's to remembering all life starts with death--so let that piece of you die, let that injustice rip your heart out, and then, let a sprout of justice grow.

Why I Don't Shop at Wal*Mart

citation: mrzine.monthlyreview.org

Some of you have heard the rant 50,000 times, but it has become apparent to me that others have wondered exactly...why do i refuse to shop at wal-mart?

i mean after all--low prices, opened 24 hours, easily accessible (they are everywhere) and the list goes on.

Well it's been almost 3 years since i have purchased something from this company, and i can thank my professor who enlightened me with "The High Cost of Low Price" [http://www.walmartmovie.com/] Now when I first saw this documentary that absolutely picks wal-mart apart from top do bottom on issues like global explotation, discrimination, costing taxpayers millions, running small businesss out of town, etc. etc. I sat in horror. I shopped at wal*mart at least every 2 weeks. I mean we were talking the place i got all my pictures developed, my contact solution, my school supplies, my underwear, etc etc. WAL-MART COULDN'T BE EVIL!!! My professor was obviously just angry at the world.

but.

it burned inside of me. After day 3 of the movie, i was mortified at what i had been supporting. Pause: some of you may be thinking "Kati, you let one documentary change you this much." Answer: no. I wanted this stuff to be untrue! I wanted low prices!! I DID!!! But to my dismay, as I researched and resarched...it was true. Wal-Mart really did have horrible practices. They really were getting sued. and they really WERE on the "Sweatshop Hall of Fame."

so that's when I did it. I felt so convicted. How could i support this type of treatment to these chinese and hondurus workers? how could i let any part of my dollar go toward such a disgusting act. and right then and there, I said...no to wal-mart.

Some of you may be thinking, "Kati, every place has sweatshops. Answer: No. And don't worry, I don't discriminate against Wal-Mart and Wal-Mart only, in fact, i desperately attempt to avoid all companies that are found guilty of such exploitation.

Some of you may also be thinking, "Well the only reason all this stuff is about Wal-Mart is because it's the largest corporation in the world." Answer: I'm sure that the fact that Wal-Mart is so large certainly affects how much of a microscope it is under. However, in no way, shape, or form, in my opinion, does that give us a reason to excuse their behavior. Not to mention, as a global corporate leader, isn't even more important for them to set a GOOD example rather than a horrible one?

So there it is. My main reason for not shopping at wal-mart. However, reason #2 is actually growing stronger these days. Here is a quote that sums it up beautifully:


"Wal-Mart’s corporate philosophy is to drive down the cost of doing business and keep profits high principally by reducing labor costs. Wal-Mart executives and shareholders are confident that the taxpayer will pick up the difference between their pay rate and a living wage. In a sense our social welfare system is enabling companies to operate sweatshops. I’m not suggesting we should eliminate the social safety net; rather I’m suggesting that when a company’s employees need to reach out for assistance, there should be consequences. If Wal -Mart prefers that the taxpayers subsidize their profits, then we should send them the bill." [http://www.examiner.com/x-2071-DC-Special-Interests-Examiner~y2009m1d12-WalMart-is-a-sweatshop]

do you realize thru many wal-mart practices, you the tax payer are contributing billions of dollars to their corporation/employees? that "great deal" isn't really a great deal in the long run. check out some these links for some statistics:

http://wakeupwalmart.com/facts/taxes.html

http://www.ideamouth.com/politics/walmartflyer.pdf


...so there you have it for anyone in the world who ever wondered or ever desired to know more about this giant that is literally trying to take over our country it seems. Is this decision easy? No. it's highly inconvenient on many occasions. is it do-able? totally. Am i special for doing this? No. Anyone can. And it would be beautiful if some saw it the way i did. but if you choose not to, well that's fine too. members or my own family still shop there and i still love them all the same.

my only wish is that this may open your eyes to the lesson I learned.."too good to be true" has a whole new meaning. and many times, our good bargains come at the price of someone else. some say free trade is overall the best thing, and there are always 2 sides to every argument. maybe it is overall the best, and maybe ANY Job, even when exploited is better than none. and maybe i am too much of an idealist, but..i believe in a better way. and this is what my heart says for now!

heartache for Juarez, Mexico :(

my church has been going to Juarez for nearly 10 years teaming up with "casitas del ray" and other groups to help build homes, soup kitchens, have Bible school for the kids, and just love and serve the people of this violence-stricken city.

i got the chance to go 3 years ago and again the following year. Of course, as the rest of the group does year, after year, i fell in love with the hospitable, gracious people of the city. the children melted my heart and constantly wanted to hold hands, skip, and play--3 of my favorite activities! despite all the fun and joy, the violence there was very tense at the time. There is a drug war going on between the cartel of Juarez and the government. And even in our short time there, several murders occurred, we encountered the military right at our front door, and upon returning to the states we learned that our church was just 1.5 miles away from the location of dozens of raped and murdered women. Juarez is called the most dangerous city in the world by many sources.

wowza, right? I'm not going to lie, i had a few nightmares while i was there, but we constantly prayed and God was with us every step of the way to make sure we didn't let the fear affect loving and serving.

this year, my church will not go to Juarez as we are doing a local mission project, but just as the bumper stickers of many members say-- Juarez is in our hearts. Always. a few minutes ago, i "stumbled" upon this site of photographs of the latest violence. Tears welled up in my eyes as i thought of the many people i love there that have to deal with this on a daily basis. I wish I had the answer to all this, but all i can do is pray, and ask you to as well! Warning: before clicking on "site" please know the pictures are very graphic. but also very real.

in honor of those in Juarez, and of the woman who this story is about--here is a note i wrote about my time there in 2008::

I've had a lot of good hugs in my life, but 3 days ago, I received the best hug ever on a sandy street in Juarez, Mexico during my mission trip.

I know what you're thinking, how could I, a person who loves hugs and gives them out so often, possibly pick one out like this and call it the best? But read on and maybe you'll understand...

Our group went to Mexico to build a soup kitchen. A soup kitchen that had been prayed about for an entire year by an awesome preacher name Julio and his community. By Thursday, we had went extreme home makeover on that cement slab and constructed a cute little building were 45 hungry kids would be fed each day. We decorated it with bible verses and pictures too. The room's bright yellow walls would warm anybody's heart, seriously.

So after the building was constructed we had a dedication. Nearly 200 children showed up by the end of the night!! Along with plenty of adults. It was a the main event fo sho.

Shortly after the 2 hour preaching/singing/and other festivities we fed everyone hot dogs. Next was the toy give away. As this was coming to an end I was approached by an elderly lady. Kayla and I had passed her in the street from a distance a couple days before and she had that same familiar grin on her face this evening. As she approached me I could see her tanned, wrinkled cheeks. She put her hand out and was saying "Gracias" (thank you) in the most genuine tone I'd heard all week. Of course, I bypassed the hand and threw my arms around her for what I thought would be a brief, normal hug.

I was very wrong.

What started out as a wimpy hug turned into a full fledge grasp. She meant it. And as she spoke throughout the 3 minute intense embrace, I knew few words. I understood all the children, God, and thank you. Those phrases were repeated often. And somehow...standing there with sweat on my shirt and sand all over me, hanging on to a women who speaks a totally different language than myself...I could feel her thankfulness.

Yes. Feel it.

No one clings like that and speaks those words of thanksgiving without truly meaning it. And as we stand there arm in arm, I literally got goosebumps. And shortly before we released from our embrace, I looked down into her worn out eyes and saw tears. Tears of happiness. Tears from a lady who truly cared about all those little children running around. Tears from a lady who knew where the building came from...not from a group of 20 Americans, but from God. He made it happen. He just used us to help show His love.

And in that moment, it was all so clear.

my favorite paradox

Every once in a while I like to listen to a speech or sermon from Martin Luther King, Jr. Why? Because I am never the same afterward.

Some things are expected: I always get chills, I always cry, and I also get incredibly inspired.

Reading about MLK is good, but listening to him...is great. Hearing his passion, sensing the what the atmosphere would be like...these things are intangible. You will understand them only if you hear.

Which leads me to my next challenge, please...click this link. The whole thing is 9 minutes [it
s half of the original] , but even if you only have 4 1/2 minutes, that's it--click it. Scroll over to the 5:27 mark...and prepare to be moved.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gOrCU0jdJrs

I love the whole last 4 1/2 minutes, but here is a part that really, really strums a cord:

If any of you are around when I have to meet my day, I don’t want a long funeral. And if you get somebody to deliver the eulogy, tell them not to talk too long. And every now and then I wonder what I want them to say. Tell them not to mention that I have a Nobel Peace Prize—that isn’t important. Tell them not to mention that I have three or four hundred other awards—that’s not important. Tell them not to mention where I went to school.

I'd like somebody to mention that day that Martin Luther King, Jr., tried to give his life serving others.

I'd like for somebody to say that day that Martin Luther King, Jr., tried to love somebody.

I want you to say that day that I tried to be right on the war question.

I want you to be able to say that day that I did try to feed the hungry.

And I want you to be able to say that day that I did try in my life to clothe those who were naked.

I want you to say on that day that I did try in my life to visit those who were in prison.

I want you to say that I tried to love and serve humanity.

Yes, if you want to say that I was a drum major, say that I was a drum major for justice. Say that I was a drum major for peace. I was a drum major for righteousness. And all of the other shallow things will not matter. I won't have any money to leave behind. I won't have the fine and luxurious things of life to leave behind. But I just want to leave a committed life behind. And that's all I want to say.

If I can help somebody as I pass along,

If I can cheer somebody with a word or song,

If I can show somebody he's traveling wrong,

Then my living will not be in vain.

If I can do my duty as a Christian ought,

If I can bring salvation to a world once wrought,

If I can spread the message as the master taught,

Then my living will not be in vain.

...and so MLK's message remains, anyone can be great, because anyone can serve. Each day is just a chance to change the world--for the better or for the worse. Every decision, every action, we make an impact...what is our impact?

Are we indifferent?

Do we spread this beautiful message of grace? this message of hope? this message of love?

because in my opinion...when we fully grasp that what we are given [Salvation--life to the full now..but also in Heaven]] is all because of one thing--our faith in Jesus...when we this gift, this incredible act of service, this great thing that requires nothing but faith. it doesn't require us to be good, to be holy, but just to believe....how can we not be moved to action? How can we not want to run out of our homes and just love and serve and love and serve when we've been shown the perfect example?

so the paradox of course, is that although we are not required to serve to earn this gift, when we get the gift, service just flows out naturally ;)

and THIS is is my favorite paradox in the world.....

Let's be great.
Let's serve.
Let's change the world.

Is this freedom?

On Monday, I got back from spending a few days in Florida with family. While I was there I got the chance to spend some time with my brother in-law's mom. We started talking about Nuru and other non-profits I am a fan of, and then she shared the organization she is working on starting in Chicago [she recently moved to GA but is still helping from a distance].

She showed me a presentation, and truly, I was in total shock. I know gun violence is an issue in our country, especially larger cities, but I was completely ignorant when it comes to the extent of how it affects our children.

As she shared stories of real people, children she knows, the statistics on the screen began to haunt me. Statistics like,

The number one fear of 2nd graders in the school surveryed in downtown Chicago? Being shot.

--Of 500 surveyed, 50% have a friend or relative that have been shot at, and 33% have lost a friend or relative to gun violence.

--Or as one article I just read talked about a 13-year-old who knows nine people, including 3 family members who have been shot at.

These children are scared to walk out of their house. And their artwork? Well, I will let you see it for yourself:







These are from second-graders. That means they are probably 7 or 8 years old....7 or 8 years old....that is astonishing to me.

Then tonight, as I listened to a speech by Martin Luther King, Jr. entitled "Beyond Vietnam: Breaking the Silence" there was a very powerful section that stood out when MLK was discussing why he had to speak up against the war, here it is:

"My third reason moves to an even deeper level of awareness, for it grows out of my experience in the ghettoes of the North over the last three years -- especially the last three summers. As I have walked among the desperate, rejected, and angry young men, I have told them that Molotov cocktails and rifles would not solve their problems. I have tried to offer them my deepest compassion while maintaining my conviction that social change comes most meaningfully through nonviolent action. But they ask -- and rightly so -- what about Vietnam? They ask if our own nation wasn't using massive doses of violence to solve its problems, to bring about the changes it wanted. Their questions hit home, and I knew that I could never again raise my voice against the violence of the oppressed in the ghettos without having first spoken clearly to the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today -- my own government. For the sake of those boys, for the sake of this government, for the sake of the hundreds of thousands trembling under our violence, I cannot be silent."

And then it came full circle. What message are we sending to our children today? 36 cents of every dollar goes to military funds. Check out this pie chart .

It was also MLK who said,

"A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual doom... "

..truly though, I know some say freedom lies in everyone being able to buy a gun, but I wonder if these kids feel free? Are they free when they are afraid to go to the library? Are they free when their little minds are dominated by fear when they are trying to learn?

and even those of us who don't live in this severe of a situation--think of how many ma scares occur. The latest in Alabama. Should we really have to fear such violent crimes? Is this freedom?

These are questions in my mind....I just feel like there has got to be a better way. And until I die, I will be seeking that Better way.

for the entire article mentioned above [where I got the stats and pics] click here:
http://www.suntimes.com/news/education/1093215,CST-NWS-prisoner06.article

The Story of Telemachus

I was truly intrigued by a story my pastor shared with us this morning, so of course I promptly googled it when I got home. And just a disclaimer: some disagree with details of this, but from what I have researched, these are the more credible details.

Telemachus was a monk outside of Rome. He felt that God was calling him to Rome, and listened and obeyed. He soon found himself in the midst of the gladiator games. Soon after, he begin calling out "in the name of Christ, Stop!" over and over.

At first the crowd just stared. Then laughed, thinking he was the comic relief. And eventually their chuckles turned into hatred, as this man was interrupting their violent entertainment.

Eventually Telemachus was in the dirt with the gladiators continuing his plea, "in the name of Christ, stop!" Screaming. Begging. To just stop...stop the murder.

Well, you can probably imagine what happens next . No one wants to hear this when they are enjoying a great match--so one of the gladiator stabs him. Some stories say he was also stoned. Others say everyone left the stadium in silence. One thing is for sure--he made them think.

It was in the near future, some say the very next day, that the Emperor made an edict declaring that there would be no more gladiator games.

...all because of this man's plea. This man's passion to the death. He was only one, but he believed in the cause he was fighting for. And was vocal!

I can't help but think of MLK's quote that says, " If a man hasn't discovered something that he will die for, he isn't fit to live."

That is a bold, bold statement. But truly, I have to wholeheartedly agree. Not in the way, "he isn't fit to live" so he should just be killed--of course not, but instead, "he isn't fit to live"--meaning he won't have life to the full. [John 10:10] He isn't fit to live in the way he can.

Because this kind of life, this life with passion, this life where when we see injustice and suffering, we cry out--even if others laugh, even if death is right on our toes, this kind of life where we are so sold out, we would die for our brother [1 John 3:16], this life where we do all these things with boldness because the sting of death does not scare us, because it has been swallowed up. [1 Cor. 15:55]

...well, I think this kind of life is beautiful.

First.

Hello world!

I made this for a few reasons. First, the only thing better than discovering something encouraging, challenging or just awesome is sharing it with others. I will do that on here :) Secondly, I just like to write, even if it's a ramble that only I will read. Third, this will be nice for my travels. Fourth, I think this may remind me of livejournal when I was 14. And that was a fun time, ha.

So to start things off, here is something my friend Brandt just shared. Check it out.

20 things that happen in a minute