A Call To Action!

I have been wondering and praying about what to put into this blog, when I got an email from our friends at the Not For Sale Campaign (www.notforsalecampaign.org) that totally resonated with me.  Here is the like for the web version of the email that I received.

In that email there was a link to the video below.  Please watch it (its short) and then continue reading.

Here's the deal: we have a holiday coming up and to celebrate it, the #1 purchased gift is chocolate.  What we don't realize is that the majority of the world's chocolate is produced with slave labor.  We just see great deals on the shelf in the store and stop thinking.  What we don't realize is that there is a human cost to the low price tag we are looking at!  I know I personally never even gave this issue even a little consideration until I was made aware of it.  I thought, "didn't slavery end with the Civil War?"  And I was right, but failed to realize that that was true only for the United States.

As a Christian, it is my duty to fight for the rights of those without a voice.  But more importantly, the love and grace that I have received from Jesus creates within me a love for all of humanity.  This love motivates me to ensure that all people, regardless of their place of origin or past stories, receive a life that gives them opportunities for dignity and safety just as we have received here in the USA.  The same promises that we have received from God also apply to the people being trafficked into the Ivory Coast to produce our chocolate.

So here's what we can do.  I am not saying no to chocolate.  What I am saying no to is chocolate not certified "Fair Trade."  Look for these symbols:

And know that these mean that the company has been investigated and certified to not produce products that were made with slave labor, and that they were made while paying fair, livable wages to their workers.

What I am not suggesting is that all of the chocolate (or coffee for that matter) is made with slave labor, but it has been proven that much of it is.  What we are able to do as consumers is to send letters to the CEOs of the companies we have come to enjoy (in this case Nestle and Hershey, yes even these) asking them to go "Fair Trade."  And then until we do, we spend our dollars elsewhere!  They will get the point!  We as individuals have the power to make this happen, and we have the right to do so as well.  I also feel that we have been given a gift of freedom by our forbears in the country that can be honored by fighting for the rights of others.  But ultimately it is the love and freedom given to us by God that drives us to seek the freedom of others as well.  Freedom to live their lives with dignity, without whips at their backs, as well as the freedom to choose a relationship with their Creator!

So please join with me and make this Valentine's Day, a Free Trade experience!